First Week of Summer Fun! (May 23- 30 2015)

We just finished our first official week of summer, and it was a blast! We've checked off some of our Summer Fun List as well. :)

I'm going to start off with Saturday, May 23rd. We went to my step-sis, Hayley's graduation from college party out at the lake. Sadly it was absolutely pouring rain so we couldn't go out to play in the lake at all with the girls or play at the playground. They made a little friend there though, and had lots of fun playing with her. Then my Dad took them out to play in the rain and they got SOAKED! They had so much fun playing in the rain though, and kept trying to go back out there, but I was a mean Mom and wouldn't let them. I had the honor of being asked to make the rag banner, and it turned out cute if I do say so myself ;) The whole set up was very cute as well, everyone did a great job of putting it all together.

Then the graduation party turned into a.... wait for it..... engagement party!!! Hayley's boyfriend Tanner surprised her by proposing to her in front of all of her friends and family. It was so sweet! I am so happy for them! Tanner is a really great guy, and I'm so glad he'll be joining the family!

Sunday was a lazy day, and we went to my Mom's house for Ares to play with his best friend Aiden.

On Monday, May 25th (Memorial Day) we went to my Aunt Amy's house for my cousin David's first birthday party! It was soooo cute!!! The theme for the birthday was The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and his cake was the caterpillar, and then the food they served was all the food he ate in the book. I didn't take any pics so I stole these from my aunt's pics that she took.

 

On Tuesday, May 26th, we went to Jumpy Jump Land with Aunt Jenny, Zach, Riley, and Lily for their open jump time. The kids jumped for so long, I'm surprised it didn't wear them out for a nap right then and there.

 

 

 Afterwards we went to Grammy and Granddad's house for a little bit. We then went home, and the girls napped for a little bit, and Ares went to his piano lessons. After dinner, the kids and I then met up with my Dad, Shari, and Ashley at the YMCA to go swimming.

 

Wednesday, May 27th, Ares had his first day of camp with the Boy Scouts of America. He is not actually a boy scout, but he was able to go to camp through this special program that they do that lets inner city kids have a camp experience. Ares had such an amazing time! I'm so glad he was able to go.

 

After camp, we went to the library and signed up for their summer ready program. They changed up the program this year so it's a little different then what we're used too, but it looks like it will be a fun change.

 

Following the library, we went straight to the kids' award ceremony for gymnastics. They all got a chance to show us what their stuff, and they even got medals! Ares was first, and then Ceri and Brigid.

 

Brigid doesn't like to perform in front of people, and she got very upset during their little performance, and Kyle ended up going out there with her.

 

All 3 kiddos loved getting their medals though! They were so proud of themselves, and we were so proud of them!

 

Thursday, May 28th, Ares went to his second day of camp. From what I had heard from him when he came back from his Dad's on Saturday, he had a blast both Thursday and Friday. He told me really great things about his camp counselors as well. I'm so glad they have such great people working there so that the kids have an awesome camp experience.

The rest of the day is rather personal and I don't want to go into it, but the girls were able to play with their cousins all morning.

 

Friday, May 29th, was the day of my brother in law, Matty's birthday and his brother Andy's bbq. We met a lot of new people, and some that I had heard a lot about, but hadn't had the privilege of meeting yet. We had a lot of fun socializing, and the girls even got to play with someone's pet bird!

 

Saturday, May 30th, the girls and I went to Cheri's Bakery for their free cookie decorating. They were supposed to be decorating tropical fish. The girls decided they needed to eat the eye balls first and then they decorated their cookies.

 

They let the girls decorate a third cookie for their brother since he wasn't able to be there with him. They even made sure that it had blue on it, since that is his favorite color! They were such thoughtful sisters. :)

 

This is how cute they turned out!

 

After our cookie decorating, we went to my Dad's for lunch and to hang out until it was time to go Hayley's Premiere Jewelry Party.

 

After the jewelry party, we all went to pick up Ares from his Dad. We then went over to my Mom's house for dinner. Across the street from her house was a garage sale, and my Mom gave Ares a bunch of change to go next door to find some treasures at the sale. He found himself an angel, and then he bought his sisters some hats for them to use for dress up. Lindsey went with us too, and Ares dressed her up.

 

We then enjoyed Kyle's chicken and rice for dinner, and Ares then played with his friends.

 

We did a total of 5 things off of our Summer Fun List this week! I can't wait to see what this coming week will bring. :)

 



Summer Fun List 2015

Every year I seem to out-do myself on our Summer Fun lists. This year I thought I would keep it simple.... yeah right!!! I ended up with 126 things!!! A lot of the items on this list though are geared toward my family and the Wichita area. There is actually a whole "other" list I have that is just special events we are planning on attending throughout the summer as well. I tried to incorporate discounts, websites, times, dates, and such that we are going hopefully be able to take advantage of so our fun can also be budget friendly :)

*Disclaimer- Not everything might get done on this list. In the past we haven't always gotten everything accomplished due to life happening. However, we still try our best to do as many as possible! Wish us luck!

Summer Fun List

Visit the Aviation museum

Have Camden spend part of a week with us

Ares’ 8^th Birthday!

Ares’ birthday party!

Pick Blackberries

Make homemade jelly

Visit the Art Museum (free on Saturdays)

Go to a Home Depot Kid Workshop (First Saturday of the month 9am- Noon)

Go to Lowe’s Build and Grow clinics (Saturdays at 10am)

Go to the YMCA water park

Take gymnastics

Go Camping

Visit the Lake

Attend River Fest

Watch a Fireworks Show

Visit the Great Plains Nature Center

Go Fishing with Grandpa

Have a sleepover at Grandma’s

Visit Exploration Place

Visit the Zoo (Visit the new rainforest)

Library Summer Reading Program

Barnes and Noble Reading Program

Go to the Drive in

Go to Picnic Theatre (Enjoy a live production along with pizza, a drink and a cookie for $7.50. Wichita Children’s Theatre and Dance Center is staging “Pinkalicious,” “Chicken Little” and “Pinocchio.” For 10 a.m. shows, only cookies are served, and the cost is $6. Information: http://wctdc.com.

Bradley Fair Summer Concert (Free, July 1^st @ 7:30pm, fireworks afterwards)

Ride the train @ OJ Watson Park

Visit a sprinkler park

Go to Final Fridays Art Walk with Kyle and Tuyet

Have a play date with Jude and Kyle Ann

Day trip to Abilene, KS (visit the Russell Stover’s Chocolate Factory and the Eisenhower Museum)

Bring treats to the police station and fire department

Visit Uncle Joe at Retirement Home

Visit Grammy Bette

Visit Papa

Visit Grammy and Granddad

Visit Grandma and Grandpa Martin

Have an adventure with Opa

Have a sleepover with Nana

Help Grandma Boots with her horses

Eat snow cones

Wash our car the old fashioned way

Outdoor Movie

Make sock puppets and have a puppet show

Go on a Treasure hunt

Go on a Scavenger hunt

Jedi Training Academy

Lego Day Camp

Hike in the Forest (Cottonwood Park)

Play Outside with Sidewalk Chalk 

Build a blanket fort

Have a lemonade stand

Go to the Farmer’s Market

Have a Picnic

Make GIANT bubbles

Bird Watching (borrow Opa’s binoculars)

Happy hour at Sonic

Write letters and mail them to Karen, Thomas, and Cami in Germany

Go Creeking

Water Balloon fight

Sponge bombs

Paint filled water balloon fight

Learn to spell names (Ceri and Brigid)

Start learning times tables (Ares)

Make a chore chart

Play with Playdoh

Paint with water

Go to a garage sale

Ballet class (Ceri)

Hip Hop class (Ares and Brigid)

Father’s Day!

Mommy’s Birthday!

Stearman’s Fly in and watch the biplanes take off

Have a Shaving Cream fight

Fly kites

Learn to do a handstand (Ares)

Princess tea party with Emma, Lily, Taby, Alyssa, Ceri and Brigid (and Maddie if she is in town)

Build a Sand Castle

Go to Vacation Bible School

Bike ride with Opa

Walk to Dairy Queen with Nana

Make paper airplanes

Feed Granddad’s ducks

Play at the park

Have a Family Game Night

Go swimming at Grandma and Grandpa’s pool

Visit the Lake Afton Observatory

Stargaze

Tie-Dye with Aunt Hayley

Catch frogs by the creek

Take a walk by the river and see the Water Walk Fountain Show

Visit the Keeper of the Plains

Go Troll Hunting

Play Hide and Seek

Have 3^rd Annual Back to School party with cousins

Make Slime

Make S’mores

Have a talent show

Have a pie eating contest

Make homemade ice cream

Have an Ice Cream Party with cousins

Make popsicles

Life size Candy Land Game

Boy Scout Day Camp (Ares)

Botanica ($3 Thursdays)

Cowtown (Tuesday time travelers: pre-registration a must. $4 per kid/adult)

Go to Jumpy Jump Land

Visit the Backyard Specialists (FREE family open house days on the fourth Saturday each month from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Kids can enjoy snow cones while playing in the “backyard” on the swing sets, trampolines and basketball court! And weather permitting, they will have their inflatable up too.)

Play with the Puppies at Pet Land

Imagine that Toys Volcano Eruption ($10, Wednesday July 22^nd, MAKE RESERVATION 316-239-7483)

Write your own stories (Ares)

Have a family night at Uncle Darren and Uncle Matty’s house

See a Palace Movie ( July 1-2 is Indian in the Cupboard $2.50)

Have Breakfast at the Donut Whole or Hurts Donut for a family breakfast

Go to Ballet in the Park (Snow White, June 11-14)

Start a Nature Journal for all of our outdoor adventures (Ares)

Participate in activities at the Library

Catch Fireflies

Have a lazy day (stay in pjs, watch movies, place charades, shadow puppets, etc.)

Karaoke

Have Race Day with the cousins

Have a Science Experiments Day

Have the kids make a “menu” and make dinner (with help of course)

Ares has a slumber party with a friend

Ceri and Brigid have a slumber party with a friend

Freeze Tag

Have a family movie night