Last Day of School

Today was Ryan's last day of school for this year.  I took him and Nelda to school since he went early for their water games.  The kids were each asked to bring their favorite water toy to play with outside.  Everyone was prepared to get wet.  They were all covered in sunscreen and dressed in their swimsuits, Ryan included.  His kind, thoughtful teachers had prepared a "hot tub" for Ryan.  Several of his friends spent a lot of their time circled about Ryan making sure that he stayed wet, carefully pouring the "hot" water over Ryan's legs and arms in his "hot tub."

After they finished playing in the water, they had Popsicles. You know the kind that come in the bag?  Ryan's was a strawberry-kiwi, and he LOVED it!  So, as it melted, Nelda just pulled a little into a syringe at a time and gave him some.  You probably remember that we don't feed him by mouth due to the risk of aspiration (choking), but we do let him taste foods.  Well, he was doing so well with it, that we chose to let him do the whole Popsicle this way.   He really enjoyed it and he did a great job with it!

I wasn't actually planning to stay, but it was so fun to watch them all interact that the time passed quickly.  Before I knew it, there was only 15 more minutes before it was time to pick him up.  So, I stayed.

When Ryan was saying good bye to his friends, one of my favorite little boys in the class, Sutton said, "Ryan doesn't want to leave yet."

I think he might have been right.  I know Ryan will miss his friends and his teachers.  It has been such a good experience this year.

Ryan enjoyed the Bouncy House during Field Day at school on 5.18.2012.