Fishy Fun

We had lots of fishy fun today at our Finding Nemo party. We created a special fish tank for Nemo (and Dory and Bloat) and of course watched them on the big screen after our craft. The fish tank was a baby food jar, and the fish was held by a paper clip connected to the bottom of the jar with a piece of fishing line. We put a magnet on the lid, which grabbed on to the paper clip and made the fish look like it was swimming. We put blue sand on the bottom for the water. I got the idea from the fabulous Family Fun site. Click here for instructions from their site. I would also suggest a jar larger than a baby food jar, with a wide mouth if possible. Expect to spend some time getting the measurement of the fishing line correct. It has to be just right to achieve the swimming effect...as you cut 8554 different lengths of fishing line, be sure to sing Dory's just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin' =)

Robert poses with his Bloat and my Nemo

Austin, Robert, and Rhianna suggested we make a fishy pyramid. I think they have a future in studio photography

Jersey Barnyard

Our last field trip of the summer was to Jersey Barnyard. It is home to Belle of Blue Belle fame (the cow in the Blue Bell commercials). We were able to meet all the animals, including the baby cows! We toured the working dairy and each took a turn milking a cow (who just so happened to be Belle's baby). We have had a wonderful time this summer and the kids have all been great. I hope they behave as well for their teachers when school starts!

Lilli and Rhiana pet the baby cows

Bellerina, the cow we milked

Erin bravely milked Bellerina first

Lilli milkin' away

Where they milk the cows

Colton and Chad enjoy their Blue Bell

Dinosaur Park

Today we visited the Dinosaur Park, which is located in Cedar Creek. They had amazing life sized dinos spread out along a trail. At the end of our tour the kids were able to play archaeologist and search for fossils in their fossil dig area. They also had a wonderful gift shop and lots of dino toys for the kids to enjoy. We all left as dinosaur experts!

i just LOVE this picture of miss gracie =)

miss lexie

chad and colton do their best impression of dinosaurs being born

group shot less the three girlies

last but certainly not least, here is alexis having the time of her life! i'm sure she is contemplating the virtues of the velociraptor behind her

Surf's Up Party

No need to vacation in Hawaii...we had our own surfing adventures at the Rec Center. We crafted our own surfboards, learned surfer lingo, and enjoyed a viewing of Surf's Up.

hannah works on her surfboard

karley shows off her finished surfboard

austin parks and pizza

This trip was by far the most popular, and after visiting Austin Parks & Pizza I could see why. This was my first time there, and we were pleased to find go karts, bumper boats, two climbing towers, mini golf, tea cups, laser tag and of course arcade games. And i'm probably forgetting something....I was thrilled to find a Pacman/Galaga game and skee ball. Good times!

Mark assured me he would let his parents go at a very reasonable rate

lilli, allison, haryle, emma and karley make sure no leaves the bumper boats dry

zachary shows off his guitar hero skills

erin and ashlynn climb their way to the top

Indiana Jones

Today the Rec Center was transformed into a forbidden forrest, the Sands of Egypt and even had its own Cave of Doom! The kids navigated their way through the Indiana Jones style adventure using the clues provided. We transported the Cave of Doom and Sands of Egypt to Riverbend so the kids could get some more fun out of them during the movie. It was a great night and everyone enjoyed watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

cindy was kind enough to lend her services as a tribal face painter. she was beyond hilarious!

henry makes his way through the cave of doom

big thanks to miltons for supplying the boxes for our cave!

josie and henry mummified

the forbidden forrest

sam goes over the unravelled clue with zachary offering advice

josie digs through the sands of egypt for treasures

jackson supervises movie set-up

I Love Horses Day Party

Every day is a holiday somewhere, and today is National I Love Horses Day. We celebrated all things equine by crafting our own horse which we then used in a horse race. After our time at the track we enjoyed watching the classic National Velvet.

christina shows off her horsey

christiana, grace and nicole race down our homemade track