Summer Days 2018: Part Three

There was a lot more to the first week of July than what I shared previously. We were super busy doing lots of fun things!

We made our annual trip to the Cool Zoo on Monday, July 2. Everyone had a great time, but the zoo unexpectedly lost power just after lunchtime. They shut down the splash area and the lazy river, so the kids snacked and played in the sand and snacked some more. We had no way of knowing when the power would come back on, so we eventually decided to leave around 2pm. But they gave us vouchers to come back again another day!

We stayed close to home the next day and did a fun project: blow painting monsters! I got the idea from a fellow Jazzerciser, who did it with her two boys. Riley and Rory didn’t really like using the straws to blow the paint around their canvases; it was too hard for them. They decided to switch to using wooden sticks to smear the paint around and then used brushes for their second creations.

  

 

Whatever way they did it, I love their end results, especially after I glued some googly eyes on and they added details with Sharpies. So cool! I think we’re going to hang them all together on the wall outside of Riley’s room.

 

On July 5, after Rory napped and Riley did some summer reading…..

…..we went to Tutti Frutti with Aunt E, Kate, and Luke and then back to their house to play for a bit. The littlest two were in rare form!

July 6 was a total adventure. Heidi and I decided to take our four kids to the aquarium, failing to remember that Essence Fest was going on down there. It was super crowded, but we managed to get into the Riverwalk parking lot with little issue.

We walked through the Riverwalk (promising the kids we’d be back later in the day) and figured we’d just have to cross through Spanish Plaza to get to the aquarium.

• Problem #1: the plaza was completely inaccessible on account of construction.
• Problem #2: it was POURING rain.

We had to walk all the way down towards the casino and then cross the street to finally get under cover by the aquarium’s front entrance. We were all pretty soaked by the time we got there, even with umbrellas. And, of course, the rain slacked off right as we walked up. Crazy!

In fact, by the time we got upstairs to the birds 45 minutes later, the sun was back out and shining. The kids loved feeding the little birds, but it took some effort to get any to come down to the feed sticks we were all holding. But we managed to entice a few!

 

 

They all loved seeing the new otters, Rory touched a stingray, and I was floored to see the changes in the Gulf exhibit. They took out the bleachers and removed the dividing wall at the front. Now you can walk right up and touch the exhibit’s thick glass walls. It’s still my favorite spot in the whole place!

 

 

 

We spent about an hour and a half at the aquarium, which was perfect. We then walked back to the Riverwalk, where we treated the kids to candy from It’Sugar, had lunch in the food court, and then let them run around in the play area before parting ways.

A totally fun day, but remind me NEVER to go anywhere near that area of the city during Essence again. It took us 45 minutes just to go half a mile to get on the interstate for home.

Oh, and FYI…..school starts two weeks from tomorrow!