The little ones loved everything about camping, from setting up the tent to going to sleep under firefly "stars". The kids caught a huge jar of fireflies and, with Dad's permission, released them inside the tent. I am not the camping type but did enjoy myself more than I thought I would. (Having a clean toliet inside the house and sofa cushions brought from inside the house to sleep on helped.) We are hoping to camp in the backyard a few times this summer and next summer try a park within an hour of home. We have to work ourselves into these things. LOL
Another first for the kids was s'mores. Don't let the smiles deceive you. We heard several complaints about how the marshmallows were sticky, drippy and melting on their fingers. I think only Little Red Riding Hood would want to eat another one anytime soon.
On Saturday, we went to Home Depot and the children made a picnic caddy. Home Depot was also doing face painting for free. We spent the rest of the day working on projects, reading 4th of July books, and playing outside. At about 8 o'clock, we headed downtown to see the fireworks. Our town had lots of bouncy rides for the kids to go on for free. The kids got to go on three of them before it was time to settle down and have snacks and wait for the fireworks. The fireworks were lovely, but we didn't get home until almost 11 o'clock with all of the traffic.
Today, we got a late start and mostly bummed around the house. I made colored rice with the children. I saw this great recipe at unplug your kids. I couldn't wait to try it out with the kids.
First, we mixed the food coloring, rice and rubbing alcohol together.
Then we dried the rice in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Then off to the real fun! They mixed several of the colors up in the water table and had a blast. I highly advise this activity be done outside ... especially if the belt on your vacuum cleaner is broken once AGAIN! My dh says I am a vacuum cleaner killer, and I must admit that I think we have gone through five in our eleven years of marriage.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend, too.
Blessings, Dawn
Ah smores...all the fun is in the BBQ stick! I'm glad y'all had fun. We did too!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Laurie
Our youngest has been wanting to camp outside for over a year now as well, and I have flirted with buying her a little tent of sorts for her birthday. I also thought we might participate in the Great Campout (or something of that nature) that is sponsored by one of the local parks--maybe its a national park. Shows you that I'm not a camper, either, but I would be willing to go once.
ReplyDeleteI love the "Thirsty Thursday" idea. I pretty much follow the same rules as you buying keepsakes brand new as they have to last through three children, and buying other materials used. I take advantage of Amazon's used book availability as well. Many times you can find a book that is classified as "New", "Like New," or "Very Good" for a much cheaper price. I've bought used DVDs for a couple of years now, and I rarely pay more than $5 plus shipping, and the DVDs have never been scratched or unusable. Amazing what some people discard.
Hey, who is/are an ancient artist that I might review with our children? We're going back, as I mentioned before, to pre-history and coming forward to the early A.D. years.
Sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI love the colored rice...gonna have to try that.
What a fun week-end making sweet memories. I love s'mores. :-) It's a hit with my kids too - though some like it without the marshmellow and one without the chocolate. lol
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Leslie
That's just a load of fun!!!
ReplyDelete