*** Breaking News! The Matryoshka and Gnomes Giveaway ends in just over 2 hours, so be sure to get your entry in quick quick quick!! I’ll close comments at noon and let you know who the winner is tomorrow!! Woo hoo!! Ok, onto the post:
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So.
I had our whole summer all planned out and I was really excited. I would work on patterns and such in the mornings and then after Mr.Man wakes up from his nap, we would ride bikes to a park and play. Our city has a fabulous summer program in the park for kiddos and Lil’ Miss was especially excited because even though they’re really good about dealing with younger kids, this would be the first year that she would get the participate in the older kids activities. For blogging, I was going to join Elsie Marley in writing a Summer Journal.
But then it all changed. Isn’t that always the way?
The Hubs’ business partner’s husband’s schedule changed, meaning that they can’t work kid-free in the afternoons anymore. And they really really need to work. So I offered to watch their kids with mine at our house during the work hours. It’s only from 1 – 5, so it’s not too bad.
Getting Ready By Cleaning The Pool
At first I was bummed, because I was so excited about our summer plans. Especially about the daily bike ride. But this will be fun too! The older girls (Lil’ Miss and her friend K) and I started brainstorming about what we will do and I think we’ve come up with some really great ideas. Lil’Miss said we should call it “School Camp” and I said, “But do you really want to do schoolwork in the summer?” She said, “Well….. how about Cool Camp?!”
So that’s how our Summer Cool Camp was born. And this is what it is: Everyday we’ll have lots of free time outside, we’ll fill up the kiddie pool, we’ll work in the garden, we’ll pick raspberries, we’ll blow bubbles…. then we’ll do a couple activities, have a rest time and a snack and then more play time. Lots and lots of outside time!
Today Lil’ Miss and I switched the play areas around so that the main play area is in the living room now and the quieter toys are in the studio. This will make it easier to watch the kiddos and allow them to go inside or outside as they want. That’s the new play area above- I’m going to add some more pictures on the wall and organize the baskets and everything.
We’ll do some sort of organized activity each day- probably an art activity of course, and we’ll read some books and maybe do a little baking….
What’s fun is that we will be able to do all the activities that I didn’t know how we were ever going to fit in with the old plan!
And we’d like you to join us!
I’ll show you our projects as we do them so you can give them a try too! You don’t have to keep our schedule or anything, you can do the activities or your own activities in your own time. By joining us, you’re just saying that you would like to do some fun artsy crafty activities with your kids this summer! You can share your activities in our brand new Flickr Group and I’ll feature some each week! Even if you don’t post pics, you can join the group to get fun ideas!
If you’d like to join us, leave a comment with your blog and I’ll be sure to follow you (and maybe even feature a project you do if you blog about it). You can do Cool Camp with us even if you don’t have a blog too- just tell us that you’re going to follow along! And don’t forget to join the Flickr Group!!
It kind of feels like teaching again, in a way…. the planning was always my favorite part.
If you’d like to join us and want to, here’s a banner for you to display on your blog:
