Bedtime Stories in the Playroom

Papa Bear read the kids their bedtime story in their fort tonight. 

The tent was on the top bed of Little Bear's bunk bed before we separated it into two twin beds. When we decided to give the kids a reading nook in their playroom, we knew that it'd be perfect. Little Bear uses it all the time for laying down with a book or playing with his Army men.

 

Homeschool and Thunderstorms!

School's out which means supplemental homeschool has started once again for Little Bear!

 Tonight his lesson was about thunderstorms and within a few hours, it was storming outside. So Papa Bear and the boys took a quick run outside to do some barefoot observations (What do the clouds look like? Which way is the storm moving? How does the rain feel/taste? What do you hear? What do you see? etc.) and came back into the house once they saw lighting in the distance. 

Once they came inside, Little Bear made his weather calendar and pretended to be a weatherman to tell us about the weather.

Impromptu Van Picnics

Today was one of those days where we were running around trying to get a million things accomplished and the kids were not on the same page. So when we pulled into Home Depot (which has a hotdog place attached to to store) and and the kids started whining that they were getting hungry (after having eaten a fruit salad and pretzels snack less than ten minutes beforehand), we gave in and had a picnic in the back part of our van. This (and the 7 hours a week we spend playing here with toys while Little Bear is at his therapy school) is the reason that we don't have one of the middle seats in the van. Instead, we lay a blanket over the open space and sit down to have impromptu picnics.

No, these are not healthy food choices.

It's a Cabela's Night

 

The thing about going to Cabela's (at least for our family) is that no matter what you go in there for you can never leave without touring the entire place. This means that our "Let's just run in to get *insert item that we know exactly where it is and should take ten minutes to get/purchase/and be back in the car*" turns into hour long shopping wandering. So I should have known that when Papa Bear suggested "running" to Cabela's to "just grab" a new life jacket that we wouldn't be leaving before closing time.

Of course we checked out all of the animals...

Pequeño was very excited and talkative towards the animals.

When we got to the elephants, Little Bear said " Take a picture of us. Grandma will love this!" and had me send the photo to their grandma who was currently on vacation.

 Then we circled back around to check out the fishing lures where Little Bear wanted to buy 1 of each and Papa Bear was side-tracked by some paddle boards, and then some guns, and then some tents, and then some...(Do you see where I'm going here?)

 

Somewhere, the kids found a box of cowboy hats so of course they had to try them on. Pudge wouldn't leave one on long enough for me to snap a picture of him but Little Bear and Pequeño liked trying them on. Little Bear also reminded us then that he needs new cowboy boots and possibly a cowboy hat now that he's learning to ride horses at camp.

 

 Before we left, we made sure to walk through the aquarium (which is my favorite part) and the kids had fun trying to find the most types of fish. There were also a few turtles in there and Little Bear decided that if we wont let him get a pet dog, he now wants a turtle.

 We ended up being in the store for over 5.5 hours and bought more than just a life jacket.

Reunion time

Our family reunions for Pop-Pop's side of the family are always held at Aunt D's house. Since Abuela and Abuelo are her neighbors, we went to their house before the reunion was supposed to start.

Little Bear playing with playdough at Abuelo & Abuela's

Pudge and Pequeño playing with the toys at Abuelo & Abuela's

 Then we drove and walked to Aunt D's a little before it was supposed to start so that we could help get any last minute things ready. The kids had so much fun visiting with everyone. A lot of the relatives they only see once or twice in a year so it was great to be able to get together with them. Little Bear has a cousin who is only a few months older than him that he loves to play with. They were both shy at first since they hadn't seen each other since last year's reunion (I think?). After a few minutes, the kids were all off playing together on the swing-set, playing basketball/riding toys/playing with dinosaurs on the driveway, and playing games that were set up in the yard. After a little while, they all decided that it was hot enough that they wanted to go swimming. Then it was back to running around in the yard. Later, the kids were all able to talk to another young cousin who was across the country via Skype.

Little Bear floating along in the pool

Each of the kids got a turn to talk to their cousin on Skype

Pequeño got to eat in a high chair that has been in this family for 56 years

Pudge plopped himself down in front of the fan to cool off after running around with the big kids. He had to be reminded a few times not to touch the fan.

Abuelo helping Pequeño cruise on the driveway

Uh oh! Abuelo got out the squirt bottle. The kids loved it!

A Little Time at Home

After spending three days away, we decided to come home for a day before we would be heading out of town again for a reunion. Well, the boys and I ended up staying home that day while Papa Bear went fishing with some friends...

We spent most of the day playing outside. The weather was beautiful so the kids didn't want to be inside. So, we ordered groceries online and played outside in our yard. Little Bear and Pudge played together for most of the time and played golf, attempted badminton, kicked the soccer ball around, and played in the sand. Pequeño crawled around trying to eat the grass and then had fun with the little jungle-gym (which the older ones then had to play on as well). Then we drove to the store to get them and came home to play on the deck.

 

After playing on the deck, the kids hands and arms were covered in chalk. Of course, neither of the older two wanted to come into the house so I bribed them. With water play. 

 In their bathroom, they have double sinks so I filled them each with warm water, added a drop of shampoo, threw a few small figurines in each sink, and let them splash around while finding the toys.

Camping Vacation Day 3

Little Bear woke up extra early and was able to go fishing with Papa Bear before the the kids woke up. He was so excited when he came back because he had caught 4 fish (although he is telling fish-tales already and had started adding to the number of fish he caught!).

The younger kids were exhausted and both slept in. Papa Bear was able to feed Pequeño a bottle in the morning and get in some cuddle time.

  

 Pudge slept the longest so Little Bear and Papa Bear ended up going back downstairs to fish before he woke up.

 After Pudge woke up, we had breakfast and the kids wanted to do more crafts. So they sat at the table and each made a few pictures which we left for Grandma and Grandpa.

 Pequeño played for a little bit in his booster seat after he was done eating.

More crafts

 The rest of that afternoon was spent swimming, playing in the grass, fishing from the boat and shore, kayaking, grilling, and visiting with one of my friends who stopped by.

Camping Vacation Day 2

On our first morning there, Papa Bear woke up early and took the boat out for a ride by himself. By the time that he got back, Pequeño and Little Bear were both awake but laying in their beds. Once Papa Bear attempted to get back in bed, all three kids were instantly moving around and wanting to get into our bed as well. So we had a little snuggle time and played upstairs in the cabin for a little bit.

Hiding under the covers

Trying to look outside

Daddy opened the blinds for them to see the lake

 Then we headed downstairs to make breakfast around 7:30. The kids played while Papa Bear and I got everything ready. Papa made the food (one of his favorite parts about camping is making breakfast in the mornings) and I set everything up.

Napping in the swing

Watching the baby birds in the birdhouse sticking their beaks out for food and the momma bird feeding them

Breakfast time!

Pudge sneaking a piece of bacon... like father, like son!

Pequeño loves scrambled eggs

Pancakes (some with blueberries), eggs, hash browns, sausage, and bacon

 After breakfast, we spent the next few hours fishing and playing in the grass.

 Then we made a trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's house and the kids ran around in their yard for a little bit.

The boys were trying to climb a tree so Pudge attempted to lift Little Bear!

 Back to the lake to swim!

smelling Grandma's pretty  flowers

Wearing his "goggle glasses"

Trying out his snorkeling gear from Aunt N and Uncle B

Too cool.

Trying the snorkel

 The water was too cold for Papa Bear to walk in so he decided that he was going to jump off of the dock. so the kids lined up and did a count down (a few times since Papa was dreading the cold water...) for him to jump.

"3...2...1..."

"JUMP!!"

Then Papa Bear and Little Bear went for a swim together.