The kids and I had three weeks to play between the time they got out of school and when we left for Idaho. During these same three weeks, our school district offered summer school to all elementary-aged kids. (Grrr....) But since the whole idea of "summer school" was new for us, the kids wanted to at least try it.......thankfully it was only a week or so before they were asking to stay home and hang out with me!! So the rest of our time was spent together, sleeping in, playing games, reading tons of books and planning fun outings. Thursdays was a designated pool day so we hit a new pool at least once week, usually two or three times.
Fridays were deemed "Field Trip Fridays" and we visited all kinds of places.....one week the kids wanted a field trip to Target to stock up on Snow Cone making supplies. Friends were invited along, we visited the neighborhood splash park, and then headed home to make huge snow cones. Another week we headed downtown for a picnic lunch with Chris. We also visited the "Clifford" museum, an awesome model train museum, and hit the city's biggest water fountains.
Our last field trip was just the boys and I since Livi had a chess tournament at summer school that she just couldn't stand to miss! It worked out perfectly since I had been waiting for this "secret" outing. First thing in the morning, I gave Nick a list of chores, a small bowl with scraps of paper that had letters written on them, and a told him he must be done by 11:45am. After he completed each job, he chose a letter. It didn't take him too long, since some of the jobs were things like "kiss your mommy 5 times" and "Do 20 jumping jacks." Once he'd earned all the letters, he had to unscramble them to figure out the clue to our field trip....
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Can you see the excitement on this child's face? He knew exactly where we were going....to the long awaited showing of The Karate Kid! We packed treats and off we went. The boys thought it was great. I loved the fact that Will Smith produced it and that Ralph Machio was nowhere to be seen. It was a fun afternoon with just my guys.
The kids were also really excited about our local summer reading program so we hit the library every week for new books and to take in some of the fun shows they presented. We saw a great children's musician, a puppet show, magic show, a cool eagle presentations and an amazing reptile show. The kids were in heaven, especially at the reptile show. The boys wore their alligator/snake shirts and had no hesitations when it came to petting all the little and not-so-little creatures. Ben even got to ride Buster, a young tortoise. The trainer told Ben to get him moving so Ben whispered, "Giddy up" and scratched his head with one little finger.....
Our month of playtime went so fast! I know we will have a great time on our summer travels, seeing family and being busy. Sometimes it's just nice to be around home and I love it when my kids are with me!
