State Park Aquarium

We have some serious adventuring to do to make up for the month we spent at home while I wasn't feeling well.  So the kids and I took off for a state park about 45 minutes away that we hadn't been to before.  They have a little aquarium of local fish that was interesting and two rooms of displays that the kids enjoyed.  The weather finally broke too so it was only in the 90s.  :)
We started with a picnic lunch,

the highlight was a flock of wild turkeys wandering by- a couple times.
Then we went into the museum and aquarium.  $1 for me and $.50 each for the big boys- when you haven't changed your displays since the eighties you don't have to charge much admission.  Not to say the museum was bad or overly dated, taxidermy and live fish just don't have to be updated very often....
Philip really wanted to ride the half deer.

We checked out one of the ponds too.  I realized I went canoeing in the pond when I went to 4H camp many years ago.  The park is next door to the camp, 5 minutes tops, counting loading and unloading the bus.  I remember that we had to drive a long way to get to the ponds we canoed in.  Hmm, guess a ten year old's sense of a long time isn't so reliable...either that or they drove us around for awhile to kill time.  It's possible.
The pond was small and mossy but there were quite a few fish close to the edge that went crazy when the kids threw in cattails.  The fish must have thought it was bread.

Someone didn't want to admit he was in the family....

We stopped at some nearby outlets on the way home and picked up a few clearance deals for next summer.  Then we tried to get shakes at Sonic...but their ice cream machine was broken!  Argh.  We had to backtrack to McDonald's because I had promised shakes.  Not a big deal and it was happy hour so I got a big frappe for $1.89.  Nice.  :)

Density Column

We had everything we needed for this project in our cupboards except the very last layer so we just left that one off.  Very cool.

Beating the Heat

 Philip made a diving board for his train.  Usually the "diving boards" he makes are for him!
We've been playing outside...at 8 am. 

 Samuel has to redig his beloved hole.  It got filled in amidst all the demolition.

 Julia and Philip improvised this see saw with a board and a big chunk of dried dirt.

 We made marshmallow shooters.  Too bad it was too hot to go outside and shoot them.

 Philip didn't like the noise they make.

 Shaving cream painting.

 The spray park.

What are you doing to beat the heat?

It's Even too Hot to Pour Cement

:P  Who knew that was possible?

In a Nutshell

Monday morning

Tuesday morning

 Wednesday morning

Vacation Weekend

We're not much for big vacations but we did enjoy a couple days in KC last weekend.
Jeremy jump started the fun by taking most of Thursday off without telling us and coming home to take us all to see Brave.  It was pretty good but typical.  I'm waiting for the Disney movie where the girl is content to be a lady and the parents aren't trying to force her to get married as a teenager...guess I'll keep waiting.  Philip did amazingly well. Since there were so few people at the matinee we let him move around in our row and on the steps right next to us.

Friday morning we took off for KC.  The drive went pretty smoothly.  Our first stop was Legoland.  My cousin Jill who lives in KC joined us to provide some more adult hands.  :)  Word to the wise: get your tickets online before you go.  You'll save yourself an hour wait.  But once we got in it was fun and everyone had a blast.

After Legoland we went to my Uncle Bob and Aunt Melissa's house which is affectionately known as "Greta's house" to the kids.  Because Greta is a really fun cousin!  Nels is fun too, but somehow it's just Greta's house.

Saturday we all enjoyed the zoo.  In blazing hot weather.  My aunt and uncle live in a neighborhood with lovely mature trees so their whole yard and even the street is shaded.  I don't think any of us realized quite how hot it really was until we got to the zoo.  But we still had a fun time!

Sunday Bob, who is an architect, took our basement plan, drew it to scale and helped us perfect the layout of the rooms.  Jeremy is eternally grateful.  The not-to-scale plan was driving him nuts!
In between times we played at their house, played at the park, ate Melissa's delicious cooking and enjoyed being together.  What more could we ask for? (a little cooler weather maybe...)

This is Norton, the tortoise from Nels' school they're housing for the summer. 

Samuel and Julia got to stay (Thomas didn't want to due to his hatred of dogs), they're coming home tomorrow.

Thanks for the great time everyone!

Who Needs a Pool

when the pivot hits your yard?!

Helping Daddy

get ready for demolition later this week or early next!

They took the railing and all the stuff off the porch and Jeremy cut down some more trees.

Pinaqua

Got this from Family Fun.  No special supplies needed!

Guest Post- Aunt Beth's Account of her sleepover with Julia

On Father's Day, during the aftermath of dinner, Julia very sweetly announced she was going to sleep at my house.  When I told her I had to work the next day she informed me that I would need to get her a babysitter.  With the help of Mom, we decided a sleepover could be scheduled at a later date.  That date was last weekend.  Here's how it went down.

Friday 

4:00pm Aunt Beth's car AC is broken so she picks up Julia from Super Target - Julia picks donut holes for breakfast and scores a pair of yellow flower sunglasses from the dollar aisle.

4:30pm Aunt Beth & Julia stop by Aunt Sharon & Uncle Mike's to borrow some toys (read: Aunt Beth rarely wakes up so early on a Saturday and needs to keep the little person entertained as she "rests her eyes" on the couch) and stay for supper.  Thanks Sharon & Mike for having us!

7:00pm Aunt Beth & Julia arrive at the sleepover destination - in the car Julia asks a plethora of questions about my roommates who she refers to as my "sisters" 

7:02pm While Aunt Beth brings in gobs and gobs of sleepover stuff, Julia has a conversation with "sister" Therese.  It goes a little like this:

Therese: Julia, I hear your mom is having a baby!

Julia: Yes, the baby is a wig.

T (confused): The baby's a what?

J: A wig.

T: Oh!

7:06pm Therese relays conversation to Aunt Beth who translates: The baby is the size of a fig.  They both agree it's easy to get confused when your only encounter with a fruit is of the Fig Newton Cookie variety.

7:25pm Aunt Beth & Julia watch Beauty & the Beast and eat popcorn with M&Ms

9:00pm Bedtime for Julia who insists on sleeping on couch cushions on Aunt Beth's bedroom floor.

Saturday

7:00am Aunt Beth & Julia arise and eat donut holes & milk

7:15am Julia watches The Lion King and plays while Aunt Beth lays on the couch

8:45am Aunt Beth & Julia go outside & turn on the sprinkler - it's super cold so we put water in tupperware and played

9:30am Aunt Beth & Julia walk to a park in the neighborhood 

10:30am Since Julia has the attention span of a fly the rest of the day plays out like this:

jump on couch, play with doll, build a fort, jump on couch, play with play mobile zoo set, go outside, come inside, go outside, open closet, start to play go fish, finish watching The Lion King...you get the idea

Noon we have lunch and Julia rests for an hour and a half while Aunt Beth takes a nap.  The rest of the afternoon is in the same vein as 10:30am.

3:00pm Julia has a snack of pretzels and M&Ms - while eating she intermittently whispers "TVvvvv.  TVvvvv." like a creep

3:15pm Julia watches The Emperor's New Grove - yes, I am aware that is three movies in a 24 hour period but I'm her aunt and this is the house-o-fun 

5:00pm Aunt Beth & Julia meet Mommy at a splash park

Thus ends the Julia & Aunt Beth Sleepover.  Thanks for coming Julia!

Aunt Beth lives with her three "sisters" in midtown.  In her spare time she enjoys watching movies, building forts and jumping on the couch.

Ahh, the Sprinkler!

I can never resist taking a million pictures while they run through the sprinkler.  They just look so cute!

Some action shots:

Some cute faces

 

 It's most fun to get drinks (see Samuel?) and collect the water in pans.

Then Daddy joined in

 I'd thought Julia and Philip were done and stripped them down.  (I love their white buns!!)

 But nope, there was more fun to be had.

 But now I'm ready for some cooler weather.....