summer fun- random acts of kindness day

This summer, as I browsed through Pinterest for fun summer activity ideas, it really struck me how much effort and energy we sometimes put into creating happy, fun memories for our children- many of which have little or no value to them.  I tried to choose carefully activities that I knew my kids would actually value (most of these activities aren't the "Pinterest" kind of activities), but I also wanted to do things that were in line with my core values.  As I thought about this, I realized that I want my kids to understand the value of service and that many times we are most happy when we are serving others.  So we decided to do a "random acts of kindness day."  We also started a sticker chart and made a goal to do 100 acts of kindness this summer.  It was fantastic and I'm so grateful we did this.

On our random acts of kindness day we made cards for our local fire department and took them a plate of goodies.

 They were very grateful and were kind enough to let the boys climb into the fire truck (you'd have thought Gus had hit the jackpot).

 We also made cards and took flowers to one of our local nursing homes.  We asked the attendant to make sure to give them to someone at the home who maybe didn't get many visitors or who just needed a cheering up.

We also made a plate of goodies for our mail carrier along with an ice cold bottle of water.  The boys were so bummed when we missed her that afternoon.  I was so proud of Tyler when he kept an eye out for her the next day and made sure her ran out to give her our token of thanks all by himself (he's usually a bit shy with stuff like this).  I loved watching the whole thing from my front window.  

We continued our acts of kindness and each night at dinner we'd report on what we had done that day for others.  At first, I had to really remind the boys to look for opportunities, but by the end,they became very good at spotting ways they could help others.  My proudest moment came on the second or third day of school.  I had just dropped Tyler in the carpool lane and as he walked into the building, he noticed a man who had dropped a few pieces of paper.  Tyler quickly stopped and picked up the papers for the man and then casually headed into the school.  As I sat in my car and observed the whole incident, I was so pleased that our acts of kindness had sunk in and it had even become a habit to notice others in need.  Tyler is usually quite shy with people (until he gets to know you) and it is usually not in his comfort level to go outside of himself like that unless I'm there to prompt him.  I was so proud of him in that moment.  It has been fun ever since, even though our 100 acts of kindness chart has been filled, to hear the boys report on acts of kindness that they perform for others.

It's the small things that mean so much.

summer fun- this & that

Here are a few of the other activities we did this summer when we weren't at the pool:

Basketball at courts (okay, we only did this like twice and I told the boys we weren't going if we didn't leave before 8:30, otherwise it's too hot).

 Finger painting with chocolate pudding.  Oh dear, these two boys couldn't be more different.  Tyler LOVED this.  He loved the gooey, mushy, tasty pudding and couldn't get enough of it.

 His brother, on the other hand, cried when I made him put his fingers in it and wouldn't stop crying until I cleaned his hands.

 Sometimes things got a little boring, but we seemed to manage.

 We were lucky enough to get to go with the cousins to the children's museum a few times.

 Robby took his job as an ambulance driver and a store clerk very seriously.

 And some days, we had the opportunity to simply unwind and relax.  

 This boy, bless him, loves to read and he's very good at it.  He loves learning and uses his reading skills to learn about things that he is interested in- animals, dinosaurs, volcanoes, and other fun facts.  I love taking him to the library just to see what fun things he will discover and then I love even more when I catch him quietly reading a book to himself.

Summer fun-swimming

Summer's over and school has started, but I wanted to catch up on this blog and keep track of a few fun things we did this summer- the good stuff that I wanted to remember.

This summer, as usual, we did a lot of swimming.  It's pretty much the only way we can stand to be outside.  We played in the backyard...

and at our community pool.

This year we also decided to get passes to one of the local water parks.  It was one of the best decisions I've made in a while.  The boys had so much fun and I genuinely enjoyed spending the day with them.  Sometimes we'd meet friends there, but for the most part it was just the three of us- Tyler, Robby and me.  I loved going on slides, swimming in the wave pool, and floating down the lazy river with my two boys.  The best days were when John would join us.  It gave us an opportunity to go with Tyler on some of the bigger slides and attractions, and we loved being there together as a family.  This will most definitely be one of my favorite memories of the summer.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is a video of Tyler doing his synchronized swimming.  I made him watch this sport during the Olympics this summer (a secret obsession...kinda like beauty pageants- I want to make fun of it, but I'm oddly impressed and obsessed by it).  Anyway, after we watched together, I made (okay I may have bribed) Tyler promise that he would do some synchronized swimming for me at the pool.  He did not disappoint.

And here is Robby doing his "swimming."  Boy he goes all out.  Sometimes he looks like a duck when he's wearing his life jacket and he throws his little head under the water to swim.  Pretty cute.  It didn't take too long to figure out that every time we went swimming, Robby needed about 12-15 uncovered carbs every hour and a half to keep his blood sugar up.