Stephan Family Fun: Kids' Summer Bucket List Weeks 3 & 4

So, the last couple of weeks haven’t been quite as busy with special activities mostly because I have been absolutely exhausted. Between summer school, taking care of stuff around the home, doctor’s appointments, and t-ball, I am spent! Baby girl will be here in about 7 weeks, though, so I am trying to get back on track. We did, however, get a few projects and activities done.

4^th of July Popsicle Stick Flags

This idea actually came from the Oriental Trading site http://www.orientaltrading.com/wooden-craft-stick-flag-craft-kit-a2-48_1441.fltr?prodCatId=388760&tabId=5
It was pretty easy to make my own, although my craft sticks were obviously thicker than the ones they provide in their kit.

Girl Scout Picnic

We also got to spend time with friends and celebrate Hannah’s first year of Daisy Girl Scouts with a potluck at the park. The girls had a lot of fun, and Hannah was quite proud to receive her certificate and rose! We have been so blessed to have such awesome leaders and such a great group of girls for Hannah to do this with.

Water Fun Day

Hannah and Ella have been begging for a water fun day with their friends. So we set up a play date with a couple of good friends and pulled out the wading pool, water balloons, sprinkler, and water guns. A great time was had by all!

Ivory Soap Experiment

I have been seeing pictures of this experiment on Pinterest for a while now, and it looks like a really fun and cool experiment for the girls. It definitely did not disappoint! They had so much fun watching the soap expand in the microwave and were disappointed that I only had 3 bars of soap to use. They also have a lot of fun mixing the soap flakes with water and putting them in the cookie cutters for their own soap to use at bathtime. I got the idea for that part from Holly’s Arts and Crafts Corner http://hollysartcorner.blogspot.com/2012/06/art-science-collide-ivory-soap.html

Stained Glass Picture

I found the idea for this at Things to Make and Do http://www.things-to-make-and-do.co.uk/painting-and-pictures/stained-glass-pictures/stained-glass-pictures.html
The girls needed some help cutting through the paper, but had a lot of fun gluing the tissue paper on. I think they turned out wonderful, and we like having them in our front window to see everyday.

Cottage Weekend

We spent the Fourth of July weekend up at my in-laws cottage. We are so lucky that they have this available and it’s only an hour from our house! The girls had a lot of fun playing and of course swimming and boating. I never did get any pictures down at the lake because I was in the water a lot too and didn’t want to have to worry about the camera. Hannah also had the chance to be taught by Grandpa how to play chess and really loves it! Now, I just have to make sure her Daddy takes the time to play with her too.

Baby Birds

One of the neatest things that we have experienced this summer was something that we never could have planned. I received a beautiful hanging plant at the beginning of the summer, and a few days after I hung it up a mama bird (a morning dove) made a nest in it. Now, my hanging plant is definitely not the beautiful plant it once was (Mama did not like me watering it), but we definitely think it is worth it. After watching her sit on the eggs for a while, she now has two beautiful baby birds that the girls can watch all day long!