Summer Midpoint 2015

I can't even stop laughing at this.

Summer has been busy, and I had this plan to do lots of blogging.  You know,  because the kids would be home, quietly playing while I had tons of time to write witty things, and take lots of photos.  HAHAHAHAHA!  I love them home, but I have heard "MOM" about every 11 seconds since summer started.  We have been doing lots of fun things, though.  

Lots of Jumping.  We lucked out and showed up on half price day!

This contraption at the County Fair.  Scared at first, and then THRILLED.

Tate's opinion of the County Fair.
Too much mud, too many animals, loud midway... not his cup of tea. 

Instead of a party, Tate wanted to have a few friends over to play, and then to go out for frozen yogurt.  This turned into a little adventure, when the first fro-yo place was OUT of vanilla yogurt (the only flavor Tate eats.)  It was pretty fun to bring a van full of excited boys to downtown East Lansing,  as we were on the search for vanilla.  AND THEN THE SECOND PLACE WAS OUT, TOO!  The college kid behind the counter felt sorry for me, when she saw the desperation in my eyes, and said, "Hold on a second, let me see what I can do."  She restarted the machine (while I silently prayed), and then it worked!  And she gave me a free yogurt at the end, since again, she felt sorry for me!

Cat sitting and Dog sitting

A lot of this.  

Summer 2015 has started!!

I love summer!!
I am very happy to have my kiddos home, and we have a list of things we want to do.  I have mentioned before that I theme out my weeks.  The first week, however, is for just chilling.  In fact, yesterday was our official "Couch Potato Day".  I let them watch tv/play games most of the day.  (Full disclosure: They were fighting by 9:00a...)

We have limited screen time, and I believe in it for a variety of reasons.  But I also believe in "treats".

 Sidenote:  Have any of you read Sarah Silveman's Bedwetter Book?  She writes a whole section on "treats" and having something to look forward to, and how if you have them all the time, they are no longer treats.  I love her!

The kids didn't even complain when I had to go to the grocery store, since we had a very empty refrigerator.

Here are some of the other things we have been up to:

Soleil's Chocolate Making Kit

My official Taster

Inspired by: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3_dV-e4d9c

The ones we made for Uncle Mikey!

Geocaching at the MSU Children's Garden

MSU Dairy Store for Ice Cream.  A Summer requirement!

Planning for Summer 2015

I am sooo excited!! I don't have to move this summer!! I have been planning for all of the fun things to do around here, and I started by theming the weeks to get us started.

I just picked themes that I thought the kids would like, and wrote them in my calendar on the first day of the week.  From there, my eyes were open for anything and everything that relates.

Week 1 is ANIMAL WEEK.  I went through all of our books and toys and pulled out anything that would relate.  Then, I have some craft kits put away and pulled out that related.  I added animal related activities to the list (zoo, pet store, MSU animal farms), and lastly went to the Pinterest, of course!!

Additions:

• Sand table, filled with toy animals and colored sand.
• Printes out mazes and puzzles that are animal themed for Tate.  
• ALLLLLL of their stuffed animals used to decorate the living room the Monday of the week with them.  (I think even Tate will get a kick out of this.) 
• Stickers in my stash that are animals.

And then I had to hide it all so they don't see it before the week, because that is part of the fun!  (It is all stuffed into the bottom basket.)

Our other themed weeks are:
BEACH WEEK, TRAINS & PLANES WEEK,  SPY WEEK (always a favorite), SCIENCE WEEK, GAMES & PUZZLES WEEK

The other thing that I do, is pick a Library day (Monday)and a Park Day (Thursdays), and put them on the calendar.  Now, we don't follow everything on the calendar, we just use it as a guideline.  We may not do a single thing listed, OR change entirely for the day because someone has asked us to do something.  The plan and the calendar just helps us look forward to things, plan with other folks, and to help avoid the dreaded "Mom! Can I have screen time!"

I would love to hear about your summer plans.

Preschool Activities #Obsessed

"Mom! Please play with me!!"  We play together all the time, but sometimes... Mama needs a moment.  I set up little activities for Tate all the time when he was little, but that was 5 years ago.  I have forgotten what they were!  For this reason, I went to the almighty Pinterest for inspiration.

I fell down the "Kids Activities" "Busy Boxes" "Quiet Time Activities" worm hole on the Pinterest, and became obsessed.  Most of the stuff for these activities, I already had on hand (but that was after I convinced myself that I didn't need every sensory bin pictured!)   This is a good way to clean out your kid craft stuff, while presenting it in a new way.  We also made a few activities to share with Soleil's friend.  

Beads and Pipe Cleaners

Kinetic Sand+Table Cloth+Sand Table

Homemade Playdough (SOOOO Many recipes online!)

**In case you were wondering, homemade playdoh will turn totally to mold if you leave it sealed in a rubbermaid container for a few weeks.  Don't put it on a bookshelf and forget about it like I did!

Travel Sticker Kit inspired by THIS POST

This was a travel hit!

Fairy Garden using most things found in the yard.

Melissa and Doug reusable Stickers

Other activities include:

Mandala using little bits of fabric and yardstick cut into pieces.

PlayMais

Beads+Pipecleaners labelled with numbers

Tiny Clay Kit

We went to Meijers today (kind of like a Walmart, but better) and found a few things that would be fun.  I like when the activities are surprises, so I took photos of things to get on a visit when the kiddos were not with me.

These are pool LED lights that float.  These would be fun in the tub or in a water table.  These were only 2.99, and you can also wait for them to go on sale at the end of the season.  The animals below are the also floating LED lights.

 I saw a tutorial for turning a baby pool into a ball pit, and for turning into a giant Easter Nest using paper bags.  I won't have time before Easter, but maybe I'll do it over the summer during Animal Week.

 And you can't go wrong with some of the Melissa & Doug activity books.   These are a few that Soleil does not have.  They have them at Michaels craft store as well.

Is it only the FIRST week of Summer?

We have been sooo busy and done so many fun things, that it definitely feels like Summer.  I am thrilled to have both kids home, and it is a great distraction from the fact that the moving truck comes in TWO DAYS.

Swimming in the cold water hot tub.  

(Tate came up with the idea and it has been used daily in the 95F heat!)

Girls Night Out with Roxanne.
We had dessert at the local Dessert Bar, and then we wandered around Rite Aid,
trying on nail polish like we were 14 years old spending our babysitting money.  

It was awesome.

Artisans Bakery; Portsmouth, VA
Yes, you have to drive through the tunnel to get there, but worth the trip.
It is only open during the week between 11-3, but they have REAL baguettes.  

 Children's Museum; Portsmouth, VA

When you make a summer rule of no screen time until after 4pm, no one even asks for it.  

Instead, they create their own library.  I can't believe how many hours they have played with this!  

 VA Aquarium; Virginia Beach, VA  

 He would stay at the sting ray tank the entire trip if I let him.

 We had a lovely surprise from one of the giant turtles.

 In the fairy garden under the Adventure park at the VA Aquarium.

Chesapeake Bay; Norfolk, VA

 We were so lucky to have our dear friends, The Miravites, come for a quick visit before our move.  

 Busch Gardens; Williamsburg, VA

Schwartz Summer Camp: Super Spy Week

As I do for any themed weeks, I go through the kids' stuff and pull out anything that relates.  You would be amazed at all the stuff I was able to find!  The only thing I bought was the Spy Master Book.  Everything else was sourced from toy boxes, office supplies I had, and the library.  (I also ordered a copy of the movie Spy Kids, which we received at the end of the week.) 

 The kids woke up to this, and they played for a good chunk of time.  I later found codes like these all over the house.

 On Tate's birthday, I gave the kids this:

I created a treasure hunt/spy mission with each clue paired with a puzzle activity.  (I had one for each kid that was age appropriate.)  Some of the activities were Tangoes, Hidden Pictures that I found online, Memory game (only a few cards to solve), message written in code from one of Tate's code books, fingerprinting, simple matching game with foam shapes.  The kids loved it, though Tate just wanted the clues, and was willing to do the activity afterwards.  At the end, I had his birthday presents hidden as the treasure.
(My parents did this for me once, and there was bubble gum ice cream at the end, hidden in the grill.  I still remember it fondly!)