Summer 6/1-6/25

You know the phrase, "The best laid plans of mice and men..." Well, it certainly applies to me. My plan was to take a picture of what we do each day so we have a summer photo journal of sorts. And then to post those pictures at the end of each week. Three weeks in is better than six months, I suppose! Anywho, here's what we Three Musketeers have been doing in June!

Right after Bella lost her first tooth (and right after a peanut butter and jelly sandwich).

Ryan's jammie shirt. It says Captain Adorable S.S. Cutie.

Nothing says summer like a chocolate ice cream cone!

One glorious summer afternoon the kids and I traipsed through the strawberry field...

And ended up with this giant tray of delicious strawberries. Seriously. A still-warm-from-the-sun strawberry is one of the most amazing treats. God really knew what He was doing when He created these!

So we got a little carried away with the picking...and ended up with 7.70 pounds of strawberries! We ate them (happily!) with breakfast, lunch, and dinner and they were gone within a week. Yummy!

Teaching Bella to play Battleship. It's good practice for reading a graph, and I'm teaching her strategy. I remember playing this when I was her age!

Not as grandiose as the Carmel Library, but we are being true to our new zip code and frequenting the Westfield Library. The kids got their very own library cards, which they're ecstatic about. We go every Wednesday and Bella's reading skills have greatly improved as she tears through books each week.

 Conner Prairie has a "Curiosity Fair" every year with lots of different activities for the kids. We had a beautiful Saturday mid-June, so we took advantage of it. We were there for four hours, so you know it was a hit!

Bella climbs the mixer truck with the free books we got from the Book Bus.

Ryan asked me to take this picture. imi (the company) let kids mix their own concrete door stop (for lack of a better term) with sand, gravel, water and cement mix. The kids thought it was awesome (until the neighbor boy dropped Ryan's on the deck and broke it).

After losing her second tooth-about a week after the first one!

Bella was "driving" this student-made robot.

And of course Ryan wanted a turn as well...

Bella learned that you could make a speaker from lots of things-even a paper cup-if you had a magnet and spool of wire. Kids were encouraged to make their very own speakers.

Ryan's getting ready to hook his up to the boom box to see if it works. It did!

 What summer is complete without the spray park? This was a Sunday afternoon. We have been blessed with some amazing weather this summer and so we've jumped at the chance to be out as much as possible.

Ryan makes a dash through the water.

Bella, of course, became the ringleader of all the girls at the spray park. She of the long legs.

This kid just always smiling. Even when I give him a mohawk.

Even with his hair soaking wet, he has an "alfalfa sprout" at the back of his head. Poor kid.

This picture cracks me up. Why? Because the kids are standing stock-still, staring at the yard at the...

...bunny! It's not like we don't already have one IN OUR HOUSE, but for some reason, the ones outside are always a big deal.

 A lady at church is nice enough to open up her pool (and gigantic home) to the church folk for swimming. Here's a typical scene from that day:

And here's Bella gnawing on a piece of roasted cauliflower.

 We've had a great time settling into the house. The kids are outside more than they're inside, and some of their favorite games are with the house itself.
 

They are very diligent to take the garbage cans down the driveway every Thursday night, and bring them back every Friday morning. Sometimes they chase each other around with the garbage cans. Cracks me up.

They started laying a hardwood floor for us! Actually, they made a road of Kapla blocks, and Bella became the bridge for Ryan's cars. I love how well they play together (most of the time).

 No month is complete without a trip to The Children's Museum! Considering it would cost the three of us $48.50 for each visit, buying a membership is a no-brainer. This time we went for "Members Play Late" where the museum is open just for members from 5-8 pm. It's not as crowded and we love it.

Explorer Ryan measuring how long the canons are. Notice his goggles and oxygen tank! (Bella was putting an Egyptian tomb back together.)

The new temporary exhibit is about the Terra Cotta Warrior Army of China. Pretty cool stuff!
 

This is a rare treat-this head has paint on it. Most of the warriors' paint didn't survive.

Self-explanatory.

Bella trying her hand at sculpting clay. It's a lot harder than it seems!

Everyone got the chance to make a warrior out of a mold, then add them to the table. This particular table wrapped around half the exhibit and could hold 1,000 figures. The actual burial site the army held more than 8,000!

The face on Bella's didn't come out quite right, so she made her own. It's also holding a sword (straw).

Bella makes quite an adorable Terra Cotta Soldier!

But Ryan takes his soldiering quite seriously. Love that little face.

 What used to be an exhibit about Egypt has been re-designed to "Take Me There: China" to go along with the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit. You board a plane, then work your way through places like homes, a calligraphy shop, market, opera house, tea house and much more. It always amazes me the things the museum comes up with!

There's a restaurant with woks and bowls and bamboo glasses and chopsticks and fake food. Here I am getting a bowl of noodles and dumplings. Bella is hard at work in the kitchen behind Ryan.

Panda Rescue Center! Ryan is feeding a (stuffed) baby panda a bottle after he gave it a shot.

 The Farmer's Market is our new favorite Saturday morning destination. I get fresh meat and veggies, and Bella gets her fill of meeting people and petting dogs. Here she is with "Bella" the Great Dane.

 I've started training the kids to be self-sufficient. Although this particular item was way down the list, both kids jumped at the chance to pump gas. They actually fight over whose turn it is! This time Ryan shows how it's done.

Bella loves to help out in the kitchen. I think she just loves snacking as she helps! Here she is with some cilantro. Notice our matching aprons!

 Finally caught up! More next week!