Swimming and Father's Day!

Week 55:  It was a hot one here in LA!  I broke down and got a pool again this summer - but this time we had a minor "factor" to consider when choosing the pool...

Princess! 
Since she likes to eat all things (this week alone, she ate lots of toys, a library book, and a bean bag chair, and MY piece of steak-a filet), we had to go for the bigger and better approach - the one thing that I swore I would never buy, a metal framed above ground pool - just for the pure pain of it.  Yes, it was a pain to put together and the upkeep is a constant struggle (just not what I expected), but the kids love it and that is what matters the most!

 

 They are able to swim almost every day, when we aren't having crazy rain storms.  It has already been a lifesaver and a great way to cool off in this crazy heat!  The best part is that Princess hasn't figured out how to eat it yet or how to get in!

The beginning of the week was spent in the pool, as you can tell - we did have rain storms every afternoon.  Thursday the kids and I headed out to church for my bible study and to run a few errands.  We made a "quick" stop at the library, which was more like 1 1/2 hours...and then this is what we came home to.  Now, we had not been in any more than a drizzle the whole morning, but as we got closer to our neighborhood I began to notice the yards on either side of the road looked more like large ponds, and then the water retention ponds at the front of the neighborhood were full...this should have tipped me off that something wasn't right.  Pulling down our street this is what I saw.  This is taken from our driveway - it didn't come up too far into the yard, but this was almost an hour after the storm, which I later found out was quarter sized hail, massive rains, and lots of wind... 

 As we floated into the driveway, I started to think about that wonderful new pool in the backyard.  The kids ran through the house and started to scream - the pool was still standing (just VERY full) and the trampoline was still there, so that was all great news!  We had some minor damage, but nothing that can't be fixed, that must have been some storm!  We quickly drained the pool and got to work putting things back together!

We had another fun day on Friday at the barn.  MV rode Cayenne again and did and excellent job - the horses were just slightly frightened by the massive storms that came through the area so we had to cut the lessons a little short!  Saturday brought a much needed day of rest and prep time for Father's Day!  (We had too much fun getting ready for the big day!)

Happy Father's Day!
Sunday morning we were ready to celebrate!  After a quick lunch, the kids were ready to give Ed his cake...talk about a sugar rush.  Who wouldn't love a cake topped with Kit Kats and Reese Pieces. (The cake was so sweet that we gave most of it away to the neighbors!)

The kids also wanted to make this card that I found.  I think we had the most fun searching for all of the candy at the store! (Another cute idea from Pinterest!)

 After all of the candy...it was time for a swim!  Ed and the kids played in the pool most of the afternoon while I sat by and read my book and waited for photo ops!

Yet another fun-filled week and we can't wait for the rest of the summer!

Splash Pad and Snowballs!

Week 54:  We are having more alphabet fun!  Ed accidentally left for work on Monday with both of our car seats...so Monday was a stay at home and relax kind of day!  We were able to get an early start on our E-day activities!  We made Edible Bracelets with twizzlers and fruit loops, we made Bouncy Eggs and then we made a Diet Coke Eruption!

The kids put their eggs in vinegar which ate away the hard shell.  We were left we a soft egg, which looks a lot like a bouncy ball - let me make this very clear, it is not like a bouncy ball!  We had egg everywhere!  Still, it was a very neat experiment and the kids loved watching the eggs fizz!

 Tuesday was such a HOT day!  We decided to beat the heat at the Splash Pad!  The kids love the water and the playground.  To be honest, we didn't last that long - it is hard to play when the slide burns your bottom through your clothes!  Even with burning bottoms, we had fun.

 After a fun morning in the sun and water, we had lunch at Chick-fil-a, ran a few errands, and then it was time for Snow Balls (or new favorite treats)!

 Wednesday we tried a recipe that we found on Pinterest, Pancake Muffins!  The kids loved making their own breakfast and they actually tasted really good!  I didn't have to ask them to eat their breakfast over and over again...a win-win situation! (Maybe they could make their own breakfast every morning???)

Then it was time for swimming at our friend Mrs. Olivia's house.  I wish I had taken pictures, but we were having too much fun in the pool!  The kids love her little boy Jack - John Bay doesn't know what to do with someone younger than him, he is used to being the youngest.  While swimming, they ate popsicles in the pool - this is their new favorite swimming activity!  Who doesn't love to swim and to eat popsicles...and why not do it at the same time, where there is no mess!  After a much needed afternoon rest, we worked on our F-Day activities!  We made Fingerprint hearts out of clay and some yummy fudgy buttons for snack!  I need to put that recipe away for later - what a perfect mix of chocolate and peanut butter!  One other F-Day activity we tried was making a flag out of our footprints!  We are using this as part of a Father's Day surprise for Ed and for the Forth of July (don't you love how I tied all of those F's in!)  We were a little slow to finish F-day activities and we are still trying to finish all of the activities...I guess I will have to work them in later...maybe a review day?

Thursday brought on a much needed day of Bible Study and lunch with friends.  I know I have mentioned it before, but I LOVE the study we are doing on "Resolution for Women".  It is amazing and I am having a great time getting to know some wonderful women!  We topped off the morning with lunch and then the kids begged for more snow cones...who was I to say no!

We finished out the week with G-day activities.  Friday we worked on making God's Eyes (they were not really old enough to do this yet, atleast not if you want them to look right), we decorated flower pots so that we could grow grass, and we made gramwich snacks!  The gramwiches were a hit - graham crackers with cookie dough ice cream!  The grass growing will be a hit - when it starts growing...and then it was time for horseback!  Too bad I couldn't tie in H-day!  MV did excellent as always.  She rode Bailey again, and according to Miss Arial, this was her best lesson ever!  She is working on her 2-point and as soon as she can hold it around the whole arena, she may start to canter...not sure I like that part.  Maybe she can canter on Bailey (which is just a normal trot for most horses, Bailey is a little slow)!

We had such a fun weekend - we had friends come up to cookout on Saturday.  The kids played in the yard and jumped on the trampoline so that the "grown-ups" could visit and play with Baby Turner!  Both kids crashed hard after everyone left, I wish we could do that every weekend!  On Sunday, we worked on the much needed backyard project of the fence!  If you have forgotten, our fence falls every time the wind blows.  The realtors (or homeowners) never want to fix it and don't like to return phone calls...anyway, they finally agreed (after lots of begging) to let us take a little off the rent to buy the supplies to fix the fence - but we have to fix it ourselves.  I must say, Ed and Mr. Walter did an outstanding job!  Phase 1 is complete and I can't wait to see rest of the fence (next weekend)! 

Not too bad for a few hours work on a Sunday afternoon (and free labor)!

Girl Scouts - End of the Year Party!

Week 53:  Summer Fun!  We are getting the hang of summer...the kids are still working on their alphabet weeks and we are so excited to have lots of projects to work on.

During the first part of the week, we had C-Day!  We made button caterpillars with pipe cleaners and buttons, had a science experiment with celery and food coloring, made soap clouds out of ivory soap, and caterpillar kabobs!  The button caterpillars were a little difficult for John Bay, but he had fun and they are still playing with their caterpillar creations!  We loved watching the celery change colors - they thought the green food coloring was the most fun because of how unusually green it made the celery.  Besides the yummy caterpillar kabobs with grapes and chocolate chips, the kids loved making the soap clouds best!  They wanted to do it over and over - who doesn't love putting soap in the microwave and making it GROW!

 We also laid on the trampoline and played Crack the Egg!  Mary Virginia and I played another game (John Bay wasn't interested) - we watched the clouds and figured out their shapes! 

 And then it was time for our last C-day activity, a color scavenger hunt!  This was one of the most fun outside activities we have done!  We made a chart with circles of all the colors and then we road bikes around the neighborhood trying to find all of the colors!  It was a hot Louisiana day, but we had a blast and got some exercise!

In typical Louisiana fashion, we had a tornado warning!  So, we grabbed our pillows, our projects, snacks, and the dogs and we hunkered down in the bathroom!  It wasn't too bad and of course, we made it fun!  The kids are still getting used to not having a basement for when we have storms and they are still working on understanding tornadoes!

Once we were out of our tornado shelter - it was time for D-Day!  With the weather situation, we had an abbreviated D-Day...we made Dinosaur Eggs, played with Dinosaur Capsules, and made Dinosaur Nests for a snack.  The kids had fun making the dinosaur eggs - it was like making pinatas - the kids especially liked popping the balloons once all the glue dried!  The dinosaur nests were yummy as is anything with chocolate and popcorn!  The kids were amazed watching the dinosaur magic capsules grow and then making a dinosaur scene with their creatures!  (We missed out on our Shape Detective Scavenger Hunt, but maybe we can make that up when the weather is better around here!)

 Friday brought beautiful weather and some time at the barn for horseback lessons.  MV is getting better and better with her riding and all of her preparations.  She has a new riding instructor, Arial, who has made it clear that MV needs to be doing all of the grooming and prep work for her lessons...and as soon as she is able to do it alone, she can come early to get her horse ready so that she has the full hour to ride!  She is so excited and working so hard! Here is a little clip of her at work!

 Saturday, JB and Ed had a "man day", they went to Home Depot for wood for our new fence and then to Bass Pro for some new crocs! What little boy doesn't want some Real Tree Crocs!

 Mary Virginia and I went to her End of the Year Girl Scout Party!  They had a few bounce houses and the girls all had so much fun!  We have had a great time getting to know the girls and their families and we can't wait until next year for more fun with Girl Scouts! 

I am not sure what next week may bring, but I can only hope that we have as much fun playing and enjoying the summer as we had this week!