Summer Fun: Pool Pool Party

32.  Go swimming.

The mommy campers went on a field trip today:  a pool playdate with Mrs. S, her daughter, and granddaughters!  And goodness, did they have old-fashioned summer fun.  Diving for rings and lost goggles, kickboard races, spinning on tubes, almost cannonballs, "Marco Polo" and other games like "Toothpaste" plus an out-of-water turn at "What time is it, Mr. Fox?"  Plus a huge sandwich lunch (what is it about swimming and sun that doubles an appetite?  No wonder they sprout in the summer!).  All while the grown-ups watched and talked (and listened--if you haven't read this, "Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning," please do so--about half of the children who drown each year do so within 25 yards of an adult).  It really was the perfect summer day.  Even with the incredible heat.

Thanks, Mrs. S and co!

Summer Fun @ Mommy Camp: Making Crayons

A great way to use up crayon bits and turn the blistering heat to creative use!

Cover a craft cookie sheet or cardboard with foil, as well as one end of toilet paper tubes.  Place tubes upright on cookie sheet and fill with unwrapped crayon bits.  Leave in sun until partially melted.  If it gets too liquid, the wax will seep out.  We tried this for about 5 hours on a 90F day, but it was not quite long enough.  The next day, also hot, we put the tray on the dashboard of my car for about 2 hours--that was too hot and too long--the crayons totally liquified!  I think an hour in the hot car, with frequent checking, would be enough.

Summer Fun: Mommy Camp

With camp over until the end of summer, the kids begged me to design a "Mommy Camp," complete with activities, swimming, and even kapers (chores).  So I made a quick list of activities until Mama informed me that Sis expected a "schedule," you know, by the half hour, just like at GS camp!  And so I made one up, for fun:

7 a.m. freeplay (basically DIY time--Legos, art activities, Hex Bugs, marble run, dollhouse, reading etc.  Not screen time)
8 a.m. breakfast
8:30 a.m. chores and getting dressed
9 a.m. morning activity
11 a.m. lunch (including mini-cooking lessons)
12 p.m. freeplay (may or may not include Mommy)
1 p.m. rest time
2 p.m. afternoon activity
4 p.m. freeplay (maybe screen time, at Mommy's discretion)
5 p.m.chores and clean up
5:30 p.m. dinner and "Day is Done"

And then each day has a theme:

Monday:  Arts and Crafts, including making crayons, sun prints, chalk drawings, sketching, painting also any other indoor art kits like vases, mandalas, bracelets, etc)

Tuesday:  Tie-Dye Tuesday

Wednesday:  Wacky Wednesday

Thursday:  PJ Day

Friday:  Camping at Home, including s'mores, camp songs, games, stargazing, and sleeping in sleeping bags downstairs

Of course, that all looks more official and formal than it is--for instance, right now instead of prepping lunch, we're watching "Phineas and Ferb," having had a late breakfast, then swim lessons, and then made our crayons outside where it is incredibly hot.  And in about 30 minutes, they have a dentist appointment!   It's the idea of it that they like, I think.  And it will give a focus and rhythm and even an energy to our week.  Who knows, we might have "mommy camp" the rest of the summer . . .