Adventures in Babysitting

With the start of the cold weather, I have been somewhat reminiscent of warmer days. Although this post is incredibly late...it's still worth it!

This summer, I babysat on regular basis for three kiddos. Their parents are good friends of mine from the days of Pier One (read: a long time). I started my babysitting for them when the first, who is now 5, was just a newborn. So, the kids are pretty comfortable with me as I've been around them for so long.

Now that I have had a solid block of free time (this morning), I have been organizing pictures. I found a slew of the kiddos, so thought I would share, along with a few things I learned.

Crawling machine! One day she was content sitting and the next she was on the go!

Playing airplane can be a great ab workout...especially with older kids. Holy moly! One day I was giving airplane rides for about 30 minutes to all three kids (not at once) and the next day I actually felt a little sore. Amazing! More fun than your standard crunches!

Puzzle time!

When we weren't playing in the great outdoors, we filled our time with art projects and kid shows. Our projects included: autobiographies crafted from construction paper, crayons, and staples; paper fans to cool our faces off on hot days; prince/princess crowns with tin-foil accents (don't be jealous ~ I can make one for you, too); coloring an outdoor scene on a puzzle board that was already cut into pieces, and various other drawings. In addition to honing our art skills, we also rounded out our music interests with this little gem.

{please note sarcasm}

Okay, okay. The show itself wasn't awful...but the theme song was about 45 seconds too long!

When we weren't stuck in the house due to summer rain showers, we spent a ton of time outside playing. Sometimes it was taking a nature hike around the yard and looking at the flowers, bugs and so on. Other days it consisted of setting up the Slip & Slide and cooling off (even Lilliputian liked to partake by dipping her toes in the water spray!), setting up tents and reading on the deck, playing in the wagon or playing statues. We, of course, were not limited to these activities...there were many more! We even met some worms named Wormiglo, Cherry-Derry, Silly-Dilly. We had quite the adventures!

Look at these adorable yard statues!

A couple more poses for good measure!

This is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES from the summer! They are such imaginative and fun kiddos! I don't quite remember the story they created behind this little pose...but look at them ~ how cute ARE they?!?

Um, Amanda...it's DRIPPING!

If you recall, one of the experiments conducted while the little one slept was homemade ice cream. One of the batches turned out to be delicious...while the other, not so much. It was a little salty. Blech.

Here are some more pictures of yard fun:

This was their new family pet!

One of my favorite stories from my days with these kiddos was about those dandelion wisps that populate the air in summer. The four of us were sitting on their hill watching clouds roll by and following dandelion *wishes* float off into the blue sky. E asked me where they were going, so I answered with the most natural answer: The Wish Factory. This started a slew of questions on where it was located, what it looked like and how did sending wishes work...

So, after my many answers (all based on fact!), we each made a few of our own wishes and sent them up to the factory through a gentle puff of breath. Needless to say, they were diligent about checking on whether their wishes had been granted. Of course, they hadn't been...but I told them it was a test in patience! The wish may have taken a scenic journey over Disneyworld before heading up to the factory...so it might take some time.

After a few days, I was asked to provide proof of this said Wish Factory...so being the good and honest babysitter that I am,I came clean and told them it was made up, I feverishly googled images to bring forth the next day. I told them that I was lucky enough to capture a picture of the Wish Factory on my way to Ireland a few years ago. I do hope they will not need therapy due to this attempt of imaginative reasoning!

On days where we wanted to venture out of the house, we would explore the nearby park (E & MJ were fascinated with a man and his metal detector, to the point of following him around a bit to see his finds!), go swimming at Casa de Angel, or stop for custard at Pop's!

One of the other things I loved, is that these cuties LOVE cameras. So, they allowed me to try my hand at some fun pics around the yard. I even took some extreme close-ups that turned out pretty nicely! They also tried their hand at snapping some pictures of flowers and each other.

Love baby hands...so delicate!

Look at those LASHES!

E buckling his helmet before a little wagon adventure.

MJ and her mini-bouquet!

Flower Child

Me with the crew

It was an eventful summer full of fun and laughter! Thanks, kiddos!