Week of June 14 - Space

 Monday

We are super excited to have some cousins and grandparents here to join in the space time fun! It's going to be a super hot week, so we've been trying to get a little outside time first thing in the morning. I brought out the stomp rockets which are usually a hit for most age groups!

In the afternoon Charlotte was having a blast with her cousins, so Clesse and I did a craft together while Koko napped and I loved the one-on-one time. I printed out this astronaut suit and a picture of Clesse out (Charlotte has one too) and we put it together on this paper and then made a rocket next to it. Each square of the rocket had a letter to spell Clesse's name. We added some star stickers, and then he proudly showed off his craft to his dad and grandparents.

 Tuesday

We tried again to go outside first thing in the morning, but it was sooo sooo soo hot already. The kids did the stomp rocket again for a little bit and Charlotte chased her littlest cousin around spraying him, which they both loved. When we were all ready to go inside, we decided to make our own Hilton Galaxy! Grandma helped cut out some different sized circles while I did Koko's nap and the kids each contributed a few planets to our galaxy. Clesse finished it off by adding some starts with his cousin Julia, and I honestly think it looks so good! We chatted a little bit about what kind of planets they were, what kind of creatures lived there, etc. Charlotte's was a rainbow planet which had rainbow pixies and rainbow unicorns. I love how creative my kids and their cousins are.

In the afternoon we made some galaxy playdough using this recipe. It came out really soft and nice, I highly recommend it! We added some glitter stars that I found at Target in the craft section and it all looked pretty legit. Grandma and Julia made an alien, while Tom (the oldest) made a dog poop and James and Charlotte did their own ideas.After dinner we got some ice cream at Sweet Cow and Clesse got to see a train, firetruck and police car. Needless to say, he was in heaven!

Wednesday

Everyone at our house was eagerly waiting to go swimming at the Bay Aquatic Park! Our reservation wasn't until 2, so we finished up some Father's day cards and then watched a movie and had some lunch.

Swimming was a blast! The Bay Aquatic Park lets you take kids on slides in your lap, so I had a blast going down with Clesse (and a few times on my own too). Clesse hasn't gone swimming much since turning 1 right when we went into lockdown for COVID-19, and very cutely told us on Saturday, "it's so water!!!"

Once we got home from the water park, we all inhaled dinner and then decorated a space theme cake! I saw a Funfetti cake mix and frosting that was galaxy themed while at Target a couple of nights ago and just had to grab it. I cut out some crescents with bananas, we made planets out of strawberries and writing icing, and then added sprinkles that came with our frosting. Charlotte very cutely told me that the rockets were all crashing when she sprinkled some on and had three ships all touching each other.

Sunday

Kev and I went on a lovely overnight trip from Thursday to Friday thanks to some amazing grandparents (shout out to Grandma and Grandpa Hilton), so our space week rolled over into the weekend (the kids and I were still super into it). I printed out these stars with numbers on them, put a pipe cleaner through a hole I punched into each one and Charlotte threaded some star beads to match the numbers. She did so well and loved the mechanics of threading beads, but by the time she got to the number 8 she was telling me to count because she "was too tired". Haha!

Later that evening we made our own constellations from something that's important to us and shared them as a family. Charlotte made a cat because she loves kitties, Kev made a fish because he loves to fish, I made a hand because I love to help people and hold hands with my family members and Clesse made ___(insert your own thoughts here)____.

Monday

It was 70 degrees for the high today, so you know I took those kids out to the playground! Colorado is nice because we usually get a few days where we get a break from the hot summer.

We spent one last day on space week, and I'm honestly sad it's coming to an end! While the boys napped after coming home from the playground, Charlotte made a beautiful solar system using water colors. Then once Clesse woke up, we finally got to do what I was most excited for, blasting alphabet UFOs! Clesse did great at recognizing the letters and Charlotte loved a chance to try out these dart guns. And when Dad came upstairs after he was finished with work, we definitely had fun shooting him!