Red, White, & Blue

I very rarely put the kids in matching outfits, but for some reason red, white, and blue clothes for the 4th is so cute to me.  Last year they had coordinating outfits and my SIL took pictures of them and their cousins.  They were so cute I wanted to take pictures again this year. Unfortunately we didn't have my SIL this time so we were on our own. Wow! Taking pictures is difficult when you throw in a newborn and bad weather.  Huck ruined his outfit twice.  Yes twice! I washed it after the first time and he did it again almost immediately so I put him in something else entirely. Then there was bad weather to work around and Huck's naps.  We did get lots of cute pictures but we didn't get all the shots I wanted to. 

Here's what we got.

Can't forget Fenway :)

This last one I took with my cell phone

while we watched the firework show at Summerbrooke.

Quality isn't great but I really liked it.

Outside of all the picture taking we also had a great time celebrating the fourth.  Justin's parents came over for dinner and we set off our own fireworks before going to watch the ones at Summerbrooke.  The kids did party poppers, snap dragons, and sparklers too.  I think sending off their lanterns was their favorite. 

Hope you all had a happy 4th!

Summer Chain of Events, Week 3

I planned some pretty fun stuff this week for the chain of events.  Friday ended up being one of my favorites we've ever done and we'll definitely have to repeat it next summer.  Without further ado...

Monday, July 2nd: Monday we did something I've never done before.  We made homemade chalk.  This was actually a pretty easy activity and it worked really well.  Here are the directions I used.

 Before

 After

Tuesday, July 3rd: When my mom came up for Huck's birth, she brought each of the kids a chinese flying lantern.  We did these last summer for the 4th and we all loved them.  This year I had the kids decorate theirs and we set them off on 4th of July after making a wish.

 Decorating their lanterns.

 Seth's is above and McKayla's is below.

 One of the lanterns flying away.



Wednesday, July 4th: The kids really enjoyed this activity.  We made an American flag cake.  I know everyone under the sun has seen some version of this cake, but here's ours.

Thursday, July 5th: Playing at the park.  This one is pretty unoriginal, I know, but sometimes I just need a break.  I took so much of a break though that I forgot to take pictures. :(

Friday, July 6th: This might be my all time favorite on the chain of events.  The kids absolutely loved it and it was super easy for me.  I made an obstacle course and the kids completed it while we timed them.  They each did it 3 times.  Can you guess who had the best 2 out of 3?

1. Throw the balls in the buckets. 

 2. Bunny hop over the cones.

 3. Run a circle around the hula hoop.

 4. Ziz-zag jump over the jump rope.

 5. Jump on the sprinkler soaked trampoline 5 times.

 6. Zig-zag run around the cones.

 7. Hit the golf ball past the jump rope.

 8. Kick the soccer ball down the length of the house.

 9. Shoot and make the basket to stop the clock.

Saturday, July 7th: Thanks to my friend Betsy posting about swimming at Maclay Gardens, I got the idea to take the kids there.  I had never been before so I was pretty excited.  Maclay Gardens is a state park that has property on Lake Hall.  They have an area designated for swimming so we headed there on Saturday.  We got rained out about an hour after getting there so I never got around to taking pictures.  I'm sure we'll make it back there again this summer.  

Sunday, July 8th: This was my day to take a break from the summer chain of events and put Justin in charge.  He took the kids shooting at a public shooting range in the Appalachicola National Forest.  We borrowed a friends .22 rifle for the kids.  They both did really well shooting from 25 yards and 50 yards.  Here are some videos:

That's it for week three! Only 5 more weeks of summer for me and 6 more weeks for the kids:-( Next time we have the kids we'll be headed out of town.  Check back for a post about our vacation.