Get Ready, Get Set...

Friday's slip read...

"Get ready, get set, because we're gonna dash-

    We are going to the park to SPLASH!"

Friday morning, we got our swimsuits on, lathered up with sunscreen,

and headed to the splash grounds located in a park near uptown.

 I cannot believe in all the years we've lived here that I've NEVER taken the kids to visit this park.

 It was BEAUTIFUL, with lots of shade, a great playground, and THE perfect places for picnicking.

Not to mention the AWESOME splash grounds that were there too!

My kids had a blast jumping, climbing, and sliding on the playground!

 After they were nice a sweaty from all that running around,

we headed over to the splash grounds to cool off.

This is where the REAL fun began.

 Oh.My.Goodness did they have a BLAST!!

The babies loved it,

and I think my big boys had fun too;)

After all that playing they did, they worked up quite the appetite. 

We found a nice shady spot, laid out our blanket, and enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch!

After lunch, it was back to the pad for a little more water fun before calling it a day!

A SPLASHIN' good time was had by all;)

 

A Pinkalicious day and a Hunt...

Thursday's slip read...

"We're celebrating in special kind-of way. 
Today is National Pink Day!  

We'll wear pink as we explore nature outside,
No animals will come home though--dead OR alive! 

 I decided to wake everyone up a little earlier than usual.

Since being on summer break, my big boys are sleeping in later and later each day. A total blessing-YES, but if we want to get outside and enjoy any other activity besides the pool-than we have do it early because of the heat.

So, after reading the slip of the day, I told the kids to get dressed in their PINK (or closest-color-to-pink- clothes-they-had) and head down stairs for breakfast.

Waiting on the table for them was their bowl of PINK oatmeal,

toast with strawberry jam,
yogurt,

fresh strawberries,

and to wash it down---a glass of PINK milk!

They enjoyed their PINK breakfast,


but were bursting at the seams to get outside for our...  
Scavenger Hunt Adventure!

I gave them the list of things they had to find and before we were even off the driveway, they were already collecting items!

We slowly made our way down to the nature trail in our neighborhood, because we stopped several times to look and collect many things along the way.

The kids loved gathering items and were quickly marking things of the list.

I had a list of about 30 items for them to find.

One of my favorite things they had to search for was
something that begins with the first letter of their name.

Corban caught a Caterpillar

Riley found a big Rock

Sophie stood on a Stump

And sweet Hudson found some Honeysuckle

After crossing off most of the items on our list, our scavenger hunt adventure came to an end.


We headed home (after a nearly two hour hunt) with our bags full of some really neat finds.
And just so you know, NO animals (well except the kids) came home with us;)

 When Shane got home from work, we continued our little PINK day celebration. We had a Spaghetti dinner (which is kind-of pink), spinach salad drizzled with PINK ranch dressing, and bread with PINK butter.
And for dessert...Shane made us his delicious strawberry PINK smoothies!

I have to add this picture too!
Even though my sweet husband was at work all day, he still managed to get in on our PINK action too!

 I took this picture of him wearing his PINK shirt (with Molly--in her bright PINK collar) right before he headed out the door for work Thursday morning.

It was a PERFECTLY PINK day-indeed!

Quirky Holidays

A few days ago, I went online and printed off a list of fun and quirky holidays that will fall in June, July, and August. The list really helped me be creative and come up with unique and fun things to with my kids all summer long. I was really surprised to see that there was something to "celebrate" almost every single day of the summer. Some "holidays" listed are much more exciting than others, but even on those less than exciting ones, we can still observe it in some form or another. National Insurance Day doesn't sound like very much fun for us-lol, BUT National Swim a Lap Day, or National Pink Day, or even National Hug Day--we can work with;)

Yesterday, believe it or not, was National Chocolate Eclair Day!

How fun is THAT-right?!?!?

Now, this is a holiday we most definitely wanted to observe;)

Chocolate Eclair is our family's most favorite dessert!!!

Our slip read..."Celebrate National Chocolate Eclair Day AND

also make a list of EVERYTHING that you are thankful for today."

The first part definitely excited the kids a little more than the second though-lol!

Right away, we rolled up our sleeves and got busy in the kitchen making our eclair.

The kids are always so excited to help me bake.

And since all of our cousins came over and went swimming with us today,


 we got to share our sweet treat with them


by the pool.

So later in the day, when we sat down to write out what we were most thankful for,
I wrote...

My sweet kids, their sweet cousins, and time to enjoy a sweet treat with them both!

Happy Chocolate Eclair Day-y'all;)

Celebrating Summer Solstice

Today was summer solstice, which means it’s the longest day of the year. It also marks the first official day of summer! Even though we've been enjoying summer break for a few weeks now, I still thought it would be fun to celebrate the official beginning of summer!

The boys helped me make this "Cool Summer Chart" yesterday afternoon.

 

Each number has a fun activity tucked inside. Every morning when the kids wake up, they will take turns pulling out the slips of paper and discover what our fun activity will be for that day.  Today we opened day one--since today is officially day one of summer!!

Today's slip read..."Celebrate Summer Solstice"

And this is how we celebrated...

Sophie was the first one up this morning, so she helped me make everyone a "Sunny Day Breakfast"!

Sunshine pancakes, fruit, turkey bacon, and eggs--cooked sunny side up--of course, were on the menu.

 After breakfast, we beat the heat by heading to the Y pool with our good friends. 

We enjoyed several hours of fun in the sun before heading home for naps! 

While the babies napped, the boys and I got busy in the kitchen.

They helped me make strawberry shortcake, which we planned to enjoy later in the evening. 

Nothing says summer like homemade shortcake

topped with cool whip and fresh strawberries-right;)

While our cake was baking in the oven...

 the kids had fun making a tissue paper stain glass window. 

 

 

 We hung them in the window

and the kids loved how pretty they looked as the sun shone through. 

 And because we were celebrating the L-O-N-G-E-S-T day of the year,

we decided to head outside again after dinner,

and enjoy some time at our neighborhood park. 

After getting nice and sweaty from playing at park, 

we walked home and everyone jumped right in the tub!

 

We got in our cozy pj's and ended our summer fun day by indulging in our strawberry shortcake!

 Happy Summer Solstice Everyone!