Preschool Graduation!

Will's preschool graduation program came upon us faster than we were prepared for!  (As does everything in life when you have kids.)  It was held on Wednesday, May 23rd at 7:00 in the evening and I felt very blessed that we had so much of our family there in support of Will.  The program carried a beach theme and it was hands down my favorite of Will's preschool performances because of the difference in his participation level!  In his previous programs, though he knew the songs and could sing them at home, Will never got very enthusiastic with participating.  He'd barely sing and would just sort of stand there.  But this time he was spotting all his family members and waving with a big smile.  He sang along and danced/moved with the rest of his classmates.  He even got pretty animated with the song Wipe Out.  :)

I had signed up to bring a dessert (as opposed to setting up or cleaning up, simply because of my work schedule) for the celebration afterwards and Will had to arrive early, so before the program began, I got to sneak into the hall to drop off our treat.  I've helped my mom out in the past with these programs and I remember from previous years how dedicated some of the moms get in creating such fancy themed desserts.  It's intimidating!  Plus it's smack in the middle of the week so I knew I'd have to prepare on Tuesday after the kids were in bed and wouldn't have a ton of time.  But I managed to find a couple simple ideas on Pinterest (sadly, others found similar ideas) and I think they turned out nicely.

The hall was decorated with some of the childrens' beach artwork and the teachers had assembled photo albums of the students throughout the school year for everyone to browse.  On each of the tables was a small sand bucket filled surprises for each of the kids, which I will show you at the end of this post.  The whole thing was really nice.

It's probably hard to see, but there is a picture of each child inside these buckets and beach balls.

And check out some of these desserts!

Individual surf board cupcakes for each student.

This was our tray.  I made Weelicious vanilla cupcakes and crushed up graham crackers to look like sand and then poked a parasol pick into each one.  And the Nutter Butter flip flop cookies were ridiculously easy.

Octopus cake, flamingo cupcakes, duck cupcakes, whales-jumping-out-of-the-water cupcakes!

Fish cupcakes - adorable!  I've seen these in Family Fun.

The students walked in to Pomp and Circumstance (so cute) and then filed onto the bleachers to begin their singing program.  There was a lot of summery/beach attire.  :)

I think this was a song about sunscreen and Will was "applying" here.

Soph - standing in Great Grandma's lap to watch.

This is why I love this kid.  He spotted me with my camera up snapping pictures and he posed and smiled!

Actually though, he owed me that.  Lately it has been so frustrating to get him to give a decent camera smile, which you will see in the next post.  :)

I think he was surfing here.

All the boys in Will's class did the Wipe Out song together.

They put on some shades and beat a handmade canister drum to the music.

"Wipe Out!!"

Love this one.  :)

Following that, the girls sang Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.  It was adorable.

They did the Limbo.

And then there was another song where the kids came out in small batches doing different dance moves.  :)

Not sure what's going on here but Lily's face cracks me up.  She's right beside Will and she is so cute and sweet.

Haha!  More dancing and surfing.

And at the end of the singing, the teachers called each student's name individually and presented them with a "diploma" and hugs.  It was very exciting for the kids and such a sweet wrap up to their preschool years.  I was so happy my pictures of Will and Nana turned out so nice!

A hug from Mrs. Cuthbertson too!

After diploma presentation, Mrs. Skees invited everyone to the hall for dessert and explained another neat thing they would find inside each child's sand bucket on the tables.  The teachers helped the graduating students make a sand art figurine (you know, the layers of colored sand inside a container) and they tucked a slip of paper inside that asked the students two questions to be remembered sort of as a time capsule.  Mrs. Skees suggested the parents might want to pour out the sand and read the student's preschool-age-responses on the day of their high school graduation.  :)  How fun!

While she was talking, diplomas were immediately finding other uses in the kids hands.  ;)  Check out the boy two down from Will.  Haha!

A telescope is also a good use!

Mya & Stella came to support Will and keep Sophie company!  :)  These three were a bit of a distraction in the center aisle!

Well... I didn't cry!  I really wasn't even feeling emotional this night.  Mostly just distracted by Sophie's little busy body and also worried about getting everyone in our family seated at the beginning.  Will did such a great job and he even continued on with the great smiles throughout the celebrating afterward.  :)

Our preschool graduate!

Our family.

Will with his teachers.

Will and his Godparents.

Will with Uncle Taylor.  (There were several others in attendance that I didn't get photos of.)

Will's surf board cupcake.

I think my mom said one of the student's grandmother's put these buckets together for the kids.  There were flip flop place cards that the kids made and each student had some bubbles and sidewalk chalk inside the bucket. 

Will's sand art.

Now on to Kindergarten!!