Mr. Lemoncello - Little B and I stumbled upon Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library when we were looking for a new chapter book to read and once we started reading, we couldn't finish it fast enough. What an entertaining book! It is children's fantasy in a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sort of way, where an ordinary kid is dropped into an extraordinary competition which revolves around books, games and an out of this world library. We blitzed through an audiobook version of the second book, Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics in a week and the boys were seriously disappointed that they have to wait until October for the third book to be published. I know reading children's fiction isn't for everybody, but this was a quick and entertaining read that I cannot recommend enough for anyone who loves books.
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| Story time at the local creamery? Yes please! |
Moana - Hooray for Disney making their latest feature available on Netflix! We enjoyed the movie so I bought the soundtrack on a whim before a road trip and we have been rocking out to the Polynesian-esque music ever since. (Also, I give myself a couple cool points for owning some of Lin-Manuel Miranda's music!) Little P's favorite song is, "Where You Are" because, in his words, "I like the coconuts!" Little B's favorite song is, "Song 9" (otherwise known to the rest of the world as "Logo Te Pate"), something about the beat of that song resonates in his head and heart. I witnessed him one time going to town drumming along with the song on the sides of his car seat, I'm still waiting for his encore.
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| Happy boy - that thing behind him was a water slide! |
Geo-caching - I spent a morning a couple years ago geo-caching with a friend and her older son. We really just walked along with/behind them because my boys were too young to get it. We had an empty morning this week so I decided to try it and it was a hit! We found three of the five caches we went after, feeling awesomely victorious when we found the first one and a more than a bit bummed with the ones we couldn't find. I suppose there's a lesson in perseverance to be found in this game. I'm looking forward to searching out more caches as we continue our summer adventures in the next couple weeks.
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| Don't worry - he didn't eat that whole thing by himself |
Bedtime Math - I learned about this app/website from our library's summer reading program last summer and cannot believe it has taken me this long to mention it here because it is awesome. There is a short, interesting story everyday and then three different level math questions that are based on the story. My kids are at the Little Kids and Big Kids levels and generally can't wait to look at the question over breakfast (that's the time that works best for us). This is a super easy way to keep the math brain cells stirring over summer break (and, really, all year long).
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| How they felt the day Mom forgot to bring the towel bag to swim lesson (whomp!) |
Wow in the World - NPR started this podcast for kids back in May and we are loving it! The two hosts take a scientific news story, or just a concept of interest to kids, add a dose of kid-appropriate silliness and the result is 15-20 captivating minutes of learning and fun (and yes, we start the NPR brain washing early in our house;) There are a couple of follow-up discussion questions for each podcast on their website that extend the scientific silliness in the best way possible.
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| Sparkler driveway fun |
So that's all I got, at least for now. We have one more big trip and one more small one before we have to start waking up on school-bus time so that we're ready for the big first day. If anything has been rocking your world this summer please pass it along, we still have plenty of time for entertainment and learning and adventuring!
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