Summer Fun

In an effort to distract my brain from the fact that my heart is already in Minnesota for the summer I have planned a month-long "summer fun" calendar for Justin with science experiments, crafts, fun books, and lots of recipes for ice cream and popsicles. Here is what we've been up to so far:


Today Justin and I made a "spin and skip" toy. I remember these things from when I was growing up but never had one. This DIY version worked just as well and both Justin and I got a little workout! It took a bit for Justin to get the rhythm but once he did he was unstoppable.

Yesterday we made a butterfly feeder. When Justin discovered the feeding mixture was simply sugar water, he offered to test it to make sure the butterflies would like it. Ha!

Justin ready to hang his homemade butterfly feeder

So far this summer (Day 8) we have made mint chocolate chip ice cream, rocky road ice cream, strawberry-watermelon freeze-pops, peach-banana freeze-pops, apple juice popsicles, and we currently have a peach-banana flavor pop freezing in our brand new molds (pictured below). They are so adorable. My favorite is the scuba diver (notice the handle is the diver's legs). We may have a bit of a frozen treat addiction going on around here, but when the weather is 100+ degrees for seven straight days what are you supposed to do?! Thankfully today is only in the 90s...so refreshing! (Really, it is! It's a dry heat, ya know.)

We currently have our inaugural batch of under-the-sea themed popsicles in the freezer

And, for the one day a week our clubhouse pool is closed, we have water entertainment right on our back patio, thanks to Dave's handy DIY skills!

Justin and Abby enjoying Dave's homemade sprinkler

And for my daily treat, I have perfected the art of the perfect (for me) iced coffee drink: homemade almond milk, coffee ice cubes, with a splash of vanilla and agave. And of course it tastes so much better in the adorable glass milk bottles I found at Target :)

Everything tastes better in this cute milk bottle!

We are reading Shakespeare in comic book form, Five Little Peppers, The Evergreen Wood (a child's adpatation of Pilgrim's Progress), and Justin checked out some fun books for himself at the library yesterday. We have also taken a virtual field trip to ancient Egypt and done a few science experiments. Our summer has started off strong and it won't be long before we are on the plane to Minnesota for even more fun!!