It has been an awesome summer!
You certainly did see much of me over here, but if you follow me on Instagram, you definitely got to see pictures of things we got up to!
This was a summer of travel, exploration and lots of fun.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission.
The older two both had birthdays at the beginning of July, so we had many celebrations for it. I love going all out for my kids’ birthdays and this year was no exception. Each child gets a special celebration on their actual birthday with immediate family, grandparents, aunts and uncles and then we have a grand party in between the two actual dates with family and friends.
Last year, we did a Paw Patrol theme and brought in a Chase character. This year, we went without a theme and instead hired bubbleologists (yes, that’s a thing) and a petting zoo. The kids had a blast watching bubble experiments and then playing with the bubbles, and then had a great time loving on the various animals.
After the celebration recovery, we got back into visiting African Lion Safari throughout the summer. We had lots of fun in the splash pad, learning about animals and of course riding the various rides.
We also snuck in a trip to the ROM and the Brantford Twin Valley Zoo!
We also made an effort to spend time with friends and family, and made a point of spending extra time with our public-school friends who we don’t get to see as much during the school year.
We also went on our very first trip with friends! It was an absolutely magical getaway to Santa’s Village in Bracebridge! The kids went on rollercoasters for the very first time, played in the splash pad, rode an insane number of rides and best of all (well in their eyes) they got to stay in a hotel with a pool in it!
This was such a special trip with dear friends of ours, one that we will cherish forever!
After such a successful mini holiday, we decided to give a serious road trip a try and made our way down to Pennsylvania to visit Sesame Place! This was such an incredible theme park and vacation overall! My kids enjoy the occasional episode of Sesame Street, but it’s by no means their favourite show – nevertheless, they were completely enthralled with Sesame Place and totally taken with all of the magic there.
There were so many fun rides and things to do. If we ever go back, I think we would plan to spread our visit over two days because there was just so much to take in! The kids were absolutely exhausted long before the end of the day, but toughed it out because they didn’t want to miss a thing (Sophia was out cold before we left the parking lot)!
While in Pennsylvania, we also discovered the Bucks’ County Children’s Museum, an amazing children’s museum filled with fantastic learning opportunities for the kids. You can see many pictures from our trip on our Instagram account and look forward to reviews of all our destinations in the coming weeks!
Now that the cooler weather is upon us and dad has gone back to work, we are shifting to engaging in more guided learning opportunities (in addition to and not substituting self-directed learning). I will continue to share the different activities we do each day along with the resources I find and create!
Yours in learning,
Elena
PS Be sure to follow our adventures on Instagram and get inspired by our ideas and things we love on Pinterest!