CVS Summer Deals

If you are in the market for any summer toys and you have a CVS nearby, head over there soon for some great deals. My local store had 90% off summer merchandise, including sandals, this week, so I picked up a 3-pack of small squirt guns for about 70 cents. Landon has been having a blast with them. (Mommy and Daddy think they're awfully fun, too.)

Marbled Paper

Here's another fun project from Family Fun Magazine:

Spread a smooth layer of shaving cream on a rimmed baking sheet (about 1/2 inch thick). Drip drops of food coloring on the shaving cream and swirl them around (we used a craft stick). Lay a piece of cardstock on the cream and press lightly. Lift it up and use a squeegee to remove the shaving cream. You're left with a colorful, marbled creation!

Landon loves this activity and will make several paintings in one sitting. It's definitely an outdoor activity, so do it now before the weather gets too cool!

Noodle Sprinkler

Family Fun magazine's latest issue had instructions for making a sprinkler out of a pool noodle. It was super easy, and Landon had a blast with it. If I were to make another one, though, I think I'd spread the holes out more; right now I have them about 3 inches apart. If there were less holes, the water might shoot up higher out of them.



Speaking of Family Fun, it's a great resource for all kinds of fun activities to do with your kids, especially seasonal ones. I got my subscription free (I think it was a bonus that came with an order I placed on Amazon.com), but I plan to renew it when my free one ends. It looks like a 10-issue subscription costs about 10 dollars.

Summer Fair

Landon has been looking forward to the fair for an entire year. We kept telling him that in the summer--when it was hot--it would be time for the fair. He was so happy that fair day had finally arrived today. This morning he asked me, "Is it hot for the fair?"

He had a blast today. He ate fries, funnel cake, and other fair food, checked out the petting zoo, and rode plenty of rides (some with Daddy and some by himself). He's already looking forward to next year's fair.

Anniversary Picnic

Today was our 7th wedding anniversary, and since last week was extremely busy with VBS, we decided to take today off of work and spend time together as a family. We took the kids to a local nature preserve for a picnic. We played on the playground, ate lunch, and took a walk (with Landon on his tricycle). The weather was beautiful, and it was a perfect day to hang out outside together.

Vacation Bible School

Yesterday we finished up our week of Vacation Bible School at church. This was Landon's first year in the preschool class. The preschoolers joined the big kids for singing during the opening and closing each night, and then with their own group they watched little movies, made crafts, ate snacks, and heard Bible stories. They even got to make the snacks for the entire VBS crowd one night; Landon wasn't too interested in helping with that, though. In fact, he spent a lot of time this week just watching what was going on (for example, he and several of the other preschoolers chose to sit and watch during last night's closing program instead of going up on stage to sing with the other kids), but he came home with several completed craft projects each night, learned several new songs that he enjoys singing, and had a fun time with his friends.

Our theme was Crocodile Dock. At the kickoff carnival last Sunday, he made a crocodile mouth cookie. It has pink icing on the bottom cookie, green on the top one, and four mini marshmallow "teeth" between the two cookies.


The preschoolers went to the crafts station every day, where they got to make the same projects as the big kids. They also did some coloring sheets and stickers there, plus they did an art project in their classroom each night.


Landon had a great time at VBS this week! Several times today he's asked why we're not going again tonight. I'm glad he had so much fun!

Toddler Camp

This afternoon Landon participated in a Toddler Camp offered through our local conservation district. Our topic was caterpillars and butterflies.

After some books about caterpillars and butterflies and a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we headed outside to learn more about what it's like to be a caterpillar or butterfly.

Here Landon's pretending he's in a chrysalis.


He's carrying his butterfly wings.


And sucking nectar from flowers with his straw-like mouth.


Back inside, we did a few projects, including decorating butterflies. To learn about symmetry, the kids painted one wing, then folded the paper in half to transfer the design to the other side.


The kids ended their camp with pretzels and baby carrots that they could arrange to look like butterflies and "flower nectar" (lemonade) that they drank through straws, like butterflies use their straw-like mouths.

Landon had a lot of fun at camp. Next year I'll register earlier so we'll be able to sign up for more than one session.

Toddler Racer Recall

Last summer I linked to our Toddler Racer pool boat. These were recently recalled, so if you have one, please stop using it and contact Aqua-Leisure for a refund.

Superspiral Spinkler

We tried out our new Little Tikes Superspiral Sprinkler today. It was a big hit. It took Landon a bit to warm up to it, but by the end of the day, he was sticking his face right in the spray.

The sprinkler comes with four balls that you drop into the spiral chute, and the water shoots them back out the top. If the sprinkler's positioned just right, the water will keep the ball suspended in the air for a while.

From the above link, it looks like these retail for about $25, but we got ours for only $10, perhaps because the box was broken. However, it's been a great toy so far, so I'd pay more than $10 for it.

We're taking it to a little July 4th get-together tomorrow. Hopefully the other kids have as much fun with it as Landon does.

Our little summer trip

We took a trip to my parents' last week and filled our time with quite a few summer activities, including park after park, the zoo, and the pool.

We also participated in a kids' fun run--an organized event where children run around a track. Each kid got a ribbon and treats after completing his/her run. It sounds like many communities offer running activities like this one, so it might be worth checking into whether there's one in your area. Landon had a lot of fun, and if we lived closer, we'd participate again.

Landon at the fun run with Daddy and Grandpa


One of our many park visits. He's wearing swim trunks because the park had a splash area, but he wanted nothing to do with that. He much preferred the playground equipment.


This is the only picture I managed to get at the zoo. It's not too good, but it's all I have. Once again, he's wearing his swim clothes for the splash area, but he didn't play in it.

Summer Activities

Summer is in full swing here, it seems. Our library's summer reading program started this week, so we attended the first program at the park. The theme is Read on the Wild Side, and this week the kids learned about bugs and other creepy crawlies. They looked at a book about insects, made foam and paper notebooks decorated with bug stickers, and ate a snack that included gummy worms. Of course, we took some time to play on the playground equipment too. We'll have several more weeks of these fun programs. Our library opens the reading program up to kids of any age; I know of several others whose program begins at three years. Check with your local library to see if they offer a program in which your young child can participate.

Another source for fun kids' activities in the summer might be your local Conservation District. Ours offers several toddler camps, so Landon and I will be participating in one in few weeks. We're also thinking about going to a Conservation District program on insects at the local library this week.

Last night I hosted a Summer Fun Night for the kids at church. We played water games, such as water limbo with the hose and a water bag toss (like a water balloon toss, but with Ziploc bags instead--much easier to clean up). The kids also decorated bug catchers. (Ours came from Oriental Trading. I tried to include a link, but it seems that the ones we used aren't currently available.) For our snack, the kids got to make their own ice cream sandwiches. We used Chips Ahoy cookies, vanilla ice cream, and multicolored sprinkles. I saw red, white, and blue sprinkles at the store, too, so I think that Landon and I might make more for the 4th of July using those sprinkles and homemade cookies. The ice cream sandwiches were a big hit with the kids.

It's pool season!

It was hot here this morning, so we filled up the pool to use after naptime. Unfortunately, by that time it had cooled off a lot and was about to storm, but Landon still got in some playtime. He was too busy shooting hoops to smile nicely for a picture, though.


Here's Simon trying out his infant cabana for the first time. It's designed to keep UV rays off of baby. It's not huge; something much bigger than the bouncy seat wouldn't fit inside, but it's plenty big for a little baby. And folds up compactly into a backpack carrying case. They do make a larger family-sized one, but since we live nowhere near the beach, I didn't figure we needed one that big.

Yum... Popsicle!

Popsicles (especially ones made from real fruit) are of course a great summer treat for kids, and an outdoor picnic table is the perfect place to eat them!

8/30

(And with that, I think I'm done with the pictures from our mini-vacation!)

Splash Park

The zoo had a splash park on their property, too, so we stopped there after visiting the animals. Whoever invented the splash park concept is a genius--free, fun toddler entertainment


8/30

Picture from the Park

I just found another picture from our recent trip, and it made me smile, so I wanted to post it.

Zoo

On our last day of our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's, we went to the zoo. I didn't take a lot of pictures, because we've been to a lot of zoos this year, and after a while, the animal pictures all start to look pretty similar. But for Landon, seeing the animals is still fun time after time. And of course, he enjoyed the carousel.



8/30

Grandpa's Prairie (More Pictures from Our Trip)

While we were on our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's a few weeks ago, we took a day to visit the prairie restoration project where Grandpa (and Grandma) volunteer. Landon got to pretend to drive tractors, explore the barn, visit with his great uncle and great grandpa, ride in the Gator and the truck, and ride on Daddy's back around the prairie.



8/29/08

More Vacation Photos--Swimming

My parents have access to one of the coolest pools ever, so we went swimming last week. The pool was recently remodeled and is 100 times fancier than it was when I was a kid. Now, in addition to the diving boards and regular swimming area, there are fountains, waterslides, a lazy river, and more.

Watermelon Craft

It's rainy here tonight, so we finally worked on this watermelon craft that I've had in my head all summer. Landon had fun with it, and it's a perfect project for a toddler's attention span. Directions are here.

Summery Spot

We spent last week at my parents'. Grandma checked out some Spot books from the library for Landon. He read both of them over and over.

This one's definitely summery, since it's all about the beach. Spot Goes to the Beach
This one could apply to any season, but Spot plays outside and helps in the garden, so it seems pretty summery to me, too. Spot Visits His Grandparents

Both of these are lift-the-flap books, which contributed to Landon's enjoyment of them. He's been quoting the books all week.