The Stoufer Family: 06/18/10

Camp!! 6/18/10

A few months back a representative from Pine Ridge Bible Camp came to our church to tell us about their program. We had already talked about the possibility of sending Marc to Bible camp this summer. We were very impressed with what he had to say and Marc even talked about how fun it looked. (They talked to the kids too). So we went and toured their grounds and talked to the program director. He answered all of our questions correctly, the way we wanted them to be. As I talked to people I knew about the camp, the more great things we heard about it! My preschool director is even friends with the owners! :-) So, we bit the bullet and signed our little, baby boy up for his first time at Bible camp. One of the things I liked about this camp is for kids going into 1st grade, they are only allowed to do a 1 night stay. What a great way to get the used to camp! We dropped him off about 10:00 Friday morning and picked him back up about 10:00 Saturday morning.
Marc was ready and excited to go to camp Friday morning.

After we got there and got him registered we were off to his cabin.

We found his cabin and got him settled in his bunk.

We found out that a friend from his kindergarten class was in the same cabin with him! We were so relieved! We were a little worried about how he would do. He has only ever spent the night away from us a few times, and even then he was at my Mom's house. We were hoping that maybe having Nathan there with him would help. It did!

Marc with his cabin leader, "Tom, Tom".

Tom-Tom had each boy make a bed sign with their name and a few things that they liked to do.

While Marc was making his bed sign, Samantha tested out his bed for him.

Marc stayed in the Euphrates cabin. All their cabins are named after bodies of water. There were 8 boys and 1 adult in his cabin.

As soon as most of the boys were there an settled, they went off to the playground. We had to stop Marc from running away to tell us good bye. At that point we figured he was going to do just fine! :-)

I think Marc did better than we did. I found myself thinking about him ALL day and night! Sometimes it was missing him, but mostly it was just wondering what we was doing. We are the type of parents that like to document what our kids are doing and we couldn't do that! ;-)
We picked him up Saturday morning. After we heard all about what he did I asked him if he missed us. His answer....."Um, no!" I am SO glad he had fun!!! Daddy and I were jealous of everything he got to do! We might have to do family camp next year! ;-)

Block Party!! 6/13/10

We had our 4th Annual Block Party! We live in such an AWESOME neighborhood how could we pass up the opportunity to hang out with all of our cool neighbors all together????? They set up a few grills in a driveway and ask everyone to bring their own meat to grill, a dish to pass, and their smile. :-) Marc enjoyed chatting with Mr. Dale as he grilled out hot dogs for us.

This year we had a ladder ball tournament. Marc and i didn't get very far. We were eliminated the first round.. :-( The winner of the whole thing got a really cute certificate. We even practiced a little before hand with the kiddos....and we own the game. Pretty sad, huh?! ;-)

If you are ever around, watch out for Samantha wicked throw! ;-)

My kids actually played nicely together on the neighbors swing set! ;-) It was actually very cute!

Super fun time with super great neighbors! :-)

Rockford Start of Summer Celebration 6/12/10

Every year, the first weekend in June, Rockford has a Start of Summer Celebration. The main thing we do is the parade. It is a fun parade and the kids enjoy it almost as much as I do. ;-) We got there a little early so we could get a good seat.

Samantha entertained herself by people watching and playing with leaves on the curb.

She thought it was SO cool that people in the parade were throwing candy at her!! She loved picking up the pieces off the ground. We had to tell her brother to let her get some. ;-)

After the parade we hit the Children's tent. The local toy store sponsors a free activity tent every year. She usually rotates the activities from year to year. This year the kids could paint a pet rock and make a t-shirt. The kids could use markers and bingo daubers to decorate it however they wanted.

There was also a carnival. We choose not to do any of the rides or games this year since 1) they cost about $2-3 per ride and 2) we are going to Disneyland in July. We did hit a few of the craft vendors. We got some of those yummy dip mixes. :) The last thing we did was watch the firemen play waterball. They use their fire hoses to power a dangling ball across a wire (kind of like tug of war with water).

We spent about 2 hours of family fun there and then headed home for some relaxation! :-)

Kindergarten Graduation Celebration Day 6/11/10

Marc didn't have school on Friday, the day after his picnic, so Daddy took the day off and we decided to have a day of family fun to celebrate Marc's kindergarten graduation. We were headed to a blowing alley when we passed a sing saying that a new bounce house place was open. We had seen ads for this place and it looked like fun so we went there instead. It was one of the first few days it was open so there was only 1 other family in there with us. We had to pay by the hour and the adults were only supposed to go on the inflatables if we were helping our kids. Gee darn, we have a 2 year old that needs help. ;-)
The first thing we went on was the slide. Samantha didn't like climbing the stairs. I was almost pushing her up the steps as I climbed them behind her. But she loved going down the slide.

As always, Marc loved it too!

There was a room that had 2 Nerf ball shooter set up. So Marc and Daddy climbed in and shot balls at each other while Samantha and I stood outside and watched.

I had trouble keeping Samantha from climbing into the Nerf room. I didn't want her to get hit so I took her into the carousel bounce house. She didn't like being in the normal bounce house with Marc. I think Marc bounced it too much for her. I wondered if she would do better in it by herself. She did really well for awhile. Until she got walking so fast that she cold keep her feet under her. Once she fell, it was all over, she wanted out.

The most popular bounce house for my kiddos was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse activity house. There were little slides, things to climb over, and velcro activities to do....super cute!!

After we spent our hour of time bouncing, we headed for some lunch. We stopped at a small pizza joint that sold pizza by the slice. there were no booster seats or high chairs, so Samantha sat in the chair like a big girl and did great!

We ran some errands, browsed (and bought) some books at a couple of used book stores, and just plain enjoyed our family time. After that it was dinner time so we took the kiddos to The Melting Pot for some cheese fondue dinner.

It was a very fun day as a family celebrating the fact that we no longer have a kindergartner.

Kindergarten Picinic/Party 6/10/10

A few weeks ago, during Market Place Day (see previous post), Mrs. Grimm was bummed that she didn't get a vase that some kids had stamped/painted. So we decided to make one for her as an end-of-the-year thank you gift. Marc did a great job on it!

The day after graduation, all 84 kindergartens and their families descended upon a local park. I have to say.....that's A LOT of kids!!!! When we first got there there was some time for free play on the playground. There were 2 different climbing structures, a set of swings, some digging machines, a sand pit, and some open grassy areas. It was a PERFECT park for this type of event! :) Here are some random, cute pictures of the kids playing on the play sets.

Marc climbing the rock wall.

Samantha "climbing" the rock wall

Samantha playing peek-a-boo while on the swings ;-)

Samantha thinks it's cool that she can swing in the "big girl" swing too.

All the kids had fun piling onto the teeter totter all at once.

This is Marc and one of his "girl friends" Katerie

Peek! (We have a very similar picture of Marc at about this age that we LOVE so we had to get one like that of Samantha.)

Daddy had to help Samantha climb the rock wall, but she climbed these steps all the way to the top by herself several times!

Our little dare devil!

During the free play time we decided it was time to give Mrs Grimm her end of the year thank you gift. We gave her the vase that Marc decorated, a certificate I printed from a web site that Marc had to fill in why he liked having her as his teacher, a card, and gift card to her favorite restaurant, and a print out of a picture of them on the first day and last day of school.

During free play time they had the kids make a tie dye shirt. They found this really cool kit that had spray bottles for them to use.

We took a break to refuel our energy level.

After lunch the kids had some more free play for awhile. Then they had some organized group games for them to play.

Jelly bean relay. Kids had to run with a jelly bean on their spoon.

My little cheer leader......as long as screaming counts. ;-)

Marc's first time doing a sack race.

And last, but not least.....tug of war!

After the games, we all went on a nature walk on the trail that runs through and next to the park. Check out my little Romeo. He rode the alligator with his girlfriend Katerie and he walked the nature walk with his girlfriend Sara. (notice them holding hands?)

Samantha took the nature walk in style. ;-)

After the walk they had free play. After free play they did a water balloon toss and then all chaos broke loose. The kids got to throw water balloons at whoever they wanted. Mrs Grimm said that her targets are the parents who do not have any more kids coming into her class in the future. So, we were safe this year, but she told me I better watch out when Samantha graduates. ;-) We have made a mental note to bring our own stash of water balloon to get her with then. ;-)

The kids got treated to a magic/comedy/balloon show. The guy did lots of silly sight gag humor trick....right up 6-year-old sense of humor alley! :) (sorry for the bad lighting)

The parents who organized the picnic actually brought a sno cone machine. So the kids got to have sno cones near the end of the day to cool off after playing in the sun all day! :-)

Samantha had never had a sno cone before so we decided this was a good time for her to try it for the first time. Every bite she took, she closed her eyes......

This is how she looked after her first bite......she wasn't so sure about it at first.....

but then she was begging for more. She was practically trying to get out of her stroller to get bites when we didn't give her another one fast enough. ;-)