Toddler Time Swimming Fun

We had a blast meeting some of our families at the new Furman Aquatic Center for toddler time last Saturday. Thanks to those who were able to come. Next summer we will have to schedule a meeting time earlier in the summer! Here are just a few shots of our kiddos and the fun bucket that fills & dumps over!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!!

The past 2 weeks we have continued working on letters of the alphabet and discussing/eating a fruit or vegetable that begins with each letter!! Due to the flood, our crafts for certain letters took a hit. As you can see in our pictures of our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree, it is a little empty two weeks ago!

F = fig

G = grapes

H = honeydew

I = iceberg lettuce

J = jicama

Our model Hailey wanted to pose with the tree!!

K = kiwi (they are kind of an ugly color!)

L = lettuce (plates of lettuce on the left of the photo!)

M = melon (the orange Us on the tree)

N = nectarines

O = oranges

Happy Birthday to You!!

We love celebrating around here, and birthdays are the perfect reason to have treats!! After having cookies for Hailey's birthday, we decided to have cupcakes for Caleb's birthday!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Caleb!! 

Sorry we only had a '4' candle.

Too much water outside!!

Hello all! Ames is finally drying out! With three nights in a row of thunderstorms bringing a lot of rain, the town filled up with water!! The center was closed yesterday (Wed). Natalie was unable to cross the river that formed in the middle of town to get to the center, and Sarah could get there eventually but by then our families had decided to stay home! High water was EVERYWHERE!

Photos from Des Moines Register

Thankfully the water levels are decreasing, but now the water supply is contaminated. We are open with only some of our children here today (Thur). Bottled water is being used for every need. I think we take for granted how often we use running water. Lets hope the water supply can be cleaned-up soon! =)

The girls today are having a blast with our laid-back, no-schedule day! Here are some photos so far:

Playing with babies...

Dressing up...

Next up....painting!!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Month!!!

For the month of August we will be reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. This is a cute book that reviews that alphabet. For each day of the month, we will focus on one letter along with a fruit or vegetable that begins with that letter! So far, the children have really enjoyed it!! They like holding, investigating, and tasting different fruits and vegetables.

We constructed a coconut tree (like the one in the book) and will hang our daily creations from it. It was rather full with only 3 fruits on it, so we had to get creative for the 1st week (see pictures below)!

You will see that we covered:

A = apples (we also ate apricots)
B = bananas (we also ate blueberries)
C = carrots (we also opened up a coconut!!)
D = dates (we made oatmeal date cookies! Yum!)
E = eggplant

Our Tree

Our Carrot Patch

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to Hailey!!!

We celebrated her birthday a little early, but it was just as fun!! The kids loved eating cookies!!

Farmers' Market

Last week our theme was Farmer's Market! We ate so many fruits and veggies and enjoyed learning about new foods. The kids got practice shucking corn and then LOVED eating it!! They are so proud!Unfortunately when we were planning to go to the farmers' market, it rained.

Camping Week!!

The week of July 19th was Camping Week! The children just loved learning camp songs and playing in a tent! We even had a smores snack and went on a bear hunt in the backyard!

This was the same week that the marble jar was filled so the kids got to have a party. They chose to have an ice cream party!! We have lots of pictures!!

YUMMMMMM

GOING ON A BEAR HUNT

ICE CREAM PARTY!!!!