Sum-Mah (pronounced summer) Kick Off!

My boys final day of school was Friday (both grade school & pre-school). They were all excited to get on with Summer Vacation, but I just couldn't put my heart into it until yesterday. Saturday was a normal day for us...since they wouldn't have been at school anyway. I know. Mom's a Party Pooper.

So yesterday I suggested we do some Putt Putt! It's on our Summer Bucket List. It's also one of the items on my 101 in 1001 Challenge. John has spent Saturday night with my folks so Sunday we were just a family of four (in other words...equal
parent / kid ratio). YAY!

One of our local malls has an indoor putt putt course. And it's Black Light!!! Extra fun points for Me. Gotta make up for my former lack of enthusiasm.

We even put Kat in argyle for her first time golfing!

I've got to stop feeding this kid radio-active foods!

I was impressed with Louie's game. We've never taken him before, and most holes he could do in four shots. Kat was awesome at throwing the ball, giggling and twirling around in a psychedelic frenzy. All in all...I'd call it a success!

To top Sunday night off we let the boys "camp" in the living room.

Two cute boys cuddled up in their sleeping bags on the floor. That's what you'd think, isn't it?

Not for us! We took Living Room camping to a new level!

And scooted the love seat across the room next to the couch. It made a huge (and lopsided) bed! The boys loved it and whispered themselves to sleep.

Ahhhhh...summer...

Linking Up HERE!

Little Wonders' Days

Mini-Vay Cay to Amana Colonies, Iowa

Before I tell you about our Weekend Getaway...I wanted to share Day 2 of our Easter Tree:

SO!

This weekend, my Handsome Hubs thought we could all use a fun weekend away and booked us a room at the Clarion Hotel in Williamsburg, Iowa!

We're BIG fans of the Amana Colonies and it's a quick three-ish hour drive East of our home. I've been going there with family since I was little, and it was the first vacation James and I took together. It's an old German settlement made up of small villages. Now it's a great place to do some shopping, wine tasting and meat & cheese sampling! The Clarion is just off I-80 and they have a small indoor water park called Wasserbahn. Our boys love playing in the water, but aren't big-time swimmers, so the smaller size of the water park is perfect for our family! Here are some shots of our trip:

Toy Shop in Main Amana

James, Kat & Louie enjoying the Awesome Weather!

Kat couldn't get enough of the Kiddie Slide with Daddy!

Louie working his way across the logs.

Giant Playground at the Hotel

Amana Woolen Mill

Old Warping Wheel

LOVED these Stars!

Amana General Store



Kidz Explore

This past weekend we took the Kidlets to Kidz Explore. For you who may not have any idea what I'm talking about...it's like a little business convention for kids! We have gone in the past, but not for the last three or four years, so we were primed for an adventure!

And we had a great time! There are local business set up with games, prizes and (of course) a ton of information for Mom & Dad. Did I mention prizes??? Each Munchkin had a bag and they were stuffed by the end. It was like Halloween!

There was an area set up for kids three and under. John & Kat hung out there for quite awhile.

Bouncin' the Day Away. Actually, John doesn't look to sure about that. He's our cautious one!

While Dad hung out with the Littles, Louie and I had some more Dangerous Fun.

Croc? Aligator? I can't tell the difference! All I know is this thing's eyes were GLUED on me and it was creepy!

One of the Sponsors of Kidz Explore was a No Frills Supermarket. They had a long line of food samples. SCORE! Granola bars, Goldfish, Graham Crackers, Juice, Warm Rolls with Peanut Butter & even Ice Cream. Ummmm...yeah. Totally for the kids! I can't help it if my kids like to share with me!

Aren't these little bowls cute??? They came with all the goodies! They are the new "Breakfast Bowls" of the house! And I forgot to mention that we scored a Metric Ton of Kool-Aid! I'm excited to use it in homemade play-doh and I found a cool recipe that mixes Kool-Aid with Vaselin to make lip balm.

It was a good way to pass a Sunday afternoon! It, of course, cost admission to get in (Kat was free). I, being incredibly cheap  money concious kept my inner-debate running, "Should we go?" "Should we find something free to do?" But I'm happy we went & we'll most likely be back there next year!