The end of a busy Summer (ALREADY???)!

I know, I know!  You can't believe it either, right?  It's down to the last weeks of summer vacation already.  Where has the summer gone and how come it's gone so fast?  We have been keeping busy here with lots of things to do.  During the hot spell, we spent most of our time inside in the air-conditioning trying to stay cool.  On the nicer days we tried to be outside as much as possible.

Parker was fascinated with her shadow one morning!

The changes here at our day care family have now begun.  Last week we celebrated Rocco's last "official" day here.  Thank you Rebecca for sending dinosaur cupcakes for the children to decorate and eat.  They were a big hit! 

Rocco and his (heavily) decorated dinosaur cupcake.

Alex shows off his cupcake.

Andrew & Shelby can't wait to eat their cupcakes!

Kiera got to spend a bonus day with us on that same day.  She is such a Sweetie!  Always so happy and with that adorable smile!  She loves being around all of the children.  I miss having her here on a regular basis and hope she will be back with us regularly very soon.

There's that adorable smile that I love!

Kiera loves Andrew

It's hard to believe that Rocco will no longer be here on a regular basis.  I missed him this week already!    

Rocco proudly shows off his latest (chalk) shark creations on the driveway. 
He's getting really good at drawing them!

It was so nice that we also had Caden back here last week for one more day before he heads back to begin another school year.  I misplaced my camera that day so I didn't get a picture of Caden and Rocco both here together. :-(    Madi will be heading off to Kindergarten next week.  How exciting for her!

Drew and Luke were also here with us for the day last Thursday.  We read the book, Chicka Chicka Boom and then made our own coconut trees (complete with alphabet letters on them) for a craft project.  Each family received their own copy of the book to keep.  They were so excited to be able to take their books home with them!

The book and craft of the week!

Parker has been a lot more mobile lately and is "rolling" all over the place these days.  This week she managed to roll herself right over (and into) the cottage playhouse.  Looks like she doesn't want to miss out on anything and wants to play in there just like the bigger kids do!

Parker wants to play in the playhouse too!

Shelby and Madi have become very good friends over the summer and seem to love to play together a lot lately.  On the days they are both here, the tiaras are always very popular with those two (thanks again for donating them Lacie)!

Good friends!

Finally, after taking a vacation day yesterday to go to the State Fair, it was a quiet day to end the week with just Madi here today.  It was her last "official" day here so she got to pick where she wanted to go out for lunch.  She picked McDonald's.  It turned out to be a lucky pick in that they were celebrating Customer Appreciation Day there today.  There was a moon walk, a dunk tank, West Metro fire truck on display, pony rides and a visit from Ronald McDonald himself this afternoon.  Madi and Andrew had a blast!  (Sorry the quality of pictures from my cell phone is not very good).

Madi on the first of her three pony rides.

Madi loved sitting in the drivers seat of the fire truck.

Madi the Graduate!  Now she's an official Kindergartner!
Congratulations!

That pretty much wraps up the end of our busy (but very fun) summer!  I'll see most of you again very soon.  Otherwise, please keep in touch!  

Two weeks full of Summer fun!

So sorry to be posting this so late again!  I don't know where the time has gone these last few weeks!  We have been very busy here with lots of children here having lots of summertime fun!  One day (including Andrew),we had nine children here!  On that day the weather was beautiful and we enjoyed a picnic lunch outside.  Drew and Luke have been here to visit a few times these last couple of weeks.  I always enjoy having them here with us.  They play so well with all of the other children!  They are such well-behaved boys. 

Look at all those kids!

A perfect day for a picnic lunch!

The weather has been hot so we have been trying to stay cool. The sprinkler, water guns and the sand and water tables have been popular choices recently.  When it has been REALLY hot (like it has been all of this week), we have been staying indoors and staying cool in the air-conditioned house.  Playing in the basement and watching movies have been popular indoor choices.  Shelby and Madi even enjoyed a special tea party one afternoon.  They dressed up in some of the party and costume accessories (crowns, swords, tutus, tieras, jewelry, etc.) that Madi's mom, Lacie donated to our day care.  They have been very popular with all of the children.  Thank you Lacie!!!

 

A princess tea party

Princess Shelby enjoys her tea.

Princess Madi enjoying her tea.

Madi models some of the new dress-up accessories.

We were so happy to have Kiera back here even if it was just for one day.  She is getting so big and is crawling all over the place now (and she's fast too!).  I really miss having her here but I'm so glad she has been able to come back every once and awhile.  I miss her beautiful smile and her adorable laugh!  She had fun seeing and playing with Parker on the day she was here.


Lots of giggles!

Parker has been enjoying the activity gym a lot lately.  She loves to use both her hands and feet while playing with it and she reminds me of a little monkey!  So cute!

Cute little monkey girl!

Freezies have been a big hit during our current heat wave.  Any way to stay cool!

Luke, Drew, Rocco & Madi staying cool!

The bikers pause to pose for a picture.

I'm loving having all my kids here!  It's keeping me quite busy but I'm not complaining.  Soon it will be back to school time and then I will be missing so many of them!  Rocco will be starting preschool this year and so we will see him just on an occasional Tuesday or Wednesday here and there.  Madi is excited to be starting kindergarten this year too!  Of course Caden and Shelby will be heading back to school also.  Even Alex will be attending preschool on a part-time basis this year!  I can't believe how quickly these children are growing up!  It makes me feel so old!

Last Week (part 2)-July 23rd-Friday Fun!!!

The end of the week was the best for us!  It was the Crystal Shopping Center's "Kids, Cops & Firefighters Fair".  Rocco and Madi were the only ones here for the day (and of course Dave-O and Andrew).  Shelby and Alex talked their dad into meeting us up there so that made it extra fun.

There were so many things for the children to do and the best part of all was that it was free!  There were firetrucks and police cars and an ambulance to sit in and see (along with policeman and firefighters to talk to). 

Rocco couldn't wait to talk to a policeman
(I didn't have the heart to tell him he was a firefighter).

Here are the children sitting in the big fire truck.

Rocco in the driver's seat.

Madi (the wild driver)!

There was a giant inflatable obstacle course to run through and also a big bounce house for the younger kids to jump in.  All of the shopping center stores had free give-aways or fun things to do at their booths and tables.

David and Andrew in an action shot on the obstacle course.

Here are the kids in the giant bounce house.

There were also games, goody bags and a raffle for cool prizes. 

Rocco tries the bean bag toss game.

Madi's turn!

Face painting, hair painting, clowns with balloon animals, craft activities, and Radio Disney were all there to entertain the crowds of families who came for the afternoon.  I packed a picnic lunch for the children to eat there but this year they had free food (corn dogs, snow cones, cotton candy and pop/bottled water) for everyone!

Yum! Snow cones!

One of my favorite parts of the day was when one of the clowns walked up to us.  Rocco didn't want anything to do with the clown until he saw the other children each getting balloon animals.  That's when he decided that he wanted one too.  He got close enough to be able to get a balloon from her but he did NOT want his picture taken with her when I asked him.

Balloon animals for everyone!

The clown told me (on the side) not to worry.  She had me distract Rocco and then she snuck up behind him without him knowing.  I pointed the camera at Rocco and he posed and smiled away (oblivious to the fact that the clown was right behind him!!!).   I LOVE this picture!

Hey Rocco, say "Cheese"!

Rocco proudly shows off his balloon puppy.

Last but not least, I need to include the picture of the Little Caesars mascot.  Last year, Rocco was terrified of him and would cling to my leg and cry if he could see him at all (even if he was all the way across the parking lot).  This year, he wanted to see him but only from a safe distance.  He definitely didn't want his picture taken with him but he did enjoy seeing David and Andrew have theirs taken with him! 

Here you go Rocco, this one's for you!!!

Pizza, pizza!

It was a great way to end the week.  We all had a great time!