Fun with Friends

We had the Jankowski kids over one day, and the kids had fun playing and running around together. They got a little crazy outside with the squirt guns and hose and they ended up pretty soaking wet. When it was time to come in, I had them sit on towels to dry off for a bit and when lunch was served, it turned into a picnic. Now that I am seeing these pictures, it all makes sense why we found some dried up macaroni and cheese shells on one of our beach towels when we went swimming recently...especially since we hang beach towels up to dry several times and reuse them before they go in the laundry.

Isaac and Ty love to make interesting poses, and Sydney and Finley sure are cute!

Think Pink

National Pink day rolled around again, and we put together a very last minute party to celebrate. After the disastrous Walmart pinata from Sareny's birthday, I have vowed never to purchase a pinata there again. So I put Sareny to work fashioning us a pinata out of a paper bag and some crepe paper. She did a great job!

 I made pink breadsticks, pink fruit dip, and watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries.

I also made some pasta with a marinara cream cheese sauce, which is really more orange colored, but oh well.

Lexi made these delicous pink cupcakes.

 
  Everybody wore pink, as per the requirements.

 After dinner we went outside for the pinata.

Finley went first.



She was cute and did a good job.

 I love these big smiles!

Then Isaac had a turn.

He got a few good whacks in.

Then we realized Keeley might want to have a go, so Lexi helped her.

 She was pretty excited at first.

 And then she thought the rocks and dirt looked pretty interesting.

 Lastly, Sareny went.

 She did lots of wild swings.

Then we went back through the rotation. I just love the happy, excited expressions on their faces!

After the excitement of the pinata, we went back inside and the adults and Sareny played Ticket to Ride. It was tons of fun!

But the excitement didn't stop there...Right when the party was winding down, this guy ran out of our laundry room! Lexi yelled for Keith to bring the broom, since he once chased down a spider with the broom. After that adrenaline rush, the party was officially over.

Peek a boo!

Keeley loves to play peek a boo. She will cover her eyes for a second, then pull them away and smile at you.

 It is funny and cute and just so sweet.

She sometimes gets going too fast, and barely covers her eyes at all before pulling them away, and there is no time to even say boo before she covers them back up. If she really gets going, she just pats, pats, pats over her eyes.

She is a cutie!

Mini Pizzas

I love getting the kids involved in dinnertime prep, and one evening we had mini pizzas on the menu. I made the pizza dough and cooked up sausage and bacon, and we also had pepperoni, olives and mushrooms. We noticed that Finley is definitely a meat lover.

 Selecting the toppings and arranging them just right on their pizzas is a very serious job.

 Their pizzas, all ready to go in the oven.

The kids had a lot of fun with this and can't wait to do it again!

Celebrating at the CMOP

We went to the Children's Museum on a random friday in June and discovered after we got there that they were celebrating their 5th birthday and admission was discounted to $5--not my first choice for visiting. But they had some fun special events going on, like face painting.

Finley was in a strange mood and wouldn't sit down to get her face painted. Then when I sat down with Keeley, she changed her mind. You can see in the photo below how happy she was. Keeley was really cute and leaned very still on me while they painted a little fish on her cheek.

Then Finley came over to get her face painted, but was still throwing a fit and pouting, so it was a little embarrassing.

Isaac chose a spider dangling from a web, and he wanted the spider right on his nose.

Sareny picked a unicorn.

Keeley's little fish looked so cute.

Finley didn't pose for a picture by herself, but she got a dolphin.

I took the girls to the art room, where Finley told me she didn't want to paint on the rocket.

Except then she guessed maybe she did, but she did it with a pout on her face.

Finally, when we moved over to one of the craft tables, she was in a normal mood and was pleasant to be around. Keith took Isaac to the fort room, because he isn't that into arts and crafts.

Isaac tried to ride this trike, but was not too happy when the girls jumped on for a ride. He was trying really hard, but it was just not going anywhere and he was a bit frustrated.

I took Keeks to the baby room, and she had fun. She was blowing/vibrating her lips.

Then she decided to blow on her hand.

Then she smashed her face up against the net.

She quite likes this fan that blows straight up from the ground when you step near it.

She kept coming back to it.

While Sareny and Finley prepared us some delicious food, Isaac and Keeley serenaded us with these pipes.

Despite being crowded, it was a fun day. My favorite activity was the special photo booth they had set up on the first floor, but I can't find the cute picture we got of the three kids who were cooperating--I'll scan it in when I find it. Any guesses who was in a grouchy mood and wouldn't get in the picture?