Stinger

Not sure if it was a bee or a wasp, but something stung Bear.....in the ear.

Can you see a difference between his ears?

He did not enjoy it.....Poor little love bear. ;(

 

Shrinky Dinks

Have you ever made a shrinky dink?

I always thought these were so awesome when I was a kid.  

Who am I kidding????   I still think they are awesome! :)

My kids got to make them last week at Vacation Bible School.

Whether you have or haven't done it before check it out.

First you draw the picture you want on there....and color it.

Then you bake it until it shrinks!  You just have to watch it.  Instructions are included in the package.

Then take it out and make it a key chain or something to hang in the window!

So fun!  Make one for yourself. 

Supplies can be found at a craft store such as Hobby Lobby.

 

Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie.  It was my grandma's favorite show too. 
My husband  loves it so much that he purchased all 10 seasons of it on DVD.

We've been showing the dvd's to the boys, and we have some of the books that I've been reading to the boys.  They love hearing about how things were, "back in the old times" as they say.  It's good for them to see some of the history in it.

Even before the boys started getting into it, since my husband loves it so much I told him I should take him out westward in MN back to the area where I grew up to this play.  It is held in Walnut Grove, MN. About the life of Laura Ingalls while she was living in Walnut Grove, MN as a child.  It is full of the history of what happened then, what things were like for the town, and her in their travels, and how things ran back then.  They do a great job with this show!  Click here to see more on their webpage.

Here's a few pictures of the show.  They start at sundown, 9pm.  And it's about 2 hours long so it was a late night for the children.  But we knew that going into it, and it was worth it. :)  They really loved it.

 It gets pretty dark as the show goes on, so it's hard to see in the picture, but they were portraying what they did to try and get the grasshoppers that came in multitudes and ate the crops, to leave by putting the fire next to them.  I'm glad we don't have those problems now-a-days. That would be terrible.

 Class time inside the church.

Building the church for the town.

We will have to go back again another day when they are older.  So they can understand even more of what's going on.

We are getting ready to start up our homeschool year so this is field trip one already under our belt for the 2011-2012 year. :)

 

Family Camp 2- IRBC

Family Camp at IRBC is super Awesome!  

You have got to try it. :)

Click here to go to their web page.

Now check out some of our fun filled activities.  

Click the links to see pictures from that event/activity/fun time! :)

Marshmallow Guns....Monkey got to play in a marshmallow gun war first and then for one of the crafts we signed him up to make one!  Now he can play at home.  He loves it.  It's definitely a great OUTDOOR toy!  Click the link to see pictures.

Pool Time!  
The weather this year was superb!  I don't think we could have asked for nicer weather.  It was not to unbearable, yet warm enough that the pool wasn't like ice water!  That was super refreshing! Bear went down the slide into the pool for the first time this year.  Last year he was learning how to swim on his own with floaties of course.  He still has the floaties but is brave and doing so great!  Monkey went off the diving board this year for the first time.  He is like a fish out of water!  Click the link to see pictures.

Kids Activity Time. (Panning for Gold)
Since the theme for family camp this year was a western theme.  They had a panning for gold game for the kids.  1000 pennies were buried in the volley ball sand.  So we had a good time digging and and panning for pennies!  Click the link to see pictures.

Kids Favorites
There were a few things that were the kids favorites activities.  Carpetball, Gaga Ball, Playing at the playground, at the ball courts, and of course buying snacks from the Snack Shack!   Click the link to see pictures.


Fourth of July!
We go to Family Camp the week of the Fourth of July, every year for the last 4 years anyway.  And we plan on keeping it that way.  We decided to go to the Clear Lake parade this year.  It was nice and hot, and a great time!  It's not quite the fourth of July without a parade right?!  They put on a pretty good parade too.  Click the link to see pictures.

Hay Ride!
The first night they have supplies available to make smore's and they do a hay ride!  What fun! :)  The kids enjoy it anyway.  I think the hay is rather uncomfortable to sit on.  But it sure was a nice evening.
Click the link to see pictures.

Zip Line!
We did the Zip line this year again!  Of course!  I think it is great.  It's quite the work out to get up there, but once you do it's a super great ride all the way down!  Click the link to see pictures.

Cowboy Bingo.
The boys got to play bingo for the first time.  This was the family fun game that they always do on Wednesday nights.  They had some games where people got called up on stage to do stuff.  TJ was called up to use a marshmallow gun to knock some pop bottles off a tray.  He was bummed that he didn't win.  Click the link to see pictures.

On the Lake.
There were some awesome views on the lake this year.  And of course the children and other people than me I guess enjoyed some of the lake activities.  The kids went on a boat ride with grandma and grandpa.  The boys even got to drive the boat for a little while.  They loved that!  They also did bumper boats.  Monkey is super excited for next year when he's 8 and old enough to do the blob!  I'm not looking forward to him doing that, however. :) lol   Click the link to see pictures.

Tie-Dye
This was the first year that we did tie-dye shirts.  I think I'd like to make one next year.  Now that I know what I'm doing anyway.  And a word of advice, even if you are just helping you still want gloves and an apron....cuz your *a-hem* 4 year old* might 'accidentally' spray the non-removable dye on your clothing! :)  Click the link to see pictures.

Carnival
This is on the last full day every year.  The kids love it because we are all in the same spot so they can run around to all the different games and such that is there, playing them all and doing whatever they want!  Always a bitter sweet moment....fun times, yet it's on the last day so it means camp is almost over! Boo.  Good times, great fun. :)  Click the link to see pictures.



We had the priveledge of having TJ's sister, her husband and 2 little girls stay in our cabin with us.  It was mucho fun!  I'm glad they could be there.

 This one's for you Grandma!  

Grandpa & Grandma Wright with their 4 grandkids. :)

Adrianna 8 mo, Monkey 7 years, Adelynn 3 1/2 years, Bear 4 3/4 years. :)

 

Marshmallow Guns

Playing with a marshmallow gun for the first time!  

He was so excited he couldn't wait for the instructions to be over before he started practicing.  

Typical 7 year old.  Right?!

 Practice that aim!

Piecing it together.  Then you glue it.

 Ready to go Mom!

You could also paint them or decorate with duct tape.  We opted out of that idea.

Seems to me like the paint would just scratch or flake off?!  It still works just the same without paint also!   Just a word of advice....don't do it when it's super muggy out because the marshmallows quickly turn sticky and could easily get stuck in the gun.  And if you glued your gun together it's hard to get them out.  We started to notice them getting sticky the other day when we were playing with it at home.  We will have to make one for Bear next year so they can actually 'war' safely with each other.  It's a little uneven right now with one versus nothing. :)

Click here to go back to the main Family Camp Blog Page.

 

Pool Time

We were blessed with such nice weather to be able to enjoy the pool every day!  

Yay!

Here's the progression of Monkey jumping off the diving board!  

Go Monkey!

I can't believe he just did that! :)

 Bear's progression going down the slide.

Woot Woot!  Way to go Shaniac!

And a picture of me to prove I was there.  I just have to put the camera away before I get wet. :)

Click here to go back to the main Family Camp Blog Page.

 

Kids Favorites

A few of their favorite things!

We gave them some money that they could spend whenever they wanted throughout the week.  But when it was gone it was gone!  They really loved going to the snack shack and getting whatever they wanted!

That's actually his tongue. :)  lol

 Bear wanting to share with Mom.

Trying to play tennis with each other! :)  It was pretty funny to watch.

Gaga Ball

Click here to go back to the main Family Camp Blog Page.

 

Pan for Gold

Ok maybe more like panning for bronze.....pennies!

This was a cute idea.  The kids were using the little baskets to pan for the pennies in the volley ball sand.  It was hot, but still a good time.  The kids thought it was so awesome when they found those pennies!  I think we found 44 pennies total or something like that.

Click here to go back to the main Family Camp Blog Page.

 

Fourth of July Parade

A few shots from the parade!

 Sometimes I just need proof that I was there too.  I'm usually behind the camera.

 One of the floats just dumped a bag of candy in the middle of the road so the kids ran out to gather it up.

 Lightning McQueen was there!  No Way!

 This was kinda funny.

 We had to walk a ways to find a seat.

It was pretty crowded there.

 This guy was just kinda weird.

 Love those floats that give out these freeze pops.

 Michelle Bachmann was there.

Enjoying the Fourth of July in style!

Click here to go back to the main Family Camp Blog Page.