Saturday, June 21, 2014

Summer Bucket List: Enjoy the Scenic Route

#4: Enjoy taking the Scenic Route

Natchez Trace Bridge


 View from the Natchez Trace Bridge (taken by L)



 More along the Natchez Trace Parkway



Saturday, June 14, 2014

E's Disney's Frozen Birthday Party

This year, for E's 5th Birthday, she decided to have a Disney's Frozen themed birthday party.  Our decorations were simple, and are party games were pretty basic, but the girls had a great time.

My Sweet 5 Year Old, E:

Hi, I'm Olaf!

 The cake, made by a friend

The Dinning Room



 My recycled party decoration from E's party last year

This party was probably my favorite party to host!  As the girls were arriving, in their princess dresses (of course), they sat down and created their own "ice" bracelets.  I knew putting beads onto a real string could be too difficult for 4 and 5 year olds, so they just put their beads onto a pipe cleaner.  It worked great because the girls could do it all on their own.

Ice Bracelet

Then I took the girls upstairs to listen to an audio Frozen storybook.  The story was almost a full 10 minutes long, but the girls sat so quietly.




When the story was over, we moved the girls over to play Pin the Nose on Olaf.  This year, instead of all cheating, they just laughed about all the places the noses ended up... so maybe they are maturing... maybe...? 




Our next activity, was a Frozen version of Hot Potato.  I found a set of large reusable ice cubes for $3 at Bed Bath and Beyond, and used one of those as a cold "potato".  The girls passed it around in a circle waiting for the music to stop.  When the music stopped, that girl moved out of the circle to dance, and the game continued with the remaining girls.  They love it!


The Frozen version of the classic Hot Potato game

Then it was pinata time!  E had picked out a pink tiara pinata from Party City, but after the girls pulled off all the strings, we realized it was not the pull-string version.  Unable to find something to hold or hit the pinata, I just dumped the candy out the "fill" hole for the girls.  They scooped up the candy and put it in their treat bags, which included a little pencil, notebook, necklace, and some Frozen gummy snacks too.  For some reason I never got a picture of the pinata, but these were the treat bags I made for each girl.


The highlight of the whole party though was when I turned on the Frozen soundtrack and a bubble machine.  The girls sang, danced, caught bubbles, and just all around had a blast.  Honestly, they were having so much fun, they made me wish I was a five year old girl again.

Bubbles!









After some dancing, the girls came back downstairs for pizza, cake, cookies, carrots (Olaf noses), and blue jello cubes (ice cubes).  They sang, "Happy Birthday," and when all of the food had been eaten, the girls raced back upstairs for more dancing.






More Dancing:






What a great party!!  Happy 5th Birthday, Sweet E!



Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Summer Bucket List: Y-Play Water Play!

#2: Water Play at the YMCA

All summer long, our local YMCA has water play on their Y-play playground.  It really makes for a perfect morning at the Y.  I'm able to lift some weights and do some cardio, and the kids can splash in the water tables or run around in the sprinklers.  We went this morning, but I'm sure we'll go several times a week all summer long too.  I'm obviously not there while they are playing, so here's the kids, hot, sweaty, and still a little wet after playing this morning.





L, unfortunately, is too old for the Y-play, and the water play, but he still had a good time outside with the Youth Activity Center kids.





Monday, June 2, 2014

Summer 2014 Bucket List: Bike Ride

It's SUMMER VACATION, and time for another summer bucket list!

#1: Bike Ride at the Park

Today was the perfect day for a bike ride and playtime at the park.  I'm sure it will be too hot for the park eventually, so we did our best to enjoy it while the weather was cool (80 degrees and cloudy).  The kids rode bikes, ran around in the field, swung on the swings, and climbed all over the playground.  They were dripping with sweat as we left, so I call that success!