Photo Day July 2011 (Part 1)

Maggie and I headed to Half Moon Bay for a day of photography, and as always we had a great time and adventure, with a nice lunch in the middle!!

This one just reminds me of Monkey taking care of his Bug so I had to get this shot.

The following is the reason I have poison oak... it is itchy, but the shots were worth it!!





I love that as we headed home in silence from exhaustion, it was completely comfortable! Love having photo days with Maggie and wouldn't trade them for even a wine day!

Chalkboard

I finally got the chalkboard up, it was the longest process for me to get organized and get this up to play with!! I think since the board sat out for so long the kids have not had as much interest in it. But I finally got some new fun colored chalk, and that did the trick. I try to get monkey to practice his numbers and letter, but he has no interest, all he wants to draw is jellyfish. Which are super cute so I don't mind! He will eventually be interested in his numbers and letters, so in the meantime, jellyfish it is.

Moonsand

I had heard of moonsand, well not only heard of it, but I purchased it as a gift for a friend before I myself had kids. I had no idea what it was, it just looked fun, like a sand play-doh or something like that. And my friend who's daughter I purchased it for, said, "oh I have never bought this for my girls, it is a messy messy project" Opppppps, sorry...... She later told me the girls loved it, so I guess all was good.

Because I remember gifting this, I thought I would search for moonsand recipes, and try it with Monkey and bug! They absolutely loved it, I swear monkey played with it for well over 20 minutes, I was shocked!! And oh my, is it ever messy. I had no idea what it was supposed be or do, and I have to say, I imagine that moonsand is what quicksand is probably like. I rested my hand in it and the sand practically sucked my hand into it. In certain parts, it was a liquid, and a little runny, but then if you tried to brake it, it would crumble, it was such an odd texture. But most importantly the kids loved it, and we will be trying this again sometime soon.

The recipe we used was:

6 cups sand, we used our sand box sand (although, next time, I will buy a finer colored sand from Michaels)

3 cups Cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water ( I also used a water squirter to add more moisture to the dryer parts)

Slip N' Slide

The day of Scott and Heidi's wedding, we had a few hours to wear out the kids so that they would nap for the long night ahead of them, so what better way than fun in the sun and water!! Neither of them really understood how to run and slide on your belly, so Brent decided to show them by pushing them along, and that was all kinds of good times! They both loved it, more her than him, he was a little afraid of the water getting in his face.

Sensory Play

Cailey has had a lot of one on one mommy time while Devin has been sick, since he has been sleeping so much. She is definitely loving and getting used to the attention! She now wants me to carry her everywhere, and she always wants to be on my lap, not complaining at all :). It took Devin 3.5 years before he became a momma's boy (which I am also loving). The last 2 nights he has even asked for me to put him to bed, an occurrence that has NEVER happened before.

Both of my kids are very sensory craved, they both like to feel, taste, touch, smell and experience all that they can. So I have been making a sensory box that they fight over every time I bring it out, I think I might have to head over to Target and get another container! But they love to dig, and find toys I have hidden under the rice. I put balls, toys, spoons, anything with a different shape or texture for them to hunt for, they LOVE it! Although coloring all that rice was a task in itself, but so worth the reward!

Coloring

While Devin was sick asleep on the couch with an incredibly high fever, Cailey asked to color! She was making monkeys and jellyfish, and she concentrated hard on her drawings, I think we have an artist in the making.

Bath tub paint!

Daddy hadn't been home much lately, so trying to keep things fun and alive can become a challenge for mama. So I have been scouring the internet for fun "projects". Devin is all about projects these days, and loves hands on activities. So I decided to try bath paint, and I am pretty sure Cailey loved this one even more than Devin did! They both started out painting the back bath splash, when Devin soon got bored of that and started painting his sister's belly. Which of course she didn't mind at all, I am pretty sure she didn't even notice it. Then Devin wanted me to paint his belly, so I made a few stripes and he was happy, while I was painting him Cailey joined in on the action and decided to paint her face, hair arms, then moved onto Devin's hair (that didn't last long though, he did not like that one bit). Over all we had a great time, and if you want to make some of your own bathtub paint here is the recipe we concocted.

Bath tub Paint Recipe

2/3 Baby soap (We used Johnson's and Johnson's)

3-4 Tablespoons Corn Starch (add more or less, depending on the consistency you are looking for, I made it thick, just a little thinner than finger paint)

1 drop food color (we like the Neon colors)

Mud Bug

Cailey loves playing outside, but more specifically getting dirty. Even on the hottest day, she manages to find the only puddle or mud pit the rest of us didn't know existed. She will stomp, sit, roll and play in it, she has been known to rub it all over herself, then of course bring it all into the house when mama isn't looking. And of course mama, had to run and grab the camera while she makes an even bigger mess. So far this summer we have not had a day where she hasn't gone through multiple outfits, and baths.

As messy as it is, I love watching her explore, feel, experience (and taste)! I am so glad we have a yard for her to do this in.

4th of July weekend - Part 1

The 4th of july week and weekend were super busy for us as we had all kinds of Brent's family in town from Canada for Scott's wedding. So we spent a lot of time with them.

This was the rehearsal and dinner.

We went to Happy Hollow with Jordan, Emmerson and Jordan!

Capitola with Kirsten and Chris