Korea and Canada

Today we learned about two very different countries: Korea and Canada. First we visited Canada while at Michael's. The craft of the day was to make a moose. They turned out to be pretty cute, and they might reappear this Christmas as reindeer ornaments! The girls also made a maple leaf in Canada's traditional colors of red and white. Those were pins and they were added to the girls' backpacks for camping.
Next, we visited the Mint Hill Library for "One World, Many Stories: Korea" for story and craft time. The story time was a flop! The gentleman was speaking to a group of 6-9 year olds about the history of Korea. (It was like watching paint dry!) Once he finished, it got better. As you can see from the pictures, they learned a bit of Tae Kwon Do. The best part was when the man split the board with his hand. Next came craft time!! The girls made Korean fans. They will be great to use this weekend when we are camping!
All in all, it was a fun time. We checked out some Korean folk tales so that we still learned a little bit about Korea.
We will have to let you know how the stories are . . . .

Stars and Stripes Forever

Yesterday, we ventured to A.C. Moore for their Fourth of July Celebration. The girls made tie dye t-shirts (with spray paint), made cards for our troops, and got their faces painted. We had such a great time! As a mom, I love the spray paint tie dye!! It is easy, non-messy, and the kids can do it. Check out how cute the shirts turned out!
The girls loved getting their faces painted. Allie got the butterfly and Brianna got the cheetah. Brianna could not remember that she wanted a cheetah and asked us at least 5 times what the animal was called. We kept telling her that she was getting her face painted like a hamburger. She laughed and said that we were crazy.
Have a safe a fun Fourth of July!

Free Donuts!

When you drive by Krispy Kreme and the sign reads "hot donuts now," how many times have you wished that they would just give you one or two for free? Well, you can have that! Actually, your school-age child can get them for you. Just take your child's report card to your local krispy Kreme and you can get up to 6 free donuts. If you are like me, you take your coffee and just purchase 1 chocolate milk for your children to split and then your breakfast has only cost you about $2. When we got our donuts, the girls also got hats!
What a fun and rewarding way to say "great job at school!".

Where in the world have we been?

Today, thanks to Michael's, we visited the Bahamas! No, not really, but in our minds. The girls created wonderful koozies and lay pins. They had so much fun and all for under $1 each! It is usually hard to find cheap entertainment, but this was great. Our wonderful Michael's helper, Kelly, had everything we needed for the fun to begin. Since we were the only ones there, both girls were able to get some one on one time for art.
Upon completing our Bahama creations, we received passports. The neat thing is that the passports have the countries, dates, and art projects for the rest of the summer. Check out your local Michael's to let the fun begin! (You can find it on the website under the events tab!)
www.michaels.com

Magic Tree House Book Clubs

We have recently discovered this wealth of fun at our local Barnes and Noble bookstore. This summer they are hosting a weekly Magic Tree House event. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, Magic Tree House is a book series for kids 5-9. They are rather quick reads with 10 chapters in each book. My daughter, Allie, loves them! We reread Lions at Lunchtime so that she would be up to speed to discuss at the book club. She had so much fun participating in the discussion. Brianna just enjoyed listening to parts of the story again from Mr. Z. After the discussion, we made a lion puppet to go with the book. What a great way to get kids excited about reading!
Now we have two weeks to reread Polar Bears Past Bedtime. Allie loves to be prepared!
One more thing, we got Magic Tree House passports. Every time that we complete the story, we get a stamp in our passports! You can check out the fun to be had at www.magictreehouse.com.

Breakfast with Olivia

If you know anything about my girls, you know that they love Olivia the Pig!! Mandy Rappe (Mr. R's wife) made Brianna's birthday cake with Olivia on top. So, when we heard that we could have breakfast with Olivia at our local Barnes and Noble, we rushed to sign up. Not only did we get to have breakfast with Olivia, but we also got to have our pictures taken and have a story time as well. We ended the morning with each girl selecting 2 books to purchase. I am happy to say that Allie has already finished reading her books (120 pages total!!).
To add to the fun, I got to share the excitement with one of my students! Thanks Victoria for taking a picture with me and Olivia! I had a great time with you!
What a great Saturday morning!

Zootastic is Fantastic!

On Thursday, June 23, the girls and I ventured to Lake Norman to a place called Zootastic. This was a zoo that I was not aware of. They are committed to educating people about animals. So, it is not just a zoo, it is educational and interactive. We received a personal tour. Our guide, Craig, told us about every animal on the property. He also let us pet and feed most of the animals. We pet: skunks, possum, ferret, kangaroo, birds, snakes, lizards, camels, goats, sheep, turtles, but not the yak. Allie likes to tell everyone that the yak does not like people, so you can't pet him. The most exciting animal for me was the baby white tiger. Yep, we got to pet that too! We ended our trip with fresh chicken eggs out of the coop.
This was the best zoo experience that I have ever had! Even better, it was completely free to us that day because it was teacher appreciation day. Teachers - this zoo is always free to you. Just show your id! check out the website at www.zootasticpark.com