Fish Hatchery Adventures

Last weekend the local fish hatchery hosted a "Fish Hatchery Adventure" day. Chris was gone for drill and Nanny and Papa were in Branson for the day, so Uncle David and I loaded up the kids and headed over to the hatchery. We couldn't miss this- it was a beautiful day and Tanner really wanted to go fishing.
So that was our first stop, he grabbed a toddler fishing pole and with help he hauled in this beauty.
Here is Tanner holding his first fish.

Our next stop was the fish painting station. First Tanner painted the fish different colors then we turned it over on a piece of paper and it made a paint imprint on the paper. So cute. He LOVES his fish picture.

Then we headed over to the bug house. They had tons of different displays with lots of different bugs. Tanner really wanted to hold the cockroach- what a weird kid. Then he tried to hand it off to me- NO THANK YOU!

Here are the kids checking out their rubber bugs for the bug house

 Then the archery station. Look at my little man. He's concentrating so hard with his little tongue sticking out.

He actually got to shoot the bow and even though he didn't hit the target, he did shoot it pretty far.

 Checking out the fish

 Then we headed over to the boardwalk overlooking the river. Here's Tanner and Bailey looking at the water.

Bailey and Uncle David walking along the boardwalk.

 Sweet kiddos. Yes, Tanner is totally posing. Silly kid.

Me and my sweet babes at the fish hatchery.

 

We had a great time. Bailey had to spend alot of time in her stroller because she was too young for most of the activities but she enjoyed being outside and she loved her rubber bug. I'm glad we went. We all had a great time and the kids slept so well during their naps that day. Thanks Uncle David for coming with us and helping me with these wild kiddos.

"30 Minutes of Play for 30 Days"

Since I get to be a stay-at-home mom, I spend ALOT of time with my kids. I'm not complaining. I LOVE it and I wouldn't have it any other way. However, we do get bored sometimes. Well I wasn't going to let us have a boring summer.

I printed out a couple calendars for the summer months and went to work planning a fun activities for each week day. I had found this "30 minutes of Play for 30 days" challenge online and I was determined to do this. See, I'm not the best at actually playing with my kids. I love setting up ways for them to have fun and play, but I don't always get involved with them. I'm usually content to watch them have fun. But I really wanted to have more fun with my kids and summer is a great time to do this. So anyways, here are our "30 days of play" in picture form.

 

1. We did ice cube toys. Basically I took a bunch of Tanner's tiny toys and dice and froze them in ice cubes, then we went outside and played with them as the melted in the ridiculously hot weather. The kids loved this. They were so excited when they figured out what was inside the ice cubes.

 

2. Chocolate/Caramel apples on a stick. These were a big hit.

 

3. Trips to the park

 

4.Feeding the ducks

 

5. Water Table. I just put a ton of different bowls and cups on a table and then let the kids play in the water. Tanner loved pouring water into the stacking cups.

 

6. Shaving cream finger paint- Tanner had finger paint EVERYWHERE

Bailey mostly liked playing in the tablecloth I'd laid down, so it wouldn't get everywhere...

 

7. Lake Day

Yep- just swimming without a lifejacket- bc he's a little fish!

 

8.Watermelon Pops

 

9. Slip-N-Slide

 

10. Workin' at the Car wash

 

11. Indoor obstacle course/blanket fort

 

12. Giant Bubbles

 

13. Whale Pool in our backyard

14. Trips to the City Pool

 

15. Picnic on the back porch

 

 16.Trips to the retired train caboose

 

17. Sponge Bombs

 

18.Water Balloon fights

 

19.Bubble Snakes

Bailey didn't think the bubbles tasted very good

And we did a few more things- like bath tub paints, kool-aid playdoh, home made Popsicles, family pizza nights and story time at the library. However, our laptop crashed and so I lost the pictures documenting this. (For anyone who knows me, this is heart-breaking). Anyways, I was able to complete a whole month of activities on weekdays only, before I got super sick with pneumonia and had to go to the hospital.

I really really enjoyed spending this special time with my kids. It was so fun because each day we had something different and new to look forward to. Both Tanner and Bailey loved every minute of it. And even though I did spend some time taking pictures to document each fun thing, I made sure that I also spent quality time actually playing with my sweet kids. It was soooo fun. I'm one lucky momma and this was a great reminder of that fact.

If you are interested in doing any of these activities look them up on Pinterest. That's where alot of my inspiration came from.  Until next time!

 

Labor Day Family Fun

I was so excited to see that Chris was working the evening shift on labor day. We got to spend the whole morning and afternoon with him and it was so fun.
We woke up, had a big breakfast, Bailey took her morning nap and then we played for a bit. Then we packed our beach bags and threw on our swimsuits. We load up and headed over to Cotter Springs. Its only about 5 minutes away and its gorgeous down there. It's just a little spring that's off the White River. There is a swimming hole with a rope swing and then a little creek to play in. It was a gorgeous day and the kids had a blast playing in the water. It's mostly shaded and the beach is all rocks. Bailey enjoyed trying to eat every rock in sight and Tanner love throwing rocks into the water.

                            Here's Tanner wading into the water. It's a bit cold, since it's a spring.

He decided he kind of liked it!

Bailey loving eating rocks

Sweet Bailey

My three favorite people

Bailey standing in the water

My little family at Cotter Springs

Tanner splashin' in the water.

Love this sunshine girl. Sportin' her sunglasses with Mom.

Tanner crawling over the little rock dam

Dad helping Tanner walk over the rocks. Love this man! He's such a good little Daddy.

 

 

Seriously love my babes!

 

 

After Cotter Springs we went and got some burgers and milkshakes. Then we took kiddos home for their naps. Then Chris had to go to work. But we had a lot of fun and I'm so glad we got to do something as a family. With Chris' crazy schedule, we never know when we'll have time to spend with Dad.

I hope you all had a great Labor Day too.