Around Here

 Reagan has enjoyed making tissue paper fashions this week.

 She was thrilled with this 1D coloring sheet.

 Grandma Susan took Collin, Reagan, and Kate to the new indoor bounce place, and they all had fun.

 We went to Ma Raffa's with Papa and Grandma for Kids' Night and Mario was there.

Reagan is now able to get into a bridge on the balance beam.  I am so impressed.  The beam is only four inches wide.  That is NOT an easy task.  Here is a video of her doing it:

Sleepover

Miranda, Madison, and Addie slept over last night.  They did not do much sleeping though!

 Oobleck

Tie dyeing pillow cases

I have only done tie dye with my own children in the past, so this was a new experience, but we came out of it just fine.  I had everyone run through the sprinkler and then shower to make sure the dye did not end up anywhere other than where it should be.  It's funny, all of my pictures show the nice calm dyeing process, but what I did not capture was them going a little crazy with the dye and ending up with it all over their legs and feet.  It's going to be days before they are back to normal!

 After everyone cleaned up, we made s'mores pops.  They loved this!

When we did the actual tie dyeing, the girls asked if they would be able to use their pillow cases at bedtime.  I said, "no, they won't be ready early enough".  Well, little did I know that they would still be awake at midnight.  Actually, Madison and Kate were asleep, so only three of the tie dyers slept with their new pillow cases.

Kate is happy to use hers as a blanket!  She had so much fun hanging out with the big girls!

Collin had a great night too!  He went to the movies with Tom, Jack, and Max (Planet of the Apes movie) and then slept over Jack and Max's house.  I'm sure they also did not sleep much.

Around Here

Collin and I went to the library recently for a special event run by the Museum of Science all about rockets.  Collin made a balloon rocket and launched it to Mars.

 One VERY HOT and HUMID day this week (Tuesday), Collin, Reagan, Kate and I went to Grand Prix.  We rode the bumper cars and bumper boats; this was Kate's first time on both.  I drove with Kate, and Collin and Reagan each drove their own cars/boats.

We also played mini golf.  We made it through eleven holes before we all decided it was just too hot.  Plus, Kate was really done after about three holes!

 Collin hit a hole in one!!!

We also visited the game room.  I think it's weird that my kids don't really play games.  They put tokens in machines that mostly just spit out tickets.  What's the fun in that?  Oh well, that's what they like.  They get tickets so they can trade them in for junk that would have been much cheaper to just buy.

On Wednesday, Reagan went to Canobie Lake Park with Allie and Allie's parents.  They had a great time!

I went to my car yesterday morning to clean it out before heading to Plymouth for the whale watch.  I was greeted by this GIANT spider, and if you look closely you can see the web.  YIKES! I was able to get the spider to crawl onto a paper towel so that I could release it in the grass, but I did screech a few times.  

Speaking of the whale watch, I forgot to write about Kate's friend.  During the boat ride back to land, we went inside (to warm up) and Kate walked over to this little boy, sat next to him, and held his hand.  It was very funny.  She certainly isn't as shy as she used to be!

Whale Watch

This was our crew for the whale watch yesterday.

Uncle George, Pete, Riley, Denise, Kate, Collin, Me, Reagan, Grandma Susan, Auntie Diane, and Auntie Cyn

The boat left out of Plymouth Harbor and we drove for one hour, hung out in whale territory for two hours, and then drove back.  That means we were on the boat for four hours!  When I heard that, I was a little nervous about how Kate would do in one place for four hours, but she did great. It was a wonderful experience for all of us, and a fantastic day to share with family!

The water was a little rough out in whale territory.  Collin and Riley both had headaches, and I have to admit that my stomach would have preferred less rolling and calmer water, but no one got sick.

 I think Kate had the MOST fun!  She loved being on the boat, and the minute we boarded she told me she saw a pink whale with pink eyes and a purple whale!!!

 It got cold out there!

 Reagan loves Uncle George.  They took a little "nap" on the boat.

The whales were so close to the boat; it was amazing.  We saw mostly humpback whales, but there were a few other whales in the distance.  

Here is a video I took:

I was happy to see whales so close to the boat because Kate was not really able to see the whales that were in the distance (although she said she saw them).  When we got close to the whales, Kate asked if she could swim with them.  I held on to her SO tight because she kept squirming and telling me she was going swimming.  YIKES!  I was a bit nervous about Collin and Reagan on the boat too, but everyone made it back to land without incident!

Overall, it was a wonderful day and a great experience!!!  I am so happy we went.  A HUGE thank you to Auntie Cyn for inviting us to come along on a trip that was originally supposed to be just her, Uncle George, Pete, Denise, and Riley.