Playing Mario Bros on the Wii with his "warm fuzzy" friend Mario!
I've already blogged about the first day of summer. Here is our second day. I won't be blogging about each day the whole summer. I did promise to be better about updating this blog during the summer. It's a natural thing that I'd blog more, since I'm home :)
I found this art project idea online. Melted crayon dot art. Close supervision is of course suggested!
James made apple trees and fireworks.
We baked chocolate chip cookies.
We went to the playground.
When does your heart stop beating so fast watching your child climb way up high??
James helped me water our flowers and plants.
We looked at pond water under the microscope. We were amazed to see little things moving around on the slide!
It was raining slightly but we still went outside and had a paper star fighter race. He was so funny. In this moment I caught him singing "I believe I can fly..."
And then there was a brief pouting period while I cooked dinner. He pouted, actually he said it wasn't pouting, because I wouldn't let him play on the iPad or Wii. He said he would rather do nothing then! Never mind the thousands of dollars worth of Legos and toys...
The pouting didn't last long and I was able to get him back on track. Happy Tuesday to us!
The weather wasn't cooperating with us again. It was overcast and slightly rainy. On those kinds of days it is hard to limit James' beloved iPad, TV, and Wii time, but I started a "coupon" system. He has a certain amount of coupons for the day, each worth 30 minutes of tech time. On the days that we are about and about it shouldn't be a problem.
I did set up an art project for James. Tia Kiki admired the castle drawing from his last week or so of kindergarten so James did make another castle for Kiki's birthday! She should receive it before her birthday :)
Tia Kiki and Tio Berto on the iPad for inspiration.
We ran a bunch of errands to Target, CVS, the eye doctor, and UPS so I rewarded us with a quick trip to James' favorite frozen yogurt place. Yum. It was also to celebrate the First Day of Summer!
On Sunday night I researched the free/available summer events offered through the schools, the library system, the city of Blaine, etc. I saw that for Monday 6/10 there was a Summer Reading Bubble Festival at our nearby library. James was super excited when I read the description to him. He most wanted to stand inside a giant bubble!
First, there were several bubble stations to try household items to make bubbles. Before any of the stations, the adult took a looooooooong time to explain to the kids the science behind the bubbles. It was very poorly organized, which was too bad but luckily I have a patient, polite boy. Once we hit the stations the kids were okay.
The teen helpers were a good idea. This kid took his job too seriously and was a bit awkward. The parents around me were all chuckling too, when he was telling the kids to move it along. Move it along. Don't hog up my station.
James spies the giant bubbles!
His turn to stand in the bubble.
It was hit or miss whether you'd be the one to stand in the greatest bubble or just an attempt at one.
James only got half bubbles, but he was still thrilled.
James' friend Clayton was behind us in line and he got a great one!
Bubble wrap art
Later, at home. I promised James that I would make him a paper airplane and then I remembered the SW paper flyer book from Tia Kiki and Tio Berto. I had stashed it away for the future, after Christmas. It was kind of like a present again after all this time!
So I patiently went through the step by step instructions, with James watching, and I made his first aircraft.
It flew beautifully!
L
So it's not a paper airplane, but a Naboo Starfighter. Pretty cool!
After dinner the boys were all out again! It's like an internal summoning or something... they all just end up outside at the same time!
This time James didn't have too much patience for soccer. He grabbed his kite and was content to run with it. It was kind of odd timing but he had fun with it.
As Jim handled bedtime with James, I saw an egret on our pond. I took this picture and edited the light a bit. I like the effect. It fit my mood.
Yay for a good first day of summer!
It rained almost all weekend. Not too much outside time. And then on Sunday night the sun came out! It seemed like all the boys from the neighborhood came out at once. I was inside while Jim took James outside, but the sounds of fun and play drew me to the front porch.
A soccer game!
And then the neighbor boys from across the street joined. Yay!
I hope this can be a frequent thing!
Parent note: teach James the basics of soccer. It was very obvious he didn't know what to do. I'm sure Youtube has some videos :)
The rain finally stopped and it seems like all the neighbor kids went outside at the same time! It is lovely hearing the sounds of playing, knowing James is having fun with his neighbor friends!
Grandma Laura hooked us up! She gave James so many cool toys for a graduation gift. James was very anxious to come home from swimming today and try out the bug catching gear.
This "gun" is actually a bug vacuum. James vacuumed up several ants, a large unidentified bug, and a spider! Yay... that spider is now in my living room. Safe in a bug house.
James was so cute in his safari vest. It came with an attached compass and assortment of "toodles" (tools).
Looking into the bug house magnifier. Cool bugs!
James cracked up at this bug. It's the big thing with a "blanket" over it. It was actually stuck on its back and was clutching at a twig. Funny kid.
Lots of bugs in here!
Oh yay. The spider.
Caught him!
And this is the binder that Grandma Laura put together. She put all of the "manuals" inside and some printouts of bugs. James said he knew what ants were, so we didn't have to look them up. I guess we'll have to find some other unknown bugs and then document our findings.
James also got a microscope! We looked at a few rocks and fossils under the microscope already. I told James that maybe soon we should gather some pond water to look under the microscope. He's super excited.
Thank you Grandma Laura for the thoughtful gift!
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