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!

Father's Day

A few weeks ago Justin made the comment that it's not fair that mother's day falls during the school year because the kids make all this cute stuff and by the time father's day comes its summer so there's no cute homemade stuff.  Well, the kids and I took care of that.

We started father's day off with some decorations and presents. 

 Check out the ties on the wall.  I bought some outdoor themed construction paper and the kids cut out the ties and put some sticker letters on them (click on the picture to enlarge it).

 I found this idea on pinterest.  I took two poster boards and cut out the letters and words.  We waited for a sunny part of the day and the kids held them up so I could take the picture. 

 I printed these on the computer for them to fill out about Justin.  I'm going to print the same ones each year to watch how they change.  This one is McKayla's.

 This one is Seth's.

 Justin's Aunt sent me this awesome idea a few months ago.  I took Huck's hand, stuck it in ink, and stuck it on the baseball (easier said than done).  I wrote his name on it with a sharpie and wrote Happy Father's Day 2012 on the opposite side.  Justin loved it!

After opening presents we had Justin's favorite breakfast, biscuits and gravy.  The rest of the day was spent playing with the kids and relaxing around the house.  For dinner we headed to one of Justin's favorite restaurants, Seinyard.  It was delicious!!!

Pictures from dinner...

After dinner we grabbed a couple movies for the kids and milkshakes from Baskin Robbins.  We really had a great father's day.  Hmmmmm...now how will we top it next year?