{2013 Summer Bucket List} Play in the Sprinklers

It's true, we are still plugging away at our Summer Bucket List. I don't think we are going to get through the whole thing, but we have certainly had some wonderful adventures this summer!

Last Saturday, we were invited out to our friends' house for a weenie roast and to play in the sprinklers.

Jorge and Renee live on a nice chunk of land a little over an hour away from us. Our families are good friends, so we take turns making the drive to visit each other.

Jorge and Elijah on the tractor.

We don't have animals (unless you count our four monkeys), so the kids discovered something new: The dog food bowl! Abby was so taken with it, she started carrying it around, and then...*ahem*...ate some of the dog food. Her expression was across between, "I like this because it's crunchy," and "This is the worst thing I've ever hand in my mouth."

Abby

After that little detour, (gross!) we pulled out all of the sprinklers! I wasn't sure if the kids would find this fun, but they loved it!

 Elijah, Caleb, and Abby

Abby 

Abby and Ellie 

Elijah and Caleb

Caleb

Jorge and Renee's daughter, Emma

It's possible that Renee roped me into a water fight with her. I'm sure the kids thought we were nuts!

Caleb, Elijah, and Renee.

Abby

Driving all the way out there let me see their newborn, Garrett, again. So cute and cuddly! At only one month old, he insisted that nap time wouldn't be any fun and that he wanted to hang out with the rest of us.

Garrett and his proud Daddy

And then, it was weenie time! I have to tell you, I had chopped onions on my hotdogs, and it was AWESOME! I had no idea that hotdogs could be so good!  I've been craving them all week. Or maybe it's that I just miss the great company!

Elijah, Ellie, Caleb, and Abby...in dry clothes!

One last silly photo for you. Like the dog food bowl, the dog water bucket held and equal amount of attraction. At first, they were just splashing and dipping random items in the water. But then we looked over and saw Caleb in the bucket, sitting down, and enjoying himself...in the dry clothes I put him in after playing the sprinklers! I didn't get to my camera fast enough to take a photo of him actually sitting in it, but I think you get the idea!

It was also nice to hear an update on how Jorge and Renee's new roofing business has been going. They are juggling a house addition, a new business, and a new baby all at once, and doing a fabulous job with all three!

It was a great visit, but I did learn something while we were there. Two sets of clothes for each child is not enough. I need to bring at least three sets per kid. As Renee said while we were there, "I would tell you to move out here by us, but watching your kids [get wet repeatedly] makes me think that might be more work than it's worth!"

Very true! I think we will just stick with visiting for now!

It's true, we are still plugging away at our Summer Bucket List. I don't think we are going to get through the whole thing, but we have certainly had some wonderful adventures this summer!

Last Saturday, we were invited out to our friends' house for a weenie roast and to play in the sprinklers.

Jorge and Renee live on a nice chunk of land a little over an hour away from us. Our families are good friends, so we take turns making the drive to visit each other.

Jorge and Elijah on the tractor.

We don't have animals (unless you count our four monkeys), so the kids discovered something new: The dog food bowl! Abby was so taken with it, she started carrying it around, and then...*ahem*...ate some of the dog food. Her expression was across between, "I like this because it's crunchy," and "This is the worst thing I've ever hand in my mouth."

Abby

After that little detour, (gross!) we pulled out all of the sprinklers! I wasn't sure if the kids would find this fun, but they loved it!

 Elijah, Caleb, and Abby

Abby 

Abby and Ellie 

Elijah and Caleb

Caleb

Jorge and Renee's daughter, Emma

It's possible that Renee roped me into a water fight with her. I'm sure the kids thought we were nuts!

Caleb, Elijah, and Renee.

Abby

Driving all the way out there let me see their newborn, Garrett, again. So cute and cuddly! At only one month old, he insisted that nap time wouldn't be any fun and that he wanted to hang out with the rest of us.

Garrett and his proud Daddy

And then, it was weenie time! I have to tell you, I had chopped onions on my hotdogs, and it was AWESOME! I had no idea that hotdogs could be so good!  I've been craving them all week. Or maybe it's that I just miss the great company!

Elijah, Ellie, Caleb, and Abby...in dry clothes!

One last silly photo for you. Like the dog food bowl, the dog water bucket held and equal amount of attraction. At first, they were just splashing and dipping random items in the water. But then we looked over and saw Caleb in the bucket, sitting down, and enjoying himself...in the dry clothes I put him in after playing the sprinklers! I didn't get to my camera fast enough to take a photo of him actually sitting in it, but I think you get the idea!

It was also nice to hear an update on how Jorge and Renee's new roofing business has been going. They are juggling a house addition, a new business, and a new baby all at once, and doing a fabulous job with all three!

It was a great visit, but I did learn something while we were there. Two sets of clothes for each child is not enough. I need to bring at least three sets per kid. As Renee said while we were there, "I would tell you to move out here by us, but watching your kids [get wet repeatedly] makes me think that might be more work than it's worth!"

Very true! I think we will just stick with visiting for now!

7 Easy Sand and Water Table Sensory Activities

 

Sand and Water. Summer doesn't get any more iconic than that!

A couple of weeks ago, we found the perfect day to head outside and discover all of the fun things we could do with our Sand and Water Table! We were blessed to have it passed on to us by the Barrs when they moved to Alaska early in the spring. To break it in, we invited Rachel and her mom Sarah over to help us with some fun sensory activities, and decided that it might be fun to share them with you as well!

First, let's start with a couple of quick things:

1. What is a Sand and Water Table? It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a child-size table that is divided in half. One half contains sand; the other half contains water.
2. Where did you get the awesome toys in the photos? Glad you asked! The toys in the photos are from the Melissa and Doug Company. They make some of my very favorite kid toys that are super durable and can stand up to lots and lots and lots of playing! We have the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set, Seaside Sidekicks Brick Building Sand Toy, Clicker Crab Hourglass Sifter and Funnel, and the Finney Fish Spray Bottle x 4! Additionally, this post is part of the Melissa and Doug Summer Fun Calendar! Make sure you click the icon below to follow along with great ideas to make your summer a blast!

Sensory Activity #1: Touching

The first things the kids discovered was the texture of the sand. They would grasp it and then let it fall back through their fingers. It didn't take long before they started experimenting with taking a fistful of sand, putting it in the water, and then pulling mud back out. It's like magic! Our friend, Rachel, was a pro at this activity, and yet somehow managed to stay the cleanest of her little friends. The wisk in this photo is from the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set.

Sensory Activity #2: Splashing

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Abby was going to town with the splashing. She thoroughly enjoyed splashing everyone around her and feeling the water droplets hit her face. Why did I take a shower that morning? Smacking the water with objects makes a bigger splash than if we just use our hands!

Sensory Activity #3: Scooping

Ellie quickly found the measuring cups in our stash of toys, and alternated between scooping up the sand, then dumping it back out, and scooping up water, then...drinking it. As a side note, I washed the table before we started, so everything was clean. Besides, I didn't want to ruin what she was doing. By scooping and dumping from both sides of the table, she was feeling different weights and watching the materials leave the measuring cup at different speeds. A lot of education is worth a little dirt!

Sensory Activity #4: Funneling

I'm really glad that we got this funnel! It is awesome because the kids could watch either the sand or water fall through it. The sand goes very slow, but the water falls very fast. The kids could also hear the difference between what it sounds like as the sand hits the table, and what it sounds like when the water does the same thing. Elijah thought is was really interesting to play with.

Sensory Activity #5: Sifting

Our big mixing bowl has a sifter on top. This was such a great toy to use on the sand side, because we could bury toys in the sand and then shake it back and forth until we found them again. It's like a mini-treasure hunt! I also appreciated that it required a different movement than scooping and dumping.

Sensory Activity #6: Squirting

Based on how much we enjoyed the spray bottles, I can only imagine the number of water guns in my future! The kids were fascinated with the way the water came out of the bottle and hit their skin. The mission of the day was to figure out how to spray themselves! (The spray bottle has been discontinued, but these squirters will do something similar!)

Sensory Activity #7: Packing

It had rained the night before, and that made for some perfect packing sand. We have these great little brick sets that come with the brick mold and trowel. Ellie did an awesome job learning how to pack sand into the mold until it was full, and then turning it out to make a brick. Of course, it didn't last long as she learned how to build and destroy with her brick maker.

Sensory Activity #8: Tasting

Just consider this a bonus activity! I wish I could claim coming up with this one, but Caleb is the creative mind behind it. To fully absorb the sensory experience, you can also eat the sand. In case you were curious, it's really crunchy.

It's true that Sand and Water Table activities can be messy (next time everyone will be wearing swimsuits so that I can spray them down afterwards), but all of the textures, sounds, and movement associated with those elements make it a very fun, and educational way to spend the afternoon!

Many thanks for Melissa and Doug for providing the toys in this post! This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.This post may contain affiliate links. 

 

Sand and Water. Summer doesn't get any more iconic than that!

A couple of weeks ago, we found the perfect day to head outside and discover all of the fun things we could do with our Sand and Water Table! We were blessed to have it passed on to us by the Barrs when they moved to Alaska early in the spring. To break it in, we invited Rachel and her mom Sarah over to help us with some fun sensory activities, and decided that it might be fun to share them with you as well!

First, let's start with a couple of quick things:

1. What is a Sand and Water Table? It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a child-size table that is divided in half. One half contains sand; the other half contains water.
2. Where did you get the awesome toys in the photos? Glad you asked! The toys in the photos are from the Melissa and Doug Company. They make some of my very favorite kid toys that are super durable and can stand up to lots and lots and lots of playing! We have the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set, Seaside Sidekicks Brick Building Sand Toy, Clicker Crab Hourglass Sifter and Funnel, and the Finney Fish Spray Bottle x 4! Additionally, this post is part of the Melissa and Doug Summer Fun Calendar! Make sure you click the icon below to follow along with great ideas to make your summer a blast!

Sensory Activity #1: Touching

The first things the kids discovered was the texture of the sand. They would grasp it and then let it fall back through their fingers. It didn't take long before they started experimenting with taking a fistful of sand, putting it in the water, and then pulling mud back out. It's like magic! Our friend, Rachel, was a pro at this activity, and yet somehow managed to stay the cleanest of her little friends. The wisk in this photo is from the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set.

Sensory Activity #2: Splashing

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Abby was going to town with the splashing. She thoroughly enjoyed splashing everyone around her and feeling the water droplets hit her face. Why did I take a shower that morning? Smacking the water with objects makes a bigger splash than if we just use our hands!

Sensory Activity #3: Scooping

Ellie quickly found the measuring cups in our stash of toys, and alternated between scooping up the sand, then dumping it back out, and scooping up water, then...drinking it. As a side note, I washed the table before we started, so everything was clean. Besides, I didn't want to ruin what she was doing. By scooping and dumping from both sides of the table, she was feeling different weights and watching the materials leave the measuring cup at different speeds. A lot of education is worth a little dirt!

Sensory Activity #4: Funneling

I'm really glad that we got this funnel! It is awesome because the kids could watch either the sand or water fall through it. The sand goes very slow, but the water falls very fast. The kids could also hear the difference between what it sounds like as the sand hits the table, and what it sounds like when the water does the same thing. Elijah thought is was really interesting to play with.

Sensory Activity #5: Sifting

Our big mixing bowl has a sifter on top. This was such a great toy to use on the sand side, because we could bury toys in the sand and then shake it back and forth until we found them again. It's like a mini-treasure hunt! I also appreciated that it required a different movement than scooping and dumping.

Sensory Activity #6: Squirting

Based on how much we enjoyed the spray bottles, I can only imagine the number of water guns in my future! The kids were fascinated with the way the water came out of the bottle and hit their skin. The mission of the day was to figure out how to spray themselves! (The spray bottle has been discontinued, but these squirters will do something similar!)

Sensory Activity #7: Packing

It had rained the night before, and that made for some perfect packing sand. We have these great little brick sets that come with the brick mold and trowel. Ellie did an awesome job learning how to pack sand into the mold until it was full, and then turning it out to make a brick. Of course, it didn't last long as she learned how to build and destroy with her brick maker.

Sensory Activity #8: Tasting

Just consider this a bonus activity! I wish I could claim coming up with this one, but Caleb is the creative mind behind it. To fully absorb the sensory experience, you can also eat the sand. In case you were curious, it's really crunchy.

It's true that Sand and Water Table activities can be messy (next time everyone will be wearing swimsuits so that I can spray them down afterwards), but all of the textures, sounds, and movement associated with those elements make it a very fun, and educational way to spend the afternoon!

Many thanks for Melissa and Doug for providing the toys in this post! This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.This post may contain affiliate links. 

Mini Baseball Fans

When he told me his expectation prior to getting married, it was obvious that there would be no arguing this point.

"Becca, in our house, we bleed Cardinal Red."

And just like that, I became a Cardinals fan. One of the first things my Saint Louis-born husband did after we got married was buy me a couple of Cardinals shirts to make sure that I was properly outfitted for baseball season. It was a foregone conclusion that our kids would be quickly trained in the way of the Cardinals when they came along.

Well! Our kids got their first matching Cardinals shirts from their Aunt Ruby last week. They even came complete with their names and numbers on the back! With a Cardinals game being aired on TV today, Sean announced that the whole family would be wearing our team gear.

Personalized Cardinals Shirts!

Abby, Caleb, Daddy, and Elijah exploring the backyard before the game began.

The kids and their new lawn chairs

Caleb

Daddy and Ellie rocking their Cardinals shirts!

Elijah and Caleb taking a break. It takes a lot of energy to play outside!

The best "posed" group photo I could catch. They all went in different directions as soon as I picked up my camera.

Here's to a great baseball season! We are ready for it!

When he told me his expectation prior to getting married, it was obvious that there would be no arguing this point.

"Becca, in our house, we bleed Cardinal Red."

And just like that, I became a Cardinals fan. One of the first things my Saint Louis-born husband did after we got married was buy me a couple of Cardinals shirts to make sure that I was properly outfitted for baseball season. It was a foregone conclusion that our kids would be quickly trained in the way of the Cardinals when they came along.

Well! Our kids got their first matching Cardinals shirts from their Aunt Ruby last week. They even came complete with their names and numbers on the back! With a Cardinals game being aired on TV today, Sean announced that the whole family would be wearing our team gear.

Personalized Cardinals Shirts!

Abby, Caleb, Daddy, and Elijah exploring the backyard before the game began.

The kids and their new lawn chairs

Caleb

Daddy and Ellie rocking their Cardinals shirts!

Elijah and Caleb taking a break. It takes a lot of energy to play outside!

The best "posed" group photo I could catch. They all went in different directions as soon as I picked up my camera.

Here's to a great baseball season! We are ready for it!

"We Aren't the Only People In the World?"

We are finally getting to branch out from our lockdown! Getting to have play dates seems like such a big deal!

Thank goodness, because I was going NUTS!

First Official Play Date!

Kerri and Me

Ellie, Malachi, Elijah, Caleb, and Abby

The kids did really well and only tried to sit on Malachi's head a few times! Kerri pulled them off of him each time, so I think he escaped unscathed. Since the kids have always had to jockey for the space they need/want, they have to learn how to be gentle with kids who haven't been vying for space since the womb. My kids will just climb over each other without another thought. I'm still trying to figure out how to teach them that not all kids have experienced that...

And--Praise God!--Ellie did so well with her sensory issues! We are so proud of her for playing so nicely and not getting overwhelmed. She was tired later on, but she held it together while Malachi was over.

First Official MULTIPLES Play Date!

Laura and Me

Anna and Reed, Elijah (in the middle), and Caleb, Ellie, and Abby

(How impressive is it that Sean caught this photo of all six babies and both Moms looking at the camera?!?!)

Anna and Reed were NICU buddies with our babies last year...only we didn't know that until recently! I read an article a couple of months ago about how Laura and her husband were keeping their kids on lockdown since their babies were born at Saint Luke's Hospital just like ours were. I left a comment, one of Laura's friends saw it and told her to look me up, and a few FaceBook messages later, we were fast friends with our NICU experience and multiples pulling us together.

Since we are new to the world of germs, Anna and Reed were the perfect little people to have over. Since they had been on lockdown and our kids had been on lockdown, Laura and I knew that there probably weren't too many germs that they could share with each other. They came over to play for their first play date with kids their age. It was so exciting for Laura and I to see how our little guys would interact together. The first few minutes were spent with each set up multiples observing the other set of multiples and trying to figure out where they came from, but then they got down to the business of playing!


We also took the kids outside one afternoon this week to watch the cars drive past and listen to outdoor noises. It was not nearly the hit that the play dates were. Ellie and Caleb refused to be put down. Abby didn't want to touch the grass. And Elijah pretty much just sat there.

Grandmacita and Ellie

Grandmacita trying to take pictures while holding Caleb

This picture is about accurate for how the outside playing time went. Note how all of the kids are looking down. It was an overcast day, but apparently it was still too bright.

Cita holding Ellie and Caleb. Abby crawling right to the edge, but not touching the grass! And Elijah sitting on the blanket.

 And then my good friend, Sarah, came by for a visit with her new baby, Rachel! Sarah has been at our house every week to help with the kids since they came home...until about seven weeks ago when she had her own baby. I love how quickly the kids ran over to hug her when she got here!

Rachel, Sarah, Abby, and Elijah

It's so nice to finally be able to slowly start introducing our kids to the big wide world! We are trying to take it slow and not overwhelm their little immune systems with too much all at once, but it is so exciting to FINALLY get to feel a little bit like a normal mom scheduling normal play dates for my kids...and for me! Yeah, I'll admit, the social interaction is definitely a perk!

We are finally getting to branch out from our lockdown! Getting to have play dates seems like such a big deal!

Thank goodness, because I was going NUTS!

First Official Play Date!

Kerri and Me

Ellie, Malachi, Elijah, Caleb, and Abby

The kids did really well and only tried to sit on Malachi's head a few times! Kerri pulled them off of him each time, so I think he escaped unscathed. Since the kids have always had to jockey for the space they need/want, they have to learn how to be gentle with kids who haven't been vying for space since the womb. My kids will just climb over each other without another thought. I'm still trying to figure out how to teach them that not all kids have experienced that...

And--Praise God!--Ellie did so well with her sensory issues! We are so proud of her for playing so nicely and not getting overwhelmed. She was tired later on, but she held it together while Malachi was over.

First Official MULTIPLES Play Date!

Laura and Me

Anna and Reed, Elijah (in the middle), and Caleb, Ellie, and Abby

(How impressive is it that Sean caught this photo of all six babies and both Moms looking at the camera?!?!)

Anna and Reed were NICU buddies with our babies last year...only we didn't know that until recently! I read an article a couple of months ago about how Laura and her husband were keeping their kids on lockdown since their babies were born at Saint Luke's Hospital just like ours were. I left a comment, one of Laura's friends saw it and told her to look me up, and a few FaceBook messages later, we were fast friends with our NICU experience and multiples pulling us together.

Since we are new to the world of germs, Anna and Reed were the perfect little people to have over. Since they had been on lockdown and our kids had been on lockdown, Laura and I knew that there probably weren't too many germs that they could share with each other. They came over to play for their first play date with kids their age. It was so exciting for Laura and I to see how our little guys would interact together. The first few minutes were spent with each set up multiples observing the other set of multiples and trying to figure out where they came from, but then they got down to the business of playing!


We also took the kids outside one afternoon this week to watch the cars drive past and listen to outdoor noises. It was not nearly the hit that the play dates were. Ellie and Caleb refused to be put down. Abby didn't want to touch the grass. And Elijah pretty much just sat there.

Grandmacita and Ellie

Grandmacita trying to take pictures while holding Caleb

This picture is about accurate for how the outside playing time went. Note how all of the kids are looking down. It was an overcast day, but apparently it was still too bright.

Cita holding Ellie and Caleb. Abby crawling right to the edge, but not touching the grass! And Elijah sitting on the blanket.

 And then my good friend, Sarah, came by for a visit with her new baby, Rachel! Sarah has been at our house every week to help with the kids since they came home...until about seven weeks ago when she had her own baby. I love how quickly the kids ran over to hug her when she got here!

Rachel, Sarah, Abby, and Elijah

It's so nice to finally be able to slowly start introducing our kids to the big wide world! We are trying to take it slow and not overwhelm their little immune systems with too much all at once, but it is so exciting to FINALLY get to feel a little bit like a normal mom scheduling normal play dates for my kids...and for me! Yeah, I'll admit, the social interaction is definitely a perk!