Some Fun We Like To Have

In light of all the crazy that goes on in our lives, I do make it a point to get out of the house everyday and we try to do something fun while the preschoolers are at school. If anything, I'm always hoping this will help them have a good rest time once we come home and have lunch.

 So, I decided to buy a zoo pass.

 I am not a big fan of zoos in general, but I really don't care much for ours. I don't really know why, but I think I just associate it with boring school field trips when it was nasty hot outside during my childhood days. I must not have been a typical kid, but anyway...

 

I'm not particularly proud that I don't care for the zoo, so I didn't want to pass this on to the girls. Plus, we need some free activities (well, the pass isn't free, but it's darn cheap to include all members of my family--pays for itself in 1.5 visits) to do this summer. It also makes sense for us because I really don't like to spend a long day there, but for the price my family pays (without the pass), I feel like we should stay there the whole day to get our money's worth. Now with the pass, we can stay five minutes or five hours. I opt for five minutes {SMILE}!


The day we bought our pass, the younger four and I stayed for an hour or so. On the way out, I told them we'd stop by the store to cool off and look around--it may or may not have been a bribe to make them behave and not whine.




Well, they behaved so I let them pick out something. Boushka and Bug each picked a tattoo--elephant for Bug, Giraffe for Boushka. Brownie was diggin' the small, plastic animals. So I let her get those, and I told her what her Auntie and I used to do when we were bored in the summer at my Grandma's house in the desert of Arizona.

We made zoos out of shoe boxes.

 Brownie was in love with this idea.

 I told her we could make the zoo during quiet time someday while the baby was sleeping (because she makes it quite impossible to do anything besides chase, play, and feed her). Well, the opportunity didn't present itself for a few days, and in this time Peach also heard about this "craft." She, too, got excited to create the zoo. So we did.

There were two of several animals, but we ended up making a cage for lions, hippos and giraffes. And there are plans to add on to our zoo this summer!

Since I don't get as much time with these two cuties as I do the younger three, I like to take them out at night sometimes--usually after a soccer practice or dance class. About once a season, I'll take them to our FroYo place--we all love it (me for the add-ins, really).

We also play dress up. Yes, the kids do play dress up with princess clothes, but I also play dress up with my baby Scrunchie. I like to make her look like a little lady--with a bow when I can get one to stay on that pretty little head.

A handful of times this year, I've stopped by Peach's school to have lunch with her. Sometimes it's a surprise and sometimes it's planned. Just recently it was planned (last minute) the day when Matt left town and I had nothing other than a peanut butter sandwich to pack in her bag. It's rare that we don't have fruit, leftovers, or something good to pack--but we just didn't that day. So all four kiddos and I brought her a sandwich from one of our fav places. Peach's grade has recess immediately following lunch, and it's part of the norm to go to recess with her. Thankfully I had my stroller to contain Scrunchie while the other kids ran off to play, but that didn't stop a large crowd of kids flocking to my baby. They were touching her and patting her gently on the head. I was a little paranoid at first, but they all were so kind and didn't go near her eyes/nose/mouth. Peach ended up picking her up and holding her to show everybody her baby sister (so proud of her baby).

Another "free" place we often go is the Children's Museum. They have an area sectioned off for toddlers. This is perfect now that Scrunch can walk. She and Boushka can play all day in there and I don't have to worry because they can't get out of that area. And on this particular day, we were the only ones in there. So nice!

She inspects toys-- though usually with her mouth.

This sweet thing was all over the place discovering new toys and doing some learning along they way.

I really tried my best to make them pose... but I didn't get too lucky!

This is my little vet in training.. actually, she's one of two I may have someday. Peach is insisting she will someday be a vet.

And in my spare time I love to cook. I also love to recipe hunt. This is a gem I found last week and made from Pinterest. They are lasagna roll-ups. I made a few adjustments, but they tasted super good.

So that's some fun we like to have. of course, there's plenty more where that came from--and I'm sure I'll share that someday too.