Toothpicks and Gumdrops...who knew!

When we decided to move out here to Kansas I realized that we were going to have a long summer of no friends or camping. Honestly it worried me quite a bit. I didn't want my kids hating Kansas right away and I don't do well with just sitting around the house. So I started pinning ideas on pinterest. Stuff we could do this summer. Then when we got here I made a big list of stuff off pinterest and places to go here in Kansas. This is one of the ideas I got from pinterest.

 It was just letting the kids build with gumdrops and toothpicks. They all really liked it and it entertained them for close to an hour.

 Kambree wasn't so skilled at it yet. She just stuck a bunch of sticks into one gumdrop and then called it a "Popsicle".

 But the boys did really good at it. And for two dollars in gumdrops and toothpicks it was totally worth it!

Shawnee Mission Park

Out here they have the biggest park called Shawnee Mission Park. I have never seen a park so huge! One night on our way home from the gym we decided to stop at the park and go for a hike. They have a bunch of trails to hike on.

 We didn't get to hike far because it was getting dark, but we saw tons of spiders, a deer, a rabbit and......

 lightning bugs! This is one that Michael had caught. We have caught a ton of them here. The kids love them and really I do to. I had never seen them before moving here and I still get excited when I see them glow!

It was fun to get out and explore the park a little!

Bowling

I signed the kids up for free bowling this summer. So we finally made it to the bowling alley. Their cousins came with and we had a lot of fun!

They have these cute alligator ramps that the little kids can roll their ball down. It give the ball some momentum and direction. Blake and Kambree loved them!

They all had fun and Carson and Michael are getting better every time we go bowling. I feel like I always say this, but we want to come back to the bowling alley again before the summer is over.

Kidscape

Okay, so like always I have got a ton of pictures! I took the kids to kidscape a couple weeks ago. It's a fun little museum where the kids can just play in a small "city". The first thing they did was the little putting green.

 I was disappointed that they had a wii. My kids will always pick that! And if I wanted them to play the wii we would just stay home! But with a little encouragement they did the other stuff too.

 It had a jewelry shop where you could make your own beaded necklace or bracelet. We invited Jenny and her kids to come with us. They only got to stay for a little bit, but we stayed for hours. My kids loved it!

 It had a stage with costumes, sound effects and lights they could turn off and on. My kids all liked this and i was constantly being asked to come watch them on stage.

 These are the cute theater seat they had set up for people to watch the play.

 Bailey, Kambree and Riley loved the hospital. It had a fun "patient" that you could take out all their organs and open the body to operate. It was fun for them.

 Carson really like this set. You could move around the trains, cars, building and mountains to make your own town. I was surprised that he played in their for so long, but he loved it!

 He even took some time to make me a bracelet.

 We also played in the farm. In this picture Michael is pretending to milk the cow.

 Blake on the tractor.

 Carson owned the grocery store.

 They even had stuff to dress up like farmers.

This is Blake in the middle of the street. You can see the hospital to the right and the theater in the back.

 They had the farm set up cute. You would plow the fields, then feed the cow, then milk the cow, then take the milk to the factory, then deliver the milk to the store, then sell the milk. It was a cool little learning experience.

We had fun there, it was free and air conditioned. So I am sure we will be back before this hot summer is over!