Fourth Week of June (Summer Activities List)

First of all, I want to say that this morning I got a much-needed break. I went shopping by myself. And it was nice. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to pick something up off the shelf and look it over all while I was not worrying about small people also picking things up off shelves or running away from me or screaming. I feel pretty refreshed. So refreshed that when my children emptied my jewelry chest (and boy howdy is that thing not small) onto my bedroom carpet while they managed to muster a level of silence I did not know they possessed I did NOT lose my cool and yell at them. Yay! I also bought a very pretty little plate for my table at an antique store.



We have been busy, despite that nasty little detour with the sick kiddies. Brian took a day off work and spent it finishing our cabinet refinishing project. I am so impressed with his handiwork. They are pretty much the same color/tone that they were before, but after he sanded them down, re-stained them, put on several coats of varnish, and installed new hardware they look AMAZING! I am very happy.




Brian took the girls on Thursday evening uptown to our local Thursday Nights in Pella festivities. This week was animal week and by all accounts my children were thrilled beyond words. It is an awesome town that has these kind of neat events where kids can go see all kinds of animals (lamas, sheep, goats, dogs, snakes, etc.), gives them free balloons, and has Clifford come in. Yes, the Clifford. He was there! Reagan would love to tell you about it. She even got her picture taken with Clifford (though we have no idea where to get said picture). The whole thing was a huge success except that poor Reagan lost her balloon mere feet from our driveway :( I felt so bad for her! But she told me I could fix it by just getting her another one. The mere thought cheered her right up.

The reading continues here. I read this one and it was HILARIOUS!

I also got this one for Reagan at the library and I LOVED it! A fantastic children's book!!



I framed some of the more artsy photos I have taken and now need to find a place to hang them.





And here are a few pictures of last week's ice cream outing:



During WEEK FOUR we:
- went to the library
- went on a few walks in between rain showers
- went with Grandma to the park once and once by ourselves
- didn't really have an official "Family Night" this week but we had a lot of togetherness as we muscled through the girls' sick days
- blew bubbles outside with Reagan
- did sidewalk chalk
- did a craft and it was GREAT! We made BUGS!

Here's how we put together the legs (I used 1 pipe cleaner cut into 4 equal pieces, tied one of them around the other 3 and glued to the bottom of the milk lids):


Items yet to be completed:
- go to the beach
- go swimming
- fly a kite
- spend some time at my parents' farm
- roast marshmallows and make smores
- watch fireworks on July 4 (missed them last year)
- meet friends at the park whenever possible
- go to at least one parade
- go to the zoo
- catch fireflies (or lightning bugs as we called them)