Hide and Seek

CB found a great hiding spot. Daddy had to call "olly olly oxen free".

BBD was visible as soon as you stepped around the counting tree.

Hiding together


Searching

"Found you" faces


All found

ps
this is the gazebo where we were married

Big Eye Puppets

These puppets are ridiculously easy to make and ridiculously fun to play with.




I was inspired by Fave Crafts.

I like the soft texture of the pom pons over Styrofoam and went for simplistic over fancy-fied, but the openendness and ease of design is the beauty of these bad boys.

I simply put hot glue on the end of a pipe cleaner and smooshed it into the pom pon. Repeat and hot glue on some large wiggle eyes. And ta da!

"Mmmm, ice cream time"

*CB

We picked up some 89 cent ice cream cones from Burger King.

BBD was disappointed that chocolate wasn't an option, but not enough that he wanted to share with the little creature he was pretty sure was eying his treat, "This ice cream isn't for you, butterfly!"

Vanilla was totally fine with CB. After her first taste she exclaimed, "I want this recipe!"


The ice cream cones got Daddy reminiscing about getting ice cream cones with his grandmother. Sweet.

Sometimes life gives you lemons and you can turn them into lemonade.

Sometimes your ice cream falls off your cone and you can turn that into a delightful work of art.

Crushed Chalk Sidewalk Paint

We made sidewalk chalk paint by crushing up chalk bits with a hammer.

The kids delighted in using the hammer all by themselves.

You control the thickness of the paint by how much water you add.

Note: If you let the 3 year old pour the water all on his own, the paint will be very liquidy.

The kids also used spoons to paint. CB took a drizzling approach, while BBD was into flinging and pouring.

Rocks were also submerged and scattered.


Our chalk "dust" had plenty of chunks as well so the texture turned out really interesting.

Inspiration from The Chocolate Muffin Tree.

Play Academy

"I like muddy pies!"

* BBD

"Are you proud of me for making mud?"

Yeah, I kind of am.

"It's blllaaaahhhh!"

BBD's:

CB's:

It is a happy face.

Mama's:

After, the pies had baked in the sun, BBD wanted to know, "Can I eat it?"

At least he asked.

Sidewalk Splatter Paint

Old socks filled with rocks and dipped in sidewalk chalk paint. There is dripping, splatting, rolling, throwing, spreading.

Note:

This activity is messy, slippery, wrecks havoc on the socks, and is so much fun.

Inspired by A Happy Wanderer

Operation: Buried Treasure

The Objective: Bury treasure in the sandbox for the brother to uncover.

Phase 1:

Acquire treasure.

Phase 2:

Develop a cover story.

"I am just selling beans. That's right, just some boring old beans."

Phase 3:

Lure the brother away from the sandbox so that the treasure may be properly buried.

Phase 4:
Wait for the brother to dig up the treasure and/or notice he is right on top of it.

Phase 5:

Grow impatient, start giving clues {CB: Look, there is something white. BBD: That is a ball.}, and resort to pointing out where he should dig.

Phase 6:

Delight in discovering the treasure!

Phase 7:

Appoint and arm a steadfast crew.

Phase 8:

Load treasure onto your trusty pirate ship.

Phase 9:

Take sail and celebrate by blowing bubbles.