Beach Trip

The Young Men and Young Women in our ward have a tradition to go to the beach for a combined activity before school starts.  The kids got to come with me to enjoy a gorgeous day at the beach.

Brielle is learning Ethan's tricks of making silly faces for the camera.

At this point it was about 6pm and getting cold and windy.  I thought the kids would just play in the sand, but they insisted they needed the swimming suits on (after Ethan's pants wouldn't stay up).  

So swimsuits on, they went back into the water.  We had a great bonfire to warm up around and makes s'mores after they got too cold.

Rocks

Gavin has been very excited about polishing rocks lately, and requested to learn more about rocks as a theme week. 

I picked up some geodes at the planetarium for the kids to smash open.  They also collected 'normal' rocks to smash and compare.  I remember loving breaking rocks open as a kid.  I realized it is still fun, even as an adult.

Papa Finlay has a great collection of fossils, rocks and minerals.  Gavin and Elise's mom brought it all over to show the kids.

And they got to check out the collection of polished rocks from their Aunt Megan as well.

We used our collected rocks on tile for a rock-scratch test.  They found rocks that wrote in brown, black and white.

We made sugar crystal 'rock candy'.  The kids were very excited about checking it every day.  Gavin wanted green, but he also enjoys mixing colors, so instead of just using green food coloring, he was very happy to get to mix the blue and yellow.

Art Week

We spend a week focused on Art.  It was a very basic introduction to the fact that there are different famous artists, different kinds of art, and many ways to express your ideas and feelings.

We started with Vincent Van Gogh.  We talked about how colors can show how we feel and how he liked to use bright colors in a lot of his paintings.

I gave them all a print out of The Starry Night and let them paint.  They each definitely showed their own personality in their painting.

With Monet, we talked about doing art outside. We took our sand art outside.

We tried some sculpting with modeling clay

Megan Warnick prepared this activity to use tissue paper.

And we had a dragon fly that the kids observed to try to sketch.

The kids like when I make their lunches look like different things.  For this week I showed them how colorful food is, and how they can be artists.  Yes, I encouraged playing with food....but purely for learning purposes.

Tigers

Ethan requested a week to learn about Tigers.  He has a stuffed animal tiger that he sleeps with every night.  He loves to pretend to be a tiger and has quite a fierce roar.

Ellie liked 'Auntie Tiger' it was a like a Little Red Riding Hood type story.

we used our sandpaper and yarn strips as our 'Tiger Stripes' to practice making letters.

Practiced some math

Gavin is thinking of other words that begin with a 'T' and drawing them

We painted paper plates to turn into Tiger masks

Did some preschool packs on the touchpad

turned our lunch into tigers

And made a quick trip to the zoo.  You can't really see the tigers in this picture, but they were there.  The babies have grown quite a bit.

Camping

We had a chance to go Camping again.  Since it was the week that Gavin and Elise's family was also going to go camping for a family reunion, we did a theme week for learning time about camping to prepare.

Monday is trash day.  It happens to be the kids favorite day to play outside.  They take all the neighbors boxes that are being thrown out to build forts with all morning.  Then we get to put them back for the trash pick up in the afternoon.

We did some activities to learn about the different animals and tracks they make

We learned about fire safety

And the kids set up a pretend fire outside

The kids got to help prepared the meals for our camp trip

And finally we were off.  Enjoying the time to explore the river

hike up the rocks

Grandma and Grandpa Finlay drove up Saturday morning to join us for breakfast and a hike around the lake.

There was a rattlesnake in our path.  

Fly on the wall-a Friday

I meant to keep track of a Friday in June and missed it.  I've done a Wednesday and Thursday so far, and have been trying to go in order from there to get a full week.

This is July 27, 2012  Another 'day-in-the-life' at the Finlay's house


6AM-Running with the Coyotes
Moved my long run to today, as tomorrow is going to be busy.  Got out at 5:30 to get my run in before James needs to leave for home.  The family, I assume is all still in bed sleeping.
I don't mind the coyotes when they are down by the river, but there are a lot on the bike path.  They creep me out a bit.

7AM-Still Running
Legs were feeling achy at the start, and was nervous about an injury so kept it slow, but was able to finish strong.  9.82 miles in 100 minutes.

8AM-Getting James breakfast as he runs out the door.
Friday we typically have carmel biscuits and scrambled eggs.  Ethan is helping unload the dishwasher.  Brielle is still upstairs getting dressed and ready for the day.

9AM-Making my Bed
When I got home from running, both kids were sleeping in our bed.  James said he got up shortly after I left to go running to get some work done.

10AM-Teaching Brielle Piano Lesson
Brielle a couple weeks ago asked if she could learn to play the piano.  I've been sitting down with her for about 10 minutes each day.  Her attention span doesn't last much longer than that, but she is enjoying the lessons so far.

11AM-Mopping Kitchen Floors
I've been seeing some scouting ants in my house this week, so I'm trying extra hard to keep the kitchen and dining area clean.  Once again, I'm amazed by how messy our kitchen floor gets.

12PM-At the Grocery Store.
I needed to go Wednesday, but I don't care for shopping, so put it off until today when I used the last of the milk and last egg for breakfast.  It couldn't wait any longer.

1PM-Cleaning up from Lunch
Brielle requested grilled cheese, grapes and carrots.

2PM-Arranging Rides for YW Temple Trip
Both kids napping. (good thing, because it's a late night tonight).  Young Women are going to temple tomorrow and we need enough priesthood to come.  I'm calling to confirm who is coming and how many each car will fit.

3PM-Packing Up Car
Trying to make sure I have James' extra clothes, Kids swimming stuff and pajamas, and all the library books so we can stop there on the way to Finlay's.

4PM-Visiting Teaching
Visiting with and inactive lady.  The kids brought some notes to write, but keeping asking me how to spell words or write letters.  I finally give them the touchpad to play on so I can carry on a conversation.  The roommate of the lady I was visiting then became fascinated with the worksheets I put on the touchpad for the kids (she use to be a teacher) so we had a touchpad class.

5PM-Stopping by Library
Dropping off books, picking up new books and letting kids turn in their summer reading program papers.  They get coins to buy prizes with for reading.  It is always a tough choice for them to decide what to get and how much to spend.

6PM-At Finlay's House
Brad and Margaret are hosting a party for the cast of Crazy for You.  The kids are swimming and everyone is having a great time.

7PM-Leaving Party, picking up YW
James rode his bike up to his parents house.  I turned kids over to him for the night while I head to a sleepover with the Young Women.

8PM-Watching Opening Ceremonies
Everyone voted to watch Olympics (which I was happy about!).  They Bishop and his Wife are hosting us for the sleepover as they have plenty of floor space.  Luckily they also have a large screen T.V. perfect for Olympic watching!

9PM-Still Watching Olympics
Everyone brought snacks to share.  Muting commercials to talk.  We have a great group of Young Women.  10 were able to come tonight.

10PM-Playing Games.
playing sculptionary (pictionary with playdoh).  Re-discovered that I am not a great artist.

11PM-Starting Movie
Some of the girls want to wait for USA to be shown on the screen, others are ready for Newsies to start.  The girls are all spread out all over the floor.

12PM-Drifting to Sleep
Young Women are starting to fall asleep.  I am dozing in and out as I wait for the movie to end.  Hoping for some sleep before another busy day tomorrow.

I Love America

A few random pics about our 4th of July Week

Enjoying popsicles with the cousins outside the firework booth

The Young Women were in charge of our ward's pancake breakfast on the 4th.  (It is their camp fundraiser).  The primary kids got to sing some songs for us.

We enjoyed dinner on the 4th at our friends house overlooking the city.

Which has a pretty great view.

'Firework' painting (the kids love the salad spinner)

Star Shaped Sandwiches for lunch

Firework Muffins for Breakfast