A Summer First.

From May 1st to July 15th, we have nothing but holidays around here. Kicking off with my nephew's birthday on May 1st, to Mothers Day, to my birthday, to Marty's birthday a week later, to Fathers Day, to two more nephews' birthdays, to my brother-in-law's birthday, to our anniversary on July 15th, there is always something going on, some date to remember.  It's kind of insane, really. We don't necessarily celebrate all of those things--the nephews and bro-in-law live out-of-town, but believe me--Mothers/Fathers Days and our birthdays, along with our anniversary, are enough!

The gift-giving is kind of insane between Mothers Day and Fathers Day. The way it works out, either Marty or I are getting a gift every week or two. I know--whine, whine--but honestly, it's kind of annoying.  This year, my birthday was kind of a bust because of The Plague, and Marty's snuck up on us (his is tomorrow! Old Man River....). OVER.WHELMING.

Yesterday, as we were sitting in the kid's room watching them play trains, drinking our coffee and looking disheveled as always on Sunday morning, I had a brilliant idea. I suggested that, since we hadn't really celebrated any of the holidays yet, we should take a very short mini-trip with the kids. And by short I mean one night. In the interest of money and time, we decided we'd go to Cincinnati, do the aquarium one day, spend the night (Anderson will be THRILLED to go to another "Trip House"), and then do the zoo the next day. All the money we'd spend on gifts for the ten zillion summer holidays will be spent on this little excursion.

Confession: we've never done anything like this. Other than Anderson's short stay at the Trip House during this winter's version of The Plague, they've never done a hotel trip before. They haven't even been to a zoo in two years. Just typing that makes me feel like a terrible mother. We are the least travel-adventurous parents ever. Poor kids.  They think an exciting outing is a trip to Shillito Park.  They may die of excitement overload when they see the real zoo! The aquarium! I expect plenty of happiness, along with some suspicion on their parts--as in, 'why haven't you taken us anywhere like this before, and are there other places like this?'

We are planning on going very soon--hopefully next week. I can't wait to see how it all plays out. Yay for short road trips with anxious mothers. Looking forward to a holiday of short fuses, snappy arguments, dirty hands, junk-food eating, no-nap whining, faces full of wonder and joy, a few temper tantrums and lots of love. Is there any other way to do it? :-)

In the meantime, I've scoured Pinterest and come up with a few really fun summer activities. Today, we made "sand" with flour and baby oil--it's actually very cool. Soft, mold-able, only slightly messy.  We will also be making sidewalk paint with corn starch, water, and food coloring.  Two ingredient activities that can be done outside are my cup of tea.  Anyone have other suggestions for fun outdoor activities to occupy two busy 4-year-olds?