Summer Program Update

Even though we are well into summer, I am happy to report that it doesn’t feel like time has been dragging AT ALL. Thanks to the Summer Program, we haven’t been the least bit bored.  Here’s how it’s going . . .

Monday (Craft Day): Last Monday was the fourth of July, so we had parades and fireworks and birthdays instead.  THIS week while Jeremy had lessons, I took the kids to Michaels and got some paint so that we could have a painting day.  It went quite well.  Here’s a few tips for painting, that I’ve discovered.

• Don’t give children cups of water. Disaster on multiple levels.  Put a large sponge (like a car wash sponge) in a bowl and dampen it. Have kids wipe brushes on the sponge and change it when necessary.
• Put the paint in an old egg carton or such and THEN (what I failed to do) put all the paint way. Otherwise, Dylan-or your version of him, will decide he needs more paint and stand

  

  on his chair and squirt it at the paper from 2 feet in the air creating a huge paper- covering splatter

• Also, do not underestimate the ability of your almost two-year old to, on the morning after Craft Day, a.) climb on the table where the paint still rests b.) unscrew the lid to the purple c.) surreptitiously carry it to the couch d.) pour it all over.
•  “Dry clean only” couch cushion covers can actually be washed and air dried quite effectively; however, upon returning the fiber-fill into the cushion covers, lumps are to be expected. 🙂

Tuesday (Movie Day): Last week and yesterday, J took the kids to the movies while I stayed and cleaned (sort of).  This is definitely not what it used to be since Anika is completely mobile and into everything. While at Michaels, I bought the kids these $1 water bottles (since Addie is embarrassed by sippy cups, but open cups are

still a disaster for the baby.)  As you can see in all the pictures, Anika is OBSESSED with the bottles and will not put them down. She spends her whole day carting them around and handing them to people.  While it is moderately adorable, it also gets a teensy bit annoying when you are trying to clean while being handed a water bottle every third second.

Wednesday (Water Day): So far, water day is definitely proving to be the biggest hit. Last week and earlier today, we set up the pool and sprinklers and they just romp and romp.  This week we even had some friends over to join us.  I use water day as a time to weed and fuss with my plants and then of course we fill up buckets with the pool water to water the garden throughout the week.  I have to say, NOT joining a pool as we had contemplated has definitely turned out to be a great move. Moreover, having a specifically designated “Water Day” has made it very easy to put off requests for blowing up the pool at other times.  One key announcement that I really must share is that ADDIE CAN HOLD HER BREATH UNDER WATER FOR 22 SECONDS!!! (Dylan, I’m sorry to say, still cannot do any one thing consistently for 22 seconds–except be adorable.)

Thursday (FFLEX DAY–Friends, Family, Laziness, and Extra stuff):

Last week on FFLEX day some friends came over in the AM and Jeremy couponed for me.  I know right!?!? While he’s gone before with a 5 item or less list, this time he had a 20 item list and a full batch of coupons.  Even though it took him 2 hours, he successfully had a 50% savings trip. AWESOME! I’m so proud. 🙂  Thursday has been a day with a bit more anxiety about what we’ll do to occupy the kids, but generally we get shopping and errands done on that day.  It could also be called “Phineas and Ferb Watching Day.” (Do you know how hilarious that show is though? Seriously. So funny)

Friday (Field Trip Day): We went to the Riverbanks Zoo in SC. While it was BEASTLY hot, we still had fun because we have our two year pass now, so we didn’t feel any obligation to see everything since we can go again.  In the past, we’ve stayed past the point of sanity because we wanted to get our moneys worth, but now we are able to be a little more relaxed about that. Though there were a couple of meltdowns in the D-Y-L-A-N category, generally the day was a success.

(I am going to be doing a separate post on Dylan, the snake-whisperer.)

As for this coming Friday, we are going to an indoor playground place in Charlotte that is FREE. It is actually a warehouse for play equipment that has an open playtime twice a week. Yippee Skippy!

Weekend: I guess it is worth mentioning what we do on the weekends since it is an extension of our “everyone is at home looking for something to do” life.  So far the weekends kind of fill up like a Thursday days with Friends, Family, Laziness, and Extra stuff.  Last weekend we had overnight guests, so I’ll write about that in an upcoming post.

How’s YOUR summer going?  Any highs and lows you can share with us!