Activity 10

Our self-imposed summer has just one month to go! I wonder how much stuff we can pack into it?

For activity 10...we went to the beach! It was the first time for all four little marshmallows. They were in awe! Admittedly, I'm super paranoid and even though I surfed as a kid, I don't feel the ocean is for swimming since ours has a very low visibility. I'm a little uncomfortable with the kids going past thigh high and lucky for my comfort level, none of them wanted to test those boundaries. Phew!

We collected shells, sea glass and even hermit crabs that we let go afterwards. We are planning many more trips since we realized we have a beach just an hour away!

Even our dogs got in on the fun. It was exciting that they both gave us no problems on the car ride and they enjoyed walking thru the waves and romping with the kids. This has been the best activity so far!

I'm also starting to plan our school year. I'll make a separate blog soon about which choices I've made for the upcoming year.

Summer activity 8 and 9

It's hot! So far that is the point that sticks in my mind most about this summer. We've been trying to let the kids play in the mornings and after the sun goes down. In spite of the heat, we decided to brave the zoo. It was a weekday so we did get stuck in traffic for a bit, not too bad and I got to get a few skyline shots. 


The kids had a blast. I made a lunch for everyone of pita sandwiches, couscous and lentil mint salad, an apple and cupcakes. We had snacks of homemade popcorn with peanuts and pickles with cream cheese and lunch meat. The variety kept us from buying concession stand food which saved a lot of money! I even bought little zoo animals at the dollar store which kept us out of the darn expensive gift shops. We ended up spending 25.00 in gas and that's it. Pretty good for entertaining a family of eight. 

Happy birthday America! We celebrated today with food and rest. Our little town does fireworks on the third of July, so that left time for me to concentrate in the kitchen. A big hit this year was the mini apple pies. I just hollowed out the apples with a spoon, filled with applesauce mixed with cinnamon and a little brown sugar, cut circles out of pre-made pie crust...and tada! Cute little treats!