Field Trip with Planes

About a 2 weeks ago we took a trip to the army post near where we live.  The reason was mainly for a birthday party for one of the kids friends, but while we where there we took a side field trip to there museum.

We had a great time walking around the out side portion which held some old military airplanes.  Hondo probably had more fun then any of us.  He has a huge love for about anything that flies mainly planes and helicopters.  He spent the time running from one plane or helicopter pointing things out and wanting so badly to go sit inside them and fly one.  

This is my favorite picture of Hondo.

 

The out door museum even had a few guns.  Or at least it think they were guns.  But whatever they were they were cool and the kids wanted to fire them. We had a great time and the kids want to go back and see everything again.

Time with Mom

I like to take my one of my kids shopping with me when I go out.  I don't always like taking all three of them.  If you have ever gone shopping with more then 2 kids life can be crazy.  Most of the time i spend in the store consists of, "Mom can I have (fill in the blank)."  or me saying, "Don't touch that." or "No you can have that."  By the end of the shopping trip (which is normally buy grocery) I'm tired, the kids are tired, and all I want to do is put everyone down for a nap when I get home.  

But with just one of my kids its another thing.  I can take my time and the stress level isn't so high.  Yes, that only child will ask for something and want to touch something they really shouldn't.  But in this case I don't have three kids all saying it and trying to run off in three different directions.  

Usually I just my trips with a single child in tow is to do some errands like going to the library, to the mall, or something like that.  But those are some of my favorite one-on-one time with my kids.  It is always during those times I get to teach some things I don't always get a chance while I have all three with me.  

With Dare-Devil Boy he likes to come with me to the library.  When we are there I use the time to teach him how to look up books on the computer that he might be wanting to get.  On our most resent trips to the library I've been teaching him how to play chess.  Which has been an interesting experience.  He does okay for a 8 year old.  

Dare-Devil Boy taking time to be Captain America while in Walmart.

With Wonder Girl she likes to shop like any other girl, but lots of the time she thinks that its a great time to perform her one girl show for me.  She likes to run around the store collecting things here and there that she can wear.  Then stop me to show off her current costume.  A pictures of a few of my favorite creations  below.  

Wonder Girl's old lady look.

 Her Rock Star look.

 Wonder Girl playing outlaws.

All in all these are the times my kids love the most.  They remember those times I drag them to the mall to get shoes or to Best Buy cause I need to get something.  They get the chance to play demo games with me, look at the latest TVs or end up breaking out in a dance in the middle of the toy store.  I treasure these times.  I know that I can't last forever.  Because one day they will be teenagers and won't want to "hang out" with mom.  So I'm going to take advantage of those moments with I can.

Custom House Muesum

The Grocery Store Section

Over Mother's Day weekend my sister-in law came for a visit.  My kids were excited to say the very least.  We don't get to see either side of my family or my husband's family to much.  Main because both of them live so far away from us.  My husband's family in New England and my family in Hawaii.  So it tends to be a huge deal when someone visits us.

The kids stayed every night at the hotel with my sister-in law and we spent with her and the kids.  One of the things we did was visit our local museum.  The best part or the part that the kids loved most was a play grocery store in the kid's section of the museum.  There they played with there Auntie.  They took turns shopping, checking out and even trying to cook in the little play kitchen they had set up.  

Wonder Girl Weighting all the thing she can.

 

Dare-Devil Boy ringing up Aunty's things.

 

Trying to figure out how the register works.

Wonder Girl calling for a price check.

DD: What button do I push?

Hondo stocking the shelves.

Another part of the museum they tried there hand at some science stuff.  Not really sure what it was, but I know it had to do with force and timing. Then there was a small play house that was set up.  That the kids played in for sometime.  Really they never wanted to leave that part.  They asked my husband later he could build a whole play grocery and play house for them. He told them when we get a bigger house then maybe.

Here is my husband and Hondo trying to work one of the science experiments things they had there.

 

This was the thing they were trying to do.  The little blurry white thing is a ball rolling by.

Wonder Girl playing house.

A little pretend house.

Wonder Girl is pretending to be a doctor. Yes, that's a tool box.

Dare-Devil Boy was taking a hand at playing the piano.  It didn't go to well.

Well that was out trip to the museum.  There was a part with a old pioneer cabin too. But I didn't get pictures cause it was to dark.  That part was also interesting because we had just finished our unit on the pioneering and reading through Little House on the Prairie.  In the cabin they had a loom, spinning wheel and other things that just finished learning about.










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Playing Alone

Wonder Girl's Tent/House

One of my favorite things to see in our house is when all my kids are playing quietly by themselves.  There is no screaming, yelling, crying and someone saying,"MOM!! ______ touched or hit me!!!".  It is during those times that i get a chance to make dinner, post on this blog, even work on making a few thing for school for the following week, or clean my house.

Wonder Girl Playing in her tent/house

Today I caught Wonder Girl doing something that she loves to do and something that I'm always having to clean up.  She had made up her own tent/house with all the blankets she had on her bed.  Inside she was working on her own computer.  She is dressed in her ballet dress and I was informed later that she going to go dance later for me.

Hondo Playing House

I even manged to catch Hondo playing nicely with Wonder Girl's doll house.  He was intent on rearranging all the furniture in the house and making sure all the dolls had taken a bath.



Dare-Devil Boy was working hard on his school.  Recently he's been doing school independently.  He'll still come to me for an help, but mostly he's doing it without me.  

What do your kids do by themselves?  

Something About My Husband...

I don't get to talk to much about my wonderful husband.  But he's really an important part of all of our lives.  

Because of his hard work I can stay home to homeschool our kids.  He's the one that teaches our boy's what it means to be a Godly Man and shows our daughter what one looks like.  He's the one that keeps the cars running and fixes all the things in the house.  He kills all the spiders (or takes them outside) that make there way into the house. He's the reason that my kids love spiders, bugs, and anything outdoors.  And he'll be the one when they are all old enough will teach them survival skills.

My husband is an outdoors kind of guy.  He loves nothing more then to be in the woods camping or climbing a cliff like Spider-man.  Or even simply being outside on a nice summer's night catching fireflies with the kids.  That's my husband and I love him.

Spring and Play Camping

Spring is here and is the rain.  But during the days that weren't raining we managed to get a few good days of sunshine and get outside to play.  I even manged to hang my clothes out on the line to dry.  (Something I'll admit that I've only recently come to love now as an adult.  Why?  It could be with the fact that sometimes its the only time alone I get.)

While the kids played outside on the swings, slides and my husband worked on my van it was no surprise that I found Wonder Girl making her own campsite under the shade of my husband's jeep.  And all I could think was, "She's her Daddy's little girl alright."


For those that don't know, my husband is a huge outdoors man.  Camping (not an RV, but in tents without showers for a week kind of camping.), hiking, rock climbing and survival things are what makes him happy.  So much so that he actually enjoys camping in the middle of winter with snow and freezing weather.  I think he's crazy.  I don't like it when it dips below 70, but that's what I love about him.  

Anyway getting back to Wonder Girl.  She had a great time just playing by herself with out the rough and tumble that comes with there brothers.  She made she self a pretend fire, pile of extra wood, and even a bed to lay on that was off the ground to keep warm.  Then later she took her snack outside to eat at her campsite.  

Here Is Wonder Girl eating her snack at her campsite.