An Animal Experiment

Lazy days of summer.

It's what I want for my family.  Not "boring days of summer," but time to think and dream; read and play.  And time for crazy activities that we don't do during the school year.

Like weighing stuffed animals.

I don't remember exactly how this idea originated.  I think it happened one night at bedtime.  I was joking with Andrew about the number of stuffed animals in his bed.  Somehow, one comment led to another and suddenly we had this brilliant idea to weigh all of his stuffed animals.  

Two days later, he brought them all out of his room and piled them in the "waiting area."

I pulled out our kitchen scale and the festivities began.  Andrew documented each animal's weight and height.

We knew Mighty Eagle would be the heaviest, but it was still exciting to see the large number on the scale.

Here are the results.  Perhaps the most fun was looking for similarities and surprises between the animals.  We made predictions and compared the results.  We were surprised that Scarfy (the green scarf) and New Cici (the patchwork quilt) weighed the same and excited that Scarfy won the prize for longest.  Leo the Lion won second place in both categories.  

After we finished, Andrew had a party for the winners.  Leo received a piggy back ride for his second place finish.  Gerald, his elephant who loves to play video games, won a new DS.  Several animals received their favorite food.

It was a fun activity for a lazy day of summer.

Father's Day 2013

Happy Father's Day to my sweet husband!

We began the day with yogurt parfaits...homemade Greek yogurt, fresh blueberries and granola.  Yum!   

And we ended the day with strawberry meringue cakes.  I used this recipe, but substituted cream cheese for the mascarpone cheese.  And instead of making one cake, I made meringue cookies and turned them into individual cakes.  I can definitely see this becoming a tradition every year.  

Such a great daddy deserves many more yummy treats like these.  Happy Father's Day, Derrick.  

Disney!

For the first time ever, the school schedules lined up and everyone was out of school on the same day. We celebrated the beginning of summer with a short trip to Orlando.  We had one day in the parks and one day to play at our hotel.

Ready for our big day at the park!  We began the day at Animal Kingdom to ride Expedition Everest (our favorite coaster of all time!)  The biggest surprise of the day was that Amanda was tall enough to ride it.  It was her first coaster ever and she couldn't decide if she loved it or hated it.  But I know she was really excited to have ridden it.

We also enjoyed the show at Its Tough to be a Bug.

We spent most of the day at Disney Hollywood Studios.  Amanda LOVED the Beauty and the Beast show as much as she loved it last time we went.

The boys, meanwhile, enjoyed the Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror.  

Mmmmm...there's nothing better to beat the heat than a Mickey Ice Cream.

We spent most of Friday playing at our hotel and enjoying a memorable lunch at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney.

Swimming

One of the things that we love the most about summer is swimming in our neighborhood pool.  The kids can't wait to jump in on the first day that it is open, no matter how cold the water.  The pool is filled with well water...water that has been sitting underground through the cold winter.  That, combined with an overcast May, made for a very cold first day of swimming.  But, does that seem to bother these three?

broken arm

It was bound to happen sometime.  I can't tell you the number of times I've said, "whew...that was close."

We had a trip to the emergency room on a Saturday afternoon.

Amanda broke her arm when she was climbing a tree.  She was bouncing on it, lost her balance and landed the wrong way.

She is SUCH a trooper.  I know it must have hurt like crazy.  But, it wasn't long before she stopped crying and endured the pain.  She was chatting and entertaining the doctor with stories of her dog the entire time we were there.

She even managed to give me a smile while were were in the ER.

She was excited about her sling and hospital bracelet.

Later in the week, she even made a cast for her friend, Anna.  They were playing "swimming with a broken arm" or something along those lines.

Amanda wore the soft cast for two weeks while the swelling went down.  When we returned to the doctor for an X-Ray, she was eager to get her hot pink cast.  Nana was the first to sign it.

Sporting her cast while riding a horse (and wearing my black boots.)

Later she wore a waterproof blue cast for two weeks (so we could swim at Disney!).  

We are thankful that it is healing!  And we hope that is the only Saturday ER visit we have.  

Mother's Day

I'm so thankful to be a mother to these two boys! (After a long morning of church, Amanda refused to pose for a picture.)

Later, I snapped these of my three...

Scott, tuning his bike

Andrew, recovering from a brush with the asphalt

Amanda, still sporting the hot pink cast

School Sleepover

We are nearing the end of a GREAT school year.  Both boys have had stellar teachers.  It's been a year where they have been challenged and inspired by (and worked hard for) teachers who really care about them.  

Andrew is finishing 1st grade with Mrs./Dr. Shoemaker (she earned her PhD in December).  To cap the  year she invited the class to a lock-in at the school.  18 of the 21 kids attended (each with a parent). 

We pulled out all of the fun PE equipment and had a roaring good time playing with hula hoops, balls, skateboards, and more...all of the games that the kids dream about playing without any restrictions or rules.

Then, we settled down for dinner and a craft donated by The Home Depot.

We ended the night watching a movie in the classroom and sleeping in the gym.  There is something really exciting about sleeping at school.