Spring Break Staycation: Day 1 - Sunday

Sunday was a record setting 79 degrees in Northern Colorado.  We soaked up much of the sun - me, too much with a burn - and enjoyed our time outdoors.  It wasn't an epic start to our Spring Break Staycation, but the elements of the week began to build with experiments, cooking, and fun.

This was the first day I allowed the kids to pick a science kit to work on.  They choose "Wacky Fluid Experiment" which involved making Non-Newtonian fluid and seeing if it was a liquid or a fluid.  The kit made white fluid, but we also introduced food coloring to make it colorful.  This did end up temporarily turning my kiddos into green little monsters, but it's spring break, so bring on the odd fun!

Our day continued more like a normal family Sunday with some bike riding, park playing, and other outdoor activities. The dog even enjoyed playing in the front yard with the kids. 

We also incorporated some fun cooking into the mix with layered Jello that I worked on with my youngest daughter.

My oldest daughter and I worked on making a Lemon Merainge Pie from scratch including squeezing each lemon.  We saved the lemons to see what they would do over the fire pit.  Would they smell lemony?  Would they clean off the grill plates?  Would they burn?  Just some fun questions to ask and experiment with before throwing the skins away.

The evening ended with a family cookout over the fire pit with burgers and hot dogs.  Dad led the grilling fun as by this time the sun burn had me feeling a bit under.  As the fire died down, the kids cooked up marshmallows and s'mores with dad.  I got mine served to me on the couch. 

Oh, and the pie turned out yummy, if a bit runny.

Staycation: Spring Break

This Spring Break we are staying home.  Boring?  NO!  We have planned out a full week of events including field trips, science experiements, and home cooked goodies.  Follow along for a ride on our Spring Break Staycation adventure!

Planning Ahead
The Staycation idea came out of a fun weekend we had only a week before Spring Break.  My daughter played in a chamber band contest in the morning with her middle school friends.  We were talking about our plans to go roller skating that evening with our family.  My daughter asked if she could invite some friends.  I said yes and we ended up partying the night away with eleven 7-13 year olds who all had a blast.

On Monday, we had community band practice and a couple of the boys from the skating party decided to join us.  It looks like an evening of good, clean entertainment really paid off.  The ideas started forming.  Could we pull off a week of fun while not going on a real vacation?  What if we invited the friends?

So, on Thursday night, my daughter and I sat down to brainstorm some places to go where we could invite friends.  We came up with three field trips while the other days will be spent at home.  On Friday I picked up some fun science kits to do each day with the family.  Overall it's bound to be a fun week with friends and family with as much to talk about as those that went far, far away!

Day 1: Sunday - Outdoor Family Fun
Day 2: Monday - Band, Baking, & Bedrooms

Mysterious Success

I'm pretty sure  the big Mystery party was a success when you wear a few 11-12 year old girls out to the point that one dad commented his daughter went straight to bed when we dropped her off at home (around 6PM) and didn't get up again till the next morning!  The girls were patient with my lack of forthcoming on the next location and tended to be pretty satisfied after each adventure.  What follows is a stop-by-stop recap of the day.

Turbo Cake Surprise

What do you do when your son goes back and forth from wanting a Turbo party to a Percy Jackson party?  You tell him no party, make a Turbo cake, and then throw the best surprise Percy Jackson party you can think of!

The Best Birthday Ever

There are days where an overwhelmingly joyful feeling happens due to one of your kids.  That was my feeling on my daughter's twelfth birthday.

This had been a super busy week for the family with many activities before and after school piled on with the never-ending load of homework.  My daughter had been stressing all week about getting her homework done so I was pretty sure she was going to have either a miserable or just okay birthday.  I was happily surprised when I heard over and over that evening how "this was my best birthday ever".

It's A Mystery

My daughter is at that age where every party just needs to be a sleepover.  Well, after a mishap at the last one, her dad has banished the sleepover concept from the house (for a while).  That's all fine and dandy, but now her 12th birthday is just around the corner.  What could ever top the excitement and fun of a sleepover? 

A Mystery Party.

That's right, a mystery.  And we're not talking Clue and who done it? here.  I'm talking about a party where the attendees have no idea what's happening next, when, where or how.  To best explain, let me run down the pre-party organization involved.

Staycation: Body Day

This day is all about fun getting to know the body, how to feed it right, and how to use it to make some pretty cool artwork!

Staycation: Around the World Day

It was actually my daughter's idea to learn more about cultures around the world in one day.  Maybe it was the influence of my Russian themed sleepover we had for her Girl Scout troop one year...  Or maybe it's the Paczki I make every year for Mardi Gras... Or that we love to make and eat strawberry crepes on a Saturday morning... Or maybe she just wanted to learn more about the world.  Well, laissez bon temps rouler!

Tron Party - The Real Deal

Last month, I posted about all these super cool ideas I had for a Tron birthday party for my now 7 year old son.  Well, we had the party with 20+ kids and several adults.  From what I've heard, it was a huge success.  Kids that had never heard of Tron or didn't know what it's about are now begging their parents to watch it and learn more.

This post is dedicated to the tips, tricks, and helpful hints I learned from having the party.  You know, the things you didn't read about in the cool "Tron Party" article because I hadn't actually had a chance to test my ideas out yet.

Tron Legacy Party

My family has become recent fans of both Tron (1982) and Tron Legacy (2010).  There's just something about going inside a video game fighting for the user...and those lights!  So, of course my son wants a Tron Legacy ("The new one, mom, not the old one" he says) party for his 7th birthday.  Read on for Tron party ideas.  His party isn't until next week, so I will update this post once I see what's a hit and what bombed.