first weeks of summer

Summer is here and HOT.  Our days have been randomly filled with bits of fun.  I seem to remember lots of bickering and rivalry, so I'm glad these pictures tell a different story.

There's our girl in a sea of orange flames.  She has a heart for God that is nothing short of inspiring...she begged to do Vacation Bible School and already wants to do it next year.  VBS knows how to work a theme...this year was National Parks and the kayak sitting in the church foyer made us want to jump in a river every day.


Three scientist at work.  Isabela's had this crystal growing kit for several months, but the directions are pages thick.  Great to do with a friend.


Poor Joaquin had a soccer tournament on the hottest day ever.  The fact that they lost five out of six games didn't bother him too much....he was with his best friends and that's all that matters.



We beat the heat with sheet forts.  Joaquin is somewhat of a fanatic about them being a certain way, so these often end up with various kids in tears, but they are still fun.



This one involved way more blankets.


We picked 3lbs of blueberries at the farm up the street.



One of the farmers went running up a row to "mark a yellow jacket nest".  That kind of cut my adventurous spirit in half.



They weren't so sweet while we were picking, but after a few days in the fridge, they were delicious!  Time to go back!



The kids were busy working on something for hours one day.  That is the best kind of play!  They had made up a 'baby club' and were creating different activities for Diego to do.



Joaquin and Isabela were the teachers.  Love the room number and the rainbow!



We hit the $1 movies yesterday, but came out $20 later.  Have you seen Happy Feet 2?  I cried twice, but I really must be getting old because I couldn't understand what they were saying half of the time.   I've never been good at deciphering cartoon talk.  Maybe that's why I never really liked them.

BUT...as we were leaving, a guy was handing out flyers for a lego contest.  Twenty-five minutes, the most creative one wins.  So we decided to try it out at home.

Joaquin keeps all his legos in one basket and rarely plays with them.  But he liked this challenge.


We spread them out all over the rug and had fun finding the guys and their heads.



Isabela created a cool jail after watching some of the videos on the lego website.



This one wasn't feeling too good one day...but thankfully, nothing really came of it.  Just lots of hugs, and I can always use one of those.

 What have you been doing to keep cool this summer?

a midsummer night's dream

I've never read A Midsummer Night's Dream, (or seen it, since Shakespeare wrote plays, right?) but it's in the plan.  Anyway,  that was the theme for this year's summer reading kick-off at the library.



Can I just say that library events are the best!  Always free, and usually interactive and engaging for the kids.

Isabela couldn't keep away from these so soft angora bunnies.  Every time I thought she was lost, I'd find her over here.



The baby alpacas were cute, too, and the kids enjoyed feeding them multiple times.



Home Depot had set up bug catcher kits for the kids to hammer together.  I'd forgotten how much the kids love these workshops.



There was a fortune teller who tried to guess our names (she got them all wrong, btw), a balloon twister who made some great spiders dangling from a pole, and I missed getting us a free caricature drawing...shoot! I've always wanted one of those.
The craft tables had masks, flowers, and paper weaving.  Isabela's waiting patiently for the boys in the long balloon line....



...I guess she got a little bored.



The big highlight was going to be some fire twirlers.  They had set out a bunch of hula hoops for the kids to do while we waited for the show to start.  If you haven't seen Isabela hula hoop, you are missing an amazing talent.  She can go for...ev...er.  And slow and effortlessly.  Here, she discovered multiple hoops are just as easy.  She even had her friend, Sami, throwing them on over her head and kept right on going.  If the veterinary thing doesn't work out, she's definitely got a back-up plan.



The five minute fire act was mesmerizing, but I really had more fun watching our own kids during the 45 minute pre-show.



Back to the whole point of this, summer reading.  I've signed up for the ivillage PBS kids summer reading challenge,  a read out loud book club, and picked up various reading logs from bookstores across the area.  I think I've got our bases covered.

Currently I'm reading The Well Trained Mind and enjoying it.  The kids are reading various chapter books, but haven't found a compelling one since Middle World.

Reading anything good this summer?

six tips to summer fun

Our summer fun list is posted eye-level on our fridge.  And I think our biggest obstacle will be trying not to cross them all off in one day.  We had plans to do at least five of them on day one....thankfully, plans change.

Another challenge is making sure the fun stays in our summer.  Here's what seems to work for us:

1. Think ahead.

This could be as simple as making this list.  All our great ideas pinned on Pinterest do no good if we don't look at them.  Sometimes a good ol' fashioned pinboard is necessary.

When planning our day, I always consider driving times, snack times, supplies on hand, and cost, as well.  Snacks are key...as much as I hate to pack lunches, it saves a fortune if I continue to do this in the summer.



2. Be flexible.

We hit the Science Museum the last day of school.  They were having a LiveSky event which included a talk about space junk, a free IMAX movie about the same thing, and then their telescopes would be set up to view the night sky.

But we were late...and there's no late admission to the talk.  The good news was we could still go to the movie, which is probably all we wanted to do anyway.  The bad news was it wouldn't start for an hour and a half.

So we hung out in the lobby of the closed museum.

Still way cool.  No one was there.  We had full run of the place, and you can bet they were running all around.

I'm still amazed at how much I learn every time I go there.  This pendulum is demonstrating the rotation of the earth.  It only swings in one direction, but since the earth rotates, the pins will all eventually be knocked down around the circle.  We played a little game to guess how many swings it would take to knock one over, then sat and counted until it happened.



If you look close, you can see us all leaning in to get a picture of us in the reflection.



3. Be creative.

We had an unexpected hour and a half to kill...so we had to be a little creative.  Kids are naturals at this....next fun game?..... scooting around the wooden benches on your back, using your feet to push around.  (JP and I didn't try this, but we should have.)



4. Go outside.

When they got bored on the inside, we headed outside.  I know we hear this all the time...to get outside with the kids, but sometimes they just don't want to go.  Water is the key...a hose, bubbles, sprinkler, pool, fountain.... kids cannot resist water.



No sooner had we touched the fountain water and Joaquin (not Diego, btw) had scooped some and put it to his mouth.  What?!  Come on, now.  That is just too gross.  Which means this is a good one to add to the list:

5. Lay ground rules first.

I often forget this rule and end up with a wild group of monkeys to control.  It is best, before getting out of the car or doing anything, to let the kids know what to expect, and go over how to behave.  This quick reminder helps it all stay fresh in their minds.



6.  Be involved.

I often become the safety patrol, bag holder, family photographer, clock watcher....and that's when I find myself getting grumpy.  Being those things is never fun (well, except the photographer part).  So passing the job off to dad every now and then helps me relax and enjoy all the fun myself.

Actually, I realized this at Joaquin's school party...the parents were invited to play Heads Up, Seven Up and Four Corners, and I was the only one that did!  I had fun (especially when I won at four corners, oops!), but I think it made the game even more exciting for the kids.

Four corners is easy anywhere....at the science museum, we used the North, East, South and West blocks around the fountain.  It's not quite as fun with fewer people though, so ask other families to play and you could make some new friends.



And a simple game of chase is a great fall back anytime....look at scary mommy with those "I'll get you my pretty" witch hands!



We finally got to see the movie Space Junk.  Who knew there were millions of pieces of junk constantly circling the earth?  So interesting, and quite disturbing.

Unfortunately, we had to miss the telescope viewing.  A late night soccer game was calling.  But we'll try another night, now that our curiosity of space has been sparked.

I think most moms do the things on this simple list instinctively, but sometimes, at least for me, it helps to have it written out.  Here's to a summer full of fun!

frugal father's day

We're trying something new around here lately.  The dreaded "B" word....budgeting.

We've never been big spenders, but we're good at nickel and dime-ing ourselves to a zero balance.

This was my old budget: spend until JP told me to stop...then make-do until we had more money.
That doesn't leave much room for savings or emergencies.

So this month we got tight.

All extra spending is out for now.  We can buy gas and groceries, and that's about it.

Every now and then, one of us breaks the rules, but for the most part it's been a fun experiment at not spending a cent.

So what to do about father's day?

Basically, it comes down to using what you have.

And believe me, we ALL have enough stuff.  We just have to be creative with it.

Joaquin's gift was a planter...that is supposed to look like his dad.  If you grow something like grass, or clover in it, it will look like hair.



Thanks to That Artist Woman for the great tutorial.

Working with clay is really hard, and Joaquin usually ends up in tears, so I helped a lot, especially getting the pieces to hold onto the pot.  But when we had finished there was some left over clay, and he decided to make an angry bird.... all on his own.  He used the same techniques, and it turned out great.

Joaquin always seems to do better when there are no directions to follow.



Isabela made the sweetest sewn book for Juan Pablo....ten things she loves about him.  She sewed it herself, after I printed off the cover.  And I left her on her own for the ten ideas and spelling.  There's a few interesting words, but it's all decipherable.


This was my favorite page..."you are brave"...with daddy getting a spider.  He's good at that.


And Diego's gift was really made by (shhh!).....me and Joaquin.  But so fitting for his love of matchbox cars.


Does this look fun after a hard day's work, or what?  The front of this shirt said  'I love Hollywood' so I  crossed out the Hollywood and put Dad, instead.  All the kids signed it, and we tried it out this morning.

There's a great tutorial at The Blue Basket for the street pattern...I used her same design but with sharpies instead of fabric paint.  Very easy!


Our original plan was to head to the beach for the day, but the pool turned out to be a much better option....free, close, quite empty, and the most relaxing day we've had in awhile.  It almost felt like Mother's Day!



Most of us break the bank with one trip each summer (I know we are), so being frugal right now just makes sense (cents?).  I think that's something most dad's would appreciate.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!  

aloha

School is officially over.  Whew!

That was a busy week of partying.

Full of ice cream floats....



...arm wrestling....



.....and the limbo.



Diego was a little over it by the second party.  He found a ruler and played air swords by himself.  I guess he lost.  (He loves to flop on the ground and play dead.)


Joaquin just loved his teacher this year.  She was soft spoken and calm...quite the opposite of me, but everything I aspire to be.



We turned to pinterest for our teacher gift this year.  Suncatchers made from melting plastic beads in the oven.   (If you try this, be forewarned, I'm sure toxic fumes are emitted when this plastic heats up....evidence: stinky smell and small headache.  Be sure to turn on fans and open all windows and doors and whatever else you can!)





Together, Joaquin and I made a set of notecards with the oh so cute hedgehog and an apple.



Those sunglasses say it all....aloha school, aloha beach.

our favorite spot

Diego and I hit the local zoo one more time last week.  Can you tell he likes it?

We may even go again this week before the kids get out of school.  The zoo is right next to the school....you can even hear the lions roaring on the playground...if it's quiet, ha!



The flamingos are one of the first animals to greet you at the zoo.

The word flamingo reminds me of the Spanish dance flamenco, although I don't think they are related in any way.  At Isabela's old latin dance school, I used to hear people call the dance flamingo, as in, "Go in to your flamingo class."  It used to bother me so much, but actually flamingo in spanish IS flamenco, so I guess those people weren't that far off.



This parrot said, "Helro!" to us with a similar scooby-doo accent.  And another one nearby whistled 'Whu-woo!', the 'you're so pretty' whistle.  I was happy.



My favorite bird of all time...the toucan.



This zoo is full of beautiful birds.  This peacock came to check us out while we ate our sno-cones.



And this one was proudly strutting around with a rock in his beak that he had found.



The monkeys are the second best thing at this zoo.  Most people probably go for the white tigers and to feed the giraffes, but in my old age, I prefer the amazing colors of the birds, and the huge variety of monkeys that they have.

Just look at the piercing stare of this lemur.



And the grandfatherly wisdom of this bearded monkey.



And the cleverness of this hungry monkey looking for a little change in diet.



We grabbed our usual sno-cones and decided to take the train this time.  This zoo has a train ride that takes you to a 'secret' part of the zoo.  We had always wondered what was back there....



....it turns out it's a free-range African savannah.  The animals are free to walk right up to the train!

This ostrich was busy drinking water from that tube in the ground.



There were many types of herd animals back there, mostly gazelles and goat like animals.  Nothing dangerous, I imagine.



These were the only ones curious enough to come right up to the train.



The guide pointed out these ostrich eggs sitting right on the middle of the ground.  Did you know the male ostrich is black because he sits on the eggs at night and the female ostrich is gray because she sits on the eggs during the day?  The tour guide told us all kinds of neat facts like that.



Diego and I hope to get a lot more use out of our zoo pass this year.  Maybe we'll be brave and try the sky ride next time!