Project Life - Week 27

We went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Jim's mom on Monday night.  We all enjoyed our dinner!

 We went to Sam's after dinner to get a few things for Jim's work and for ourselves.  Maddie can get a little crazy in the shopping cart sometimes!

 We dropped Jim's mom off at her apartment, and then we went to ToysRUs.  Drew had some money that was burning a hole in his pocket.  While we were there, Drew picked out his first grade backpack and lunch box.  I can't believe he is going to be in first grade this year!

 Our Fourth of July was pretty much a normal day for us.  Jim's golf course does the fireworks show for that city, so that is always a busy day for Jim.  I took a few pictures of the kids in their red, white, and blue,

and then we headed out to the golf course to see the fireworks.  We watched from the parking lot with Jim this year, and it was nice to be able to see them with him.  Maddie had never seen fireworks before, so we were curious to see what she would think about them.  She wasn't interested in the fireworks at all!

Maddie is our little climber.  We have been finding her on the kitchen table a lot lately!  I am ready for the climbing stage to end very quickly!

 We got out the slip 'n slide one evening.  It came with a pair of goggles, and Drew wanted to try them out right away.

 Maddie loved the little sprinklers along the slip 'n slide.

 Drew didn't really get the hang of diving onto the slip 'n slide, but he tried a little, and he liked the sprinklers too!

Here's what I did for Project Life this week.

I am linking up at The Mom Creative.

Drew's "Camp Out"

Drew, Maddie, and I are in South Carolina this week with my family.  Jim drove us to Cincinnati last Saturday afternoon, where we met my parents and stayed for a night in a hotel.  The next morning, Jim left to go back to Michigan (a golf course manager has a hard time getting away in the summer), and the rest of us traveled to South Carolina.  Here are some sleepy travelers in the back seat of the van.

 My parents went camping earlier this summer, and when Drew heard about their camping trip, he thought it sounded like lots of fun.  My parents wanted to give Drew an experience for his birthday this year (instead of a thing), so they decided to give him his own little camping experience while he was here.  We started with hot dogs on the grill for dinner on Monday evening.  After dinner, we went out on my parents' deck and made s'mores.

 They were delicious!

 After dessert, we went over to my brother's house.  The kids had lots of fun in my nephew's little pool.

 Uncle Mark threw the boys into the pol again and again, and they loved it!

 One of the main reasons for our trip this week was to meet my new niece, Avery.  She is about a week old and is so sweet and tiny.

 Maddie loves her!  She kept patting her and trying to pick her up and hug her like she does with her doll and stuffed animals.

 When we got home that evening, the camping continued in my parents' yard.  My dad set up a tent in the yard, and he and Drew slept out there for the night.

 Drew was so excited!

 On Tuesday, we drove up to the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina (where we used to go camping when I was a child and where my parents camped this summer) for a day in the mountains.  We started with lunch at the Pisgah Fish Camp, where we ate flounder.  Drew loves fish, so my parents thought he would enjoy lunch there.  After lunch, we checked out the camp ground where my parents camped, and Drew got to see their campsite.  Then, we drove to the Ranger Station.  There were lots of exhibits about hiking and camping safety and maps and brochures for all the forest activities.

 There was also a gift shop at the Ranger Station, and the kids liked looking around there.  Maddie loved this little possum and carried it all around the shop.

 My parents told Drew that he could pick something out at the shop.  He chose a wooden yo yo with Smokey the Bear on it and a rubber snake.

 Our next stop was the fish hatchery at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education.  We got to see the big tanks of fish, and the kids got to throw little pellets of food to the fish.

 They liked seeing the fish jump and fight for the food.

 Our next stop was Looking Glass Falls.

 It was beautiful!

Then, we moved on to our final stop of the day - the Cradle of Forestry.  We toured the building first and saw all kinds forestry exhibits and forest animals.  Drew's favorite was a helicopter ride simulation.  We sat in a helicopter and watched a short video about forest fires.

 Then we headed outside to walk the Forest Festival Trail.

 We saw lots of old forestry equipment as we walked.

 Drew liked the big, old train.

 The forest itself was very green and beautiful, and we saw lots of plants, especially lots of different kinds of mushrooms, as we walked.

We had planned to have a picnic dinner before we came home, but both Drew and Maddie fell asleep in the van as soon as we left the Cradle of Forestry.  We decided to eat our picnic at home so that the kids could sleep.  We had a very fun day!

Project Life - Week 26

Maddie started getting sick over the weekend, and by Sunday morning, she had a fever.  She woke up with the fever and had it all day Sunday, through Sunday night, and into Monday morning.  It broke Monday morning and then came back that afternoon.  It was finally gone by Tuesday, but she still had a runny nose and just generally didn't feel good for the majority of the week.  We spent several days at home in our pajamas.

 Late in the week, we were finally able to go outside and have a little fun.  We set up the water table one night after dinner.  The guys had a squirt gun fight with their new squirt guns (I bought them on clearance last fall and gave them each one for Christmas!).

 I love to watch them do squirt gun fights!

Drew and Maddie played at the water table for a while.

 Maddie really liked it!

 That weekend, Jim went away with some friends for his annual golf weekend.  His team won the tournament this year!  He played really well and had a good time.  The only bummer was that he was away for our 10th wedding anniversary.  We got to go out for dinner the night before he left, so we did get to celebrate.

 We had pancakes and applesauce for dinner the night he was gone.

 Drew was using his spoon as a Mario mustache.

 We were able to pick our first vegetables from our raised garden bed.  We got a little tomato and a banana pepper.

 I had them sitting on the kitchen table, and I heard Maddie say, "Uh oh," her new word.  I came out to find that she had smashed the tomato all over her hands, foot, and the chair.  So much for that tomato!  We have several others that are almost ready to pick, so we hope to get to try them!

Here's what I did for Project Life this week.

I am linking up at The Mom Creative.

Project Life - Week 25

This week our big activity was going to the farm.

 We played,

 and we petted the goats.

 We had a lot of fun!

 This was also the week before our 10th wedding anniversary, and my gift from Jim arrived this week - a new Kindle Fire HD!  I have loved my Nook very much the past few years, but it was starting to have trouble charging, and its other capabilities were pretty limited.  I had an Amazon gift card that I had been saving since Christmas, and I had also been saving up the Amazon gift cards that I earn by doing surveys on-line, so I had almost enough to buy the Kindle Fire.  They were on sale for Father's Day, so we went ahead and ordered it, and Jim payed what was left after my gift cards.  I am really enjoying it, and as you can see from the picture, Drew is enjoying it too!

 Drew loves to draw on the driveway with sidewalk chalk, and this week, we got a big new box of it.  He was very happy!

 Maddie started getting sick that weekend.  She wanted to be held and snuggled all weekend.

 The guys washed our cars, inside and out on Saturday.  It has been so nice to drive around in a clean car!

This is what I did for Project Life this week.

I am linking up again with The Mom Creative.