When B signed up to play recreational Spring volleyball, I never thought she would be playing in July! I also didn't see myself as her head coach but circumstances changed and that's where we ended up. It was a bit challenging because we couldn't have practices either. My girls had to show up each week ready to play with essentially zero practice. I'm so proud of them and how well they played under the circumstances. I had an amazingly, talented group of girls. We were able to snap a few photos after our last game this week but unfortunately we are missing one player. It's the best we could do though. B starts high school this year and she is so excited to play volleyball on the Junior Varsity Team for the Royals. She starts next week. When one chapter ends, another begins. I look forward to watching her grow as a player even more. Are your kids currently playing Sports?
Some of our ice cream toppings included marshmallows, chocolate chunks, mini M&Ms, cherries, strawberries and blueberries.
Today is National Ice Cream Day!! We have a family tradition of having ice cream for dinner with tons of toppings and flavors! The kids look forward to this day every year.
We also had whipped cream, and chocolate and Reese's shell.
Cone choices included bowls, chocolate dipped and multi-colors.
G was a little confused but loved his creation.
F with his choices.
E with her choices.
D and her ice cream, look at those toppings!
C with his cone bowl full of ice cream.
B with her creation.
And A with hers!
I hope you had a great weekend. And there is still time to have ice cream if you didn't know or forgot 😉.
{Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the
HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not
required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other
way.}
This consumable kit comes with all the necessary materials to create catapults, trebuchets, kites and solar cars. Our kit is geared for students in grades 9-12 (which is why it has High School in the name 😉).
Each activity along with all its materials were packaged separately into plastic bags. I love this organization! It makes it super easy to choose the bag that you need and start your project (think grab-and-go). Students will get to create 5 projects.
Here is everything that came in our 10-cell KaZoom Kite Kit.
The first kit that the older girls wanted to complete was the kite. Our bag contained our kite kit user guide, glue stick, roll of kite string, tissue paper (in a few colors), and straws.
The girls were able to follow the step-by-step instructions in the user guide fairly easily. A took charge of this build and B helped as needed.
A and B with their kite!
Another view of their kite.
I love this photo of the kite flying!
This kite kit was so fun. The girls had a great time building their kite and we all thought it was pretty impressive when they finished constructing it. And the kicker, it flew very well! I wasn't sure if we were going to get more than one flight day out of it because I didn't know if it would break apart during landing but the kite did just fine on everything - take off, flying, and landing. Who would have thought that straws could hold up so well?
Here is everything that came in our Innovating Catapults kit.
Next, the girls made a catapult! This bag contained a box of toothpicks, a box of paper clips, washable glue, various rubber bands, transparent tape, ping pong ball, cardstock catapult template base and arm, dowel rod, and pony beads. Everything they needed to construct their catapult.
Once again, the girls were able to follow the step-by-step instructions in the user guide fairly easily. This time, B took charge of this build and A helped as needed. We were all surprised at how far the catapult could shoot the pony beads when launched {pretty much from wall to wall in our home}!
Above you can see the catapult in action.
B showing G how to launch the pony bead.
It worked!
These consumable kits are awesome for having kids create, discover and innovate! There is so much to learn from these hand-on experiences. While we didn't need to do this, I really appreciate that you can download a digital copy of the instructions if the original gets damaged or goes missing. Sometimes things happen, so this is a plus. The girls plan on making the solar car next and I'm excited to see it in action!
Interested in this High School STEM Innovator Pack for your own kids or someone you know? Pitsco is having a giveaway right now that you can enter to win your own! Check it out here and good luck! We highly recommend this pack.
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This week the oldest 5 kids have been experiencing Camp in a Box (well really our whole family!). This would have been the week of burn camp for all of them; however, due to everything going on in the world, camp could not meet in person this year. The kids all received camp boxes filled with all kids of activities and goodies. Their boxes were delivered in person and it was pretty fantastic. Watch the video below to see what I mean.
We also received a "family" box and F and G were happy to jump in and help when possible. You can see the short video below of the kids opening up our family box!
The movie theme this year was Trolls World Tour and the overall theme of the camp was Dance to Your Own Beat. I'm so thankful to Texas Burn Survivor Society (TBSS) and all they do every year to support pediatric burn survivors and their families. This is always a highlight of the kids' summer and I'm so thankful for the extra work that volunteers put into this to allow the kids to experience some of camp from home this year. Enjoy the photos - I really enjoyed taking them!
It just wouldn't be camp without S'mores. The kids all received kits for making homemade S'mores in their boxes.
Camp Kids with their Trolls cups.
Set up for movie night, Trolls World Tour. We received a giftcard to download the movie and our whole family enjoyed watching it together with lots of fun snacks.
The movie is starting.
We set up a few tents downstairs for the week and the kids could either sleep in the tents or in their beds, their choice. Above is the boys tent.
The girls pony tent.
Stevie would sneak into the tent during the day and rest on G's cot.
The kids made homemade gumdrops!
Some of the shapes the kids created. We made lime flavored gumdrops.
Yes we do!
The kids were given Whataburger giftcards to enjoy so our whole family had Whataburger for dinner one evening.
Likewise, they were also given Chick-fil-A giftcards so our whole family had Chick-fil-A for dinner another evening.
The kids made fun instrument puzzles. A built a violin, B built a bass guitar, C built a drum, D built a piano and E built an organ. The tiny puzzles are so cute!
D will her completed tiny piano puzzle.
We also had a dance party! The kids put together a playlist of music (I think it was over 3 hours long) and we set up our schoolroom as a dance area. Our whole family had a lot of fun. I don't have lots of photos but I do have a few fun videos 😉.
Ready for the Dance Party!
B dancing with G 💓
The kids had a lot of crafts! They painted rocks. They built and painted birdhouses. C also built a paddle boat and tried it out in the bathtub - it worked. They had a lot of fun with all their crafts and I was so pleased with how everything turned out.
B made each side of her birdhouse a different type of weather. Above you can see a tornado and a rain cloud.
The other side you can see a sunny day, a snowy day and the top is a view of nighttime. I love how it turned out.
A made cherry blossom trees with lots of fun detail.
I love the lantern hanging from the tree above.
The kids also participated in a talent show! E played a ditty on the piano. D jumped rope with B. A showed a few tricks with her Diabolo. And the oldest 4 did a cup routine complete with a camp chant from last year! Check out the video below.
This is just a sampling of everything the kids did last week. I can't even begin to include everything but I hope you get the idea of how amazing TBSS did with having Camp in a Box this year. We truly had a fantastic experience.
