Ooohhh...Ahhhhh....It's Fireworks Time!!!

This year we joined Nana, Papa Bob, Uncle Luke and Denise to enjoy Wauconda's fireworks display! Every year they never disappoint! There was the coolest flaming hot air balloon thingies that some people had set off into the sky while waiting for the sun to set. We watched them float high into the sky and eventually burn out.
Amelia was making Papa Bob work hard to get a smile out of her. It was a pretty busy day for Amelia, she might have been tuckered out.

Nana and James! Love his hat on him! Such a good sport!

Wait...there's her smile! Amelia was so cute sitting in her Dora camping chair. When the fireworks began she looked a little frightened as she had her hands covering her ears, so Papa Bob was sitting right behind her so he took his hands covered her hands and ears to help her and then wrapped his legs around hers for added protection. That seemed to help and then she ended up moving on to Nana's lap and we heard many squeals of delight and many comments of how some fireworks looked like "bananas". Not sure what fireworks she was watching, but she thought it was funny!

Once again we all liked the smiley faces and heart fireworks the best! Happy 3rd of July!!!

Crystal Lake 4th of July Parade

After a yummy breakfast a brand new restaurant, it was time to get ready for a parade! We made very special hats to help celebrate America's birthday!
James looked so cool in his firecracker hat!

Mommy ended up wearing mine for a short while, and then I decided to give it a try!

"Flag of America, Red, White and Blue.

Flag of America, a Salute I give to you!"

(a song that James taught us from preschool)

Here come the big rigs! HONNNNNNKKKKK!!!!

This is one of Mommy's favorite groups, the friends of the Crystal Lake Library. They do a funny march with their book carts!

These guys are a big hit! They do a drill with their lawn chairs while wearing their boxers!!! If one drops a chair, he is ordered to do push ups!

Check that out! How fun would that be to roll down the street!

This year we got the opportunity to sit on one of the Shriner's Magic Carpets!!!

Waving our American flags proudly in the air!

One of the draw backs to where we were sitting again this year is that there are very big gaps in the parade. Since it was getting pretty hot, we decided after an hour of parade it was time to head home for a nap and fireworks later tonight!

Mommy finds these little moments so precious!

Once we got back in the car and turned the air on, we noticed Mommy and Daddy whispering about something...many something special....

A surprise treat....ICE CREAM!!!!

James got Superman Ice Cream

I got Mint Chocolate chip

Daddy picked out mint chocolate chip and chocolate and peanut butter ice cream

and Mommy got Mint chocolate chip and some type of ice cream called "The trashcan"!

We all tried each others and they were all so gooooooooood!!!!!

Papa Birthday Pool Party

Acorn Splash Pad

Veteran's Acres has been rebuilt and and has made some wonderful improvements and additions, such as Acorn Splash Pad! The best part is, it's FREE!
This park is located right across from the beloved Nature Center.

They added two brand new parks!

James loves this merry-go-round thing!

Back to the water we go!

Back to the park, we go!

Back to the spray area we go...again!

That is the beauty of a free park, you can go back and forth as many times as you want!

Colored Salt Project

Today, we attempted coloring salt to use on our summer pictures. First, we needed to choose some pieces of colored chalk and add them to bags of salt. Next, was the fun part, we had to shake, shake, shake the bags of salt with chalk and soon the white took on the new colors!
We then talked about things we see in the summer like; sun, flowers, swimming, butterflies, beach balls, and some how monsters continuously popped up.

Amelia made a monster/creature picture and then colored in a butterfly. After rest time, she was ready for more, so she made a dandelion and a self portrait. So cute!

James made an ocean scene with a whale swimming and the sun shining.

Then, he made a picture of himself sweating! Love it! This is his best drawing of himself yet! He drew his hand wiping the sweat off his forehead and his tongue hanging out like a panting dog! So adorable!!



This was such simple project that we will definitely revisit in the future!

The Sensory Table

Here is the newly completed sensory table that was inspired by a post on IKEA Hacks. So far it is a big hit!

Betty Brinn Children's Museum

Today, Nana took us on an adventure to a new museum out of state! OK, so it was just over the boarder into Wisconsin, but it was fun to cross the state line nonetheless. The first thing that caught our eyes was this motorcycle jungle gym thing. We played in it for a long time.
Then, the huge Brio train engine jumped right out at us, so we had to explore that next!

Then, we moved on to the outdoor camping area, where we got to fish, row the boat, build a bird house and play in the cabin. We also learned how rain comes down from the sky and ends up helping our veggie garden grown.

Here is the demonstration of precipitation.

Amelia thought the vegetable bed was comfy enough to sleep in!

Here in the "forest" we pretended to plant saplings. The "dirt/soil" chunks were the made out of a recycled plastic, but were so fun to feel and play with.

They had a tent set up that inside had a poster that showed you how to make neat shadow puppets. We can't wait to go real camping this year!

Nothing like a little rock climbing out in the great outdoors!

Is that an animal hiding in the log home??? Nope, it's Amelia!

James really enjoyed working in the the ranger station. He worked hard keeping an eye out in the lookout tower for any forest fires on the horizon!

Then, it was time to perform! A little dancing, a little dragon slaying and just plain silliness on the stage!

Even Nana got into the act! She's so fun!
She also helped announce our performances to the audience and worked the curtain for us!

The Dancing cow, starring Amelia Hamilton!!

They even had a dance room area!!! There was a video camera that put us on the TV.

The last area that we explored was a gigantic board game all about making healthy choices. James is practicing washing his hands. We had so much fun exploring the museum, we will definitely have to come back soon! On our way out, our tummies were rumbling, so Nana programed Old McDonald's into her GPS and away we went!