Summer Vacation

The much awaited summer vacation has finally arrived.  My granddaughters age 8 and 6 woke up with the question that will become a part of the summer ritual.  "What fun thing will we do today, grandma?"

The first day began with a trip to the library.  Finding out we were 30 minutes early, we went down the street to Hobby Lobby.  What possibilities we found there.  We found a package of four velvet pictures to color with markers.  My 6-year-old granddaughter thought that would be fun because it would be difficult to color outside of the lines with the velvet dividing the parts of the picture.  Looking at all the small areas I believed it could take her several weeks to complete the four pictures in the set.  Granddaughter age 8 chose a picture with the outlines of several horses and her job was to take a pencil and learn to shade the horses.  I believed this could take several days to complete so agreed on their choices. 

A lengthy stop in the sticker aisles gave them numerous sticker letters to make the choice very difficult for them.  They were finally able to each pick a sheet of letters and another sheet of sticker designs for their craft box (or brief case) we still haven't set on the exact name of the case they were each given.   I told them once they put their names on their boxes they could decorate the rest however they wanted.

To make sure we didn't miss anything we continued checking out the store and found books on drawing:  "Things Girls Love" for the 6-year-old and "Sea Creatures" for the 8-year-old.  A "Giant Detect-A-Word" book for finding words in puzzles can be shared by both.   

A couple of wooden girls to color and cloth purses to paint completed our purchases.  Hobby Lobby had so many things on sale, the cost was not very high especially when divided over several weeks that we could use the items. 

Back to the library the girls signed up for the summer reading program.  I was unable to get them library cards as a parent is needed.  I was able to get my own library card, signed up for the adult reading program, and we were even able to get a couple of movies.   I checked out the books and movies and home to review all of our treasures.

By time lunch was ready the girls were already well into one of their movies.  We finished the day with the girls reading from their books, coloring their large pictures, finishing up both of their moves and they even played outside for a while.  That evening they put the stickers on their cases.  We all agreed the first day of summer was a very fun beginning.  How was your first day of summer vacation?

Day two was another trip to the library.  We took back two of the books read by the 8-year-old and the two movies.  We decided the 6-year-old needed beginning readers, which we had not originally chosen.  The 8-year-old needed chapter books which we also had not chosen.  With this extra knowledge we were on track for getting the right books. 

Our next stop was the grocery store to get some lunches for a picnic.  Then on to Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines.  They have a play area inside the mall for smaller children which gave the girls some playtime in air conditioning.  We stopped at Barnes and Noble and picked up a book for each girl to keep her skills up over the summer.  One for a child going into the third grade and one for a child going into the first grade.  The girls enjoyed the opportunity to do some reading, writing and arithmetic.  

We set out a picnic in the grass near the lake at the Jordan Creek Town Center and watched the ducks and their ducklings for a while before heading home.   With the library and stores not opening until 10, that doesn't give us much time before lunch; we will be finding more picnic spots as the summer progresses.

Back home satisfied that we had another fun day.  Since we are beginning to feel the summer heat, the girls spent the afternoon coloring and working in their summer skills book.  Unfortunately, the horse shading didn't take as long as we thought, so another trip to Hobby Lobby and a velvet picture for the 8-year-old to color.  Last trip to Hobby Lobby for this month, I told the girls. 

How is your summer progressing?  Any ideas to keep the children occupied while exploring your hometown?  What are some of your favorite summertime memories?

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school. I remember the excitement of no more homework or school. It was a scary time as well. Will I be able to keep in touch with my friends? Will they want to play with me? Who lives close enough for me to play with? What am I going to do all summer? When children have a plan and know where all the neighborhood children live, the scary goes away and the excitement returns.


My grandchildren are excited for the summer adventure to begin. Granddaughter age 7 said tonight, “We are having so much fun since grandma came here.” I felt pretty good after she said that. Especially since our adventure has not even begun.

We bought some bags for them to carry their craft boxes in. They have been able to get into their cases and have had fun coloring in their new books with both the colored pencils and the crayons.

We will be heading to the library tomorrow to sign up for the summer reading program. We already have books chosen to check out. We’ll see what else the library has to offer.

They’ve been anxiously awaiting our shopping spree tomorrow. They’ve wanted to put the stickers on their cases, but I’ve asked them to hold off until we bought letters so they can put their names on their cases. Mostly to make it easier for me to sort whose case belongs to which grandchild.

One of the mothers in the neighborhood had a great idea. She invited all the neighborhood children and their moms over after school for ice cream. All the children enjoyed playing together and the moms had a chance to talk. This is a great idea to generate play dates and babysitter trading for the summer. For you working moms, a pizza party, bar-b-que or make your own sundae for desert in the evening could work the same. Just pick that first Friday or Saturday night after school gets out and be the one to start a new neighborhood tradition.