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.  



Flying Through the Trees

Well, maybe we weren't flying, but we were up in the trees.  Let me start from the beginning...

A few weeks ago Justin and I were discussing how much less alone time we would have once Huck arrived.  We decided we would try to have atleast one date a month with absolutely no children and then a second date each month with just Huck tagging along.  Once he gets a little older we would go back to trying to have two adult only dates a month.  Another thing we decided to do was to make one of those dates a creative date (i.e. not a dinner/movie date).  So each month one of us will plan the date for us and it has to be something different than a typical date night. 

I had a good idea so I took it upon myself to plan our first date.  The Tallahassee Museum recently added something new and fun, Tree to Tree Adventures.  Tree to Tree Adventures is three different aerial courses.  The courses include things like log bridges, surfing through the sky, and zip lines (click here to learn more about it). So that's what we did. Saturday morning Mimi and Papa came over to take care of Huck while we went to the Tallahassee Museum.  I cannot recommend this experience enough.  Justin and I had so much fun and we can't wait to go back.  They even have a course for the kids so we'll take them later this summer. 

Here are some pictures and videos of all the fun:

 Got our harnesses on and we're ready to go!

 High up in the trees.

These next three are videos of the zip lines and aerial surfing.

Can't wait to see what Justin will plan for us next month ;)

Summer Chain of Events, Week 2

We got the kids back early for this week so that they could celebrate Father's Day with Justin.  Since Sunday was already a big deal we started our chain of events back up on Monday. 

Monday, June 18th: Water color painting was our activity for the day.  They each made five or six paintings and hung them in their rooms.  Seth even put one on his ceiling above his bunk bed.



Tuesday, June 19th: Water play day!!!  The kids got to play outside in the sprinkler.  We made it extra fun by putting the sprinkler next to the trampoline.  They were able to jump and get soaked at the same time.  They loved it! They took a break for lunch and then went back to it.

Wednesday, June 20th: This day was Mimi's day.  Justin's mom took them to Firefly Pottery to paint.  They did this with her last summer as well.  Seth made a basketball piggy bank and McKayla made a footflops box. 

Thursday, June 21st: Feeding the ducks at Lake Ella.  We gathered all the old bread at the house and headed to the lake to feed the ducks and turtles.  We walked the lake twice and still had bread left so we gave it to some other kids that were there.

You might be wondering how we accomplish these activities with a newborn in the house.  We try to complete our activities around Huck's naps :)

Friday, June 22nd: On Thursday we made shirts for the 4th of July.  We used glitter fabric paint and pipe cleaners to create these shirts.  McKayla's is on the left and Seth's is on the right.  Not sure why this picture is sideways.  

Saturday, June 23rd: Saturday was a rainy day so we had to wait until late in the afternoon when the rain stopped to go on our nature walk.  We headed out to the walking trails at Meridian park, got out the baby carrier, strapped Huck to Justin, and went for a walk.  I should have gotten a picture of all this but I didn't.  Once we were done with our walk we went to the playground for awhile. 

This is what Huck did while the kids played. 

Sunday, June 24th: On Sunday the kids were supposed to go shooting with Justin.  Unfortunately, the weather was awful due to tropical storm Debby.  So, I switched activities on the chain and we made play-dough instead.  Again, I forgot to get pictures.  The kids enjoyed making and playing with the play-dough.  I used a new recipe I hadn't used before but it turned out great and smelled yummy.  This is how we made it. 

Two weeks of the "Summer Chain of Events" have been successfully completed.  I was a little worried about getting it all done with Huck here but it's all worked out.  Many more fun activities to come!