Napkin Dancing

Have you ever experienced Napkin Dancing? My old friend Lori taught it to David at a wedding dance this weekend. David kept saying that he just didn't know how to dance, and Lori, the former PE teacher, found a way to make dancing fun for all. They started with Fork Dancing, which is simply waving a fork in time to the music, and progressed to Napkin Dancing with cloth napkins taken from unused glasses at the reception. Napkin Dancing caught on with the flower girl as well, bringing much joy to the dance floor.

David and Lori also discovered how to fold their napkins into babushka scarves. A good time was had by all.

Little Friends

We just had a fun trip to Iowa, where we got to see many of my old friends and got to play with our little friends. Here is the annual picture of the gang--they are aged almost 1, 2, 3, almost 4, 5, and 6. Last year they danced together at Tammy's wedding, and this year they played at Grandma's house and Anson Park.

The girls especially appreciated each others' company, as they are both surrounded by brothers at home.

We also enjoyed pizza and delicious rhubarb crisp together.

Birthday Fun

Here are some pictures of the crab fishing race and the Play-Doh activities at David's birthday party last week. The boy in the red and blue shirt walking down the sidewalk is the clear winner of the crab race--he's already done with his marshmallow, and everyone else is still trying to figure out how to take a bite! Michael is looking at the string, deciding whether he should try the crab walk or just pick it up and eat it. :)
Sea urchins were a popular creature for the kids to make after David showed us how to break toothpicks and stick them in a ball of Play-Doh.

Jellyfish Cake!

David just had a party for his 6th birthday! Three friends from preschool came over for an ocean-themed party on Thursday. We had an Eggless Crazy Cake in the shape of a jellyfish, Ocean Water punch (blue Kool-Aid with Swedish Fish candy in it), and Goldfish crackers to eat. For entertainment, the kids (including Sarah and Michael, of course) did the crab walk across the yard to a bunch of marshmallows hanging from the clothesline, which they had to try to eat without using their claws (hands). They also played Pass the Prickly Sea Urchin, which is very much like Hot Potato. Whoever was holding the Sea Urchin (spiky ball) when the music stopped would leave the circle. The winners of these games got to dig for buried treasures in the sandbox, then share the prize boxes with everyone.

We also made a jellyfish pinata similar to the one from Cinco de Mayo (pictures are on another mom's camera) and eventually destroyed it with a snow brush stick. Everyone got several turns at hitting the pinata, and it exploded nicely!

It was pretty hot outside, and the mosquitoes were terrible, so we spent as much time as possible inside after the games were done.

While inside, we ate the cake, including some of the frosting tentacles, made Play-Doh sea creatures, and decorated goody bags with fun foam sea life stickers. David also got to open some very thoughtful gifts from his friends. All of the kids batted blue balloons around the living room to finish off the occasion.

The party was all over in about 90 minutes, but will be a happy memory for a long time.

Think Think

Think Think is a matching game made for the children by Auntie Emmy. Tonight, we had four participants in the game: Sarah, Michael, Spider-Froggy and White Cat. David helped Spider-Froggy and White Cat, since they are a stuffed frog wearing goggles and a silver jingle bell, respectively.

Friends visit!

We had a fun visit from some friends a couple of weeks ago! Members of two seminary friend families wanted to visit Sioux Falls, so we met them up there and went swimming together before visiting the actual Sioux River Falls. All in all, it was a wet and chilly day, as the pool heater was broken and it was pouring rain outside when we were at the falls. After we all came back to our house, though, we had a good time making cards and eating supper together. We even got to drive one of the girls back to meet her family in Minneapolis the next day, which made the car ride a lot more fun, especially for David.

Little Scientist

David really enjoys science! We found a book of water experiments at a garage sale a few weeks ago, and he decided to do this experiment on displacement. First, he made a ball of poster putty and found some little rocks. When he dropped them into the bowl of water, they all sank. Next, he flattened out the poster putty into a bowl shape and put a rock inside the putty bowl. When he put that in the water, both the putty and the rock floated! It was quite exciting. We did find that the white marble rocks from under the swingset were too heavy for the amount of water displaced by the little putty boat, though.