Summer learning Bucket list

1.Go on many more nature hikes
2. Ride the Rail-Trail on our bikes
3. Play and explore in the Pine River behind Grandma's
4. Visit a botanical garden-Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids?
5. Look for four leaf clovers
6. Experiment with a prism
7. Roll down a hill
8. Go Rock/Fossil collecting--May be with Paleo Joe?
9. Picnic at the Gravel Pits
10. Swing in the back yard
11. Drawn in nature journals
12. Go fishing
13. Camp at a park in our new camper
13. Ride on a pontoon boat
14. Watch a sunset
15. Go Geocaching
16. Go berry picking
17.Plant a garden and watch it grow
18. Hang a bird house

Summer bucket list

We went canoeing on the little Au Sable river today.  It was so much FUN! Everyone had a good time.  It was my sister Carolyn, Myself and the 5 kids- Taylor, Cam, Pitty-pat, Tippy-toe and Little-man. A dragon fly landed on Little-man, he watched it and then shook it off. It was crowded on the river but the people were actually really nice. To be honest I have only been twice before, twenty five years and eight years ago. Well we can cross that off the summer bucket list. It will make next years list and the kids all want to go again this year. It only cost $30.00 for the canoe, we took our own life jackets, a picnic lunch, $20.00 at McDonld's for cold drinks and supper,and $23.00 in gas. Not a bad day trip and It would have been cheaper if I didn't crave that cold drink from McDonald's. Plus no pics because I didn't stop to by a disposable camera.

lessons in the mud

We went swimming at the gravel pits. Jon, Lizzi, Xander, and Kinder build a dam--Emily tried to stomp it open. Lots of lessons were learned. Jon learned not to use his angry voice and ask nice. Emily learned not to destroy what others are building and work along. Kinder learned not to hit ask nice and say you are sorry. The Physics of damn building is completely understood and simple at age 9,8,5,4,2 and 2. I enjoyed watching them work it out. So many buckets of rocks, sand and water not to mention all the many scoops out of sand went into the little damn. Everyone just dropped hard to sleep when they got home. Fresh air does a body good all around.
I gathered another handfull of fossils for our rock collection while we were there.

Summer Bucket List

We went swimming at Reed Park tonight. They have put in three new play areas. The kids had so much fun. One more thing checked off our summer bucket list! Little man fell asleep at 8pm on the sofa. He played so hard. He loves the slides. No fear!

Zoo theme

Gearing up for our trip to the Zoo on the 24th of this month. I can't wait to show Little man a real Giraffe since he loves his plastic one so much.I am encouraged since it is a long car ride and  they did so well going to Wisconsin. We are doing Zoo coloring pages and naming all the animals. I printed out some zoo animal cards from  spell out loud. It's an easy week since Cam is almost out of public school. We will be making Monkey bread in a jar-see recipe as I posted it earlier this week. That is if the weather cooperates and cools off enough to use the oven.We have animal crackers with frosting for snacks. I have the plastic zoo animals out to match with  the cards. The letter of the week is Z.

I also made this neat water wall but we haven't tried it out yet. I found it on pinterest. It cost $20.00 to make but only because I couldn't get to any garage sales. $17.00 for the sheet of peg board which I cut down (and the other part goes into service in the garage.) The tubing  I salvaged from work it was unused and they were going to throw it out so I re-purposed it. The funnels were from the dollar store $2.00. I could've easily found these at a garage sale but couldn't wait. The water tub will be one of the many totes we have around the house.

I also made a bubble station so the kids can refill for themselves. I can't wait to take these activities camping this summer. It is so cheap to mix up our own bubble solution and we already have a ton of wands and cups.
I posted the bubble solution recipe already this week.

Here is the fairy garden I have been working on it is not done yet. I love the creeping thyme in the front. The grass house is an old birdhouse from the dollar store. I also bought polished stones from the dollar store for the river bed. The log table is from a tree branch we cut in the yard. The little pine tree cam up in my flower bed and needed transplanting anyway. The birthday candle was left over from one past. The moss covered rocks as from the dollar daze store and fake but they look pretty real.The bridge is a piece of bark from the yard.

Bubble Station

After filling the bubbles so many times it was time for a self serve bubble station like the ones I have seen many places on-line.

For the bubbles Solution
What you’ll need:
(makes about 12 Cups)
10 Cups water
1 Cup dish soap
4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
Directions:
Stir well and let set over night.
Refill old bubble containers from the sun tea plastic bottle.

recipe #2 found it here
The World’s Best Bubbles 1 1/2 quarts of water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup liquid dish soap
Mix water and corn syrup until completely blended. Slowly stir in soap. Will last several weeks in an airtight container.