Misc. Summer Activities

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Love Justin's zebra!

Ryan and I did a shape hunt and he was able to take pictures of different shapes he found in the house.  He, like many children, loves to use a camera!  Sometimes he would use my iphone, but we also got him a durable vetch kid's camera that has been great. 

Circle from the shape hunt

and obviously squares.

Bubbles are always so much fun for kids to play with.  You can buy them or make your own.  My boys enjoy chasing the bubbles too, so this battery operated bubble blower made it easier to produce bubbles faster.

Riding bikes is also a good way to get the boys out and about.  I got tired running beside Ryan when we would go around the block.  Amazing how things aren't as level as they seem when you aren't chasing a child who forgets to use brakes as he approaches a parked car.

Ryan wanted to paint or stain the fence, which obviously isn't the best thing to have a child his age do.  Using water to do the job was just as much fun for him though.

Water is a hit!  Ryan is already looking forward to using Grandma's hose next summer when we visit.  It wasn't even a super hot day that day.  It doesn't seem to have slowed him down though.

Before we left we went to a couple of museums.  Water play is popular with Justin too.

Justin absolutely loved making flying contraptions out of water cooler paper cones and watching them fly when placed over a fan.  He got some pretty good ones.  Would be so easy to do with a box fan on its side and possibly something (even posterboard) wrapped around it so kids don't get their fingers too close and be tempted to stick fingers in by the blades.

February 2013

As I was looking for this month's pictures, I realized that I never pulled out my camera.  Luckily, I at least got some shots on my phone.  It doesn't help that we had an extended stomach bug that had us out of commission for awhile.  We did valentines, but the boys wanted store bought Kung Fu Panda and Angry Bird ones so no cute little Valentine Day crafts.

I have started having Ryan and Justin each make their own calendar each month.  This is Ryan's.  He traces the numbers and draws a picture to go with the month.  It gives good practice writing numerals, gaining a sense for days, weeks, and months, and gives us the chance to talk about upcoming events.  I make a monthly calendar each month as well and they can refer to it to know what happens on what day.

Justin is quite the reader.  Ryan would rather play on the wii.  We are working on some basic sight words.  He loves making simple sentences when Mario, Luigi, and some of his other favorites are involved.

The boys both did golf ball painting.  It's like marble painting, but with a golf ball.

Painting on shapes.  Some of them became targets for various games.

Balloons from the Dollar Store!  Each balloon was weighted down by a toy.  Beanbag toys were thrown at the balloons and points awarded for each one hit.

Justin's 100 Days of School necklace.  Each group of 10 Fruit Loops is divided by a tab labeling the count.

The boys cut and pasted to make Koopas.  Yay, Mario!  I found the template at chicaandjo.com. 

Obviously we had to make Marios.  I had to put both boys' on the blog too.  I found a Mario coloring picture, printed it out enlarged, and then used it to help me make a template so the boys could cut and paste.

They also made the goomba mushrooms.  The templates for them is also from chicaandjo.com.  I wish the site had more templates because I don't have an artistic bone in my body.

Justin made this dinosaur.  It is quite different from Ryan's dinosaur below.  They both had fun though.  They also enjoyed using stencils to trace various shapes.

October 2012

Rob arriving from Namibia was the highlight of the month.  The boys were thrilled that he got here right before Halloween so he could see them in their costumes and go trick or treating with them.

The end of soccer for both boys.  Here is Ryan playing one of the warm up games with his teammates.



Raking up the pine needles!  The leaves came later.

Bags and bags of pine needles!

The boys needed winter hats so I let them choose out their favorites.  Angry Birds was the winner hands down.

This was Justin's favorite part of the Mobius Children's Museum.  He loved to move the panels to different positions to divert the water and move the boats.

 

The boys had fun creating flying toys and out of control bubbles over a sideways fan.



Playing in box fort complete with garage for the trucks.

Still warm enough to play baseball.  Good pitch, Justin.

We read The Button Box and then sorted some of my Grandmother's old buttons.  We even found a Mr. President button like in the book.



Climbing all over Dad.  The boys were so excited when he arrived from Namibia.



I love the ghosts the boys made out of paper plates and tissue paper.

We played the game "Don't Eat Pete" and it was a winner!  Have one person walk out of the room.  Place one piece of candy on each character and choose one to be Pete.  The person walks back into the room and begins to eat one candy at a time.  If he tries to take the candy off of Pete, all of the players say, "don't eat Pete!" and that person's turn ends and another person is chosen to leave the room.

On the tractor ride to find the perfect pumpkin.  It was the windiest day we had experienced all month.

I think we walked up and down a million times before we found the pumpkin that was just right for each boy.



Our jack o'lanterns and painted pumpkins BEFORE the deer came and had them for a snack.

Justin made some Halloween themed pictures.





The boys had fun making a polka dot pumpkin with the drill.  Papa helped supervise.





I thought these skeletons were cute.  We made a simplied version of a design I found online.

Riding around as a police officer at the children's museum.

TP mummies. 



BIG leaf






Ready for trick or treating!  The boys got quite a haul.




Kitty game.  Ryan is the owner, Justin is the pet cat.  Ryan set up paddle balls, jump ropes, and a few other things for Justin to bat at with his claws.

 

Painting little birdhouses.

September 2012

The big news for September?  Justin started kindergarten!  It is only a half day program here in Idaho so we still get plenty of time with him at home.  Ryan misses him, but the mornings go by pretty quickly.  Here he is on the first day of school.

Ryan does enjoy some alone time with Mommy.  Here he is riding around the block while I run beside him.  There are quite a few ups and downs that I don't really notice when I walk.  Somehow they are much more noticeable when I am pulling him along or slowing him down.

The boys both got the chance to play soccer.  Ryan did pretty well.  Unfortunately, when other kids would start to have separation anxiety he would join in.

Justin with the ball!  He has two practices a week plus games.  It gets old fast for me, but hey.

This playground is quite close to my parents' house.  Ryan and I spent an entire morning here while Justin was in school one morning.  Ryan loved it, but of course Justin was jealous when he found out.  We even got to see fire fighters practicing with their hoses.  One came over and gave us some stickers.

Of course why play on the playground when you can walk on rocks?  My boys can always find something to do.

I said it was too cold to go swimming, but that doesn't stop us from getting wet.

The boys take a rest at a table along the world's longest boardwalk.

Ryan was "helping" my mom to clean things.  He decided that his job involved filling up things with water and pouring the water somewhere else.  Many containers were filled, including his shoes.  It is amazing how much fun kids can have with water.

Justin got to help my dad stain the ladder.  He had so much fun with the project.  The quality of his work was questionable, but his method was quite entertaining.  I don't know if anyone has ever danced around so much painting a ladder.

The marbles were left out on the floor and Justin couldn't resist sorting them.  Ice cube trays are so much for for a lot of different things.

Leaves colored Fall colors and sequenced from largest to smallest.  Ryan's cutting isn't exactly on the lines yet, but that's okay.

The boys had so much fun this month with Tinkertoys.  They even enjoyed playing bird family with the big red plastic part stuck on a stick making up a bird.  There were various family members, but usually a Little Sis.  They boys made all sorts of swings, beds, forts, boats, and more for Little Sis.