Adventures of Evie

  Today was family day and we had a fun time doing our nails, playing video games, and pretending to be dinosaurs. It's been a busy week for us even though it's early in the week still. I'm scrambling to get our setup down for at home preschool next week and we've been running around trying to soak up the last days of summer as well.  Somewhere in the course of cleaning things out and running around Evie's favorite lovey got lost. :/ I try to be very careful with this particular one since I got it when she was a baby and it's from an Australian/Canadian show which is now only viewable here on Netflix and the toys are long since discontinued. In fact I'm pretty sure I got the doll three years ago on clearance! Kumi rarely leaves the house and when she does I'm pretty diligent about where she is at all times but...things happen.  Luckily eBay had a few of them for not super ridiculous prices so while we wait for her Kumi doll to arrive I decided to have a ...

 Monday again...where does the time go? Typically Mondays are the most organized day we have since I have so much time on Sundays to prepare everything in advance but for some reason today was a mess. I got up late and even though I made it to work on time the day just felt hectic. So when Evie got home I still didn't have a lot planned for us to do. I finished up her craft station and all her shelves of learning supplies and kits this last week so it was the perfect time to pull out one of the activity kits we haven't used yet! This one is pizza math.   I considered making this when I first saw it online but I ended up snagging it for $2 at Michael's so it was definitely easier to buy than make this time! We made each other some pizzas from the recipes for awhile and then played a few rounds of Pretty, Pretty Princess before we packed up a picnic and headed to the park to wrap up our evening. On the way home from the park we spotted this little guy bouncing around in a ne...

  What a busy weekend we had! On Friday we had a pretty lazy day at the pool with snacks and toys. We've been running around so much this summer that ending it with some pool days feels like a relaxing vacation! It's also such an easy way for us to kill a hot afternoon.  On Saturday we went to a splash pad and there was a frozen yogurt truck there so of course we got some!  Evie stuck with a rainbow sno-cone while I opted for some cookie dough and brownie crumbles on mine. Even the splash pad and frozen treats weren't enough to make the heat bearable though (or the bees!!) so afterward we headed up to an indoor playground to run off some of her energy. Then we grabbed lunch and some groceries at Whole Foods and hit the pool before bed. :) On Sunday we stopped at a few new parks on the way up to see some of my boyfriends family. It was cool to try out some new places. We grabbed a few things we forgot at the store and then...you guessed it...hit the pool again. Evie has ma...

  Today was a gloomy day. While I personally love a good storm and a rainy day was much needed for the plants (and to cut this awful heat!!) it does make activities more tricky. The last several days we've been wrapping up our afternoons at the pool and our evenings at the park.  Since that was off the table we had to get creative today. This months Kiwi Co theme was pirates so we cracked it open and decided to make the most of the afternoon anyway.  First we made the hat -- I folded and she decorated! Then we decorated and made two ships and a little eye patch and a parrot for her arm. Once all our pirate gear was made up and ready to go it was time for the main event... ...ship races!! These little boats have foam bottoms and a rudder that you can actually move around so while this was a fun activity it was also a great hands on learning experience for Evie about how ships and rudders work and how wind and currents can move ships in the water. She's been on her fair s...

  Today wasn't super busy which is probably a good thing. Every now and then it's fun to surprise Evie and there is NOTHING she loves more than doing "activities." By which she means crafts. A few weeks ago I was at the craft store and found this little paint kit for a fairy house . I had a coupon so it wasn't outrageously expensive and I got it and put it on her shelf and kind of forgot about it. Today I decided to break it out. So I got it all set up before I picked her up from preschool and then when she got home it was waiting there to surprise her.  She painted most of it herself which gave me some time to get the kitchen cleaned up and put some of her food pack from the school away... After the paint she got all the stickers on and then I jumped in and helped her finish it up with the glue gun. After we got the bushes attached she spent some time playing with it until she discovered some washi tape rolls in the hot glue gun box... So then she decided to make...

  Today was family night again. This week we decided to have a mini girls night and we polished our nails. Evie LOVES to do her nails and it was fun to include her cousins in the fun too. We used a little kit from Zoya to do soaks, scrubs, and masks and then we did some fun polish and art. :) These kits are fun to use for pedicures too and they make cleaning up really easy, even with a toddler. After we added our art we had dinner and wrapped up at the park like always. We always look forward to family nights. :)

  Today was a pretty low key day for us. We didn't do much of anything exciting but we had fun anyway! We went out to look for some things to do my nieces nails tomorrow and even though we weren't successful in finding them we did find some things for Evie. So she got to have her first trip to Ulta and got her first "big girl" makeup. She was really excited to pick it out and thanks to the BOGO sale it didn't break my wallet too much either. 😂 All the pink! She really liked this heart shaped palette and the donut is also eyeshadows. I love how much fun companies are having with makeup these days. It makes it more fun for adults too. ;) We wrapped up the evening playing some little felt games. :)

  We had another busy weekend and it was another HOT one. The unofficial end of summer is only two weeks away so we're trying to make the most of these last days but it's been absolutely sweltering outside so it's been a lot of water days! This weekend we took a trip to a local park in the morning and then decided to go ahead and use up the last of our foam soak and have another water balloon party. After that we went down to the pool and swam for a few hours. Evie made a couple friends to play Barbie mermaids with and also had a lot of fun with some rings a neighbor loaned us.                                                                                                                     ...

  Today was Carnival Day at Evie's preschool. After I picked her up we got to come back around and do the little carnival. This is one of my favorite events that they have and they put SO much effort into it. It really is like a real little carnival complete with handmade cotton candy and games and prizes. Last year they didn't have one because of COVID so we got a little bag of cotton candy and popcorn and while that was nice I am really excited she got to go this year. They had a cup toss... A "punch" prize cup... A balloon shoot... ...and so many more things I don't have pictured including boat races, ring toss, floating ducks, sand art, and even a huge bounce house.  Summer is quickly drawing to an end and we're really loving soaking up these last days while we can. <3

  Today we are starting to change up our schedule to accommodate Evie being home in a few weeks. Since we're pushing bedtime a little later to avoid the 6:30AM wakeups we decided to take a little walk to the park after dinner. We made some chocolate covered bananas (since we had some that needed to be eaten ASAP!) and grabbed some waters and headed down for about a half hour. She's also doing really great with her chore chart and today was a ridiculously smooth day for some reason. She got up, made her bed all by herself, got her clothes together and headed into preschool with zero complaints or fussing. She did demand that she be able to take her Poppy plush with her though. It came to her from her cousin a year or so ago and she's been the toy of choice lately. Since she finished all her chores she got to press the button on her prize capsule machine I built the other day. Prize for tonight was a piece of candy which she was very happy about.  We also read her new story...

  Today was a pretty hectic day for us.  We were supposed to be meeting someone at the park in the early afternoon so I kept her home to do a trial run of our upcoming time together. We put together a chore chart for her and I built a little capsule toy dispenser so she could get prizes when she does all her chores. We filled it with little pieces of candy, tattoos, and non physical prizes like extra story time and screen time. Completing all her chores for a whole month earns her a Happy Meal.  She was pretty excited to jump on them (and to be honest most of them are already things she has to do everyday) and earned herself some extra story time at bedtime tonight. Just before our meetup we put up some maps and learned about the US and the continents around the world.  Then we got ready to hit the road. Unfortunately, her family member cancelled at the last minute and her disappointment was intense. So we headed out for a girls day instead and picked up some craft s...

  Today was Family Day. On Tuesday's we go up to my parents house to hang out, have dinner, and play games. This week the game of choice was Life. Even though Evie can't always play the games she loves sitting with us, snacking, and laughing with all of her family. She's also a great cheerleader! We love being able to go see her uncle, grandparents, and cousins once a week. :)

  We had a super busy but really fun weekend! On Saturday we explored a new park and spent some time outside making chalk food and having chalk tea parties. After we got back from the park we gave ourselves some at home manicures complete with scrubs, soaks, and masks. To wrap up our day Evie insisted we all have a picnic in the yard so we ordered some dinner and ate it out in the yard with our little picnic set. We also spent some time in the pool floating and swimming around. By the time bedtime rolled around we were all more than ready to get some sleep!! On Sunday we woke up late and had some breakfast before heading out to a local orchard. It was a gloomy and overcast day but we made the most of it by exploring and discovering how grapes and peaches grow, finding covered bridges and climbing up a waterfall. After we finished drinking our cider slushies and devouring some delicious brunch we headed up to an outdoor mall to do some wandering and shopping and we grabbed a new boo...

  Today was an unexpected kind of day. Last week we had planned to take our last official trip to Kings Island for the season. This marked the 20th visit for Evie and I and even though we may go once more and we will likely go to the special seasonal events I always like to have an official end to the season so there are no surprises for anyone if we don't return. It's been SUPER hot all week and I wasn't really feeling like doing it today but Evie was revved up and ready to go so I sucked it up and we headed out. While we were sitting down to eat some dinner a family sat down just beside us and it turned out it was a little boy from her daycare/preschool class! It took her a few minutes to realize that this meant she could have a friend to ride with in the park and once she did she was SO excited. She dragged him onto his first big rollercoaster, some planes, and a few other things. It was an unexpected surprise and we all had a lot of fun hanging out and making new friend...

  Today was a pretty low key day for us. Work was frustrating for me and it was meal pickup day from the school so we didn't have a ton of time for activities in the evening either. Evie helped me make some rice and stir fry for dinner and after we were done eating we set up her foam bucket while we did some yard work. She had a ton of fun splashing around in it and pretending to be a foam mermaid. I've seen these with slip and slides and also with small pools but the one I got just sits on the ground. I may hook it to her pool next time we use it though just because the grass underneath gave her a bit of a rash and even though she didn't get hurt I think she could if there were any rocks or sticks or anything in the grass under the foam.  I got this on clearance because I thought it would be a fun summer activity and it certainly was!

  Tuesdays are for family and just like every other week we went up to Nana's this week for dinner and family time. This week I brought the extreme yard version of Throw, Throw, Burrito. It's such a fun game and even though Evie is too young to play it she loves running around, counting down rounds, and cheering us on while we throw the burritos. This week she had tons of fun running around yelling and laughing with us while we chased one another down with life sized burritos. It was super hot outside but we played about four rounds before we gave up and came in to play the more civil table size version. You never know what family night will bring and it's always nice to spend extra time with people you love.

  We had a very busy day today. When Evie got home she had a package and it turned out to be her new chemistry kit. So of course she wanted to set it up and play. I'm really looking forward to all the fun activities we're going to do in the upcoming months with her little kit. But we also had some very cool nature finds today! We are taking some bushes out of the backyard and we found these old nests. One had a broken egg inside and the other was empty. Unfortunately when we were cleaning up the branches we found a tiny little bird on the ground. I'm not sure if he fell or if his nest was disturbed but we tucked him back up into an empty nest (using gloves!) and waited inside to see if mama and daddy would find him (they did!). It added some entertainment to our afternoon.  Still dying to see what was in that chemistry set I mentioned? It's so cute! It came with a little "mess mat", some trays for experiments, a beaker, a flask, some colored powders and a spr...