Everything Grows...

...including our little daughter who is now an official 1st grader.

For all you veteran parents out there

this probably isn't a big deal

but we Bunkers consider it a huge achievement.

Not only did Avery do GREAT with all her classroom learning

(especially considering she started at age 4)

we, as a family,

survived one FULL year of

packing a lunch every day,

remembering to bring said lunch,

remembering to bring folder home,

remembering to bring folder to school,

morning drop offs,

afternoon pick ups,

signing out,

signing in,

volunteering each week,

weekly homework packets,

weekly library book returns,

$ donations,

holiday donations,

classrooms donations,

teacher gifts,

cute hair-do's

hunting down missing [insert folder/shoes/book/etc.]

as we're running out the door,

You get the idea.

Hardest of all was not being able to just pack up and run up to Disneyland at our every whim or spend the entire day playing at the beach. Again, you veteran parents are probably shaking your head at this but it really was a tough transition for us as first time kindergartner parents who were used to having day trips and play dates whenever and wherever. That's part of the joy of having young kids, isn't it?

Even though my dad swears that Avery never goes to school and gives us a hard time when we would try to sneak in a quick D-land trip, we tried our best to balance being "responsible" parents with having memorable fun family days. It may be silly but Jared and I are pretty dang proud of ourselves for completing our first parental year of school. Whew! I'm happy it's summer where we can return again to our full days of playing without the daily hustle and bustle that comes with school. (But talk to me in August... I may be counting down the days until school)

The graduation itself was super cute and very well done.

Avery was SO excited and couldn't wait to get all doodied up for the big event.

Her teacher was awesome, hope she's still around when it's Austin's turn.

My favorite part?

After the program the entire school lined up to clap the graduate's hands as they walked back to the kindergarten area with "Celebrate Good Times" blasting on the school's intercom. I had no idea they do that and it was a really nice touch. The poor little kids couldn't feel their hands by the end of the line but I suppose that is part of the fun.

Austin's favorite part?

The endless supply of oreos and grapes at the reception afterwards.

Avery's favorite part?

Gramma was able to be there

(she did tell me she was hoping everyone in our family could come,

I had to tell her that Utah, Vegas, Washington and even Fullerton

are just a bit too far for people to come down to her graduation for)

Not to worry though,

Gramma brought both her and Austin a graduation gift and she felt a lot better after that

Come to think of it this graduation cost us a lot less than the last one the Bunkers had...

and Jared didn't even get to keep HIS cool hat.

This is Avery's cute, best friend and they are practically inseparable,

which is why she's in the "family" picture here.

Avery practiced for weeks all of these songs for the program and even is still singing them around the house..

I think they did a great job and I loved watching them belt it out.

This is serious entertainment.

I combined highlights of some of the songs they sang in this video but I know how it is; things like this are fun for parents and maybe grandparents to watch. Beyond that, it's stretching it...even for siblings. So no pressure to watch, it's more for documentation sake than anything else. For those of you feeling brave, put up your feet, grab some popcorn and enjoy. 3 things you should know though:

1.) Avery is on the very left in the polk-a-dot dress (her BFF is in the front with the big smile, she's fun to watch too) and at the very end she is indeed telling Jared "Dad, that's embarrassing!" She has no idea what's in store for her.

2.) her school is big into integrated learning with ASL students, her best little buddy is deaf, which is why the program is being sigend (and is also why Avery still signs to us all the time at home. even when we have NO idea what she is saying)

3.) the first song "Everything Grows" can get stuck in your head for days...you've been warned.