June 28, 2009

On Saturday we went to Westport with Julianna to check out Pirate days. She went last year and thought my kids would really enjoy it. Michael took one look at all the piratey-wenches and declared it a GREAT idea! Ha!
Seriously though, I think he was in heaven with the food options. They had huge turkey legs, elephant ears, fish sandwiches, burgers, Icees, Italian Ice, freshly made donuts and the biggest ice cream cones I have ever seen!

The kids had fun exploring a full sized pirate ship (not pictured) and exploring the all the shops and booths that were set up. I think we'll make this one of our yearly traditions.

June 27, 2009

We spent Saturday in Westport. I think we love the beach.

June 25, 2009

Tuesday was Regan and Ryan's first day of camp. They attended the 'Under The Sea' camp at our local gym. They had a pirate/mermaid theme and played games, swam and did crafts. The camp lasts three days with today being their last day. As you can see from the picture above Ryan is completely wiped out by the time camp is over. Doesn't he look comfy?

This afternoon I'm dropping the kids off at camp and heading over to Julianna's house to do some sewing. I STILL need to get the binding sewn on to Danyelle's birthday quilt. I have the binding cut and sewn together so it should only talk a little bit to get it finished. *crossing my fingers*

June 24, 2009

This summer I am doing a 'summer school' of sorts with Regan and Ryan. I picked up a dozen workbooks from the dollar store (2 each of six workbooks) covering addition/subtraction, phonics, time/money, counting from 1-100, word families and sight words. I made packets for them with each packet containing one page from each of the workbooks. I think I was able to make about 15 packets. I also picked up a few creative writing books with story starters and other ideas to get kids writing. I'm thinking it'll take us about an hour each day to get our workbook work done.

I have a variety of activities and crafts planned out for each of our days. I actually made a list of everything I could think of for us to do this summer. From hiking and making day trips to riding bikes and blowing bubbles. While I was at the dollar store picking up the workbooks I also picked up some extra stuff to stock my boredom box. Stickers, water balloons, sidewalk chalk, etc. Perfect things for those days the kids are starting to get bored and irritable.

If you have any ideas on crafts or activities for kids to do please leave a comment and let me know. I'm always on the lookout for new things to try.

June 21, 2009

I mentioned yesterday that Michael took Regan and Ryan camping out at Jakes house. As soon as they got home Ryan brought me the camera so I could see the pictures of his fish. Ain't it a beaut!

The kids had never been camping before so Ryan was really concerned about where he would be sleeping. Once they got their tent set up Ryan did his little inspection. It passed with flying colors!!

Dinner was A little kids dream of BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs.

I wasn't there but by the looks of the pictures everyone had a great time.

June 20, 2009

Michael took Regan and Ryan camping yesterday. They were actually in Jake's backyard but there are lots of woods and the neighbor had a pond for them to fish in so the kids thought it was awesome. I'm going to do a post on their trip sometime this weekend but I just HAD to show these pictures of Regan and her first fish that she caught ALL BY HERSELF!!

She was so proud of it. Jake was showing her how to hold it by the mouth and she was just about to when suddenly........

it MOVED!!

June 17, 2009

Mariah came and spent the weekend with us. Friday night the older girls went to the Ape Caves and didn't get home until around 2 in the morning!! They had to wake up early Saturday morning to go down to the youth group car wash. I think they were pretty much sleepwalking through the day!

Sunday after church I had took Jessie, Mariah and Devon shopping. The girls were looking for jeans and I was trying to find some board shorts for Devon to wear over her bathing suit. No luck on the shorts but I'm still looking.

Monday we picked Mariah up again and headed to the park for some hiking. If you want to call walking around on trails that are completely flat hiking. The kids had lots of fun though. they ran around like little crazy people and showed off their awesome gymnastic skills.

May 30, 2009

Last week was the Zoo Trip for Regans class. Everyone took their own cars and met at the entrance at 9:40. Or at least they were supposed to meet then. About half of the group was late.

The first thing we did was go to a shark class that Mrs. Bol had scheduled for us. The kids learned about shark anatomy, how they live and even got to touch a shark skin! Kids under four weren't allowed in the class so I took Payton to the kid Zone while Julianna stayed with the older three.
When the shark class ended everyone kind of went there own way (some traveled around in small groups) with the idea to meet for lunch. The middle of the zoo has this big grassy area with a hill at one end and picnic tables along the edges. Payton spent most of out lunch time climbing to the top of the hill and rolling down. Man! I wish I'd taken the camcorder for that. She was hilarious!

Around 1:30 Payton decided she'd had enough and proceeded to have a MAJOR meltdown!! Too much excitement and no nap makes for crabby babies! I took her back to the van for her nap.

Aside from Payton falling apart, I think it was one of our more successful trips o the zoo. The weather was gorgeous, I packed plenty of snacks and everyone was in a good mood. It kinda makes me want to do it again. Kinda.

May 14, 2009

This morning was an end of the year swimming party for Regans class. All siblings and parents were invited to attend. We got there a few minutes late but once we were there everyone had a great time. I think my children are starting to grow gills. We have been to the pool about nine times in the past two weeks.

April 29, 2009

Regans school has a lot of end of the year events. I looked at my calendar this morning and i think there are about two a week through the end of May. May 29th is her last day.

Todays activity was a family picnic. We met at the school at 12, picked up our kids and met over at Riverside Park. The kids had a great time playing and I really enjoyed having the chance to chat with the other moms.

When we left the park we took Michael and Payton home for naptime ;-) and I took the other three down to the gym to get them tested for swim lessons. Regan did pretty well and is ready for the big pool. Ryan freaked out a little when he was asked to put his face in the water. After playing in the water for a few minutes he relaxed and started doing bobs and trying to float on his stomach. So, I think he'll go into kinder 2. Regan will start in kinder 3 but might move quickly into level 1.

Tomorrow morning will be my first water aerobics class. I'm a little nervous. I haven't worn a bathing suit since I looked good in one.

The Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday we all loaded up in the minivan and headed to the pumpkin patch! The kids LOVED it!! We went on a hayride, wandered over a whole field of pumpkins and climbed on tractors. They had a corn maze and a hay maze too. Poor Michael got stung by a wasp while we were on the hayride.

Library Day

On Saturday the family took a trip to the library. We try to go at least once a week. More often in the Winter when we're inside reading a lot more. This trip we only brought home about 17 books. That may sound like a lot but when you have two readers and two read to me's...well, it doesn't seem like a lot then.

Another Zoo Trip

Julianna and I took all the kids to the zoo last Friday. I think everyones favorite part was the aquarium. I wish I could show pictures of Juliannas foster son. He LOVES fish! And sharks. Well, basically anything that swims. The look on his face when he saw the sharks and fish swimming by was SO cute. He got so excited he started dancing/stomping in place. After we saw everything downstairs we took the kids upstairs to see above the aquarium. J.D. leaned against
the rail with his arms spread wide open and kept telling the fish "Hug! Hug!"

I took the kids to the Zoo last Thursday. They have a play/discovery area that was a lot of fun. The kids got to dress up like veterinarians and work on a (fake) lizard.

To The Beach We Go!!

We are heading to the coast this weekend. Yippee! There is a warning on weatherbug that says we are going to be having excessive heat this weekend. So its a good time to hit the beach.

Devon wants me to post this picture for her. It was taken last week at the Dr's office when she got TWO shots. (Emphasis for her) She also wants me to mention (again) that she DID NOT cry. She did however dislocate several bones in my left hand.

Here are some pictures from our hike yesterday. We went to Schaefer park and hiked around the river. I got bit by a million mosquitos. No one else did though. Lucky me.
After we got home the girls decided to take Michael to see 'Over the Hedge.' My girls came home with the new skill of burping the alphabet.
Today Michaels parents are coming over for a Fathers Day barbeque. Since I haven't taken a shower or planned anything to eat I am going to say good bye now. I need to get my rear in gear and get some stuff done.