Summer Sleepovers

 Looking back at these pictures, I'm realizing that summer sleepovers at our house might not be the most fun thing ever.

If Daddy goes to work, we do our summer schedule, which means that our friends have to read and do Latin and whatever activity the child is on that day: math? German? geography?  Sorry, we do our best to avoid summer slide in this house.

But, of course, they do get to play a little bit!

I don't think their friends complained much, and chores are always more fun with friends!  

The summer was so fast, I don't think we fit in nearly as many playdates and sleepovers as I thought we would!  We'll try to keep it going into the school year.

later days

Sleepovers and Playdates

I've had children gone, children added, back to back sleepovers and quick turn arounds for my dear ones this summer.  Emily was pretty good about sending me pictures from her adventures!  The night we got back from camping, Emily showered, repacked and headed out with Abby's family to visit her mom's parents!  They were gone five nights, and she was busy the whole time!

They did trampoline, tie dye, beach, fireworks, boating, Greenfield Village, movies, glow sticks, and so many other things!  I'm trying to convince Emily it would be worthwhile for her to write about it, but she's unconvinced, so I'm posting a few pictures that either Nicole or Emily sent me, so that she can fondly remember her trip later.

I sure as happy to have her home!  She was pretty tired after almost two weeks of fun!

Earlier in the summer, she spent the night at Ella's house, and they went to the Gizzardfest to celebrate her birthday.  She sent me a couple of pictures from that night too.

Very recently, Grace headed to Renae's for the night, and we got to have Kennedy over at the same time.  So, the house felt happy with 5 children running around. = )  I have no pictures of Grace at Renae's though, because she doesn't have a phone and was borrowing William's.

One of the nights Emily was gone, we'd gone to pick up some cardboard for the murder mystery chimney from Kristy, and came home with Zoey as well as the cardboard. = )

We have a playdate scheduled for William, since, aside from summer camp, he hasn't had time to hang out with any of his friends!  

Melody and Heleena were also able to come visit for playdates during the day, which was fun.  Grace made a gift for Heleena, when she came over.

And Kristy picked up and dropped off EGJ each day for an entire week of swim camp!!!

And, on night one, the twins got to spend the night with Zoey, too!  I was in Oklahoma for the first part of the week, and recovering for the second part, so I sure am thankful that she was willing to take on part of my crew too!

I've tried to say yes as much as I can to social events this summer, but I'm tired!  Next week is band camp, and then we have about one week before the twins start up, so I don't know how much time we'll have to play, but we'll try!

later days

Grace and Juliet's 10th Birthday Party Sleepover

Earlier in the year, Juliet's BFF Kennedy and her mom were in a car accident.  Kennedy was released to school a few weeks later (her mom has had a much longer recovery) in a wheelchair and cast.  Juliet really wanted Kennedy to come for the sleepover, so we waited until she was out of her cast to have the party.  So, despite their birthday being in April, their party was in June.

In the days leading up to the party, we painted rocks (a rock for every occasion!)

And the girls filled up some goodies bags.

I saw some cute little hot pads at a thrift store one day, and thought they would make adorable sleeping bag invitations!  So, I sewed them up the side and cut out a 'girl shaped' invitation to slide inside, then rolled them.  I was pleased.

This picture is included somewhere else in the blog too, but I thought I'd add it again.

Each time I encountered unicorns or rainbows or anything that screamed twin party, I bought it for their party.  We also reused some of the decorations from their class publishing party, like the streamers, and glass cups!

The streamers were harder to put up and take down this time, since I was using straight pins and a hammer instead of the original adhesive, it looked so good, that it was absolutely worth it!

We didn't have any games or activities planned, so they mostly just hung out and entertained each other.

Grace got a lot of Hello Kitty stuffies for her birthday!

They liked the bubbles from Zoey!

William was quite the sport, considering he was now outnumbered 9:1!

We also reused the drink fountain, with limes added for that little extra flavor.  The splash radius is wild though, and the counter and floor were both so wet by the end of the day!

Everyone taking an electronic break.

The American girl dolls got some play, when they set up the entirety of accessories around the room!

Table was reset for breakfast the next morning. 

Since all the plates and bowls matched, we marked them with these cute little llamas that I got for mother's day last year!

I finally crashed around one in the morning, but heard them up by 7.  So, they didn't get much sleep!

Despite planning these as a 'craft' I opted to just make them.  The ones without bears just have chocolate centers!

 I think my girls had a great time, and hope that their guests did too!  It was crazy and loud, but wonderful to have so many friends come to celebrate with Grace and Juliet!

later days

you can see their actual birthday here.

edit 7-21-24: backdated for continuity.