September 23: Holland Aquatic Center

I grew up in Holland and took swimming lessons at the Holland Community Pool twice a year from a young age through middle school.  The pools and pool deck were basic and served the needs for swimming lessons and competitions.  Since then, I'd heard the pool had been redone and made into an aquatic center, but I hadn't been there.  I discovered through grkids.com that the Holland Aquatic Center had a Tot Time Monday through Friday from 10am - 12pm and decided to visit my mom who has Thursdays free and check out the "new" place.

The new center is AMAZING!  There's a weight room, therapy pool, lap pools, and this fabulous Splash Zone.  The Tot Time is when kids six-years-old and younger can play in the Splash Zone (an adult must accompany them).  I LOVE that the kids can play without worrying about bigger kids coming to take over the play area, etc. 



Cute in her suit!



My mom met us there, and thanks to her coupon book (and Ty and Brielle being 2 and under), we only paid $8 for 5 of us to swim!  Gotta love buy one, get one free coupons!   The boys were excited about spending time there after seeing the splash zone from the windows in the entry way.  After a quick change in the locker room, we headed out to the splash zone.  Koen dove in immediately, loving all the activities and water wheels (kids can control some of the water sprayers).  Tysen wasn't so sure at first, but after a while he was in the pool splashing and playing, too.  Brielle just took it all in...we never saw a real smile, but she did well.  The water was so warm that once I got wet it was hard to be out of the water...maybe Brielle felt the same way. 


We spent about an hour playing in the Splash Zone and then dried off so we could go visit Grandpa during his lunch break.  This is something that would be great to do again, especially mid-winter when we need to do something fun and active in a non-freezing environment.  There were only five other families/groups there so it was easy to share the space. 



Ty and Grandma Smits



Driving home again, I realized that our times of doing things like this with all three kids are becoming limited.  Next year, Koen will be in school all day, every day, so we won't be able to take off for Holland for the day in the middle of the week and include all the kids.  That's a little sad for me, but I know that's all part of growing up.   



Koen on the tire swing.

















September 22: Thomas games

When I suggested to Ty that we play a game, he immediately ran for Thomas Tic-Tac-Toe.  It's a little advanced for him, but he loves it!  We just keep placing the cards in the slots, popping them out and then doing it again.  I try to teach him about getting three in a row, but he doesn't really care.  Every time he puts a card in place he yells, "I block you!"  So he's got half of the game down.  We'll keep working on strategy! :)

After tic-tac-toe, we did take the cards and try to play a memory/matching game with the five different engine cards, but that didn't last long.  We also pulled out a few puzzles...it'd been a while since we'd done those, too, so that was enjoyable for a few moments before he ran off to play something else.

September 20: Applesauce!

Last week's plan was to make some applesauce, but it didn't happen until this week.  I pulled out our apple corer/peeler and a bunch of apples and the adventure began.  Tysen helped me peel/core about five apples and then he was done.  He was fascinated by the machine, but it was a little to difficult for him to operate it on his own. 

We ended up with 24 cups of apples to heat and mash.  Adding the sugar and cinnamon was a learning experience for me since I was winging it.  I think it ended up with too much cinnamon and not enough sugar, but it still tastes fine.  Ironically, Tysen was so excited about making the applesauce, but he wouldn't taste it after I'd finished it.  Oh well...more for me! :)

September 17: Noodle Necklace

Today's plan was simple:  a noodle necklace.  I think it's a rite of passage for a child to make a noodle necklace, isn't it?

I purchased a box of Ronzoni Garden Delight Penne Rigate, which means it had colorful noodles.  It actually worked out well because Ty created a pattern in his necklace so we talked about patterns a little.  Someday, in a real pinch, we can use these noodles to practice sorting (colors) or we can use them to make pictures and designs by gluing them on paper. 

To begin our noodle necklace, I cut the yarn long enough to fit over Ty's neck and then tied a bunch of knots on top of each other on one end.  Then I taped the other end of the yarn onto a toothpick (these have rounded ends so they're not very sharp).  That made the perfect tool for Ty to thread the noodles himself.  When he finished, I simply tied the two ends together, snipped the excess yarn and toothpick "needle" and let him put it on.  The project didn't take long, and he actually won't even wear it because the yarn is too tickly on his neck, but it was time well-spent. 

 

P.S.  Koen liked the look of Ty's noodle necklace, so he made one the next morning.  He also refuses to wear it because it's too tickly on his neck.  I guess we'll have to get different yarn/string if we're going to wear some of these projects.

September 16: Grandpa & Grandma Time

We didn't need to go anywhere for today to be a special day...Grandpa and Grandma Davies were here visiting and available to play for most of the day.  Of course the favorite activity was to play trains with them, but there were also towers and train sheds built with blocks, chases around the house, books read, and tickles swapped.  For supper, we did venture out to Monterrey Grill in Caledonia (which was possibly more special for Mommy and Daddy since we don't go out much).  The boys enjoyed the tub of toys they keep there for the younger restaurant patrons.  All in all, a special day!

September 13, 14, and 15

So since school has begun for Koen, I've had a little trouble sticking to the planned schedule.  My plan was to make applesauce with Tysen on Monday...but the only thing I did was pull out some apples.  We did make it to the library on Tuesday, but couldn't stay long since Brielle needed to eat.  But I guess Ty did get to play a game today since Grandma Davies took him out in the backyard and played soccer with him!  We're learning as we go here, and one of these days we'll get it figured out!

September 10: Revised Schedule & Crayon Rubbings

With Koen starting school and knowing his interests, I figured we needed to switch around this flexible schedule a bit.  Starting today the new line-up is...

• Monday - Baking Day
• Tuesday - Bible Study and Library Day
• Wednesday - Game Day
• Thursday - Special Day
• Friday - Project Day
• Saturday - ???
• Sunday - Church Day

When I talked to Koen about the change I was SHOCKED at his response:  "When will I get to do projects and crafts?"  (Project Day is now Friday -- a school day for him)  The reason I started calling it project day in the first place was that he didn't like anything resembling a craft, but if I called it a project he seemed  somewhat interested in it.  I explained that he would have plenty of projects and crafts during school, but he still made me promise that we could do some projects on Saturday for him.  Wow.

Look how fast his hand is moving!  A blur!

So today was project day!  I found a bunch of random things around the house (penny, paperclip, placemat, wallet case, nail file, bottom of a sandal, etc.) and then unwrapped a crayon.  Yep!  Good ol' crayon rubbings!  Ty LOVED it!  I took the advice from one of the idea books I have and put some tape rolled up on the table and then stuck things to the tape for Ty to color over.  The penny was his favorite, but it also had one of the most distinct rubbings.  We spent probably 20 minutes or so working on this, but then a few hours later Ty came to me with the tape roll and asked for more tape.  When I asked him to show me why he needed it, he was setting up to do more crayon rubbings with the same materials I had used with him.  Too cute!  So round two began...

And just a highlight in Brielle's life, she's starting to sit up by herself now!  Today she sat up for 20+ minutes!  I can't believe how she's growing up!

Something exciting!