September Family Fun

First Week of September Fun

When baby’s due date came and went with no sign of baby, I decided that I was going to try to get as much fun in as possible with Hannah and Ella.  

The weekend before (Labor Day weekend) we spent Saturday morning at the Cow Chip Festival and then they took off for the cottage with Grandma and Grandpa the rest of the weekend.

Ella's throw

Hannah's throw

Protecting their hearing during the parade

Yarn Bowls

On Wednesday, we decided to try out yarn bowls.  I had a number of different colored partial skeins from previous projects that the girls and I could choose from.  We also had a few different shaped bowls to experiment with.  We initially tried to accomplish this with a glue-water mixture, but it did not work out.  The yarn was still soft the next day.  We re-did the craft with only glue, and while it took two days to dry, it worked! We followed the directions from Pretty Prudent http://prudentbaby.com/2009/10/prudent-home/diy-spooky-yarn-bowl-2/ and really enjoyed the craft.

Yarn Bowl Supplies

 Cutting their yarn

Bowls covered in plastic wrap and cut yarn

Finished Bowls

Fireworks in a Jar, Dance Recital, Park

On Thursday, we decided that the Fireworks in a Jar from Money Saving Mom (http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/06/4-weeks-of-frugal-family-fun-fireworks-in-a-jar-day-10.html#_a5y_p=650674) sounded like a fun idea.  We had plenty of jars and put our oil and food coloring in a bowl ahead of time like the post said.  However, the food coloring all stayed in the bowl when we poured the oil out.  It worked out much better for us to pour the oil directly into the jar after putting the water in and then dropping the food coloring on the top of that oil.  The food coloring eventually sank to the water to produce the “fireworks” but we also found that we could help it along by pushing it down through the oil with toothpicks.

The girls also decided that they wanted to put on all of their dance gear and perform some wonderful dances for us when their Daddy got home.  Hannah starts dance class next week and is very excited. 

Ballet

Tap

After their wonderful dance recital, we decided to have some family time at one of the local playgrounds.  I’m not sure who had more fun, Daddy or the girls!

Glitter Sidewalk Chalk

The girls have been looking forward to trying this out since I first found this recipe on Pinterest from The Imagination Tree http://theimaginationtree.com/2013/07/rainbow-glitter-sidewalk-paint-recipe.html .  They enjoyed mixing in the food coloring and, of course, picking out and mixing in the glitter.  They had so much fun painting in on the driveway.  I think we will definitely try this again, but with fewer colors.  We ended up washing quite a bit of it down the drain.

 

 

Supplies needed

Soccer Game, Origami Cats

On Saturday morning, Hannah had her first soccer game of the year.  It was a hot one, but she had a lot of fun.  Last year, she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep playing anymore, but she seems a lot more into it this year. 

After soccer, we were pretty low-key.  I even managed to get in a long nap.  We worked on getting ready for Hannah’s Daisy troop meeting the next day by reading through her Journey’s book and found directions on how to make origami cats.  We decided to make it a family activity and the girls got us to cut out different sized paper so they could have kittens too.

International Crane Foundation

Sunday afternoon, Hannah’s Daisy troop took a trip to the International Crane Foundation https://www.savingcranes.org/ just north of Baraboo.  I had never been there before and Christopher hadn’t been there since middle school, so we and Ella decided to tag along.  It was so interesting!  I definitely recommend anyone in the area who hasn’t done so yet to check it out.

Now, I don’t know for sure if it was walking around for a couple of hours there on Sunday that did it or not, but it definitely didn’t hurt.  Baby Olivia was born the next morning!  We’ve been off schedule as you can imagine all week, but I am hoping to get more projects done with the girls – although they won’t be every day.

Purple Birthday Party

Purple Party

Miss Ella likes purple. 
Maybe I should clarify that, she LOVES purple.
Everything must be purple.
So of course her birthday party this year must be purple.

Party Invitation

Back of Envelopes - I used a stencil and paint from our wedding

Front Door Decor

Cake Table

I only made cupcakes this year so it would be a little easier

Gift Table

Table Decor

Crepe Paper Wall and Ribbons on Chairs

Hard to see - but I put purple water in the vases

Create Something Purple
I also had purple crayons and coloring pages that said Color Something Purple, but I can't find that picture!

Silly Sisters in their purple outfits at the party

Kids' Summer Bucket List - Later Weeks:)

Kids’ Summer Bucket List

Okay, so I might have tried to bite off more than I could chew with this bucket list this summer (not that I ever try to do that).  I had completely forgotten just how worn out I get at the end of pregnancy.  We’ve had fun, but it is becoming much more low-key around here as the big day gets closer. 

Kite Flying

The girls both got some awesome kites this spring and we finally got to try them out.  Unfortunately, it was much windier earlier in the day before Daddy got home.  They were still able to get the kites up though and had a blast.  We will definitely have to try it another time – probably after the baby is here and I can run with them again.

Ella's Unicorn Kite

Hannah's Flamingo Kite

Walk around ISU Campus

On the way to visit my parents, we stopped in Ames, IA to visit our alma mater.  Christopher and I both enjoyed showing the girls where we lived and where we had classes at.  They both loved the library and checking out the buildings.  We also had to pick up some new shirts for the girls and some new Cyclone gear for the baby!

Campanile

Ella's new shirt

Hannah's new shirt

Baby's new onesies

Carriage Ride in the Old Market

While we were visiting my parents, we took the girls to the Old Market in Omaha.  They have been talking about going on a horse-carriage ride for a while and we thought this was a perfect time to go with Grandma and Grandpa.

Circus World Museum

This past week, my nephew stayed with us so I tried to plan some new activities for all of us.  On Monday, we went to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo.  The girls were really excited for all of it, but especially loved the elephant ride and the magic act.
http://circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org/

Big Top Circus Performance

Circus Wagon

Circus Wagon

Ella Balancing on the Unicycle

the girls with their cousin

Elephant Ride!

Elephant Balancing Act in the Kids' Interactive Circus

Fun Mirror!

All Caged Up

Hannah Balancing on a Ball

Roche-a-Cri State Park

We headed up to the family cottage on Wednesday, but it was a little cold to be in the water.  (It is strange to be saying that in the middle of August!)  Instead of heading down to the lake, we drove up to Roche-a-Cri State Park to check out the hiking trails there. The girls and my nephew seemed to enjoy checking out the petroglyphs, pictographs, hiking trails and the top of the cave outcropping.  I was just happy that I could make it to the top at 37 weeks!
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/rocheacri/

My girls had interesting ways of posing this week

303 Steps to the Top

View from the top of the rock outcropping

Another silly pose

Cottage Time

While we were up at the cottage, we got to spend some time with Grandma S and Great Grandma and Grandpa Z.  They got to go fishing, but ended up catching more with the net at the dock than with any fishing poles.  The girls also spent a lot of Thursday swimming.

Feeding the Fish

Hannah posing with her mud balls

Magic Show by Great-Grandpa

We were able to finish off our cottage time with a special magic show put on for the girls and Kyle by Great-Grandpa Z.  Hannah and Ella decided that they wanted to perform their own show at the end as well.

Ella's disappearing dog Magic Act

Hannah's disappearing unicorn Magic Act

Cave of the Mounds

On Friday, the last day my nephew was here, we went to Cave of the Mounds.  Hannah and Christopher were the only ones who had been there before, and I for one, was definitely impressed.  Ella, however, wouldn’t let go of Christopher’s neck throughout the entire tour!
http://www.caveofthemounds.com/

Holding tight to Daddy