Summer night activity

 Thanks to the Dollar Section  from the an Indiana Target, my kids had the best time last night. 

On our Colorado vacation, Aunt Cathie brought regular spinning flyers. These take a special technique to launch. Lily possesses this technique. I keep snapping my hands with the rubber bands.

Anyways, Target had some on clearance and theirs light up. Perfect for a "just before bed activity".

 Dakota's all aglow on the new spinners :) 

 He shot his high in the air.

Running to catch the flying spinner. I'm sure the flash from the camera distracted him. But he didn't care. He was having fun.

Making memories on a balmy summer night ♥

Newness of summer wearing off

It's almost time for school to start back up. My children are reminding me of this constantly. The summer fun is beginning to wear off, the intense heat has kicked in, and sibling love is running dry.

It is odd how a fun game of tickling can turn into screaming bloody murder within seconds. 

What have I learned from the last two days???

My youngest has found her screeching voice. I mentioned this to the husband and his response was "want me to bring home some ear plugs??" Yes!! truly his response.

The middle child has almost mastered the technique of irritating both older and younger siblings at the same time. I don't know how she does this, but she's almost to a gold medal in this area of life.

The oldest....he's just ready for interaction with kids his age. I know he loves his sisters, but lately, I hear alot of  "No! get out of my room!!!" 

And something about me....coffee isn't working! (WHHAAAaaaaa!!) I know, shocker of all shocks! But we are all still alive and surviving. 

So for now, til the kids start school, this momma will be on her toes to have fun with the kiddos. I'll be praying this heat lets up a little, but if not, we still have a hose and sprinkler :)

Imagination makes the best memories come alive

I remember the summer days of my childhood. We had some hot humid summers. I grew up in Florida. If it wasn't hot, it was hotter...and if you didn't have hot, it was raining. 

My mom didn't let us sit inside and become couch potatoes. If we were inside (and it wasn't raining), we were doing chores, taking naps, or sick. My brothers and sister (I'm part of a group of 4 younger children...there were also 4 older children but they were teenagers/college age at the time) would build tree forts, make the coolest swings, and we were pretty awesome pool makers.

For whatever reason, we had large metal barrels in our backyard. Oh! the things we could do with those barrels. We would swim in them. You could turn them on their sides and walk all over the orchard area with them. Use them to boost yourself up a tree and sneak attack the other teams tree fort. Oh, YES!! we had fun in the summers. We would play all day, come in for lunch, and continue playing til it was time to set the table for dinner. There was nothing more refreshing than drinking that cool water from the water hose.

Awww, sweet memories of way back when. ♥

With technology so far advanced, it's hard to keep your kiddos with just the basics of summer fun. There's splash parks, water parks, ample blow up pools, slip n slides, etc. I almost bought a tarp for my children the other day...just to see what their imagination would make. Would they try to make a swimming pool like my siblings and I would do?? Would they sneak some soap from the cabinet to make it a sudsy slip n slide?? would they make a tent with it?? Could it become a magic carpet that would take them off to Neverland to fight with Captain Hook??

I'm glad I have such sweet memories of summer. I hope that I have given my children the same chances to create beautiful summer memories with their siblings as well.