There's 81 days of summer vacation...

We are big Phineas and Ferb fans around these parts. We love singing the theme song with each episode, and even though we aren't the best at all the words we get the first part down pretty well:

There's a 104 days of summer vacation

and school comes along just to end it

So the annual problems for our generation 

Is finding a good way to spend it....

Well, as you can see from the title of this blog,  there are only 81 days of summer vacation (don't tell my kids because  they will feel that life is unfair) and after having a family home evening plan we now know how to spend it so here's how we have spent the first 14 days of our break...

Trip to the Museum  of Natural Curiosity 

We made our first trip to  the Museum of Natural Curiosity on Memorial Day, we were lucky that the crowds weren't too bad and the kids had a riot exploring and running around trying out things, and touching, and just having a great time. I loved that they had something for everyone (something hard to find when we have a 12 year span between the oldest and youngest). 

The boys loved playing with legos, they both thought that this huge lego mat
was the best thing that they had ever seen. 

All the kids took turns hanging like a sloth, Laine made it the longest
quitting after two minutes but I am sure that she could have gone a lot longer.

In each area we went to there was a place for Abby. She loved the water table the best
I was just grateful I had a change of clothes for her when we were finished.

 Trip(s) to the Library

It should be no surprise to anyone that my kids are readers, James goes through at least 10 books a week in the summer so we keep our local library busy. 

Matt went right up to the librarian and asked, "Can 4 year olds have library cards?"
They told him yes and so he is now a proud owner of a library card! 

 Swim Trip

We put our swim suits to good use during the summer and we had our first trip to the pool already. 

This was Abby's first time at the pool,
after this visit I am pretty sure she is part fish

  The Leonardo 

I love the Leonardo, the hands on exhibits are awesome and my kids can spend hours there...they loved it so much that we ended up getting a year pass. The kids were super excited that they can keep coming back. 

James actually wanted to take this picture,
that was awesome. 

Eve found a mural she could sit and color.
I think she could have stayed in there for several hours.  

Matt again loved the big legos, This was the robot that he made,
he hopes it is still there when we come back. 

 Park Days

Our neighborhood visits a park each week. The kids love to play at each of the parks and with all their friends.  

Abby and her friend Simon, they kept trying to share each other's
bottles. 

 Pia Family Reunion

My grandma's family reunion was held at Hogle Zoo this year and the kids couldn't have been more excited. We had a so much fun, even if we were walking in the rain. The weather was nice and we got to see the otters (after about ten trips to the zoo this was a first sighting), we also got to see them train the seals, Christian does a great impression of the sea lions dance he would be happy to show. 

A yummy brunch at the zoo...or in Matt's case a doughnut, brownie,
cookie, brownie, and pineapple because pineapple is healthy. 

We loved seeing the new lion cubs, and we still love posing on the statues. 

It was fun to see the zoo with our cousins and do silly things with them. 

This little princess left the zoo with two new lovies, mainly because
mom and dad are suckers. She seems pretty proud of herself.