Daycare is a happening place during the summer! Something is going on every second of every day. Week #3 of summer was no exception, even a tad crazier than usual. Elizabeth had a week of dance rehearsals before the big recital, which created a few scheduling headaches for me. Thankfully, I have two of the best helpers for my daycare and I was able to get everything done I needed to AND was even able to leave to attend Elizabeth's tech rehearsal.
Mostly the week was filled with our states activities (we had several memorable ones), some hot, hot weather that resulted in a lot of sprinkler and pool time (and a torn up backyard to go along with all of it) and movies in the afternoon.
Here's some of the highlights from the week:
"Alligator wrestling" for our Florida day was one of the kid's favorite things! One child was terrified by the stuffed alligator, a few kids were worried about hurting the alligator, and everyone else acted insane with it. I had to hide the alligator so no one injured themselves trying to wrestle it after the activity.
All dressed up and ready to go for spacing rehearsal at the Civic Center. Even with the insane week and all of the time spent getting costumes on, make up perfect, and hair curled, by the end of it she was still smiling and telling us she can't wait for "dance week next year!" Meanwhile, mom and dad were/are exhausted from it.
I spent a lot of time in this office in the evenings, but during the day it's used as a nap room for the littles. I sat in there one afternoon while they fell asleep writing schedules and doing book work and noticed I had more clothes in a pile on the floor than I did hanging up in the closet.
For Hawaii the kids spent the day in grass skirts and leis, drinking out of luau cups. The toughest part of the day happened when two kids were dancing silly "like hula dancers" and Max (my oldest) claimed they were being racist for making fun of hula dancers. "What does racist mean?" several of the kids asked. That was a super fun discussion to have with everyone.
It took three days, but a few of the kids created their own game to play. It was super complicated and they fought when they attempted to play it because they had a disagreement about the rules, but it kept them busy for three whole days. Can't beat that!
Baked potatoes for Idaho. I found some things out very quickly as soon as our baked potato bar began: 1.) Not a lot of kids love potatoes, but..... 2.) They LOVE toppings! I was actually impressed with what they tried and ate. One of our "things" this summer is to offer toppings with lunches once per week. It's so odd, but I honestly don't think the kids would otherwise willingly eat some of the food combos they have. One of their new fave toppings to include (on pretty much everything) are black beans, jalapenos, salsa, and banana peppers.
Our lemonade stand didn't get as many customers as we did when we were in the old house. The kids were soooo excited that I agreed to a lemonade stand this year (I didn't last year, for the reason stated). We posted signs around the neighborhood, agreed on who we would be donating the lemonade money to ("the baby animals at the Blank Park Zoo" won out), and the kids practiced their selling speeches on each other (starting with pleases, thank you's, and ending with an up sale of suckers with the lemonade). They got a total of two costumers. But....I told them we could do throughout the summer at different times of the day to see if we can drum up some more business.
Rainy days are perfect for building with the waffle blocks. This was the only moment from the day where they agreed on what to build with the blocks.
I was kind of at a loss as to what to do for Illinois but settled on Chicago style pizza for lunch. It was a good choice.
Because of my two AWESOME helpers I was able to attend Elizabeth's tech rehearsal. It was so much fun to see her performing.
We got done early with rehearsals and treated Lil Miss E to dinner at Fong's. The boys were with grandparents so we got some extra special one on one time with our dancing queen.
And that next morning we were up bright and early shucking corn (to eat with lunch) and having Cozy Coupe races. Both were equally fun.
Iowa = shucking corn. Indiana = car races, daycare style.
Fudgesicles before swimming.
Father's Day presents included a hat card and a hat colored with Fabric markers. Most of the kids thought the hats were for them!
The giant checker board kept the boys busy for an afternoon.
It's considered a big controversy here when they kids spot a deer chomping away "on one of our climbing trees! Oh my goodness!"
My favorite thing this summer continues to be the kid's love for each other. I'm amazed at the friendships that have developed and how it can feel like hardly any time has passed while knowing that it has. My second favorite thing is how much they love our states theme! I picked a good one for our summer fun!
