Dodging the dog days of summer...

We are definitely in the dog days of summer and I feel like we have been in some sort of "rut" lately.  A working out rut for myself, an I'm-tired-of-my-toys rut for the kids, etc.  We have been to the pool so much this summer and after our beach trip last week, I felt like we just needed a little break from the water.  Its a lot of fun and Harrison & Davis both love swimming, but it is definitely a lot of work trying to keep track of the kids (both of whom have absolutely no fear of the water, which can be good and bad!) Because of this, I have been looking for some fun activities to do with the kids lately.  The big man at the north pole must have gotten word that we all needed a little treat, and he sent Mungojerrie (our Elf on the Shelf) to visit us last Thursday.  When Harrison woke up, Mungojerrie was sitting on the mantel on an little elf-size Christmas tree with a note for the boys.  He wanted to let them know how much he and Santa appreciated them being such great kids and to keep up the good work...here is what he brought...

With two boys in the house, coloring unfortunately is not an activity that holds their attention for more than two minutes, but Harrison has loved using the paints and creating masterpieces for me.  Even Davis was trying to figure it out.  He was so excited, he thought he was really coloring.

Unfortunately, it was only a matter of a day before Harrison decided to "decorate" his brother...

Fortunately it was a washable marker!!

I was planning on saving our new activity ideas for during the week, but on Saturday, Lance went golfing with a friend, so while Davis napped, Harrison and I had fun doing an ooey-gooey project...making glow in the dark slime!  He LOVED it!  The best part, was that I got a few bottles of glue at Office Depot last week for a penny each as a part of their back to school deals, so it was a super cheap project too!! It took a lot of mixing...

 

It was a project that I had to remind myself from the beginning that it was going to be messy...something you just have to chalk up to part of raising little boys!

I never could get the consistency right...it was supposed to look like this...

The lady that made this one used the clear school glue, which she said gave it a neat texture, so maybe I will try that next time.  Mine never got stiff enough to hold its shape. It was a lot of fun though and will still be a fun activity for Harrison throughout the week.

On Sunday, we had a nice sort-of family day.  I went to church with Harrison because it was my first time volunteering in the FUSE worship with the kids.  It was fun to see Harrison playing with the kids and learning some Bible lessons.  During the worship service, they have all the "big kids" (3-5 yr olds) in one room, where the sing, dance, color, learn Bible lessons, and hold a mini service, where they learn about how to act in church and what moms and dads do in church service.  I actually learned a few things too! ha ha!  At one point, the kids come into the church service for a children's sermon by the minister, so it was fun to help usher all the kids through church.  I'm excited to start volunteering and getting more involved in this area of the church, and I think Harrison will enjoy having me there occasionally too. 
I let Lance stay home with Davis so he could nap and then that afternoon we took the boys to play putt putt.  For the past few months, Harrison has gotten into a bad habit of coming into our room in the middle of the night, so we told him, that if he stayed in his room for 3 nights, we would take him on a fun outing.  We thought he would love putt putt, so we took them up to Mountasia on Sunday afternoon.  I thought it would be great if I just woke them up early from nap so we could leave here around 3:30 to get in a round of golf before dinner time.  I have no idea why I thought that was a good idea and why Lance didn't object!?!?!  It was HOOOTTTT!!!!  We motored through the golf and since there weren't too many people there, after we finished our course, we went and played a few extra fun holes on the other courses (there were 3 18-hole courses).  It was a fun adventure, but I think next time, we will save that for after the sun starts to set, or a cooler time of year!  Here are a few pictures from the family putt putt adventure...

Davis got excited whenever I would put him down so he could hit a few balls...

There were a ton of steps so we couldn't take the stroller with us and I left our baby bjorn at home.  I'm thinking it would have been a little easier if we picked a time where Davis could spend some quality time with Grandma and Granddaddy while we took Harrison putt-putting, because this is pretty much how I spent the day golfing...

Despite the heat, we had a great time and after we finished, we cooled off with some blue raspberry icees from Quick Trip!
Now, on to finding some more "projects" for the boys this week!!