One of the fun things I have done for my kids this summer to keep track of our summer fun was create a simple summer activity passport for her! It’s a way to keep track of the fun we’ve had this summer as well as encourage the kids to decide which activities we want to make sure to fit in this summer.
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In honor of the recent Pioneer Day (the Utah holiday that celebrates the arrival of the Mormon pioneers to Utah in 1847), we try to do something pioneer related each year, since my husband’s family is from Utah and it’s a part of our Mormon heritage as well. This year (to go along with Strawberry’s always kinetic learning style) we made a pool noodle covered wagon by converting our red Radio Flyer wagon!
In the past, we made a milk carton covered wagon and acted out pioneer scenes with it. Another time, I shared favorite pioneer books. We also learned about modern-day pioneers and interviewed family members, and we did a “scavenger hunt” in a non-fiction book to learn about using an index. I think making our pool noodle covered wagon was the most fun yet!
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On a hot summer day, what does one do for “Princess Preschool”? We play with ice! Building with ice is not easy. My daughter wanted to make an Ice Princess’ castle (as my daughter intended), but it sure is fun to try your hand in stacking the sliding blocks during an outside ice play exploration! Continue reading
Last spring, we read a fun book called I’m a Dirty Dinosaur, in which the illustrations were created with actual mud. Of course, we had to make our own mud paintings! The same author has another book, I’m a Hungry Dinosaur, in which the illustrations were created with cocoa powder, chocolate, and sprinkles, so of course we needed to give a try to painting with chocolate ourselves. Continue reading
When my son was 4 years old, he loved watching Finding Nemo, which led to a deep love for the coral reef and all the creatures the main characters in the movie encountered there. Sea turtles, sting rays, barracuda, jellyfish, and, of course, clown fish. All of these coral reef creatures were friends. Whenever we visited the pool for free swim, we had to play coral reef games. Then, together we made our own facts board game to play once we are out of the water too!
Both of these coral reef games are now in their second incarnation since my second child is now four years old!
As we learned concepts about coral reefs, we put them into our water play. Coral reef games and coral reef learning are the most fun in a swimming pool.
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He pauses from taking a bite of his sandwich and stares out the window. “Wow, Mom,” he says, returning to our world. “I just keep thinking of ideas for stories!”
I had given him access to a recording program so he could dictate the story he had told me the day before. He had spent an hour narrating the story on to the record. I’d promised to type up his stories when he was done. He could edit his stories as he recorded them.
This is the child who has resisted any type of writing in my own co-op class this year. And this is the boy I remember from the past: full of stories and ideas.
Later, he kneels on the driveway, chalk in hand, drawing only he knows what on the pavement. I think it is a town for his bike to drive through, because as we go inside two hours later, he says, “I hope it does not rain tonight!”
As his little sister climbs to the play house on top of the slide, she reaches for the tree branches hanging just over the side. “Ooooo, yummy apples!” She declares, biting in to an invisible fruit. “You want some?” She holds out her chubby arm, inviting me to take an invisible apple of my own.
Dirt, everywhere. This is the result of not having sand under the slide. Strawberry digs in the dirt. For more than an hour.
This is summer.
This summer is going to be a time of learning. But it will also be a time of exploration and creativity. It is time to embrace our creative sides. This will be our summer of creativity.
This week has been a relief to me. Although we have not finished all of our formal curricula, I’m pretty certain I’m done with the official school days. Co-op is over. Our park district weekly P.E. class is finished. Next year, since my son will be seven, we’ll have to track more carefully. But this year, first grade is complete.
We have worked hard. Now it is time to play.
Image by Nattu
And then we get a call: We want you to come to a new assignment in three weeks. In New Jersey. Nothing for certain yet, but will you plan for it?
Obviously, three weeks is impossible for an international move. But all of a sudden, the next weeks are limited; the next months are gone.
Last June, we entered Australia on a three-year visa. The project’s paperwork said through “September 2008,” but we hoped for two full years. I figured I’d have a walking and talking little boy. I figured we’d have visited all of Victoria and parts of Tasmania and New Zealand and maybe Sydney and the Gold Coast and maybe Ayers Rock. I figured our savings account would have grown (although those two dreams don’t really follow, a girl can dream!). I figured the housing market wasn’t going to tank and that the dollar would be worth a little more when we transferred our money back. I figured I had more time before I had to move my home across the globe again. I figured I could enjoy being cozy in our new home.
Of course, I am excited to be near family again, within a four-hour flight of both sets of my baby’s grandparents and all of my baby’s aunts and uncles. I’m excited to be able to get more variety in terms of consumer goods. I’m excited that things will cost less (relatively). I’m excited to choose a new car for myself. I’m excited to re-enter summer. I’m excited I might be able to go to my friend’s wedding in August. I’m excited that my family might actually call me when my phone number isn’t international. I’m excited that I don’t have to wonder how long we’ll be here (things have been a question mark for a few months).
But now I realize I have to start all over again: the third home and the third ward and the third search for friends in two years of marriage.
I’m realizing now that I shouldn’t have procrastinated being a friend. I shouldn’t have procrastinated making home cozy for my family. The end can, and does, come at any time.
What are you procrastinating? What “end” do you dread (and/or hope for at the same time)?
We’re melting this week.
We have something in common with all you winter people: it’s 35 degrees outside!
The difference, of course, is that our 35 degrees is in Celsius and your 35 degrees is in Fahrenheit. Oh wait, I just checked the forecast: you’re below 35 degrees now.
We’re melting.
It would be so nice to have a nice snowball fight, to rub ice cold snow on the nape of my neck, to feel a bitter cold wind against my face. If only we could just sit in the winter air for just for an hour or two. It would a welcome respite from this already unbearably hot summer.
Even with the swamp cooler running all day, it’s 30 degrees inside.
I never thought I’d be cooped up inside on New Years because of the heat, but that’s what’s happening.
It’s just so hot.
We hope your New Year is not too hot and not too cold! Happy New Year!
At church, they’ve announced the ward Christmas party.
It is a picnic at a park.
As I shop at the store, I see Christmas lights and Christmas decorations and Christmas sales.
But what is wrong with this picture?
Exactly: They are eating their holiday turkey around a pool.
Is it really Thanksgiving for all of you?
It is spring, and summer is coming. At 9 p.m. the other night, the bank displayed a temperature of 28 degrees. And with the air conditioning set at “high” all day, the house is still 23 degrees!
I can’t bring myself to roast a turkey and bake pumpkin pie. It’s too hot. Maybe we’ll grill some burgers and make a fruit salad and sit out in the back yard.
Last year, my husband and I were listening to Christmas songs on Halloween. This year, neither of us can bring ourselves to listen to them. Christmas songs just seem odd right now. How can we listen to “Let it snow! Let it snow!” when it is more than 30 degrees outside?
(Just to clarify: I don’t have any idea what the temperature is in Fahrenheit. But I do know it is very hot!)
I can’t imagine Christmas at all. How can I get into the season despite the season?