Fun With Art

The morning of the first full day that Art was here, we walked around the corner to the kids' elementary school to play on the playground. I didn't take a lot of photos to prove it, but it was a nice way to spend the morning leading up to our big afternoon activity.

That afternoon, we were able to take advantage of the last day of Art's family membership to go to a local museum. It was the first time for my kids and they really enjoyed it. On the way in, we read the kids a sign that said "stay together, play together" and talked to them about the importance of not wandering off. Sweet Gus took the advice very seriously and immediately began looking out for Edith. 

It was so cute to watch, and their difficulty switching directions and re-figuring out the hand-hold after letting go was adorable. 

Every once in a while I was able to get a shot with Keef, too. The three of them looked like they could be triplets.

I think one my very favorite parts of the museum visit was watching my mom try to figure out how to flap her arms as fast as a hummingbird. I love her. :)

We climbed through a series of rope bridges (Edith white-knuckled it a bit), and at one point the younger kids got to climb in the cockpit of a plane. At first it was just Gus and Edith...

…then they were joined by Keef. It's just so cute to see the 3 of them together.

Especially when Gus grins like this: 

It was a really cool museum with so much stuff to see and do. 

And Art is so much fun to do things with.

Thanks for taking us to the museum, Art! 

The next day was July 4th, so it was chock full of activities. We started out the day by going for a hike (no surprise there, I suppose). 

The kids really struggled with their energy levels, but luckily there's a constantly running fountain about a mile and a half in that dispenses "energy water". Thank goodness I remembered about that, otherwise we would never have made it. 

I'm really glad I was able to show my sister and the boys our nearby hiking trail. Hiking is the best, and doing it with family is even better. 

We hung out at the house that afternoon. I love how relaxing our house is. The boys took turns teaching Gus how to play checkers. 

In the late afternoon, Art pulled out the Slip 'n Slide she'd brought with her. My kids had no idea what to do, but they figured it out and had a blast. Edith figured out that if you run really fast onto the slide, you might slip and fall on your butt. So, she decided to have Rophone help her on a leisurely stroll through the mist. :) (Slip 'n Slide photo creds: Art)

After dinner, my mom played a rousing game of Doodle Dice with the younger kids. What a nice time for all of them, and a nice break for me and Art.

Our new house is in a pretty good location to see the big fireworks display, which I'm happy about. An awesome fireworks show with little effort? Perfect. So, that evening we hung out at home, eating leftover floats, riding bikes and scooters, and drawing with sidewalk chalk while we waited for the fireworks to start. It was so relaxing and nice.

The fireworks were great and the kids loved being able to stay up late. We scoped out the best place in our yard to watch from next year and we can hardly wait. 

On the Monday after the 4th, we went to another museum and then for ice cream. We've decided that this will be a tradition when we have visitors. Fun and pretty much free? Can't beat it. 

Oh, and just so you know I was there…

The ice cream was a big hit. A couple of kids even found new favorite flavors. 

And, look! Ginger was there, too!

We spent the rest of the time that Art was visiting just kind of hanging out. It was really nice not to feel like we had to go do anything. Art got some great pictures of the kids playing outside on the last evening they were here. 

It was so much fun to have Art and the boys visit! I know it made the kids feel more like we're having a real summer vacation. I think having people come visit is just about as exciting as going somewhere. We had such a great time, Art! Come again anytime.