Chronicles of Summertime: Day 9

Day 9:
We slept in this morning due to the storms keeping us awake last night, so we missed storytime at the library. We played in the basement this morning. Snugglepuppy jumped on his trampoline, built with blocks, and played golf. Squeaker really had fun watching him run around. After lunch, we went out to run some errands and while we were out, I stopped to get Snugglepuppy and I some ice cream.

When we got home, I fed Squeaker and tried to put Snugglepuppy down for his nap, but he wouldn't sleep. Then, after dinner, we took a walk. Snugglepuppy took some sidewalk chalk down to the neighbor's house and played with their 3 year old daughter for the longest time. They played with rocks, sticks, glowsticks, and pretty much anything they could find.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 8

Day 8:
This morning after breakfast, we decided to take a walk. So I loaded Snugglepuppy and Squeaker in the wagon and with a neighbor, we walked to our little park at the end of the road.

Snugglepuppy threw rocks off the bridge into the creek and went down and walked in the creek. We saw some tiny fish and he held a worm. He loved picking up the biggest rocks he could find and throwing them in the water to try and splash me. 

When we got home, we ate lunch and had some banana ice cream. Love this recipe I found on Pinterest. You simply peel and freeze some very ripe bananas and then put them in the blender or food processor. It's that easy and healthy. Snugglepuppy ate almost all of it which is saying a lot for him. 

Then we built the train tracks and ran the trains around them for a while. Then we went outside and played in the little pool. I was going to let Squeaker get in too, but she was sleeping so well, I just let her be. You can see in the background of this picture the failed water wall I attempted to make. Gonna have to go back to the drawing board on that one!

We also played with a letter puzzle and put together an Elmo floor puzzle. Snugglepuppy video chatted with his aunt after his bath (splashy splashy). He used the foam letters to stick to the wall of the bath. We also grilled out burgers tonight when daddy got home. It was a pretty good day.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 7

Day 7: 

We didn't do much this morning as I had to visit the social security office to get a card for Squeaker. That was a total disaster. It took us over 2 hours and I missed being called the first time and had to get a new number. Neither of the children were happy campers by the end of this ordeal, so we came home. 

Snugglepuppy took a nap after lunch surprisingly. After he got up, we built a house with legos and Snugglepuppy decided to put his cars in it. Later in the evening, we went outside and used sidewalk chalk to draw on the driveway. Then I gave him a bowl of water and paintbrush to "paint" on the driveway. I also brought out the squirt bottle filled with water and the squeegee. 

We also played around with looking at the world from different points of view. When Snugglepuppy saw me doing this with Squeaker, he had to play along!

Before bed, we got in some more reading time with our library books for the Summer reading program. Squeaker seemed very interested in the books as I was reading them to Snugglepuppy as well.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 6

I will start with some things we did over the weekend. We went to the library's Summer Reading Program Kick-off. Snugglepuppy had lots of fun and met Maisy and made Maisy ears to wear. He made a sand castle and saw a magic show. He also got his face painted and a tattoo!

We also went to COSI, our local children's science museum. Snugglepuppy played in the water area and saw the Mythbuster's exhibit for daddy's birthday.

I actually did a post about this water area at COSI earlier and here is a list of things kids can learn here:

Mythbusters Exhibit

We stopped by the Art Festival that was going on downtown near COSI and had a look around and a bite of food. It was a fun weekend!

Day 6:
Today was another RAINY lazy day. We didn't do too much in the morning. Snugglepuppy played with his castle he made at the library using playdough and cars. He built a road for his cars with it. Then, after cleaning that up, we started reading some library books for the summer reading program. He liked the 3 Little Pigs and helped the wolf (he calls it a dog) blow down the houses. Then we read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. As an extension, we watched the Youtube video of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.

And lastly, we made the fruit and yogurt parfait from Snugglepuppy's Highlights High Five Magazine.

Crushing the graham crackers.

Smashing the raspberries (we changed the recipe a little).

 Adding the graham crackers on top.

The final product.

Digging in!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 5

Day 5:
We had a lot going on today including taking Squeaker to the doctor for her 2 month check-up, the internet installation people came, and I had a few chores to take care of, so we didn't do too much in the way of learning.

Snugglepuppy colored with crayons and then we looked at his Highlights magazine. From it, we cut out an accordian book and folded it up. He also played some of his games on the iPad.

We did make it to the park for a little while and Snugglepuppy made some new older friends. They played "lava monster" with his ball and included him in the play even though he didn't actively participate. They danced with him as well.

When daddy got home, we had our Pizza Pizza Party in the basement. These usually consist of eating pizza and watching TV, playing Wii, or just letting Snugglepuppy play down there.

Snugglepuppy has regressed a little in his potty training over the last couple of days. He has refused to sit on the potty at all, but tonight he wanted to put on the big boy underpants and he stayed in them for quite awhile until it was time to go upstairs for bed. We asked if he had to go and he said yes and at least peed in the potty. He still isn't using it to poop (he wants his diaper on for that) but at least it's something!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 4

Day 4:

Today was a very rainy day. We decided to make some multi-media artwork. First we got out the crayons and markers, then added some paint. Snugglepuppy creatively used many methods of painting including finger painting, brush painting, and stamping. I was surprised at how he was able to describe and label what he was painting. I dictated what he said on the paper. 

We did some gross motor in the basement where Snugglepuppy jumped on the trampoline, played in the ball pit, and played some baseball. That didn't last long though so we came upstairs and looked at some of the library books we got yesterday. 

Then we worked on the alphabet a little using the iPad and some magnetic letters. I showed him a letter on the ABC app and he had to find the correct magnetic letter to match. 

Then he stacked up the letters and made us each an "ABC Sandwich."

It was not a bad day despite the fact that we weren't able to go out at all.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 3

Day 3:
After filling up on a yummy breakfast of waffles, we decided to visit the library. There are so many things for kids to do at our branch in addition to finding books. Snugglepuppy of course went immediately to the play area. He played with the play food in the "farmers market" section they have set up interacting with some other children who were there. He also played with the blocks and few other toys. He briefly went to the computers, although he didn't stay long as the headphones weren't working and he couldn't figure out what to do.

While there, we also signed up for the Summer Reading program. This year they are having a castle theme for their opening kick-off this Saturday. Here is a list of books I picked out for Snugglepuppy (and Squeaker):

				Daddy hugs 1 2 3
				Follow those feet! (Dora)
				Go-go gorillas
				Grandma's house (Dora)
				Guess who, Minnie!
				LMNO peas
				My garden
				Night light
				Pete the cat and his four groovy buttons
				Shout! Shout it out!
				Splish, splash, splosh!
				The three little pigs Are you my mother?

We came home and I attempted to give Snugglepuppy a nap. And Squeaker was unusually hungry today, so we really didn't get much else accomplished. Snugglepuppy did play with some of the apps on the iPad and watched Team Umizoomi on TV. I attempted to make a cupcake recipe from Pinterest and failed horribly on the icing when I realized I was supposed to use freeze-dried raspberries instead of frozen raspberries. Oh well, there's always next time. 

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 2

Day 2:

Today we played outside in the little swimming pool and sand box. Snugglepuppy liked exchanging the contents of each one, putting sand in the pool and water in the sand box. We made nothing in particular and Snugglepuppy decided shortly after we went out that he was ready to come back in.

We ran some errands and I decided to take Snugglepuppy to a nearby park with a playground. At which, Squeaker promptly decided she was hungry and I realized I didn't have the cover I use to nurse with us, so I went to the car and got the only blanket I could find, a thick, soft, fuzzy one. Even though it was hot, it wasn't long before Snugglepuppy was ready to come home anyway. (Maybe this kid has ADHD, jeez)

Snugglepuppy got a chance to work on his fine motor skills as well with an activity from a blog I recalled seeing long ago. I can't remember exactly which blog. We stacked cheerios on skewers stuck in a lump of playdough.

(Sorry about the quality, it's a photo of a photo.)

Not a very exciting day, but I did end up finishing up my baking projects, cake pops, candy coated pretzels and M&M rice krispie treats. Wow, my house is full of too much sugar!

Oh yeah, we also played with a few new apps we found for the iPad: Team Umizoomi Zoom into Numbers, PBS Kids, Crayon Hello, Balloons, and ABC Magic. Pretty sure Snugglepuppy is going to know how to use this thing better than me!

Hope everyone's summer is starting off great or will be starting soon.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 1

Hello Friends! I know I have been away a LOT recently. I feel I have been so busy that I haven't done anything worthy of blogging about. But, I have decided to chronicle all the things we do this Summer and hopefully somewhere in there will be something that is useful to someone or at least you may enjoy following along with our journey. So, here goes. Me trying to entertain the 2 1/2 year old (Snugglepuppy) and the 2 month old (Squeaker) by myself with a little learning along the way.

Day 1:
Today we went to a local metro park. We decided to play on the playground and visit the nature center. Snugglepuppy had lots of fun looking at the animals and playing with the interactive nature board (see photo below). We also worked a floor puzzle of butterflies and insects. We had to leave there pretty fast as Squeaker had a poop-splosion of epic proportions. It leaked out into the car seat and down through the car seat onto the wagon and everything in it including the umbrella and Snugglepuppy's feet! Ughh, it was pretty gross. Needless to say, that ended our trip.

After cleaning all that mess up, we ate lunch and I put Snugglepuppy down for his nap (which he actually took!) Meanwhile, the free iPad arrived in the mail! We are currently searching for awesome free apps for kids. Leave a comment if you know of any. We took a walk later on that evening. Snugglepuppy made another attempt at riding his tricycle, but once he got started pedaling, he forgot to steer and ended up in the grass. Oh well, just needs more practice.

We made it through day 1, thank goodness! Mommy was exhausted after putting the kids to bed and then working on my cake pops and chocolate dipped pretzel sticks. Finally got to bed after 1 am. Hope tomorrow's more relaxing.

New Baby and Linky!

Hello all! Exciting news! My precious baby girl was born April 2. She is doing well just needs to work on gaining a little weight (She lost 3/4 lb since birth and hasn't gained any back yet). Now I need to work on a nickname for her for the blog. Let me know if you have any ideas. Also, my son needs a nickname as well. Leave a comment if you think of one!

Here is a pic of my son from Easter.

Also, I am staying home with the baby for 6 weeks, (and Summer is coming soon as well) so I am keeping my son home from daycare as well. I want him to continue learning while he's at home. If you have any ideas, please link them up below. It would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I haven't been paying him the attention he deserves with trying to breastfeed and take care of the baby. Thanks!