Twins
Summer Activities: The Children’s Museum of the Upstate
A few weeks ago we purchased a local Playcation Package which included four tickets to The Children’s Museum of the Upstate. Our family spent several hours one Saturday exploring our local Children’s Museum. We had a lot of fun learning, playing, building, and spending a relaxing Saturday together. If you have not been to the Greenville Children’s Museum you should check it out. It has a lot of neat activities for kids of all ages.
Karlie and Brina taking Daddy for a ride! After putting items in the recycling truck the girls and Daddy decided to drive the truck, so much fun!
Daddy explaining how glasses work. This was a neat room filled with light waves and all kinds of fun stuff to learn!
Brina and Karlie looking through the lenses! They had a variety of lenses of various colors and distances that you could look through. Very fascinating!
Love their facial expressions, the amazement of how everything works! Karlie and Brina working the color spectrum. They were thrilled at all the colors they were able to create.
Daddy, Karlie and Brina enjoying the giant "Light Brite"! Neat idea! I think we noticed several different creations during our time in the museum. This piece captured the attention of kids and adults! Daddy did an outline of Karlie while Brina made her own creation. It was a lot of fun!
Karlie creating her own stain glass master piece! I was surprised at how long she worked on making a pretty stain glass window. She actually got quite a big section finished.
Brina carrying a large load of bricks! Brina working hard making bricks! The girls loved filling the wheel barrow with bricks and putting them back on the belt.
My three construction workers. This one was harder then it looked. The girls had Daddy help on this activity.
Built a house. The girls thought this house was so funny because it had one wall!
The seat cushions quickly become a number rainbow, simply amazing to a six year old! They were quite proud of putting this together!
Daddy helping Brina put together a memory box. They had a workshop where you could sign up and build something. Today was working on a memory box.
Daddy helping Karlie build a memory box. I was originally helping Karlie but since Daddy and Brina finished first Daddy volunteered to help out.
Karlie and Brina looking down at Mommy from the top of the jungle gym. The girls had a lot of fun on the jungle gym in the middle of the Children’s Museum.
It was a great summer activity going with the family to the Children’s Museum. Thankful for the opportunity to spend a day together exploring. Thrilled that Greenville has such a wonderful place for families to go.
Summer Activities: Swimming with Friends
Brina carrying the Noodles! Our family is blessed with amazing extended family and friends in our lives. Many of our long time friends have become like family to us. One of the activities I enjoy during the summer is a chance to catch up with family and friends. The girls and I had an opportunity to hang out with some friends and go swimming not too long ago. It was a fun day full of swimming, giggling, and a picnic lunch.
Karlie had a blast swimming and playing! The pool was huge and very few people who were using it while we were there so we had most of it to ourselves. The girls had fun splashing and playing while the Moms enjoyed the cool water and catching up. I am thankful for great times to spend with friends. Both of my girls crashed on the way home after swimming and having a picnic lunch. If you are looking for a new subdivision with a really nice pool I have one I can recommend. Thanks Christina for a great day!
Walgreens: 30 Books for $2
Walgreens Deals (books on clearance) I went to Walgreens to stock up on some of their deals this week. The best deal I got was in their clearance aisle where they had a bunch of their books, coloring books, and activities books on clearance. Since I went a little later in the week not all the advertised products were available and I had several Register Rewards that were expiring this week so it worked out well. I spent $2.27 including tax at Walgreens for this transaction. I picked up a couple other items (including food which you will see in a later post this week) but this was my best deal at Walgreens this week. The books will be great for upcoming road trips and other fun activities with the family.
- 10 – Disney Books (on clearance for $0.49 each)
- 10 – Disney Activity Books (on clearance for $0.29 each)
- 10 – Disney Coloring Books (on clearance for $0.29 each)
The total was over $11 with tax before using discounts & coupons. Here are the coupons I used on the thirty items.
- Used $9 Walgreens Register Rewards
Walgreen’s Register Rewards will expire two weeks from the date they are printed so you will need to make sure to use them before their expiration date. I always keep the ones that are expiring the soonest on top of the stack to make sure to use them first.
Another important fact regarding Walgreen’s Register Rewards you will need to know if you haven’t used them before is you can only use 1 coupon per item. If you use a manufacturer’s coupon for every item you are purchasing you will not be able to use any Register Reward for that transaction. If you do have a coupon for each item then check Walgreen’s weekly ad because they will have items on sale each week for pennies up to $1 that you can use as “filler” items but they won’t raise your total too much. Once you get started using coupons and rewards you may discover, like I did, how to purchase many of your health and beauty items for nothing or very little. Since using coupons and reward programs I rarely pay full price for any of our health and beauty items plus I usually have extra to share with guests visiting us or to give away.
For those of you who shop regularly at Walgreens I encourage you to share how you were able to save this week! Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household. In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save at Walgreens.
Teaching Our Children: Encouraging the Kids to Read During Summer Vacation
Our reading tree! I was trying to come up with a visual prompt in our home that encourages our children to read this summer. The girls LOVE it when they are read to and could do it for hours but since they are starting to read on their own I wanted to find something that would help motivate them to read a little more. I came up with the idea “Spring into Reading” since we technically started it in the Spring and I wanted to boost the girls reading skills.
My Mom graciously made the tree for me and my Sister in Law Becky helped cut out a bunch of the leaves. The purpose of the tree is simple find a visual way for the girls to see their reading progress. Each member of our family gets a different color of leaf. When that member reads a book to the girls or they read a book on their own they get to put up their leaf.
We have started to fill out our tree with leaves and hope to get an after summer break picture up for you to see what we accomplished. If all goes well I hope to see more and more of the girls leaves going up throughout the summer as their reading skills increase.
Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Zucchini, Green Beans, Squash, Lettuce, Cucumber, Strawberries, Purple Beans, and Tomatoes!
We are loving the fresh vegetables from our garden! This week I only took one picture from the garden because we were traveling. The good news is we were able to take some of our goodies from the garden to share with family along the way. Also, while we are gone my brother and his family get to pick any of the produce that is ready for themselves or to give away so I didn’t get pictures of the items they picked while we were out of town.
Here are some of the fresh veggies we were able to eat and share this week:
Fresh Garden Produce! We were able to pick this all in one day fresh from the garden. Fresh Zucchini, Green Beans, Summer Squash, Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Whole Size Tomatoes, Fresh Leafy Green Lettuce, Purple Beans, a handful of Strawberries that made it in the picture and a Banana Pepper (not pictured because it was ate by the kiddos). Some of these items we delivered to a good friend since we were traveling and we wanted to make sure they were eaten while they were still fresh.
We were able to share some of the veggies this week with family and friends! Thankful for a garden that we can share!
What are you eating out of your garden this week?
Spending Time with Grandma!
We were so thankful that my Mom was able to come visit us for several days. She went with us to Savannah for my cousins graduation and time at the beach. The girls love spending time with Grandma and were thrilled to hang out together.
Grandma Penny helping the girls do their workbooks! I think Grandma Penny was much more patient then Mommy doing the workbooks!
Grandma Penny reading books to the girls! The girls love it when Grandma reads them books. Today they relaxed for a few minutes on the front porch with a stack of books to read together. Thank you Mom for reading to our girls, they LOVE their time with you! I am thankful for a Mom who takes the time to be with our family. The girls have many wonderful family memories because of moments like these!
Book: “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” by Siegfried Engelmann
School is out for the summer but that does not mean the learning time is over for the kids. Actually in many ways the pressure is on for Moms and Dads to continue teaching our children so they don’t forget everything they learned over the school year. Our girls are starting to read and since I want to help them over the summer I asked around about great books to help them learn how to read even better. This book “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” by Siegfried Engelmann was recommended to me by several of my homeschool Mom friends. We just started this book in June and have already seen some of the benefits. It is not the most exciting book for parents to teach from because it has a lot of repetition, however, that’s a big advantage when your child is first learning to read. It has been hard for me to stay consistent with all the traveling we are doing this summer but when we do the book the girls seem to enjoy it and it helps build their reading confidence. The first few lessons were pretty “easy” for the girls since they just finished kindergarten but I anticipate it getting a little harder and challenging as we go.
Have you used this book with your child?
Do you recommend it or have any other teaching materials for recommend to young readers?
Family Celebrations: Graduation in Savannah, Georgia
In a previous post I mentioned that our family was able to take a road trip to Savannah to celebrate my cousin Laurel’s graduation from college, SCAD. Here are a few more pictures of our trip.
2011 SCAD Graduation - Way to GO Laurel! We were able to see Laurel Graduate. It was a fun trip of celebrating and catching up with family while enjoying Savannah!
Uncle Rick, Laurel, and Aunt Mary Ann! Proud parents of the graduating college student!
Three Graduates - Karlie and Brina from Kindergarten and Laurel from College! The girls thought Laurel was so cool because she graduated the same year they did. Although they thought her classes might have been harder and definitely bigger! We were thrilled to have a graduation to attend on the East coast. Thankful for the opportunity to celebrate with Laurel.
Vacation & Travel: Family Time in Historic Savannah, Georgia
We recently went to Savannah, Georgia to celebrate my cousins graduation from SCAD (Savannah College of Arts and Design). It was great having a reason to travel to Savannah again. Our family enjoys all the history in the area and loves an opportunity to go to the beach. We arrived on Friday nights just in time to see Savannah’s first Friday Firework display downtown on River Street. Saturday was graduation day so we had a mix of sightseeing, graduation ceremony and celebrating with Laurel. The girls thought Laurel had a lot more in her class then they did in their kindergarten graduation earlier that week. My Mom was able to fly out from Kansas and spend a couple days with us and drive with us to Savannah. It was great spending some extra time with her and the girls loved having Grandma around.
Hilarious....Karlie fast asleep with her treat still in her mouth! The girls picked out a snack to munch on during the ride to Savannah. Karlie picked out a special treat, fruit by the foot. Obviously she was too tired to finish eating it because when I looked back this is what I saw…..her fast asleep with the last six inches of the fruit by the foot hanging out her mouth. All of us got a good laugh at this one such a classic road trip picture!
Brina opening her goodie bag from Aunt Mary Ann and Aunt Laurel! Aunt Mary Ann and Aunt Laurel put together a sweet goodie bag for each of the girls. They had a lot of fun playing with the toys, drinking through the silly straws and writing in their new notebooks.
Friday Night Fireworks on River Street in Savannah, GA The first Friday evening of every month (at least during the summer months) Savannah has fireworks. They start after sundown about 9 PM at night. The fireworks are set off over the river and are beautiful.
Brina, Daddy and Karlie exploring Savannah! Saturday morning we decided to explore Savannah on foot while it was still early and cool. The girls had a fun time walking and asking questions about the town. Love this picture of Jake walking hand in hand with the girls, if only you could hear the conversation going on…..so many questions and Daddy patiently answering each one. Such a great Daddy, love these three very much!
Brina showing off her new purple seashell necklace and watching the horse carriages driving by at the same time! 
Karlie showing off her new seashell necklace! When we were looking through the shops and picking out postcards we found two purple seashell necklaces on clearance for $0.99 so the girls got their first seashell necklaces to remember Savannah.
Relaxing before graduation! Karlie and Brina kept Laurel entertained as lunch was being made. The bed in Uncle Rick and Aunt Mary Ann’s room was a make shift couch throughout the weekend. Karlie and Brina had fun talking with Laurel. It was pretty funny listening to some of their “stories”!
The ladies in our group that went on the Trolley Tour - Renelle, Bridgette, Randy and Penny! Jake and I had been on the trolley tour before but wanted to go again. It was amazing the amount of different information we learned this time around. Every tour guide has a unique way of presenting the information. Renelle, Randy, and Mom had never been on the tour and enjoyed it as well. Even though it was pretty hot outside with the open trolley and breeze it was comfortable. Thanks babe for running to grab waters for everyone while we took this picture.
Beautiful Church in Savannah, GA Savannah has a lot of amazing history. This is one of several beautiful churches in the downtown area of Savannah.
Savannah has a lot of great squares with Monuments and historical information in each one. There are a lot of shaded squares in Savannah that you can walk through and read a bunch of history. Each square has some type of monument to view and benches for those wanted to rest or have a picnic. If you are wanting to get an overview of Savannah I recommend taking one of the trolley tours first then you can come back later and learn more about the sights that interest you. We chose the Oglethrope Trolley Tour because it was the best price and we didn’t have to pay for parking. Finding parking in downtown Savannah can be difficult and expensive. Plus the trolley would pick us up and drop us off at a number of locations throughout Savannah all day. You could explore a historical sight or go shopping and when you were done or wanted transportation to the next area of interest you would wait a few minutes or call them and they would come pick you up.
More Savannah Trip Pictures Coming soon!
Book: “Clifford the Firehouse Dog” by Norman Bridwell
The girls really enjoy the “Clifford” books. “Clifford The Firehouse Dog” by Norman Bridwell was one they were quoted just the other day. We have read the book many times and it is neat that they retained the lessons that they learned in the book. I like how the book encourages helping out in time of need as well. If you have a little ones that likes dog and fire trucks this is a great book to read with them. Our girls love anything with animals, especially dogs!
