JOIE de VIVRE

we actually had another pretty good weekend considering we have been staying home a lot lately. however, we finally have ryan and jacob for a week now, right before they go back to school. jason and the rest of the munchkins went to get them on friday and gave mommy some alone time for awhile. i was able to throw in a second workout for the day and just relax. it felt pretty weird. 

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saturday, my mom and i took the girls back to school shopping at the mall. i hate going to the mall, we almost never go, but they pretty much have everything they need for back to school, except for a few small things. i am so grateful that my mom helped me out this year with the girls' stuff. schools seem to be asking for more and more every year. not to mention, all the money put in throughout the school year. mackenzie had 3 field trips last year and each one came with a $80 fee to go. phoenix and tyler had several as well, including one that was an "in school" field trip that cost $5. what kind of crap is that? 

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after sitting down and planning my grocery trip on sunday, i suddenly got the urge to get out of the house...more so that going to the grocery store. so, a spur of the moment trip to the lake turned out to be a super fun day for us. we actually only live about 15 minutes from the lake, but we ventured over to the dam area where there are hiking trails, a playground, and river access. we hiked up to the top of the falls lake dam and back down to the water's edge, let them play on the playground and then hiked back down to the river where an impromptu swim session took place after tyler fell face first into the water. we clearly weren't dressed for swimming but no one seemed to mind. i will be sharing more photos of our adventure throughout the week, but for now, check out this video!

on our way home, we decided it was best to end our day of fun with hot dogs and s'mores on the fire pit. we already have plans to go back sometime soon.

how was your weekend? tell me something awesome you did!

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: sixcherries

my 25 favorite summer movies

in november and december, i watch christmas movies, during october i watch horror movies, and during june, july, and august, i LOVE summer movies (pretty much anything with pools, beaches, and fun in the sun). there is nothing better than spending a day in the sun and then coming home to the air condition, taking a shower, putting on your pj's, and cuddling up on the couch to watch a great movie.

grown ups (pg-13) 2010

25 summer movies that i recommend:

1. blue crush
2. point break
3. dirty dancing
4. summer rental
5. the great outdoors
6. one crazy summer
7. weekend at bernie's
8. into the blue
9. soul surfer
10. the pool boys
11. dolphin tale
12. rv
13. pirates of the caribbean 
14. now and then
15. love wrecked
16. shag
17. finding nemo
18. lilo and stitch
19. beaches
20. just go with it
21. grown ups
22. free willy
23. couples retreat
24. 50 first dates
25. cheaper by the dozen 2

a great combination of movies for all ages. i am a sucker for movies filled with crazy, corny, hilarious one-liners and there are quite a few of those in there as well. highlighted movies are my top 10. check imbd for movie ratings and more info. about each movie.


what is your favorite summer movie?

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: mamacherry

our 4th of july

we spent our 4th of july staying cool at the pool. we have had some super hot 100+ degree temps here in NC lately and have been spending a lot of time indoors keeping cool. we knew it was time to get outside and enjoy some of the beautiful and HOT weather, so what better way to do so than to hang out at the pool. 

the pool we always go to is about 30 minutes away from out house, but they have a great kid's pool that my kids love. their kid's pool is HUGE and is no deeper than 2 feet all the way across. plus, they allow you to bring your own water toys. i also love that there is an indoor pool as well. it actually started thundering and raining breifly while we were there, so we just went inside until the storm passed. 

this pool also allows food and drinks, so we packed quick snack and drinks to take with us to hold us over until dinner. so many pools have such strict rules and only want you to buy the food they have for sale, just to make a few extra bucks. although the basic rules are pretty solid and lifeguards are on constant duty, i don't feel like i am being ripped off. it cost us $10 for all of us to get in for a full day of fun. 

today we are being lazy and recuperating from all the sun and fun. i actually got sunburned on my back. ouch!

are you still recovering from your 4th of july fun?

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: mamacherry

summer learning fun: water

i don't know if it's because they are still in the first stages of school, but phoenix and tyler hated to see school end this year. most kids are so excited for summer fun, but they would rather have just stayed in school and learn...especially phoenix. she nearly had a panic attack the last day of school.

so, since we are on a super tight budget this year, and our summer fun will consist of a whole lot of at home time, or activities we can find around our area, i decided to bring school to them...in a sense.

at least once a day they will have an opportunity to do some practice work (think worksheets..oh fun!) to keep their brain fine tuned over the summer so they don't forget any of the stuff they learned. not quite my idea of fun but they LOVE it!

on top of all those super fun worksheets, there will be a "theme" of the week and lots of activities that go along with that theme. and plus also, there will be craft activities, trips to the library, and whatever else i can think of.

the themes are pretty simple because i want elijah to be able to participate as much as he can as well. this week's theme is WATER. and although water play will definitely be a big part of our summer, we started off our theme with water table play.

wanna know something science-y you can teach children about water without getting all hydrology nerdish?

another way to say water is... H2O!

HA! how easy is that? 

okay, so back to the water table...

i decided against a kiddie pool this year because they are a lot to maintain. the water gets gross after one day, they are hard to dump, and they last about one season. this water table has been a big hit for us so i am happy to stick with this instead. and besides, if they really want to get wet, we will be going swimming at a local pool from time to time.

what are you doing this summer to keep your kids learning while still having fun?

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: mamacherry