I've given up hope of ever getting caught up with old photos and details, and just moving right along to the present. June. Summer. My favorite!
So in order for me to have a tiny bit of structure to our summer fun, I had the kids help me come up with some themes for different weeks. We already had some trips and camps planned, so the themes are designed to go with those as well. Nothing fancy or complicated, just fun!
Theme 1: FOREST!
We spent the first few mornings exploring Redwood Regional Park, hiking, building, collecting treasures, seeing bunnies and birds and all kinds of bugs! Learning the different kinds of trees, what poison oak looks like, why berry bushes have thorns, what animals live in the creek, etc etc etc. The big kids could have stayed and explored all morning, but of course Cole doesn't have quite the same stamina and was ready to go home for nap time.
So in order for me to have a tiny bit of structure to our summer fun, I had the kids help me come up with some themes for different weeks. We already had some trips and camps planned, so the themes are designed to go with those as well. Nothing fancy or complicated, just fun!
Theme 1: FOREST!
We spent the first few mornings exploring Redwood Regional Park, hiking, building, collecting treasures, seeing bunnies and birds and all kinds of bugs! Learning the different kinds of trees, what poison oak looks like, why berry bushes have thorns, what animals live in the creek, etc etc etc. The big kids could have stayed and explored all morning, but of course Cole doesn't have quite the same stamina and was ready to go home for nap time.
Those treeeeeeees!
Building "houses" out of logs. She moved all of those all by herself!
Riley decided to slide down the pile of rocks on her tummy. She was just a littttttttle dirty. Siiiigh.
When we got home Riley looked up what kinds leaves she picked up and made a little collage/design with her treasures, and Jackson painted his stick yellow, his favorite color.
We went back the next day and Jackson rode his bike, and almost wiped out big time quite a few times, but managed to come away uninjured. He says he's ready for a big bike without training wheels. I say we'll see....
We made a little small world forest in a water table for the kids to play with. Didn't take much effort to make it, and they loved it at first, but honestly it caused more fights than fun, so that wasn't exactly ideal.
And when I have had enough fighting between these two? Worksheets. They actually love them so it's not punishment, but it gets them to sit and focus on their own things so that they aren't focused on each other and fighting over something every five seconds. A little fine motor for Jack, and little math for Riley, and some peach and quiet for me! Win-win-win!
Other favorite summer activity so far? Playing down at the bottom of the court. Riding bikes, playing basketball, racing around with the neighborhood boys, so much fun!
We've also started weekend family hikes with my parents! Things we've all learned- I'm not very good at scouting out our hikes before hand. This one ended up being 3 miles of hug hills (up and down) on fairly bumpy terrain. And interesting ride with a bike and jogging stroller, thankfully we had grandpa to give shoulder rides when little legs were too tired to make it any further.
And then a little bit of good ole backyard summer fun. Some water balloons, some hot tub time at the grandparents' house. Perfect.
We picked the "forest" theme this week because Riley and Jack were signed up for their first camp together that was a sort of wilderness camp in Tilden Park. Lots of exploring in the woods, tree climbing, creek exploring, swinging, building, etc. They had a BLAST and can't wait to go back next year! They were outside from 9-3 every day and slept soooooo well all week! The camp is called Timbernook, in case you are interested in finding out local to you!
Next theme coming up: THE OCEAN!
Next theme coming up: THE OCEAN!
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