We mixed in a lot of crafts with our worksheets for summer school this year. You can only do worksheets so many times before the kids stage a rebellion! (They actually love doing the worksheets we have and have been known to ask for more once they finish. Amazing!)
Our first craft was making dream catchers with "fuzzy sticks" and yarn. I gave the kids free reign on this and said be creative. Boy, did they listen!
Abby had so much fun that she asked if she could do extra credit. How does she even know what that is?! You don't need extra credit in kinder. Too smart, that one.
The final products were more than I could have imagined. I love that the kids had fun working with their hands to create something all of their own.
Maggie told me she was cold. Seriously?! It's crazy hot and you're cold? Okay, go snuggle under a blanket. I turn around to find her snuggling under our rug.
I guess that works?
We made conducting batons! We wrapped dowels in yarn and glued fun things on top. Abigail got to be a pro with the hot glue gun (with me helping her the entire time...I mean, I can't even finish a project without burning my fingers at least once...) and Zeb enjoyed pairing our toppers with different yarn options.
Fun project and even more fun with the completed batons!
We celebrated July 4th at our city party this year! It was so much fun to meet up with friends, enjoy live music, running around at the park, food trucks, and fireworks!
A daughter of one of our friends was doing face painting for the other kids. She would try to paint anything they came up with...and did a fantastic job!
I've never seen Maggie sit so still in my life. I honestly thought she had fallen asleep.
Elizabeth had a blast going around to steal the snacks of anyone who was foolish enough to leave them sitting on the blankets.
Abigail danced the night away. Literally. She and a few friends hardly left the dancing area all night. They danced through 2 bands and didn't want to stop...not even for the fireworks to start.
We had so much fun and can hardly wait to do it again!
We celebrated the 4th of July for a second time going down to the fireworks show with cousins.
Bryan made an impulse purchase one day...a table and chairs for the kids. Best impulse buy ever! The table is perfect for anything and everything that we do that requires sitting.
Lizzie thinks this will get her out of the highchair. That has yet to be determined. She just can't wait to be one of the big kids.
Just some good old fun in Mom and Dad's room. Dancing and more dancing the day away.
"Mom, take our picture!" Well, if you insist.
We went to the playschool activity at our clubhouse in July. The kids all got to decorate a birdhouse. Super fun. Except for the fact that they ran out of birdhouses, so anyone that wasn't there right when it started didn't get one. They pulled out some bendy hats and stickers to have something for everyone. Lesson learned. Be on time!
Good way to kill some time before the pool opened for the day.
This picture could be used to describe the majority of our days in the summer. Lounging at the pool with friends.
What better way to stay cool than to just jump in?!
The kids came with me to mutual one night (I was asked to teach the YW how to read music, conduct music, sing, and learn a song all in one night...let's just say we covered the basics and had fun playing around with our new batons!) and Elizabeth really enjoyed the treats at the end.
This is what it looks like when you give a 1-year old a chocolate chip cookie for the ride home. Hahaha! Although, to be fair, she would have looked the same whether or not the cookie was eaten on the ride home or with her sitting on my lap. She just really enjoys her food to the fullest.
We did some string art for summer school! Great way to work on our sight-to-finger coordination. Design skills were also utilized. The kids each got to pick out a wooden plaque and choose a design to put on it.
I love doing activities that can stick around for a while. And the kids loved doing an activity with so much freedom.
I love the results!
Maggie chose to make an "M" for Maggie. Fun color choices! Zeb is all about animals right now. His favorite thing to do is combine two animals to make a new species. We were having trouble getting the picture just right, so he decided to make both a whale and a rhino (instead of his first choice of a whaleroceros - his perfect combination of a whale and a rhino). Love his creativity! Abby wanted Lizzie to have matching lips, so we did all shades of red and pink for Abby and purple for Liz.
Abigail got a little impatient while waiting to go to the pool one morning, so she decided to have a fashion show. Enter one cute little girl that can't stay out of Mom's closet!
Too cute to get in trouble!
We finally made it to Bryan's work for lunch! The original plan was to go right after school got out, but our trip to Mexico pushed it back, then we kept getting distracted. Nothing like waiting until the week before school starts to accomplish our goal!
We love seeing Daddy any chance we get!
All set for the beach!
We told the kids to get ready early one morning...and this is what Maggie came up with. Love it. Love her. Children really bring us so much joy! Great way to pass the summer break.
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