We've Been Busy...Having Fun!

     More progress has been made on our Summer Fun List! First off, I found a basic recipe in a magazine for funnel cakes, but this recipe is almost identical to the one I used. I can't believe how incredibly easy they are to make, and SO DELICIOUS!!  My kids actually said they were better than the ones at the fair :)

     Since we didn't get enough of a sugar high from the funnel cakes, we also made S'More Cones last week. (Not the same day - that would be insane!)  We used waffle cones, stuffed them with mini marshmallows, chocolate chunks, sprinkles, white chocolate chips, and mini peanut butter cups. You can really put anything in there you want, that's the beauty of these!  Then we wrapped the whole thing in foil and put them in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes.  We would have done these on the grill or over the fire pit, but it was storming outside the day we made them.  They still turned out AMAZING and were so much less messy than s'mores.  We will definitely be making these again soon.

     After all that sugar, we needed an activity to get us out and moving.  Unfortunately, it was raining that day, so we chose bowling off our list.  We signed our kids up for the Kid's Bowl Free program at our local bowling alley, and the professor and I purchased the parent pass when it was offered at a 20% discount. This was a really fun activity for all of us, but by the end of the second game Peanut was getting a little tired of bowling.  The rest of us took turns finishing out her game and of course, she beat us all.

     Another activity we completed on our list was feeding some ducks. When we first got out at the lake all that was around were these nasty, mean geese.  Then, from way across the lake we saw all these ducks jump into the water and start making their way across to us.  Once the ducks got over to us, the kids had fun feeding them bread while I tried to distract the geese.  The geese were so mean and aggressive, hissing at us and getting a little too close for comfort when they wanted more bread.  When we were all out of bread, I told the kids to make a run for it to the van.  I was seriously afraid of being attacked by these hissing geese.  We made it safely to the van with no injuries, but needless to say, feeding ducks is no longer an activity I think of as fun (at least not when there are geese around).

     We were also able to check off Make Slime, but I forgot to get a picture of it.  We used this recipe for our slime and it turned out great.  

     We also checked off Watch Movies All Day. This was meant to be done on a rainy day, but we had a string of days in the high 90's, so after a few days of the kids playing outside in the heat, I thought they needed a break and so I allowed them to watch movies instead.  As I sit here looking at my board with 18 more things on it I'm beginning to think I may have been a little ambitious when I made our list. We may not get them all done, but we're sure having fun trying :)

New Parks and Trying to Stay Cool

     A friend was just telling me about a great new park that was put in recently in our area.  We haven't had a chance to go yet, so when I saw "Discover a new park" on our Summer Fun List this morning, I decided to load the kids up and head to the new park before the day got too hot.  I love to see great new playgrounds go in that actually look like traditional playgrounds. For some odd reason, so many of the parks around here look more like art installations than playgrounds, and kids have no idea how to play on the weird equipment.  We all had a great time, and we get to check another fun thing off our list!

     We haven't been suffering the brutal heat lately that some of the country is feeling, but it is summer, and the temps have been climbing into the 90's around here - which is hot for us, especially for June.  In an attempt to stay cool, we chose some things off the Summer Fun List to help with that.  A few weeks ago we made popsicles, and also had a Sponge Bomb Water Fight.  Two more things to check off the list - only 24 more to go :)

Fire Museum

    We've had a whirlwind start to our summer this year.  We took off immediately to visit family down south and had a great, albeit hot, few weeks in South Carolina and Georgia.  I wasn't going to let those first weeks go by without trying to accomplish something off of our Summer Fun List, so when my mom suggested the Fire Museum one rainy day, I jumped at the chance to get the kids out of the house and cross Museum off our list.

North Charleston and American LaFrance Fire Museum

The museum had a surprisingly large variety of fire engines on display from years past, as well as helmets, equipment and other fire memorabilia.

     There was also a play structure for the kids to play on with a slide, fireman's pole, and fire truck ladder to climb.

     Interactive displays like this one where Peanut is trying to lift the weight of a firman's uniform and gear, made the museum a lot of fun for the kids.

I wasn't sure at first if this kind of thing would really entertain my kids, but it turned out to be a lot of fun!  The best part was, the kid's admission was FREE, and my mom and I only had to pay $7.00 each to get in. I'd definitely call this summer fun activity a winner for us.  Be sure to check it out if your ever in the Charleston, SC area.

Summer Fun!

Yay! School's out!! I'm pretty sure I'm more excited than the kids this year.  This has been one tough year for us and we could all use a fun, relaxing summer.  Last year we made our first Summer Fun List and had a great time doing as many things on the list as we could get to.  I've been collecting tons of fun ideas on Pinterest to add to this years list and we are really looking forward to getting started.  This is what we've come up with:

Camping
Feed Some Ducks
Make Funnel Cakes
Huge Indoor Fort
Living Room Sleepover
Play in the Rain
Paint T-Shirts
Go Bowling
Play Tennis
Make S'Mores Cones
Make Slime (recipes here or here)
Sponge Bomb Water Fight
Giant Squishy Water Bag
Make Popsicles
Ice Cream Sundae Party
Donation Day
Go to a Movie
Make Gigantic Bubbles
Take a Hike
Watch Movies all Day (on a rainy day)
Putt-Putt
Discover a New Park
Make and Send Postcards
Bake Cookies for Someone
Family Talent Show
Spend a Rainy Day in PJ's
Make Kool-aid Slurpees and Cherry Limeades
Go to a Museum

With a list this ambitions, I'd better go get started!  Do you make a summer fun list, or do you just "wing it?" Leave me a comment letting me know and stay tuned for updates on our progress.

St. Patricks Day Decor

I finally got around to decorating for St. Patrick's Day, so I thought I'd share it. Most all of my decorations are ideas I found on Pinterest and made my own. (Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE Pinterest?!) First I started with the rainbow background. The professor cut down a 1x4 for me and I painted them to look like a rainbow. I wanted to put a pot of gold underneath it, but I couldn't find one I liked, and honestly I think it would have been too much. I got the idea for the rainbow HERE.

The candles are made from two different types of candle holders I found at the dollar store and glued together. Then I just stuck a candle in it, and filled it with split peas. Once again, found this idea via Pinterest from THIS SITE.

The pictures in the frames were free printables from HERE. The shamrocks I just cut from different patterned papers, glued them to dowels, and stuck them in a canning jar with more split peas in them. I got the inspiration from HERE, but tweaked the idea a bit.

This is the whole thing all pulled together. I added a few decorations from my local craft store to complete the look. I wonder if my pot on the right will be filled with gold once the Leprechauns visit us on St. Patrick's day?

Check out these and many other St. Patrick's Day ideas on my Pinterest Board.

Snow Days

I am from the south, born and raised. My kiddos on the other hand have all been born in the north. This is evident in the fact that they all feel right at home in the snow whereas their mama CAN. NOT. STAND. IT.!! Thankfully, we have had a really mild winter this year, and have seen very little of the white stuff. As soon as those flakes start falling from the sky though, my kids are begging me to let them go out in it and play. Here are a few pictures of the kids playing the last time it snowed. As you may be able to tell from the picture, we have a really great hill for sliding down. (Not that I would know from experience, but the video is proof enough for me.)

Peanut eating snow.

Patty sliding like a penguin.

Penny wishing she could be outside with the older kids.

Videos of Petie sledding down the hill.

Science Fair

This past Thursday night, both Petie and Patty were able to participate in the local homeschool science fair. Last year Patty was able to participate, but this was the first time for Petie. They both had a lot of fun choosing and doing their individual projects.

Petie's project was called "Bed of Nails". Sounds nice and dangerous doesn't it? Perfect project for a kindergarten boy :)

Patty started out doing an experiment called "Bad Cow", but after days of testing we realized the experiment wasn't working due to equipment malfunction. So, of course, three days before the science fair we had to start all over with a new project. Her new project was called "Oil Spill Cleanup: Does the type of water make a difference?" Her project was all about the speed at which oil separates out of salt water versus fresh water.

And...They both won "Most Creative Project" for their age group!! I was so proud and they were both really excited :)