First Baseball Game

We met up with some of Daddy's coworkers, and took the girls to their first baseball game this summer. There are decidedly no baseball fans in this family, but we had a great time anyway. We happen to go on the weekend featuring a Lego play station in the vendor area of the stadium (building race cars, creating pictures, constructing buildings, and admiring Lego statues). They also thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks during the 7th inning stretch and the ice cream we splurged on shortly after.

On your mark! Get set! Go!
The girls are preparing to race the Lego cars they created

Busch Gardens

Spending the day at a European-themed amusement park totally counts as geography, right?! We had a great day at Busch Gardens, and the girls got to go on roller coasters for the first time! We unintentionally threw the big girls into the deep end on this one, when Monkey and Bug hopped on the first one we came to. The line wasn't bad yet, and it didn't look too intimidating. What we missed were the two loops out of our line of vision! Oops. Bug declared that she did NOT like,  roller coasters, but we still managed to talk into trying a few others. She did enjoy the Mach Tower, though. Monkey enjoys coasters but was struggling to process the difference between scared and thrilled (when she got off she would say she didn't like it, but she had a big grin on face and cheerfully got on the next one). Lion LOVES roller coasters, but sadly she was only tall enough to ride one of the real ones (she rode it twice, and went on the kiddie coaster as many times as we would let her). In addition to the many rides we went on we ate some tasty food and poked through a few shops. Besides having tons of fun, it was also a character building experience for the girls: Monkey and Bug faced their fears, and Lion practiced patience and processing disappointment. We did not, however, end up with any pictures of all this fun. You'll just have to imagine it.

Hello, Nana!

Nana and Papa Bear moved this summer and are now only 3 hours away! Nana took advantage of this is August and came for a weekend visit. We did our seasonal clothing shopping for the girls, went antiquing, and just enjoyed some time hanging out. (Nana, I have no pictures of this weekend. How is that even possible?!)

Welcome to the Family!
We got to spend a weekend at the end of July visiting Aunt S, Uncle J, and the girls' new cousin S! The girls spent a fair amount of time playing in the finished basement (a favorite location), but they also got to help out with S when we sent Aunt S and Uncle J out for a well-deserved date night. The girls each got to hold him and help feed him (they declined to help out with the diaper changing--who can blame them). They also recited nursery rhymes for him, read him picture books, and laughed at all his silly faces.

Academic Highlights

• We really slowed down this summer and mostly did "half days" of lessons. It was a highly popular choice!
• Monkey and Bug did an introduction to cursive unit. We weren't trying to get them good at it (we'll get to that at a later date). At this point we just wanted them to be familiar with the letter forms and reasonably able to read it.
• We completed science experiments out of a fun workbook. In the process we learned about the scientific method, osmosis, states of matter, condensation, and weather.
• Bug is a fifth grader! She was already grade levels ahead in reading, working ahead of schedule in math anyway and decided to put in a bit of extra work to get through fourth grade early. This summer she took the fourth grade standardized test and passed with flying colors!

Cousins at Grandma & Granddad's House!

We spent a long weekend at Grandma and Granddad's house in August when Uncle P, Aunt S, and cousins R and K came to visit! (They live really far away, so this is a big deal.) For this visit Granddad had acquired a small arsenal of water guns, which the girls loved! As usual the girls had so much fun playing with their little cousins. The other highlight of the weekend was visiting the local science center. We watched a National Parks documentary in the planetarium, which is especially fun when we can comment "We've been there!" and "Remember when we . . . " throughout the film. We also toured the butterfly garden (so many pretty butterflies and flowers!) and an old caboose.  

Hello Again!

I'm well aware that it's been ages since I've posted. Sorry! I've been taking notes about our doings and taking pictures along the way, but somehow actually writing never made it to the top of the priority list. The good news is that I have prioritized other things recently that are necessary to my own well-being--things like yoga classes, reading devotional books, journaling, future planning for homeschooling, and conquering that mountain of filing that's been glaring at me for weeks (ok, maybe months). I'm hoping over the next month or so to play some catch up here. Let's start by going way back to July:

VBS: Hero Central!

The girls had a blast at vacation Bible school this year! The theme was Hero Central, and they learned about being a hero for God by doing good and seeking peace and about attributes like courage, wisdom, and hope. Also, the girls had the opportunity to wear every superhero shirt in their closet and their capes. They learned Bible stories through skits by the youth group kids, made crafts, sang songs, played games, and ate snacks while getting to hang out with friends from church every single day! So much fun!  

Bug and Monkey making puff paint creations with friends

Lion during game time 

Look! I was there too!
Rocking a silver superhero cape, so my kindergartners could keep track of me.

Alarm Clock Dissection

One of our alarm clocks died recently, and Daddy decided it was the perfect opportunity for a little hands-on science exploration. They broke it down as much as they could and along the way they discussed input and output devices, power sources, circuits, etc.

Campus Visit
That's right, the girls made their first college visit! Actually, they tagged along while Potato and I checked out a local college he is now attending. These girls were troopers for a campus tour that I think lasted a couple of hours. Thank goodness for a tour of the cafeteria and a stop for free drinks from the soda fountain. After that, they were most intrigued by getting to see inside a typical dorm room. We also reminisced about when preschool Potato tagged along on my campus visits and threw up all over Grandma. Good times.

Fairy Garden
This was one of Bug's projects this summer. She bought all the pieces and I helped her select and transplant a holly seedling, a wild strawberry plant, and a bit of moss from the backyard. The holly and strawberry plant sadly didn't survive the air conditioner breaking down, but we've planting a different unknown plant in their place that's doing well so far.