Summer Activities for Toddlers

Pin It Now! Starting in late spring/early summer I began an informal list of things that I wanted to do with Avery this summer.  It's our last summer as a family of 3 and I wanted her to have a lot of fun and have some quality time with us.  Some of the activities are things we can do as a family on the weekend and others are things for Avery and I to do just the two of us (or with our mom group) during the week.  As time has gone on, the list has grown and though I don't think we will have time to get to everything on the list, we are going to do as many as we can (and maybe save some of them as special activities to do with Avery after the new baby comes- Eric is taking 3 weeks off and we want to be sure to spoil her with attention, too).  Here is our....

Summer "Bucket List"

Places to go...

- Nearby state park for a nature walk

- Zoo

- Botanical Gardens (St. Louis and one here in town)

- Grant's Farm

- Butterfly House

- Magic House 

- On a picnic

- Swimming pool

- Splash pad

- Farmer's Market

- Out for ice cream

- Strawberry picking

- Library

- Horse Stables

- Tour candy shop (make and sell best candy in town)

- Play at the park (try to go to as many different ones as we can, as well as our favorites)

- Huge fish tank at Bass Pro Shop

Things to do...

- Play with sidewalk chalk

- Paint with water

- Play in the rain

- Plant seeds and watch them grow

- Sensory tub with dirt (something like this or this) 

- Play with shaving cream

- Fly a kite or balloon kite

- Play in the mud

- Play with an ice block

- Make and play with a toddler sprinkler

- Have a toddler car wash

- Dig for treasure

- Play with water balloons

- "Swim" in kiddie pool in backyard

Food to make...

- Mini personal pizza

- Cookies

- Popsicles

- Smoothies

- Ice Cream floats (root beer or cream soda)

Crafts to do...

- Finger paint

- Edible necklace

- Make and play with bathtub puffy paint 

- Ice Painting

- Handprint/footprint craft (thinking garden stone)

- Decorate t-shirts (one for Avery and one for baby #2)

We have a good start on the list and have been having a great time doing them, it has definitely kept us busy.  I love that it makes what we are doing more intentional and we don't have those "what in the world are we going to do today" moments, we simply look at the list and pick something that interests us! Anything in particular you have done or are planning on doing this summer with your toddler or preschooler?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Now for a little something besides Feed Me Friday...

Pin It Now! Once again, I have to say I have been such a bad blogger!  I feel like a broken record, I keep saying that and yet I don't get any better.  The only things I have posted in forever are my Feed Me Friday posts.  So I guess I will do a little catch up though I doubt anyone is still reading the blog, since there is nothing really to read!  : )


Pregnancy is going well and I reached 32 weeks this week.  Kind of a scary week for me cause this is the week that I got put on bed rest for gestational hypertension when I was pregnant with Avery.  


At my appointment 2 weeks ago my BP was already up (147/87) but since is hadn't reached 150/90 my doctor said it wasn't good but we didn't have to go on bed rest yet. 


I had an appointment again today and everyday this week I have been stopping by grocery stores and pharmacies to take my BP (wanted to be prepared if it was high), it's remained under 150/90 but continues to be in the 140's and 80's.  At the appointment it was 143 over 84 (lower than it has been), my doctor still wasn't happy with it but not overly concerned.  We looked back at my charts from this pregnancy and my first and noticed that with both, my blood pressure is always low at the beginning but right around week 20 it starts creeping up.  We decided to go ahead and run some blood work just be be sure there were no signs of pre-preeclamsia (which luckily came back normal).  


So for the rest of the pregnancy (or at least until something changes) I have to take my blood pressure at least once a day.  If it's 150/90 or higher I have to take it a couple hours later and if it's still over 150/90 I have to call the doctor, if it reachers 160 or 100 I have to call immediately.  I also have to rest and relax anytime Avery is sleeping (so during nap and after she goes to bed I am on bed rest).  Can you say there goes the house!!!  I don't know how I am going to keep up with her and keep the house clean!  Oh well, such is life!  And I have to start having weekly appointments.


So, that's all the "bad" stuff but there is good stuff too!  : )  The baby is already head down (yes, I know, she can still flip back to breach but Avery was NEVER head down so I am hoping this is a good sign).  My scar from my first c-section is not close to where the placenta attached.  And as of now we are still good for attempting a VBAC.  YAY!!!  I know it can still change but I am trying to stay positive and hope for the best!


Besides the pregnancy, we are doing great and have had a busy start to the summer.  We have been spending lots of time with friends, going to the park, the pool, spray grounds, lunches/picnics, and even went strawberry picking (Avery loved that one, she sat herself down right in the middle of the row and was eating strawberries straight off the vine, she was covered in strawberry juice, it was so cute).  

Last week, Eric had a training in St. Louis so we decided to go with him since my sister lives there.  My dad also joined us (since her just retired) and we had an incredible week.  We went to Grant's Farm, the Botanical Gardens, the Butterfly House, The Magic House, and the Zoo.  Avery loved everything but I think her favorite was probably the Magic House.  If you are ever in St. Louis and have kids you HAVE to check it out, it is amazing!!!    

 The Magic House

 Grant's Farm

 Botanical Gardens

 The Zoo (her favorites were the hippos and "baby" elephants- not really babies but still smaller than the adults)

We also got to go spend a morning in my sister's classroom.  She is a Montessori Toddler Teacher and Avery had so much fun working in her classroom.  I was really impressed with how well she did (all that Tot School really paid off). She did a wonderful job at getting works out, concentrating on them, and then putting everything away.  She was such a little sponge and soaked up everything!


Avery's new big girl room is ready and we are planning on moving her into it tomorrow night.  We actually have had it ready for almost 2 weeks but we didn't want to move her into it before going to St. Louis and then putting her into a pack and play while there.  Then when we got back from St. Louis we wanted to give her a couple nights to settle back into her sleep routine (each night of sleep in St. Louis got a little worse, not fun).  So it looks like tomorrow will be the first night in a big girl bed.  Any advice or suggestions on how to help her transition would be great!  Right now the plan is to do the bedtime routine as close to the same as possible.  Then tell her that she needs to stay in bed cause it's time to go to sleep (avoiding saying "not to get out of bed" since kids don't hear the not).  Then if (or rather when) she gets up, going in, going back over staying in bed, putting her back in bed, and leaving again, then repeat, repeat, repeat, until she's asleep.  I'm so nervous about it!  Not sure if it's the not knowing how it will go, the fear of it going horribly, or the fact that my baby girl is moving into a big girl bed!  


Ok, it's getting late and I'm tired, so it's off to bed for me.  Hopefully I don't wait so long to post again!  Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer!