Water Balloon Fun

It is officially HOT outside. Short of hanging out at the pool all day long sometimes or staying indoors (Which makes the kids very cranky sometimes!), we have to find inventive ways to pass the time. I saw this post on Pinterest, and decided to give it a try at home. The first step was to fill the water balloons. 

Let me assure you, there is no way to do this with my kids without getting soaking wet, so go outside and wear something that you don't mind getting wet. 

Once they were all filled up, we took them to the front of the house to play. Since our street does not get much traffic, and our driveway is very slanted, we drew our target in the street. They each stood behind a line and tried to throw towards the center of the target.

And just to make sure they got a little exercise and that all the water balloons weren't gone in a flash, I kept the balloons at the top of the driveway and made them run back up to get more. 

Sarah got inventive by stuffing them in her bathing suit to get them down the driveway.

We quickly washed away all of our chalk outline, so Pete got a bucket for them to aim at.

 It is easy for them to knock over, but they couldn't land one inside!

Pete gave it a try too.

Owen's balloon sprung a leak!

I gave Sarah permission to throw one at me from across the street. Immediately after this picture, my shirt was soaked. She's a good shot!

That was a close one!

After all the fun, they cleaned up all of the balloon pieces so the chickens wouldn't eat them. Another reason we chose the street rather than the yard for this activity. I hope you are all having a great summer!

Singing in the... Oh no, thats SWIMMING in the rain

As long as there's no lightning, there is still swim practice. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Mote Marine

We are fortunate to have one of the country's leading marine research labs nearly right in our back yard, Mote Marine Laboratory. We have been members for a few years, so we visit as often as we like.

 One of the first exhibits you see when you go in the door. If you are lucky, this little stingray will come up to the glass and you can see it's cute little face!

 This hermit crab was huge!

 And this goliath grouper was just a baby. Not like the monsters Pete was catching last week.

 We frequently see these little guys poking their heads out of the sand when we scuba dive (Which we need to do more often!)

 The jellyfish tanks are always super cool. 

 Giant Florida Spiny Lobster

 And this scared little fish hiding back in a corner.

 Lookdowns- these used to be Sarah's favorite fish.

 The shark tank. You can also see a big goliath grouper at the bottom. There are also tarpon and jacks in this tank.

 Huge megalodon Jaw.

And inside in the nursery, there were baby skates just hatched from their pods!

What a great day! Thanks Mote!

Rain Shadows

I saw this post on Pinterest and thought, my kids will never sit still long enough for that! But, last night, we were waiting for the Ice Cream Man (Yes! We have one that comes around the neighborhood now, just like when I was a kid!), it started to sprinkle. So somehow, I convinced the kids to lay in the driveway and NOT MOVE!

 Lay down, lay down!

 More drops start to fall...

 And more and more.... 

("This tickles!" "My back is getting wet!" "It smells dirty down here!")

Okay, you can get up now!

And it was really just a small shower. The rain let up and the Ice Cream man came around. The perfect end to a summer day! I'll get a picture of the truck the next time he comes around :)

Bisque It Studio

So, there's this cute little place down in Port Charlotte called Bisque It Studio. They have pottery painting, glass fusing, hand pottery, and canvas painting. When the kids get honor roll at school, they give them a certificate for a free studio fee. Score! The kids choose a piece from the store, which you pay per piece for. There's so many to choose from, it's almost a guarantee to find something right up their alley, and then they get to use their wide selection of glazes to make it your own. They fire it for you in their kiln, and you pick it up a few days later. Pretty cool!

 Concentrating..

 Just starting...

Almost Done!

Just the tail and the eyes left. 

(And you can see some of the pieces in the background that you can choose from)

All done! The glazes turn out so much different after they have been fired. Lots of Fun!

See you again soon, Bisque it!  They also do summer camps and birthday parties, too. If you are ever in the area, check it out!

Zoey Zebra

At Christmas, Sarah got a new swim cap with zebra stripes on it and started wearing it to practice. And, at some point she got the nickname Zoey Zebra from her coach, which she really liked. The Easter Bunny got her a zebra towel and she has some zebra flip flops, too. So, the whole idea for sewing bathing suits came from Sarah's wish to have a zebra bathing suit for swim practice, which I could not find anywhere. I finally stumbled upon some zebra fabric at Joann's and it was on clearance to boot! Woohoo! So, this was the first Zebra suit and my sweet girl in her zebra cap that started it all. 

The Sun Came Out

And finally, on day 13 of summer vacation, the sun was finally out. And, we had already planned to be on the beach, so that was a super bonus. The whole family volunteered to help with the PanAm Masters Open Water Championship swim on Siesta Key. This is the final event in a 10 day swimming competition, and there were people there from all over the world.

Siesta Key Beach was rated #1 beach, so it's very hard to see it deserted. That is, unless get there at 5:30 in the morning.

This is what it looked like a couple short hours later. Packed with People. Pete and I are on the right in the yellow.

 There weren't really many waves (Which was great for the swimmers!) so the Boogy board was more of just a floaty toy. Sarah had plenty of fun anyway.

 Pete had a late morning sightseeing tour, so he passed right by us and we waved at him from the beach as he drove by.

Now this is what summer vacation is about!

Lego Bridge Challenge

So in my hunt for things for the kids to do this summer, I found this site that had Lego bridge building. My kids love Legos, Owen can get lost in his room for hours playing Legos. He will probably have this. Little did I underestimate Sarah's competitive spirit. So here was the challenge:

Bring out all your Legos that you aren't attached to (Which means you are willing to SHARE with the evil sibling).

Must be 4" high and the bridge span must be at least 12".

The one whose bridge can hold the most pennies WINS!

 Let the building begin! Sarah started with big, wide pieces.

Owen chose smaller pieces.

Concentrating.....

His first test, he tried one roll of pennies. CHECK! One more roll, and it collapsed!

Oh No!

  That's 12 rolls of Pennies in Sarah's cup.

She had to start getting creative just stacking her pennies!

 14 Rolls!

 15!

 And down she goes! Winner winner Chicken Dinner!

I'm quite sure the other one will want a rematch before the summer is done. He claims afterwards that he thought the object was to build the FASTEST bridge. Sarah got to keep the pennies in her cup, and we denied her request to trade them in for quarters. To be fair, I let Owen keep his pennies, too, but 50 cents wasn't quite as exciting as $7.