End-of-Summer-Vacation Weekend Bash

Wow! I cannot believe school begins tomorrow.

Our summer vacation zipped by so quickly. We had all sorts of goals and plans and ideas of what we wanted to do in the beginning...and I guess we managed to do some of them. But, as always, our plans/ideas exceeded our number of vacation days. *grin*

Still, looking back on this summer, we realized it was a bit difficult to do anything really special with higher gas and food prices and less time due to the impending arrival of Leechie. Our family times seemed to come in snippets, which was fun, but not as lasting as our usual weeklong holiday at the beach.

So Stuart took the day off on Friday, and we kicked off our "End-of-Summer-Vacation Weekend Bash" which concluded this afternoon with a trip to Barnes & Noble for the presentation of Summer Bridge completion awards and a $5 giftcard.

The kids had no idea of what we had planned though...

Day 1: a whole day of "camp."

CAMP WOOHOOHAHA

Since neither of our munchkins has ever been to a real camp -- and it's not even a feasible option at the moment money-wise -- we decided to create our own little camp here at home.

"Happy Campers"

We started after breakfast by donning our camp t-shirts and doing a craft. Whilst Counselor Mommy-pop helped the kids through a somewhat frustrating pom-pom animal craft (Whoever got the idea to glue them together? It never works very well...), Counselor Dadster set up an obstacle course.

Once they got as much done on the craft as they could, we headed out to the front porch for directions on how to do the course. It was hilarious to watch them go through the regimen and then finish by kicking a goal. Emily's ball ended up down the street, so Stuart got some exercise, too.

That finished, we came back inside for another craft -- a paint-by-number packet each with dried-up paints. Ugh. (That'll teach me not to save crafts for over a year.) We got out the markers, and they colored the pictures beautifully.

Balsa-wood airplanes followed with a competition to see whose would go the furthest...the winner of which would get to choose first in the morning snack of freeze pops.

Then it was time for a nature walk. Counselor Dadster took them in the "camp-mobile" down to the museum to walk the grounds and look for stuff to put into a nature book. They came back an hour later with two bags full and a big appetite for some lunch.

Nature Walkers

We watched half of Bambi during lunch -- the first half before Bambi's mom dies. It seemed to go along with the nature theme and didn't put a downer on our day. *grin*

Afterwards, we did two science experiments about air pressure from their Summer Bridge books. Very easy and very cool! (E-mail me if you want the ideas -- they each use 2 to 3 things with spectacular results.)

The "crazy bee" sprinkler came next, giving the kids a chance to run off some more energy and get wet. Counselor Dadster enjoyed turning the water on and off and surprising them.

Then they spent a bit of time gluing together their nature books, writing letters "home," and reading/resting, giving Counselor Dadster time to put together a treasure hunt.

All around the yard and house went the kids...solving clues to find their treasures: a Beanie Baby each.

We finished the afternoon activities by painting wooden bugs. The kids love to paint and did a fantastic job.

Stuart lit the charcoal grill so the kids could roast their own hotdogs, and we sat on the frontporch enjoying hotdogs, zucchinis and tomatoes, and potato chips. Afterwards we toasted marshmallows and s'mores. (What is it about marshmallows with crispy exteriors?? They're just so good!)

One more round through the obstacle course before cleaning it up and heading to the backyard for some songs/stories. Too bad we couldn't have an actual campfire, too.

Finally, the day ended with Counselor Dadster making Jiffy Pop on the stove and a few more funny "scary" stories with the flashlight-under-the-chin effect...and finally baths all around.

I think the kids would have stayed at Camp Woohoohaha for days if they could have. But given their activity level...I'm not sure Counselor Dadster and Counselor Mommy-pop could have kept up, though I'm sure we'll "return" to the camp again one day.

Day 2 -- a day at the "beach" and a picnic in the park

BLUE MARSH LAKE

We live near a beautiful man-made lake/park called Blue Marsh. It boasts of nature trails and playgrounds and picnic areas...and even has a little beach area for swimming.

The best part? It's about 20 minutes away and costs $3 a car for the day.

We headed there after breakfast on Saturday so that Stuart and the kids could go swimming. Next time we'll remember to bring some buckets and spades, too. I watched from further up since I wasn't sure swimming in a lake was a good idea for me this late in my pregnancy.

Emily described the experience as "swimming in a lake of Mountain Dew."

Hmm...

Still, they had fun...and a bath when we got home.

Later in the afternoon, we headed to our own nearby playground/park, "Happy Hollow," for our church's picnic. There were games for the kids and games for the adults and lots and lots of food. We even got to bring home some of the extra barbecued chicken. Mmmmm!

After church and lunch today, we took the kids to Barnes & Noble to finish out our weekend celebration. It was fun and tiring, but I think the kids are excited to start their new classes tomorrow.

We have a few new school surprises in store for them, of course...but all that to come tomorrow...