Week Five, We're Still Alive

This last week was one of shuffling things around quite a bit. The kids are getting very good at being spontaneous and flexible. No one complains if we miss an activity. They just ask if we can do them later. (And we'll get to all of them eventually. Most likely. We'll see how long my summer stamina lasts.)

Let's see some of the fun things we did. Monday we made a fort. Okay, I don't really make forts. I kind of stink at it. Tyler gave me some suggestions and I could tell that he's made a few (like dozens) more forts in his day. So we got out some couch cushions and some chairs. It doesn't look like much.

BUT, what we lack in construction abilities, we make up for in creativity. See, we put the cushions out around the room and made each one into an island. You can see the names above. There were paths to each one, and we played a hunting game for a while. Everyone would move around the islands and when I told them to stop, I would draw an island at random and if it were inhabited, I would steal that person away to my hideout in the middle. It was fun. But Pearl was scared by it, so we didn't play for long.

After the raucous natives left the island chain, the kids came up with a new game. I had nothing to do with it. They are quite ingenious. They had already named the islands, so they decided that each should trade goods according to its name. Some were obvious. (Like Cookie, Animal, and Strawberry Cake Islands.) Ocean island sold fresh water to all the neighboring islands, and some other fun flavors, like honey. Adlora was marketing fruit and smoothies. Each child came up with a list of available products and they got out the money from LIFE and went and bought products from each sister.

They played all day. The game seemed to get more elaborate each time I checked in. June devised the town hall, which would distribute more money each 'month' but she also included misfortunes that she would draw at random. These bad events could affect one island or all of them. The game was a hit. They added props as they went. Everyone adopted an animal from Animal Island eventually. The whole island chain seemed to be prospering. That is, until I asked for all my couch cushions back.

I am always the party pooper.

Tuesday we did a craft, saving our field trip for later. We did string art. This project was involved, with many different steps. First, everyone painted their board. (Not pictured.) Then we drew out letters. I liked that the older kids made their own. (It is awesome that the oldies can often do a project from start to finish on their own.) Then you simply place your paper on your board and start hammering in nails along the lines. We had a busy group. (Oh, there is Curtis again.)

Ivory is hammering in her own nails. Work it Ives.

This 'R' is looking good, although there may have been a few sore thumbs to go with it.

I finished up Pearl's P. She did help hammer some of the nails.

Next, I gave the girls string and they went to town threading it in and out through the nails. There are no hard and fast rules, besides don't go in the negative space. They all did a fabulous job.

Ivory is concentrating.

I liked Robyn's method. She's getting in some light reading while she works. Nothing like multitasking.

June left mid-project to attend a birthday shin-dig, so she finished up throughout the week. Here is her 'J' in progress.

I think they all turned out really cute. (There are little strings attached that I still need to clip.)

Two more.

Ivory was a little tardy in finishing hers because she was busy convalescing after trying to take off the top of her toe on the concrete. I usually don't take pictures of injuries unless I am sending them to Tyler to confer on whether they need more immediate medical attention. This one looked like it might need stitches.

But upon further inspection, it turns out it wasn't too deep. It just bled a lot. Minor crisis averted.

By the end of that day, one child was tuckered out. Pearl couldn't keep her eyes open another minute. Don't worry, we woke her up for dinner.

Wednesday we went on our field trip to the Gilgal Sculpture Garden. I had never heard of it before this year. And I love the sound of free entertainment that is slightly bizarre and unique. We invited friends. (The more, the merrier. Yes, Curtis is there. You should get used to him. We adopted him for the summer and have renamed him Jeffrey. Not that we didn't like his name. It just happened that way.)

The hidden garden was very interesting. There were many sculptures that symbolized different things. Some we could only guess at. Others we figured out simply from reading the brochure on the grounds. (This has something to do with Elijah in the wilderness?)

This one we figured out on our own. Want to contemplate for a moment?

This statue is in reference to Elijah turning the hearts of the children to the hearts of the fathers. We did not guess that the white heart meant dead people and the red heart meant living. (That was a bit tricky.)

There were so many sayings engraved on the rocks and stones throughout the garden. There were songs, and scriptures, and poems. I'm not sure what this one means, but it was one of my favorites.

Maggie needed a picture because she was posing like a pro. I wonder who taught her that, Beth?

Let's look at some more of these interesting statues. This guy was all over the hill.

The books were one of my favorites, of course.

This depiction of Moroni was really cool.

I asked before we left if there was anything we really needed to get a picture of, and the shields made the list. So, there you have it. Shields. (And some cute kids.)

It was a fun visit that I would recommend to anyone in the area. We did end with a rousing game of hide and seek. (Props Henry. No one was ever going to find you!) I guess it did in one little girl. (I sense a trend.)

I guess we'll stop there for a moment. We have plenty more exciting adventures for the week, but I haven't edited those pictures. I hope you all had a safe and fun Fourth of July.