I wanted to start doing some shape recognition with G, and found a wonderful website, No Time For Flash Cards.  We've used them before, and they have FANTASTIC ideas!!  This one is super simple, and I am looking forward to G playing with this!

1.  Assemble your supplies.  Foam sheets, scissors and felts.  I used Crayola, but you could use colored sharpies or whatever you prefer.  You could even glue foam shapes or stickers on if you wanted to.

2.  Color designs on your foam sheets.  To make it a bit trickier, I did a few sheets in the same color with the same design, and then I cut them out in different designs.  I also did the same basic design on the two dark green ones, but I had one go horizontal and one go vertical.  Then I cut them in half, to give a bit more of a challenge. 

3.  Cut out your foam sheets.  I cut most of mine in a straight line, but the ones that had the same designs, I cut differently to see if she can differentiate between them.  

4.  Invite your child to play!  I plan to lay out one half of each on the table, and then have the rest in a pile.  This is a super easy way to play, and it will help with pattern-recognition and shape recognition.  If you wanted to, you could also have your little one color the designs on the foam sheets.

5.  Have fun!!!  Remember that as easy as it is for mom and dad to step in and do it for them, let your LO do it him/herself.  They'll love it!!

Summer Lovin', Part 3

We decided that the last 2 legs of our trip would be filled with fun and laughter.  We got to meet two of our new nieces, and we got to create some more amazing memories for G.  We started out visiting with my brother, his wife, and his 3 beautiful girls, and it was amazing.  We went swimming, we had a wonderful visit, and G got to spend time with her cousins.  The visit was WAY too short, but for me, any time spent with family is amazing!! 

When we left my brother's, we headed straight to the Vancouver Aquarium.  G had an AMAZING time!!  She was with her best friends, and there was so much to see, learn and do, and we would do it again in a heartbeat! 

There were just a couple of things that we would have done differently. 
1.  We would have planned the financial side better.  Air Miles offers vouchers for free admission with the redemption of your miles, and that would have saved us about $40.  We also spent over $30 on food for lunch, which we could have saved by bringing something with us.  It's hard being on the road to try to plan ahead like that, but we will definitely hit a grocery store before we go next time!  A loaf of bread, a bag of chips and a jug of water would have gone a long way!

2.  We would have checked out the attractions inside the facility online ahead of time.  We wanted to go and see the film they were offering, but there was a 2 hour line-up wait, and had we checked it out ahead of time, we would have been more prepared.  We got there at opening and could have gotten into the first seating, but we didn't realize that it would have been so full so quickly!! 

And that was about it!  We had a fantastic time, and got some neat souvenirs to remember our journey!


After that, we had one more day visiting new babies, and then we went back up to Baba and Bumpa's.  We spent our time visiting with our family and swimming and having fun, and G had a blast.  She LOVES all of her aunties and uncles and grandparents SO much, that it was such a thrill for her to get to see each of them!! 

After our family time, we decided to take one last chance to spend some time with just the 3 of us, and we stopped at the Enchanted Forest.  It was started by a woman in the 50's, who created all of the figures by hand without a mold or form to shape them!  It took them 10 years to clear the paths (BY HAND!!), and then in 1960, it was opened to the public.  You can see the giant Castle along the highway, and we had driven past it dozens of times on the way to and from visiting family.  This was the first time we ever stopped there, and it was SO MUCH FUN!!  The paths are lined with fairy-tale characters, and G had a blast learning about the fairy-tales and different characters.  Daddy and I loved sharing the stories that we remembered from our childhoods, and she loved hearing them!  I don't know if we will go every year, but we will definitely go back again!  There was even a spot at the exit where you can feed the ducks and the fish that they have in a giant pond, and they have a cute gift shop at the end of the tour.  They also have a rock climbing/zip line tour that you can do, although we decided that we are not particularly athletic people, and it really held no appeal to us at all :) 


So that was our big adventure in a nut-shell!  We had the most amazing time, and I can't wait to do more traveling in the future.  Especially if all our trips are a dream like this one was!!