Summer Fun Update: Excursions!

With a hurricane bearing down on my region, I thought I'd reminisce about the summer fun I've been having with my girls, specifically some of the places we've gone over the past few months to get out of the house.

Back in May, I followed the example of Tammy (of Daisy Yellow) and created a list of summer activities and excursions that might entertain the girls and I over the summer months.  I have been careful not to consider it a checklist, with the attending pressure to complete every item, but rather to see it more as a menu of options. 

Whenever the days started moving a little slow, or there was nothing on the calendar for yet another day, I would go back to my journal spread and see if there wasn't something to spark a good plan for the afternoon.

On another day, I'll post some of the art and crafts projects we worked on.  For now, I'll share some of our excursions:

We took the girls to the Disney store for four Saturdays in a row to enjoy a half-hour of activities related to the release of Cars 2.  They are nowhere near ready to sit in a movie theater, or to handle a spy show (even if it IS a cartoon), but they had fun with the in-store activities related to their two favorite "movie stars", Lightning McQueen and Mater the Tow Truck.

We took the girls to the Delaware Museum of Natural History for their Turtle Travels exhibit.  Bayla still talks about it, only she calls it the "turtle bazibit"!  She would love to go back, but it sure wasn't much to see from an adult's perspective!

  July 4th brought a local parade.

We enjoyed a couple of kiddie concerts at the zoo, before walking around to enjoy the animal exhibits.  I loved sitting out on the blanket, watching the bands, and enjoying a picnic lunch in the shade.  But Katy asked me, "Could we come back to the zoo, and NOT hear the music?"  Guess she's not a fan of concerts yet!

Though, doesn't she look like she's having fun?

Bayla likes to put on Mommy's sunglasses...all by herself.  Can you tell?

We took a great road trip to Kentucky to visit my mom.  I have a great photo of the girls playing out back in a plastic kiddie pool, naked as jaybirds, but decided it probably wasn't appropriate for world-wide exposure!



We took the girls to the American Helicopter Museum.  The girls were fascinated to climb up in some of the copters on display, but they were pretty quick to want to climb back out again.  They've seen so many helicopters in their books and way up in the sky; I think it was hard to reconcile that understanding of "helicopter" with these huge things on display at the museum.

We went to Longwood Gardens, and explored some new areas we had never visited before, as well as enjoying all their favorite fountains and the Children's Garden.

We visited their "Marmar" out in Kennett Square and enjoyed lunch out after church to celebrate her birthday.

The girls participated in a May-pole dance at the

Enchanted Gardens of Winterthur.  Bayla is wearing her

fairy wings for the occasion.

And there were other excursion, where we did not bring out the camera:  library storytimes, music class, the shopping mall, the book store, the craft store, the pet store (a BIG fan favorite), playdates at friends' homes, backyard picnics, and visits to various playgrounds.

Sometimes it feels like things run a little slow when I'm "home all day with the kids."  It doesn't hurt to put together a little retrospective like this post to realize just what a good time we really manage to have!

What was YOUR favorite summer excursion from the past three months?