Scavenger Hunt & Mega Bubbles!

Yesterday, we were able to check off two more things from our Summer Fun List! We had a scavenger hunt, and then did mega bubbles. This year for our scavenger hunt, I divided the kids up into 3 groups instead of 2. The youngest kids (5 & 4 year olds) had pictures and a relatively short list. The second group (7 year olds) had words, but a shorter list than the oldest group (9 - 13 year olds) who had a longer and more complicated list. Each person got a bag with their name on it to collect things in and the oldest kids got a pen, because they had to write some things in, like "how many windows are on the garage". All of the groups had to find certain people & either have them write their name on their paper or they had to ask them a question, like, "what is your favorite food". They also had to find certain items to put in their bag. For example: find something soft, or find a rock shaped like a square. Once they had their bag & their list, they were off!

There were 3 winners, one from each group. They were Johnny, Riley, and Cooper. Good job guys!

After Grammy made a yummy lunch of home-made mini pizzas for the kids, we headed outside to do mega bubbles! I found the recipe for these on the Internet. I mixed 6 cups distilled water, with 2 cups Joy dishwashing soap, & 3/4 of a cup of light corn syrup. I mixed it up in the morning, & let it sit for a few hours. Then I used wooden dowels with yarn attached to them to make a "D" for the wands.

We started out with the bubble solution in bowls, but they dowel rods would not fit in them all of the way, so we got pans instead, which worked much better! The kids were very frustrated at first because the bubbles just weren't working. After awhile though, they finally started getting big bubbles! I think the sticks & yarn needed to be soaked in the solution before they would really work.

Carson was really good at getting giant bubbles!!

After the novelty of the bubbles wore off, they ran through the sprinkler to cool off & to get all of that soap off of them! =) 

Picking Peaches

Now that Jeff & I are better (for awhile I hope!), we took the kids out to pick peaches! We usually go to Sargent's Berry Farm, but we waited too long & they were out of peaches. =(  So, we went to Beck's Farm. This place was ok, but they charged us $6.00 each just to go out to the orchard! They did "waive" the kids' fees, but still. Oh well. It's only money, right? ;0) So, we headed out to the trees to fill our buckets and taste some yummy peaches.

The boys started picking right away.

And tasting!

Lily picked and tasted too....

but most of the time she did this:

stand under a tree for shade & say things like:

"It's SO hot!"

"Someone NEEDS to carry me!" (no one did....)

"Are we done YET???"

"I do NOT use port-a-potties!! (OK....I'm with her on that one...)

Needless to say, she was not a ball of fun to be around.

The boys, on the other hand, stuck out the heat in search of good peaches. They were good at finding them!

We came home with a lot of peaches!! The kids have already eaten some & will eat more, I am sure, I am going to make peach cobbler with some of them, and freeze the rest.

So, even though it was hot, and "Princess" Lily was a BIG complainer, the rest of us had fun picking peaches, so we can cross off one more thing from our Summer Fun List!

Lily's Boutique

When I walked into the Living room this afternoon, I saw this:

Lily had set up her own boutique to put make-up on.

She even put on a princess dress.

She sat down in her little princess chair and got to work.

She did all her make-up by herself & painted her nails with just a little help from me.

I, of course, had to take her picture afterwards.

I'm pretty sure she is never going to outgrow this girliness. ;0)

Jolly Rancher Suckers

I saw these yummy suckers on Pinterest (I love that place!) a few months ago & asked the kids if they wanted to add them to their summer fun list. They took one look & said, "YES!"
These are pretty easy to make & on the cheap-side as well, which is always a plus. =)
You need Jolly Ranchers (we got the original flavors) & lollipop sticks. You do not need cookie cutters, but the kids wanted to make theirs into shapes, so we used a star, a heart, a person, and a bird. You will also need a cookie sheet & parchment paper.

To avoid a giant mess later, I wrapped the cookie cutters in foil & sprayed them with cooking spray.

Then each kids got to choose 3 or 4 flavors of Jolly Ranchers (depending on the size of the cookie cutter), and place them how they wanted them.

We put them in the oven at 225 degrees for about 5 - 6 minutes. Once they melted, we pulled them out, took off the cookie cutters, and stuck a lollipop stick in them:

While these were cute (and I used waxed paper instead of parchment paper, which ended up sticking to the suckers, so I had to use hot water to get all of the waxed paper off....don't do that, it's not fun), these were much more difficult. In the future, I think we will only be making these:

I let the kids each pick 3 flavors and we just put them in a row, and baked them the same as the others. When they were done, we just put the sticks in and didn't have to mess with the cookie cutters.

The kids liked both versions, and were very proud of their creations!

I heard them say several times, "Mom! We have got to make these again!"
I would call that a success! :0)

Zach, The Super Helper!

Zach has been a super big helper the past several days. Jeff still has a little bit of trouble breathing sometimes from the pneumonia he's had for over a month now, and on Monday, I went to the doctor where they told me I not only had a sinus infection, but also bronchitis. :0(  So, Zach has stepped up big time. He has fixed lunch for himself and Riley & Lily, he has helped out with the laundry, switching out the loads so I don't have to go up and down the stairs a lot, and he has been going to get things for me when I need them. All without complaining once!
Last night I noticed that the lawn needed to be mowed. I didn't really want to wait until I was better because by then, the lawn waould be really tall, and it is supposed to be 110 degrees. I really don't want to mow in that. Zach has been asking if he can mow the lawn, so last night we gave him that chance. He readily agreed. (It didn't hurt that we told him we would pay him though.) ;0)  He did a great job!
Thank you SO much Zach for being such a big helper when Dad & I really needed it! We love you!

Letter Art Project

Last week, we made these cool letter canvas paintings. I saw a version of it on my friend Nikki's blog. They used painter's tape to tape designs on their canvases, but I decided to just do the first letter of their first name.
This is what I needed:

Canvases (I used 81/2 x 11), painter's tape, acrylic paint, and brushes.

First, I taped their letter onto their canvas:

I bought 2 shades of each of their favorite colors, and then they used those two shades to make a third shade that they liked:

Then they each painted lines across their canvas and over the tape, alternating colors.

Riley & Lily went straight across, but Zach chose to do it diagonally.

When they were done, we let them sit and dry.

After they were dry, I pulled off the tape. 

Their letters really stand out against the paint! They all got to choose where they got to hang them in their rooms. Good job kids!