Hello, Summer Vacation!

I just finished my 9th year of teaching (can I get a "woohoo"?), and started my first-ever, real three-month summer vacation (can I get a DOUBLE "woohoo"??  No, wait--I'll supply that!).  Up until this past year, I've taught at year-round schools and had a month off every 4 months, which was lovely.  My dad was alway saying, "Geez, you're on vacation AGAIN??"  And really, you can't beat a part-time teaching schedule to begin with, so those breaks were just icing on the cake.  I was a little bummed to give up that icing when I switched to my new school this year, but I figured it was a pretty fair trade for an 8-minute "commute"...and now, that trade is paying off in the form of a whole summer to spend with Bear and the girls!

I've got a long list, of course, of fun things I'd like us all to do before Keira and I start school again in August, but the nice thing about having two little girls around is that even on days when we have nothing planned, they come up with plenty of ideas on their own!  One morning, after we had finished Fancy Nancy, Super Sleuth, they begged me to "make a mystery" for them, so I had to hide something and then leave clues for them to follow.  They put on their little coats and got the magnifying glass from their gardening kit, and off they went!

That kept them busy for a whole 10 minutes, and then they wanted me to design another mystery (the plotting takes twice as long as the solving!), but I negotiated a rain-check.  I think they could've done that all day if I had cooperated!

Last weekend, we resurrected Stay at Home Sunday.  The rules of SAHS are simple:

1)  We stay at home all day (duh), which saves us gas money plus however much we would've spent entertaining ourselves elsewhere

2)  I try to grab a few library books that go with whatever theme we pick

3)  Sometimes I try to tie in a movie, since the girls love to set up chairs in the darkened living room and "have a movie theater" (which leaves time for me to Get Stuff Done)

4)  The girls do a few activities that go with the theme, but only ones that require little to no prep work for me--I do lesson plans for work but have no desire to stay up late doing them for home, too!

I'd just done a campout-themed last day of school for my class, and the girls had salivated over the Pinterest-inspired favors I'd made for our students...

...so we went ahead and recycled that theme and had our own Camp Day.  The girls painted rocks (this totally follows the no-prep rule:  "Okay, go find some rocks in the back yard!  Here's some paint!"  Done.)...

...we made a replica of my classroom campfire (just twisted up strips of Trader Joe's bags to make sticks, and stapled them together with tissue paper "flames" in the middle)...

...and we set up their tent on the back patio so the girls could fake-roast some (real) marshmallows.

 

As Stay-at-Home Sundays go, this one didn't entertain the girls for long, sadly.  They weren't that into the books I'd gotten, had their fill of playing in the tent after about 15 minutes, and that was that.  Oh, well.

What they WERE totally into (as were Bear and me) was our little day trip to Irvine Park last week.  That place is awesome!  As some of the whitest white people who ever walked the planet, we Bears do not enjoy newfangled parks with baby trees and no shade.  This park, on the other hand, is full of mondo-sized trees, playgrounds, picnic areas, and trails, plus bike rentals, train rides, paddle boats, and--best of all, if you ask me--a snack bar with frozen treats.  And, there's a zoo in there, which we'll have to check out next time. 

So here's some good news: we had our first-ever family bike ride, and didn't even fall in the lake!  The girls got these cushy seats up front while Bear and I pedaled up some serious hills, during one of which Ellie paused her juice box sipping long enough to announce, "This is wearing me OUT."  It's even harder to pedal uphill when you're cracking up!  It is apparently exhausting to sit around being cute. 

Just like at the San Diego Zoo, there were plenty of peacocks wandering around the park.  This time, Ellie refrained from feeding them any fruit snacks.  (Sorry, Zoo Peacocks!  We couldn't stop her in time!)

I love this picture, even though Keira insisted on putting Ellie in a sisterly headlock:

Ellie proves, once again, that she is a small human:

After we left the park, we headed over to the Irvine Spectrum and found some more fun:

Keira was beyond stoked, because she found this Fairies Cookbook at Barnes & Noble and we went ahead and bought it for her (we don't usually buy much "stuff" unless it's for a birthday or holiday, but she was absolutelyinlovewithit and doesn't ask for things very often).  She takes it everywhere with her, and it's actually a really cute book with fairly simple recipes.  My grandma helped her make shortbread cookies from it...and Bear and I helped her eat them.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  Fairy cookies.

To cap off the Day of Epic Fun, we walked past a See's Candy store and the girls each got a lollipop, which they love.  Keira was about maxed out on happiness at that point and kept doing these silly poses of joy:

And, this past Thursday was Keira's last-ever day of preschool!  It was definitely sad to say goodbye, but at least Ellie will probably go there next year and we'll get to see the teachers again.  Kiwi had such a great experience there, and her teachers said she's one of their best students--always a good listener and making sweet little drawings or notes for her friends during free time.  The girls in her class this year were a little clique-y, and Kiwi felt left out sometimes, but I was glad to hear her teachers say that she's "not a follower" and is usually happy to do her own thing.  Hopefully, she'll find some lasting friendships in kindergarten. 

On Friday, they had a water party, and Kiwi and her friends cheered each other on as they went down the huge inflatable water slide.  I was happy that the other girls invited her to sit with them, but noticed that they barely acknowledged other kids who tried to talk to them.  Keira, on the other hand, had a big smile and a compliment for everyone she saw, and I hope she stays that way--5 years old is WAY too young to start the Mean Girls nonsense!

We've definitely packed a lot of fun into our first week of summer vacation...and summer hasn't even offically started yet, so there's plenty more to come!