Memorial Day

We had a wonderful four day weekend for Memorial Day. We had beautiful weather and we loved enjoying the great outdoors and time together as a family.

Friday, we went to Dash Point State Park in the late afternoon for low tide. We set up our spot and then we all wandered down to the water. The girls loved playing in the water, finding treasures, and just enjoying the beach.

We found some sea slugs which was a first for us. We weren't sure what they were so Nate had to look them up.

Paige kept busy finding baby sand dollars and sea shells.

Baylor and McCall loved finding the small jellyfish that you can pick up.

Time at the beach is always worth it, and it is our family's happy place.

Then I got to try out my Mother's Day gift for the first time for our dinner. I brought all the toppings for nachos and a big bag of tortilla chips. We were starting to head back to our stuff, and the girls found a crow that broke up the bag of chips and was having quite the snack. Good thing we went back when we did or there would have been no chips left for our dinner. It was the perfect dinner on the beach!

Then it was sand time. We brought lots of shovels and sand toys. Nate kept the older two girls entertained with a game he made up with burying a shovel and trying to find it. It is one of my favorite things about Nate when we go on our outdoor adventures. He always comes up with these super simple fun games that always keeps us all entertained. McCall was quite content playing in the sand.

It was a beautiful way to start off our long weekend!

Saturday, we got lots of yard work done and then Adama and Chelsea and their family joined us for a fun evening of kayaking/paddleboarding, a BBQ, baseball in the road, and smores for dessert. It was the first day of breaking the paddleboard out this year and we loved our time at the lake. It was fun to catch up with them, and I loved enjoying our yard and time with friends.

Sunday was our annual trip to Tahoma National Cemetery and this year Nona and Lily joined us. Our first stop is always to go and visit Uncle Al.

Then we had a handful of pennies for the girls to go and visit whichever grave they wanted and just walk around and feel the peace that is there. It also fills me with gratitude for all those that served for the freedom of our country.

It was cool to see a few graves with other coins besides pennies. A penny represents you visited their grave, a nickel represents the visitor and the deceased served together at boot camp, a dime represents the visitor served in the military with the deceased, and a quarter represents the visitor was with the deceased when they died. Nate also pulled up a website that had what all the religious symbols on headstones meant so it was cool to walk around and see what each of them meant.

Then we always visit Brother Carlson. He had quite a collection of pennies on his headstone.

To those who gave everything so I could have everything, thank you. You will never be forgotten in my home or my heart.

Letters K-N

 This week was a short but fun week for preschool. Baylor and Paige didn't have school on Friday so we didn't do preschool that day either.

Monday was the Letter K for Key. First, she cut up pieces of tin foil to glue onto a key.

Then McCall did a fun key matching game. There was a lock with a picture of a shape on it and a key with the matching shape. She did it very quick and is great at knowing her shapes.

Tuesday was the letter L for Lawnmower. She first painted grass on a paper using a plastic fork. Then she colored a picture of a lawnmower that I had printed off. I asked if she wanted me to cut it out or her and she said she wanted to. So, she cut the lawnmower out all by herself which was impressive.

Her finished product!

Then we went out to the shed to look at our lawnmower. We talked about the different parts: the handle, the wheels, the motor, the blade, and the bagger for the grass.

Wednesday was the letter M for Mail. We had lots of fun with this one! First, she made all sorts of card. She made some for Nona, Pops, Lily, Dad, Baylor, and Paige. She wrote on all the cards and put stickers of them. Then I showed her how to lick the envelope, and she wanted to do it for all of them. Then she used a sticker for the stamp and she put them in our little mailbox decoration.

Then I put colorful envelopes all over the house and she had to be the mail lady to go and pick up everyone's mail.

Then she had to sort the mail by color. Later, we walked over to the park so we put the mail that she made for family in the actual mailboxes outside so that they would have a fun surprise when they checked their mail.

Thursday was the letter N for Nails. I traced her hands and then I drew some nails on, and she drew the words nails and painted the nails with a paintbrush.

Of course, she wanted blue and red, her two favorite colors. (Blue because Chase is blue and red because Marshall is red- her two favorite Paw Patrol.)

Next week will be another four day week with it being Memorial Day but we are getting towards the end of this fun letter themed preschool for the school year.

Letters F-J

Another fun week of preschool in the books! Monday was F for Farm. First, she cut out all the farm animals. (I was going to cut them out but she wanted to do it!) And then I drew a barn, field, and pond on a paper and I asked her what each animal was, what sound it made, and where each of the animals would be on the farm.

Then she created her own farm and drew all the different places and then glued on the pieces that she wanted for her farm.

Tuesday was G for Gingerbread Man. She cut it out and then decorated it with sparkly markers and pom poms.

Then she did a gingerbread matching.

Wednesday was H for Halloween. The craft for the day was jack-o-lanterns that she made out of paiting an apple that was cut in half. Then once it dried, she drew on the cute faces.

We also did a fun Halloween memory/matching game.

Thursday was I for Iceberg. First, she created an iceberg out of cottonballs and I showed her some pictures since she really didn't know what an iceberg was.

Then I had some ice cubes with little toys frozen in them. Then she melted the cubes and played in the water.

Friday was J for Jump rope. The craft was coloring the letter J and then created a jump rope for the J.

Then we played with a jump rope. She told me multiple times that she couldn't jump rope but I told her we would play different games with it. She walked on the jump rope in a straight line, then she jumped over the jump rope, and then we did follow the leader.

Letters A-E

We started the alphabet over for preschool. It was a little confusing to McCall but she figured it out after a few days that we change letters every day. I have a plan all figured out so that we can do all the letters one more time by the end of the school year for Baylor and Paige. It was a fun week!

Monday- A for Astronaunt. First, she did an astronaunt coloring page and I was super impressed with how long she stuck with it. She was very detailed in her coloring and took her time.

Then we made some moon sand to play with. It has been out all week and almost everyday one of the girls will play with it for a bit.

Tuesday- B for Bike. First, she made this cute bike craft out of cupcake liners.

Then I asked her about the different parts of her bike and she knew all of them- the wheel, the seat, the handlebars, and a helmet. Then she rode her bike for a little bit. I even drew one very long line/loop for her to follow. She has started to truly love riding her bike and asks to ride her princess bike almost every day.

Wednesday- C for Cat. She made this cute paper plate cat.

Then we talked about how to care for a cat and we pretended that this was food for a cat. I cut out different hole sizes in a box and then she put different sized pom poms in each of the holes.

Thursday- D for Dragonfly. I first showed her some pictures of dragonflies and then we did a dragonfly craft out of coffee filters, markers, spoons, and pipe cleaners. 

Then we went on a dragonfly hunt. First, we walked over to the Soos Creek and wandered along the creek to see if we could find any. We had no such luck but we had some fun with some dandelion puffs, throwing sticks into the water, and McCall making the cutest faces and poses for the camera.

Then we knew where to find some dragonflies! Nona loves dragonflies and she has them all over in her yard and in her house so we went and found some there.

Friday- E for Earth. I first showed her some pictures of the Earth and where we live on it. It is kind of a hard concept for a 3 year old to understand but she just went with it. We made an Earth out of a coffee filter using green for the land and blue for the water.

Then we enjoyed the beautiful Earth and went on a nature scavenger hunt. McCall called it a treasure hunt and I couldn't agree with her more. The beautiful things on this Earth are for sure a treasure!

Letter Z

Last letter of the alphabet! McCall has learned and grown so much as we have done this very simple at home preschool. I have decided that I want to finish out the school year so that we are done about the same time as her sisters, so I came up with doing a letter a day. So we aren't quite done for this school year, but we made it through a letter a week!

Letter Z! Monday we started with doing a zinnia craft. I first showed her some pictures of zinnias. Then she clipped the green paper for the grass. I drew a line for her to cut to. Then she finger painted the flower.

We didn't buy zinnias but we planted some flowers together in the backyard for our activity for the day.

Tuesday was all about zig zags. First, she cut on some zig zag lines.

Then she followed zig zag lines all throughout the house.

Wednesday's craft was a zipper.

Then for our activity we made some chocolate zucchini bread. She always loves to help me bake and she was a fan of taste testing the batter until I put the zucchini in it, and then she didn't like the texture after that but loved the bread once we got it all bake. The whole family got to enjoy it for the day!

Thursday was such a fun filled day with the focus of the zoo. First, she did a zoo craft and while she was coloring, I surprised her and said we were going to the real zoo.

I packed us a lunch and then we went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. It was such fun McCall and Mom time. We took our time and tried to avoid the school groups. :) My favorite moments were just sitting with her, watching in awe as we watched the sharks and sting rays swim right by us and above us and that she was brave enough to touch the star fish and sea anemone and was so proud of herself. She enjoyed just sitting in the stroller, looking at the map, and seeing what was next. She was very content and happy to see whatever we could.

Then since we had some time, we made a quick stop at Owen Beach. I was so close to the beach so even if it was only for about 20 minutes it was worth it. I love the sound of the water, we saw a seal pop his head up, and I enjoyed the gorgeous view of Mount Rainier while McCall kept busy throwing sticks and rocks in the water and even put her feet in for a bit.

Friday, I was gone for most of the day with Baylor as a chaperone for her field trip so I wasn't going to do preschool, but while I was cooking dinner, Baylor decided to help McCall do her preschool craft for the day. It is such a cute Z zebra!