Bon Voyage Party

Each year my college friends and I find an opportunity to gather as a larger group for at least one long weekend. Although technology and social media allow us to keep tabs on one another from a distance, it's still not the same as the chance to get together in person. Sometimes the gatherings take a lot of preplanning and emails, as we travel from 5 different states and 7 different daily lives, but it's always worth it in the end. When I tell people about our gatherings, I usually add that we haven't been out of college that long so it's still manageable. That was until I recently realized we're quickly approaching our ten year reunion . . . which has given me a new sense of pride in our efforts to stay connected as a group and a greater sense of appreciation for these continuing friendships. 

No group gathering is complete without at least one attempt of a group shot. 

As we gathered over the Fourth of July weekend we not only looked forward to seeing one another, but also to celebrating the courageous and exciting life change of one of our friends. She has decided to move from her home and job in the United States to a position and home overseas in England. We wanted to celebrate her moving with a small, backyard "Bon Voyage" party and decided to go with a garden tea party with map and airplane themed decorations.

I made most of the decorations at home, and needed them to be easily transportable in the already overly packed car, so most of them were made out of paper. I used everyday materials I could find at home or the craft store. 

I used maps from the local "Welcome Center" to create a flag garland and used brown package paper with white poster paint to make a banner. Although I wanted to locate a true globe to display, instead I wound up using an inflatable one as I knew it would pack more easily. 

I'd been saving the four paper lanterns from the dollar store for a while, and they went perfectly with the colors of the maps. I used some cloud printer paper to create a garland of about thirty paper airplanes. The planes were folded in the traditional "old school" way and then threaded onto fishing line with a large needle. 

I made a few extra airplanes and attached some on craft wire to create an airplane arrangement. We also tucked some of the extra airplanes around the table. We used large white doilies on the table and trays to add to the theme of a garden tea party. 

Food included tea sandwiches, lemon cupcakes, chocolates, candies, fresh fruit, iced tea, and champagne.

 We discovered pretty much anything goes these days for tea sandwiches, so we had four options:

1) Cucumbers and alouette cheese on whole wheat cocktail bread. 

2) Honey ham, brie cheese, honey mustard, and green apple on baguette. 

3) Fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil leaves and olive oil on roasted garlic bread. 

4) Goat cheese, pecans, and fig jam on cinnamon raisin bread. 

We loved the breezy backyard of one friend's cottage for the setting and the tent another friend brought gave us a place to hang all the decorations. Even the colorful wooden chairs added to the ambiance. In all a really nice celebration and kick off to the weekend. 

The guest of honor. Bon Voyage my dear!

Additional note: This theme and decorations could also be used and added to in order to create a great boy's birthday party. I'm already thinking . . .

Alphabet Adventure: C is for Cow

As you can imagine, we'd hoped to do "C is for Camping," but the rain put an end to that plan. So we needed to change plans and go with another great "C' adventure: C is for Cow.

As we live in a rural area we know many people with cows and farms, but decided to make this adventure a little more official by traveling to  nearby Billings Farm & Museum. We've never visited as a family and had thought this would be a great place to go at some point this summer. After we planned the adventure, we were surprised with some complimentary tickets from a friend. Perfect timing.

The Adventure

We packed a picnic lunch, braved the gray clouds, and headed to the farm. Big Brother was excited as we pulled in because he could hear the cows as we arrived. Some were in the barns and some were in the pasture.

Ironically, once we were in the barn he didn't want to get to close to them. He even passed up the opportunity to try brushing one during a small talk on jersey cows. He felt a little better about being near them when we visited the cows in the pasture. 

A cow says "MOOO!"

Little Brother was more willing to get closer to the cows. 

We enjoyed other elements of our farm visit too, including the other animals: chickens, sheep, and draft horses. We also explored the stenciling craft project and the antique farm equipment and home life exhibits. Big Brother particularly enjoyed exploring the ice house. 

Along the way we found some more "C' words: chicken, cider, cheese, cookies and croissant ( both in our lunch.) Once we were back home we wrapped up the adventure with a great cow story, The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson.

The Project

The next day we created our "C" project: C is for crayon. 

We decided to take advantage of the sunny, warm weather and try a little experiment. Using our old, unwrapped crayons and a vegetable peeler we peeled curls off the crayons and left them in the sun on white card stock. 

We left them for a while, until they were warm and gooey. Then we placed another piece of white paper on top and pressed. I was hoping they would melt and press a little more than they did, leaving a melted look. Instead they kind of just mashed onto the paper. But Big Brother was pleased with the big chunks of crayon now stuck to his paper. 

Another great alphabet adventure and project! 

Other C adventure ideas: camping (of course), canoeing, cupcake store, candle factory, and a carousel ride. 

Indoor Camp Out

We've been waiting for several weeks for a break in the forecast with the hope of camping out in our backyard. We've never taken Big Brother camping and he's been expressing an interest in trying it. We knew the backyard would be the perfect starting location . . . but unfortunately the few breaks we've had in the rainy weather have been few and far between. So today, as we were faced with yet another rainy day, we decided to put together an indoor camp out or camp in.

We set up Big Brother's play tent in the living room with his sleeping bag, pillow, and flashlight. We added our picnic blanket and firewood. 

Of course we needed a campfire too; which we created using orange poster board, 

markers, glue, and glitter. 

We "lit the fire" by placing the flames into the fire wood. 

We ate trail mix and read Curious George Goes Camping in front of the fire. 

Big Brother used the flashlight to search the area surrounding our campsite for skunks, deer, squirrels, and moose.

Big Brother was inspired to pull his pretend food out of his play kitchen. We cooked hot dogs and several different breakfasts over the fire. We used cotton balls and bamboo skewers for some pretend marshmallow play. 

We also enjoyed some real food at our indoor campsite, including a hot dog and veggie stick lunch and several snacks. The set-up kept Big Brother happily engaged most of the day. We even tried rest in the tent (which was unsuccessful and rest eventually moved to his room) but he played with it again when we woke up. Definitely a great rainy day diversion!

Sensory Tummy Time Mat (adult supervision required)

Most of our projects and crafts are more geared towards Big Brother, primarily because he's old enough to participate in a variety of things. But for a while now I've had an idea of something I wanted to make for Little Brother and was excited to finally create it today. I saw something like this on a great blog, Play at Home Mom, almost a year ago but was inspired to create it when I saw how much Little Brother loved studying a hand me down toy with water and fish inside. I also loved all the cool sensory bins I was seeing on Pinterest which used water beads and decided to add in that element.

SAFETY NOTE: Before I go on, as much as I was really excited about how this turned out, I need to add the disclaimer that if you plan to recreate this project please be aware that this activity mat needs full time supervision for your baby. If you're looking to create something that your baby can play with a little "independently" this isn't it. The materials involve a large plastic bag and water, which although they are sealed could still be unsafe for a young child. Little Brother was really excited to explore it with his mouth, and watching him explore it with his face down made me realize it needed 100% supervision. I also encourage you to make this mat when your child has developed enough upper body strength to consistently hold up his/her head independently. 

That said, I love how this worked and how much Little Brother enjoyed it. It was a great sensory experience for him and he was all smiles with it this afternoon.

To begin with I purchased a box of 10 gallon ziplock bags a few weeks ago. I also used some foam shapes and colorful duck tape we had on hand. I added in a package of water gems. Water gems are water absorbent polymer beads which absorb and store water. They can be found in the floral department of your craft store. Although they are too small for infants and toddlers to play with, in this case they were contained inside the bag. I chose to use dry water gems.

I taped up the side edges of the bag for extra reinforcement and then put both the foam shapes and the dry water gems inside. Afterwards I taped part of the top but left a small opening for adding water. 

I filled the bag with water by slipping it over the kitchen faucet. I didn't measure, just filled until it looked to be a good amount while taking into account the water gems were supposed to grow. I carefully squeezed as much air out as I could so that the bag was as flat as I could get it. In the end I needed to tape the bottom too, as it had an expandable bottom and it was holding too much air. I then taped across the top and the bag seal. 

The gem directions said they would take a few hours to grow, but Little Brother was quite interested while watching me create the mat so I decided to let him try it out. 

Tummy time first (which lead to some very interested sucking of the mat) . . .

followed by half-sitting studying . . .  

and ending with some big smiles. 

At first I was pretty disappointed in the gems, and thought if I made a mat again I wouldn't use them. As Big Brother woke up from his rest I put the mat into the bath tub to come back to later. When we did, I had a big surprise. The gems now looked much more like I had expected and very nicely filled out the bag. The squishy mat now felt a lot more interesting. 

Of course now Big Brother had to try it and it captured his attention for quite a bit. He liked trying to move all the beads to one area. 

He also enjoyed "helping" Little Brother explore the mat. 

And after they went to bed? I found myself squishing it around with my toes too! 

Three Fast and Fun Fourth of July projects

Somehow the Fourth of July kind of snuck up on me this year; it just doesn't feel like we should be that far into summer. I realized on the weekend it truly was this week, brainstormed a few projects I thought we'd all enjoy, and got out our few Fourth of July decorations.

My original hope for this post was to title it "Four Fast and Fun Fourth of July Projects." Only, it didn't work out that way. And although I was tempted to fit in one more project tonight, I didn't attempt it. I promised myself when I started this blog I would keep it real to our family. And the reality is that this week my oldest is having a hard week. He's frustrated with our most recent family change; his last day at daycare was Friday and he transitions to preschool in the fall. Despite the fact he had been part time at his daycare for months, he's missing his friends, teachers, and place. Much of our week is focusing on reaffirming that although these changes are happening, good things will come from them and spending a lot of time trying to partake in other types of favorite activities.

We did manage to fit in a little Fourth of July project time, and a lot of fun talk about the parade. So, a little later than I had planned, here are "Three Fast and Fun Fourth of July Projects."

1) Contact and Tissue Paper Flag Collage
Materials: Clear contact paper, tissue paper, star punch

The Project: I cut two pieces of contact paper into rectangles and the red and white tissue paper into long strips. I also cut a small square of blue. I laid out one rectangle of the contact paper so the sticky side was facing up. Big Brother added the strips and blue paper onto the paper while looking at a small flag as a model. He used the star punch to create some small stars which he placed on top of the blue. When he was done I peeled off the other piece of contact paper and added it on top of the work he's been doing, sticky side down. I trimmed any overhanging tissue paper off.

It looks great hanging in our window!

2) Splat Painted Fireworks

Materials: pantyhose/tights, rice, washable paint, black paper, glitter and glitter glue (optional)

The Project: I saw this idea a while ago over at Toddler Approved and knew it looked like fun. We decided to try it as "fireworks painting." First I cut the legs off an old pair of black tights and filled each leg with about a half cup of rice. I then knotted the top. We now had a bouncy "splat painter." I put paint into small containers, which Big Brother would dip his painter into. He then would "splat," or bounce, the painter onto the paper. We added some glitter glue to a few of the paint colors and then sprinkled some glitter on at the end so it was more sparkly. We did it on both brown paper and black paper. We really liked how it looked on the black paper!

3) Parade Treat Bag

Materials: white paper bag, glitter glue, red & blue markers, foam sparkly stickers

The Project: Every year our family watches a local parade on the front lawn of my husband's aunt and uncle's house. We love seeing familiar faces, old friends, the floats, community vehicles, and the BBQ which follows. We also all love collecting the candy. (My husband and I freely admit to raiding the candy stash Big Brother collects.) Instead of the typical bucket this year, I thought Big Brother would enjoy creating a treat bag. It was definitely a quick,easy project, and one he could do independently while I made dinner. 

The bag shows "a rocket ship on a fire truck." 

I've still got a few fun things planned for the morning, but the rest of my ideas can wait until next year. We'll have plenty of ways to enjoy the day with all our other wonderful traditions. Have a fabulous Fourth of July!!

Alphabet Adventures: B is for Breakfast Boat Ride

So we're pretty lucky and my in-laws are lending us their boat for the summer. It's an old motorized fishing boat which is only a few years younger than my husband, but it's still a boat. We've wanted to go for a boat ride for several weeks now, but the rainy and stormy weather has kept us off the river. Sunday morning we took advantage of the morning forecast and planned our next letter adventure. Last week I posted about our new Alphabet Adventures. As we had not yet had breakfast, we decided to make it a double letter trip making our letter B Adventure a "Breakfast Boat Ride."

The Adventure

Big Brother opening the "letter bag" to find the letter B and a small, plastic boat. 

We packed some yummy breakfast treats including fresh berry muffins, bananas, yogurts, orange juice, and iced coffee (for the grown-ups) into the cooler. We found some picnic supplies, grabbed life jackets and towels, and headed out. 

The river is about a ten minute drive from our house and makes a great, scenic ride. We love finding places we know from the river. 

After several muggy and stormy days, the morning weather was perfect and breakfast was delicious.

We enjoyed thinking of all the "B" words we could find. This included boat, breakfast, berry, banana, bridge,  . . . 

and of course, brothers!

When we were back on dry land we read the fun book "Who Sank the Boat" by Pamela Allen.

The Project

In the afternoon we completed our "B" project: B is for bubbles. We decided to try painting with bubbles. I liked how I had seen a set up for the bubble painting on Pinterest at this link. For our painting we used liquid watercolors, bubble soap, straws, and water. 

I combined the liquid watercolors, the soap, and a little water into a painting cup. We added a straw to each cup and mixed all the materials together. 

Big Brother than blew bubbles by using the straw. 

After all the cups were full of bubbles we placed a piece of white paper on top. Our colors were not as bright as I expected. I think next time we would use different paint and possibly add more to it. 

All in all, another great Alphabet Adventure!

If you don't have access to a boat you could always try renting one from a local park or swimming area, as many of these places have canoes or peddle boats for rent. Other B adventures could also include: bowling, a bakery, a bank, or a barn.