Skate Park Savvy

Somehow, between the nap and school schedules our field trip quota has been waaay down this year. As a result, it seems that screen time is at an all time high, as is general whiney-ness! (Big surprise!)

In an effort to increase our joy and savor life a bit more we headed out of the house and got busy at Zero Gravity Skatepark for Toddler Time. They have a great thing going over there-- it's your typical indoor skatepark complete with lots of crazy ramps, bars, etc. Take away the skateboards and skater dudes and you have one totally awesome toddler playground. They even put in a little bounce house which is always a hit with little ones.

Maxwell had a blast slipping and sliding all over the place and Cornelia was in baby heaven just crawling around getting filthy! :) Maxwell did take her down a few ramps, but nothing was quite as thrilling for her little ten month old self than freeeedoooom!

Although it's only the end of March, I've started to set my sights on Summer vacation and just how we are going to manage keeping the whiney factor down and the fun factor up-- my solution (and this is not revolutionary by any means)-- STRUCTURE! I've started to think out a few fun idea for the summer months. I'm thinking that field trips are going to play a role and I'm thinking about trying to be a lot more deliberate in making our outings an educational experience too.

So here are my ideas and I'd love to hear more! Hit me with some comments peeps!

1. Notebook Time: I plan to have a small spiral bound notebook for each of the older kiddos where each day we will draw a picture (or two) about what we've done that day and write a sentence about it. In Maxwell's case, I will write what he dictates and in Ruby's, she will write her own using "Kid-writing". Not only will it be a great memory of our summer days, it will be great practice on some skills they have been working on at school. An added benefit is that it will help me be deliberate in making sure there's something super cool to draw each day!

2. Journey Around the World: I found some great curriculum at our local library that will be a fun naptime event. The kids will have little passports and each day we get to visit a new place. They learn about the place by doing a craft, hearing a short story, or even making food from the country. I think it will be big fun for all of us.

3. Daily Devotionals and Bible Memory Verses: We do some of this already, but I want to be more intentional about it and actually carve out time in our day to make it important and something we all look forward to, rather than just squeezed in here and there.

4. Hikes and Field Trips: I found a great resource last year where kids can earn badges by doing little nature hikes and doing activities along the trail. Time to break out the Kelty pack and enjoy some great outdoors time!

5. Exploring our own backyard: We have a great yard for kids. It is just hilarious to sit outside and listen to Ruby and Max exploring in the woods. They have a blast imagining all sorts of adventures and discovering new things. We also have a small creek on our property that may be fun to look for water bugs, etc. in. Maybe we can even take a field trip to Daddy's lab and look at the water through the microscope!

Can you tell I'm excited for summer! Good thing Spring Break is just around the corner. We'll have to take some of my ideas for a test drive.

Hope you are enjoying the onset of spring and getting excited about all family time to come!