Monday, June 13, 2016

Week In Review: June 6 - June 10

What a busy week it was! We had lots of activities, themes, and parties, plenty of outside time, and lots of time spent in the kiddie pools. Everyone seems to be adapting to the summer schedule nicely (even me!) and our new normal (at least for the summer) has been found. I have to give a shout out to my two helpers for the summer and to the big kids at daycare. My two helpers are just awesome with the kiddos and makes things much easier on me...I even got loads of laundry done in the middle of the day! The big kids have been given numerous tasks and responsibilities throughout the day and they've done such an awesome job that they too are a huge help to me. Not only have they been doing "study time" for a bit each day without complaints, but they've been tasked with helping to get the activity ready for the next day. This means making sure the backyard/living room are set up how we'll need them, pools or anything else we'll be using are cleaned out, and the current day's activity is cleaned up and put away. They've done a great job of handling their new responsibilities. Not only is it a huge help to me (it frees up my evenings considerably when I can get just a few things done during the days) but the kids enjoy helping with each activity and proudly show it to the younger kids the next day.

Here's a quick look at our week:


We began the week with a Sea Animals Day. Read more about it here.


The big kids played the Pie Face Game during nap times (for the littles). They weren't too sure about the game at first, but once they tasted the whipped cream, they played the game for quite a while.


Tuesday was Elizabeth's 4th birthday. We celebrated with dollhouses and Barbie's on the patio (that is still decorated with the sidewalk paint), cake, and presents. Read more about her day here.



The kids were distraught when the cat helped himself to Barbie's pool water.


Hot afternoons and napping littles make it the perfect time to watch a movie and read books. The kids were thrilled to watch Zootopia.



Wednesday we had a Frozen Hot Chocolate Party in the backyard, complete with a chocolate pool to swim in afterwards. Read more about the party here.


We had the kiddie pools out a lot! The pile of swimming suites was a bit insane!


I enjoy the motto "work hard, play harder." After a busy day with kids, I rewarded myself with a trip to the Blank Park Zoo for Zoo Brew (and a grilled cheese from their concession stand). Hubs and I also tried Iowa Taproom for the first time since it opened. We tried a few new beers (all made in Iowa) and were surprised by their great selection of beers.



Little Lego's were brought out later in the week and kept the bigger kids (especially all of the boys) entertained for hours. They made some really neat things!


The toys bought with the lemonade stand money were finally delivered. The kids got new horse figurines, a T-Rex body, and some new books.


The nicest water balloon fight I've ever seen. I think I scared the big kids when I warned them about being gentle since they were doing the balloon fight with younger kids (I went into how they could hurt them if they threw too hard or at faces). It was like everything was moving in slow motion...and they wouldn't throw the balloon directly at each other, only the ground. At least I know they listened and took me seriously! By the way, definitely get the easy to fill water balloons. 300+ water balloons were filled in five minutes.


I call this backyard living: the kids running around, sitting in kiddie pools, and me on the patio with a Starbucks drink. It is heaven (despite the humidity that has found it's way into our summer already).


The kids were trying to make their own "water shooter, canyon thing" and they wound up squirting themselves in the eyes. Every. Single. Time.


When the afternoons get too hot, I don't allow the kids outside. Despite having many activities for them to do, they created their own fun: Harrison was on the top bunk throwing a ball, Max had a light saber (with a pool noodle on the end to make it extra long apparently), and then kids were on the ground. From my understanding, Harrison threw the ball down to Max, who was to try to hit the ball into the ceiling fan, which was then suppose to spin the ball around the room and the other kids were to catch the ball before it hit the ground "too many times." I'm pleased to report no one was injured and on ceiling fan broken while the game was in progress.


We ended our busy week with the baseball slip n slide. We actually didn't play much baseball with it; the kids ran around it and played tag or they had races to see who could slide around the whole thing the fastest on their belly.



The caterpillars became butterflies and we released them so we could avoid witnessing them die this year. The kids named the butterflies as they flew out. Two of the butterflies were shy about leaving their enclosure, so the kids did a marching chant around the enclosure to try to get the butterflies to leave. 


We've got lots planned for the upcoming week at daycare: bug catching, Play Doh, more Lego building, some fun crafts, Zoo Day, Slime Day, and more!