Countdown to K :: Final Days of Summer

This final week of summer vacation marks the end of a treasured chapter for our family. So we're jam packing it full of fun outings and activities to celebrate all we've accomplished and all that lies ahead.

Monday, we joined five other families from our village of friends in touring the Ringling Museum of Art (free on Mondays!).

This is a big, fancy, no-touch art museum to attempt with little ones, and we managed to escape with only a few grouchy looks from the docents. Our survival hinged on an "art treasure hunt." We purchased postcards from the gift shop (10 for $1.50) depicting works of art within the museum. Then we divvied the cards up amongst the big kids, whose mission was to find the masterpieces in the museum.

A picnic lunch on the Ringling grounds, under the banyan trees, was an ideal ending to our art adventure. (Check out my dear friend's post on our "day of the arts", plus get a great idea for preserving your preschooler's art collection over at Snip and Snail.)

Tuesday, we joined up with our village friends again at the YMCA Splash Park. No survival techniques necessary here - just hours of fun in the sun: swimming, sliding and splashing.

Selby spent today with her beloved Grandpa, as she has nearly every Wednesday for the past three and a half years. Together they have enjoyed countless trips to the movies, the mall, the pool, the park, the library...you name it. I know they will both miss these special pre-K days.

(image courtesy of Snip and Snail, taken last week)
Tomorrow: a final Thursday at Shell Beach for all the big kids (mamas, it's about to get a lot quieter on our shore with only babes in tow!). Then Friday, we meet Selby's Kindergarten teacher and see her classroom. And a new chapter begins...