Category: Activities for Kids

It was kind of a different road trip morning (we’re headed to NC to spend 10 days at a lake house with Grandma and Grandpa, the Northern Seyfrieds, the Longs, and the Paccassis). Usually, we leave first thing, but this morning Tom had some work to do at the office. So, Roman got his morning nap in, Jonas and Xander ran around the house playing, and Mommy (quite honestly) just tried to hold it all together. By the time Daddy got home, we were all raring to go. Here Jonas and Xander are, checking out their road trip activity bags…Magna Doodles, Color Wonder Travel Totes, Dinosaur Vinyl Sticker Scenes, and road trip binders (drawing paper, colored pencils, and road trip scavenger hunt pages). The hope is that the activity bags plus a pile of paperback books for the big boys, a stack of toys and board books and a first-time forward facing seat for the little boy, and a bag of snacks and a group of DVDs for all of the boys will help wile away the many hours on the road with minimal fussing/whining. We’ll see…

While Roman was taking his morning nap, Jonas and Xander and I headed out front with sand toys, sponges, dish washing soap, and towels. We loaded up the sand and water table with soapy water on one side and fresh water on the other, and they went to work washing up the sand toys. Then, Jonas decided to fill up the bucket with suds and wash the van, so Xander and I joined him. It brought me back to being a little girl, washing the car with my daddy…what a sweet memory.

I was SO excited that Jonas and I got to see lightning bugs dancing in the fields on the way home from the park last night…the first of the summer. I thought this craft would be the perfect tie-in, so he and Xander made some Bandage Lightning Bugs this morning.

So, the boys piloted their first lemonade stand this morning!!! They decorated the sign, sorted out coins for change, and helped gather up and set out everything they needed. Our dear neighbors, the Bresnahans, responded immediately to my “Do you want to be our first customers?” text and walked down the street, with quarters in hand. (They delighted the boys’ hearts and even wanted to pay for water instead of lemonade and were okay with ice cubes handled by little hands instead of tongs…so sweet.). Jonas made his second sale to a man who stopped to ask us for directions and who gave us his home improvement card “just in case”. He said Jonas was a good little salesman. HaHa!!! The boys tithed a cup to the mailman to thank him for always bringing us our mail before we headed to the library to check out some books.

Jonas and Xander got dirty this morning while Roman was napping. We did a Creature Catch with a cardboard box full of dirt, various plastic creatures from the dollar bin (snakes, frogs, and lizards of course), and digging tools. They raced to see who could catch the most, and then we sorted and counted kinds and colors. After Roman woke up, we loaded into the car and headed downtown to enjoy storytime Nashville style with Professor, Mary Mary, J.J. the Lamb, and the Spanish Fox.

We woke up to a rainy morning. So while Roman was taking his morning nap, I thought I’d try out the Tissue Paper Sticky Window idea for the boys and see what they thought. They, of course, fought over who had how many squares and whose squares who was going to pretend vacuum up from the pile left on the floor afterwards AND I’m sure it will be the first thing Roman rips down when he wakes up…but it was still a good rainy day activity nonetheless.

So, I’m not going to lie. I’m more than a little daunted by the reality of having all three of my little guys home for the summer (those two days of preschool really help us all out). But I’m going to try to make every day count…even if it’s with something seemingly small that might be big for them. Cue bubbles…haha…I thought it would be a fun way to ring in the summer.