USA Postcard Swap-- almost complete!

This past semester we participated in a homeschool family postcard swap.  It was coordinated by Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler blog.  (Thanks Erica for your work with this...my kids and I really enjoyed it!) Every day that we went to the post office the girls and I were eager to see if we had a new postcard.  We loved reading about the different states and seeing the pictures on some of the postcards.  Some of the fun facts led us to dive a little deeper as we discussed each state. 

Did you know that: 

Las Vegas, Nevada has more hotel rooms than any other place on earth?  It would take over 300 years to sleep in every hotel room.

or

that Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee.

or 

that Iowa's Burlington Snake Alley is the most crooked street in the world

or

that Rochester, New York is home to marshmallows, Jell-O, French's Mustard, baby shoes, gold teeth, and the mail chute?

or

that Kearney, Nebraska is located exactly between Boston and San Francisco?

As we received the postcards the girls colored the state on their maps.

We received 38 state postcards out of the expected 50.  Kind of bummed that some families didn't follow through.

So if you are from the following states or know someone that resides in one of these states...and would like to send us a postcard with some fun state facts...let me know and I will send you our address.  In return, we will send you a fun postcard from Nebraska!

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

Illinois

Minnesota

Mississippi

New Jersey

North Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

Utah

The funny things he says....

Our girls are staying with my parents for a few days, so it has just been my boys and I.  Because the girls aren't here to talk non-stop, Easton has gotten in a few more conversations with me.  Here are a few funny things he has said/done today:

--While on a bike ride today (boys in bike trailer), I made it up one of our ginormous hills.  Afterwards Easton started clapping and cheering...and said, "Yay mommy you did it."  Nice encouragement I guess.

--He also asked:  "When I am a mommy, can I ride a bike just like yours?". 

--He asks this everyday:  "Can we vacuum?"  My response is usually not today.  "Can we vacuum tomorrow?"  My response is usually, we will see.  Then he asks "Can we clean the bathrooms?"

--I asked him what he wanted for lunch...I expected his normal response....hot dogs.  After I told him we weren't going to have hot dogs and asked what else he would like...he said, "a salad".  Um.  Ok....sounds good to me!

--"Can I go watch TV outside?"  I asked him how he was going to do that and he pointed to the grill and said, "see right there, I can watch TV right there?".

--We usually don't have the TV on during the day, but since the girls are gone...why not?  I was folding laundry and he was watching a show called Super Why.  The show asks the viewer to identify letters.  A lowercase "l" came on the screen....he got in a long drawn out argument with the TV about how it looks like a big I.  Kind of sweet.

Ok...that isn't much, but we have had a nice little time without the girls.

Quote from the baby pretty much all morning...."Night night?"  He can not wait for naptime.  Poor guy fell asleep last night playing in the upstairs hallway.  He sure loves his naps!

Day 4: Summer vacation with the kiddos!

On day 4 of our summer vacation (days 1-3 are in this weeks previous posts) we visited a little village in the middle of nowhere in Mansfield, Missouri.  It was about 15 minutes away from Sean's family.  This family started selling heirloom seeds and since then have rebuilt a replica of an old town.  There is a bakery, restaurant, little shops that sell homemade goodies and crafts, a pretend jail, barn, gardens, quiet a few animals, and a seed shop.  It was a quiet day when we visited, but on special days, they have people showing how to do different crafts like make soap, sweaters, and other things.  They also have a restaurant that is free...but you are encouraged to donate whatever you feel is fit.  It is called Baker Creek...you can check out their link:  HERE.

 After we visited Baker Creek, we took some nice...LONG...well needed naps and then the kids ran around outside and played with the puppies.  We enjoyed a weanie and smores roast and packed for an early morning departure!

Day 3: Summer vacation with the kiddos!

Our 3rd day of our summer vacation (I posted days 1 & 2 in the two previous posts) we headed down to Forsyth, Missouri.  It is right outside of Branson.  Our goal was to meet baby Ellison (my new little niece born 6 weeks ago).  The kids played forever at McDonalds (sorry no pictures) and enjoyed shaved ice...again no pictures.  I guess I enjoyed visiting too much. After we visited Sean's family in Forsyth we headed down to the Landing in Branson.  If you have not visited Branson and live within a days drive (yes, I am talking about you--Nebraska folk) you are crazy.  There is sooooooo much too do down there.  Click here for my reasons:  HERE.  I would definitely recommend adding it to your vacation calendar...between the months of April-December.  It is a ghost town during January-mid-March. Anyways, we had a lovely dinner at Old Chicago and watched a water and fire show on the lake.  So much fun!

The kids and I...the best we could get.

Tried to capture a picture of the water and fire show...a bit hard...but you get the point!

Cousins at the fountain!

2nd day of summer vacation with the kiddos!

During our second full day of our visit to Missouri, (see yesterday's post for our first day), we visited a pool in Ava, Missouri.   The kids had a fun time splashing around.  Weston was pretty upset that we had to leave and when we got all dressed up in our street clothes, he took a b-line out of the locker room and hopped right back into the pool.  Loveliness.

 After we finished swimming, I took the kids to a local drug store.  Rumor had it, that the ice cream was only .05 a scoop!  Who could resist that!  The kids loved the ice cream!  I loved the old soda fountain look...and the few bites I stole from Weston.

That evening we visited the Arnall family and the kids played on the farm.  They always have a good time there!

Summer vacation with the kiddos!

This past week the kids and I drove down to Southern Missouri to spend time with Sean's family.  The ladies of his family (with the exception of his aunt) works for the schools, so summer is it, if we want to get in some good visiting time.  Our days were jammed packed with activities, so this week on my blog I will feature a million pictures or so from our fun week!  Enjoy!

Our first stop...the zoo.  My kids love our two local zoo's.  We hadn't been to the Springfield, Missouri zoo in 4 years, so it was a treat to go back....and who would have guessed I got in three families on my local passes...Score!!

Gotta love the tongue..can't remember what type of animal this was...

Cooling off!

Gensen was showing Weston her belly...so cute.

It's Working!!

Last week I shared that we would be started our Summer BINGO game.  The kids have been awesome little sports when I tell them that it is BINGO time!  Easton has also been eager to fill up his board...he even tried to get stickers that were on his sissies boards...liked pulling weeds....he did such a good job he pulled all of the weeds and corn.  So Jocelyn and I had to replant.  He also took his vacuuming outside and vacuumed up rocks and mud!!  What a good helper...and then neglected to tell us that he left the vacuum outside...we found it after 2 days of rain.  Anyways, he is a good helper...but sometimes causes a bit of chaos.

Today the girls both chose to do their "kids in the kitchen" square.  I have this little recipe book and they both chose things with ingredients that we don't have around here....like wheat germ.  I have no clue what that even is.  So we need to plan a little bit ahead with these recipes.  I found a recipe off of Pinterest for cinnamon pretzels for Jocelyn and  Katelyn chose to do little fruit pops.  We didn't have the fruit listed, so we just improvised.

They ended up with a little burnt flavor.  Jocelyn didn't like them, but everyone else did.  We may have cooked them for a bit too long.  The recipe said 30 minutes, but since these were mini's we probably should have only done 15.

She added orange juice, frozen strawberries, and raspberry yogurt!

Easton completed a puzzle for a sticker

BINGO boards so far!

and Jocelyn has the first BINGO!!!

and she gets a pack of gum!!!