the beAcH

Cousins at the beach...the favorite memory per the boys. 

In May, our family went to the beach with the Phillips side of the family. We stayed in Seacrest Beach on 30A...I loved that we went somewhere familiar with favorites for the boys. The weather was unbelievable and the ocean was full of sea-life...big crabs, string rays and sharks. Yes sharks...like 6-7 foot hammerheads swimming on the sandbar...only one but any shark sighting is wild!

Thanks Pam and Johnny for SUPER week...we really appreciate your generosity!

The boys adored their little cousin...i think they are on "team 3rd baby" with me now!

sand angels

this boy is GOOFY

Is that Tanner standing in that crowd of BIG boys...he's too BIG!

The boys spent hours catching these jelly fish. Whatever kind of jelly fish they were they didn't sting. Sam finally started picking them up with his hands.

We ended up with buckets full by the end of the day.

A cute little girl next to us caught this fish in her net.

Reading one of our "Sundog Bookstore" books from Seaside

"Sundog Books" in Seaside

Tanner is like me...if we are reading a good book we lose our social skills...that's ok I rather him read that have his nose in a video game all day!

Playing ball with Nana and their little cousin

crabbin'

we caught a few...hard to see

yes...the "sweetest place on earth"

proof that mommy was on the trip

showing their cousin how to Bey-Blade

The amusement park-esque activities are usually done with my dad and sister...ie we get a break but 

this year Chris and I decided to take the boys to the amusement park...lots of FUN!

Backyard Carwash

BACKYARD CAR WASH

The summer heat is really getting to us!  Our hair feels like straw from all of the swimming we have done, the heat is miserable...miserable and I'm running out of inside ideas for the boys. I have been making them go out every morning for an hour so I won't be tempted to turn on the TV.  I'll do anything it takes to stay out of the house for a few minutes aka avoiding my list of  "to dos".  I prefer to drink my coffee(i know) and read my devotion NOT looking at the dishes, laundry and paths of toys! 

 The other morning the boys hit their HEAT QUOTA quickly and I was only half way through my coffee so out came the JOY soap, water hose and all of the vehicles.  I managed to finish my coffee, read my devotions and return some e-mails...of course, I was NASTY sweaty by the time we went inside but that's ok!  My dirty car even got a scrub down complimentary of the boys!

Forest Friendly Sensory Bin...SCC

Summer Smart Challenge Week 4

Forest Friendly Sensory Bin

We filled our backyard water table with dirt and mulch...the boys helped scoop and shovel.

  We added some branches for trees, a blue boat for a swamp with a crocodile and some insects.  Of course, the boys needed the off road jeep and the hovercraft. 

 Next I added binoculars and magnifying glasses for optimal exploring.

The set up,

exploring,

he did lots of digging,

and Tanner found some seeds that he planted!

Boys LOVE, LOVE dirt...so this activity was a hit!

Map of Me...SSC

2 of my favorite blogs are:

PinkandGreenMama

and

TeachMama

The next several weeks they are doing a SMART SUMMER CHALLENGE, a challenge to include one learning activity a day during the summer months. We are going to participate...I always love to have a few activities planned!

Day One

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Me Characters

I let each of the boys make a "me" character.  I put google eyes, stickers, glue, glitter and much more on the table and let the boys have at it.  Tanner's is very conservative and realistic...Sam's is wild!  I love how they show their true colors.

Day Two

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Tour of the Neighborhood on Bikes

This morning we talked about our city and our neighborhood.  I let Tanner help me make a list of the important "landmarks" in our neighborhood.  The list included:

the greenline, the library, the pizza shop, the ice cream shop, the bookstore, the corner grocery, the park and the golf course.  (It's funny...these are all places that we ride our bikes to as a family!  The world through the eyes of a 5 year old.) 

We rode our bikes to a few of the places on "our map"!  

Day Three

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Building our Neighborhood

This morning we started building our neighborhood!  We raided the garage for building materials...big board, boxes, drywall tape, bubble wrap, etc.  Tanner painted everything green with the "greenline" going right through the middle.  He cut an egg cartoon to make a row of houses, cut light bulb boxes for the stores: pizza, grocery store,  & ice cream shop(sandwich shop).  The big box is the library, the egg cartoon the golf course, the strawberry box the the playground. 

Day Four

"YOU ON THE MAP"

God's Map for Us!

Family Worship: Seeds of Courage CD

Psalm 62:1-2

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my

salvation comes from him. He alone is my

rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I

will never be shaken."

Today we spent our time our amazing God who made us!  For our family, He is our map so we sang and worshipped this morning.  The boys and I talked about how we use a "map" when we are lost to find our way.  In the world we live in, it is so easy to want to make our own map and follow our directions.  We talked about how loving God means we should stop and pray about what his "map" is for our life!

We colored worksheets from here...and practiced the verse.

http://www.biblestoryprintables.com/BibleVerseVisualsSeedsCourageV8.html

Day Five

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Impromptu LEGO 3-D Map

Today I was planning on talking about using a map key but Tanner insisted on re-building "our 3-D neighborhood" with Legos.

The RESULTS...

 HighPoint Grocery, HighPoint Pizza and Cheffies...all a short and frequent walk

Avon Playground...a few miles away but an easy bike ride!

He also added the library, a car wash, some houses along the "greenline" and he was working on a bike in this picture!