water play

Water Table & Sidewalk Chalk {Summer Bucket List}

Amber 1 Comment

Between Texas heat and potty training quadruplets, my sanity is questionable most days.  One lifesaver has been water play.   Our Little Tikes water table and iconic pink NICU bathtubs have been well used this summer.  I try to introduce novel items with water play to keep it engaging.  If I’m dressing four kids in swimsuits and setting up water, it has to last at least an hour, preferably longer.

1. Little People Bath Station

I was inspired by My Nearest and Dearest to set up a Little People water park and bath station on the front porch.  I gave each of the kids a tub filled with water, a mini bottle of baby wash, a wash cloth, and a few Little People dolls.  They spent the entire morning scrubbing dolls and squirting soap.  Lots of clean fun!

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little people bath station

2. Dish Washing Station

I borrowed this idea from a neighbor because it was brilliant.  I gave each child tub of water, a stack of play dishes, a scrub brush (I found super cute ones with animal handles at the Dollar Tree), and a Softsoap bottle filled with a little bubble bath and water. They got busy washing their dishes, and then scrubbing the patio before they jumped into the tubs themselves.  It’s hard to imagine they used to take a bath in these tubs and can barely fit inside now.

As the quads splashed around, my tootsies enjoyed a Mary Kay foot soak followed by energizing mint lotion.  I was in a foul mood that day thanks to countless potty accidents paired with many tantrums.  My little Mom foot spa worked amazingly at changing my demeanor.  I felt rejuvenated and the kids behavior seemed drastically better when I felt better.


Then….

NICU bathtime

Bath time in the NICU. Rylin is on the left and Harper the right.

And now…

NICU bathtubs

water play

3.  Condiment Bottle Squirters

Another day, I set up shop on the front porch.  I situated myself on an angle so I could supervise water play on the porch and sidewalk chalk drawings on the driveway. For water play, I used the NICU tubs and Softsoap bottles with bubbles, but also gave each of the quads an assortment of empty condiment bottles filled with colored water to mix.  I enjoyed another foot soak, this time whilst sipping fresh lemonade.   From time to time, the kids would give me a little foot treatment by pouring bubbles over my calves, which was sweet.  When we were finished playing we dumped the water tubs over the sidewalk chalk art to clean the driveway.


I love knocking out two bucket list items all at once!  Stay tuned as we wrap up the bucket list.

  1. Movies
  2. Sea Life Aquarium
  3. Train ride
  4. Fire station tour
  5. Library story time
  6. Sprayground
  7. Zoo
  8. Bahama Buck’s
  9. Frozen yogurt
  10. Community pool
  11. Grill dinner outside
  12. Water Table
  13. Inflatable Pool
  14. Sprinklers
  15. Ice Cream
  16. Indoor playgrounds
  17. Lee’s Grilled Cheese
  18. Blow bubbles
  19. Chalk drawings
  20. Board games
  21. Play dates
  22. Summer Reading Club
  23. Dance classes
  24. Fireworks
  25. Sleep over with grandparents
  26. Nature Walks
  27. Bounce house
  28. Popsicles
  29. S’mores
  30. Sparklers
  31. Water pistol duels

hugs,

Amber

PS- If you can’t get enough of Four to Adore, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

Sprayground {Summer Bucket List}

Amber 4 Comments

In the heat of Texas, Splash Pads/ Spraygrounds/ Splash Parks are all the rage for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. These are generally city owned and operated parks that involve water sprayers and sprinkler type structures.  There are no pools of water, which is great for children who cannot yet swim, and it’s a relief for parents supervising little ones. Plus they are my favorite price, free! I’ve been itching to give one a try all season.

Even though I’ve been more caviler in taking the quads out myself, I was more than relieved to have my friend, Kristen, join us.  An extra set of hands and eyes is always nice for a new excursion.  Though I don’t typically dress the quads in matching threads, I bought matchy suits especially for the sprayground.  I’ve found that dressing the kids alike helps me keep tabs on everyone if they’ll have opportunities to dart away.

When we arrived at the sprayground, the quads hesitantly followed Kristen and I through the gates. We spotted an empty table shaded by an awning and staked claim with our baggage.   I planned on the kids playing in the water for a while, then breaking for lunch.  Much to my dismay, not one of the kids was eager to approach the water.  Kristen and I made a decision to enjoy an early picnic, giving the kids time to observe their peers at play before giving it a whirl.

splashground

After polishing off our meal, the quads were still uninterested in playing.  Eventually the boys decided to explore with Kristen.  It was going well until another sprayer unexpectedly doused them.  They were D-O-N-E at that point, and the girls were not having any part of this wet mania. Kristen and I took turns taking kids through the tame misters, and every single child blubbered and wailed through the entire experience.  We were miserable.  It wasn’t long before we cut this field trip short and headed home.

splashground

To prove we were all at the splahsground, Kristen snapped this photo-

splashground

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Getting four two year olds ready for the sprayground was a huge undertaking and I didn’t want all the effort going to waste.  Once at home, we filled up trusty inflatable giraffe pool, which the quads thoroughly enjoyed before nap time arrived.

inflatable pool

Following nap, we hit up or local frozen yogurt shop for an afternoon snack.  The quads got a kick out of choosing their own flavors and toppings.  Sydney chose classic chocolate, which she dribbled all over her yellow and white dress (if you have tips for removing chocolate frozen yogurt from clothing- I’m open to suggestions!). In the past, shaving cream removed chocolate stains, but not this one.


I’m not giving up on the concept of a splash pad/ sprayground just yet.  We have a sprinkler for the yard, and I’m hoping it will help the quads warm up to sprayers.  Even if it wasn’t a total success, we knocked more items off our summer bucket list!

  1. Movies
  2. Sea Life Aquarium
  3. Train ride
  4. Fire station tour
  5. Library story time
  6. Sprayground
  7. Zoo
  8. Bahama Buck’s
  9. Frozen yogurt
  10. Community pool
  11. Grill dinner outside
  12. Water Table
  13. Inflatable Pool
  14. Sprinklers
  15. Ice Cream
  16. Indoor playgrounds
  17. Lee’s Grilled Cheese
  18. Blow bubbles
  19. Chalk drawings
  20. Board games
  21. Play dates
  22. Summer Reading Club
  23. Dance classes
  24. Fireworks
  25. Sleep over with grandparents
  26. Nature Walks
  27. Bounce house
  28. Popsicles
  29. S’mores
  30. Sparklers
  31. Water pistol duels

hugs,

Amber

PS- If you can’t get enough of Four to Adore, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

Play Date for Eight

Amber 5 Comments

We finally settled into our new digs enough to host our first play date with none other than our quad buddies, the Bells. After several trial and error play dates, Amber and I discovered that evening play dates are pure genius. Initially we tried the traditional daytime rendezvous and failed repeatedly. The babies usually played happily until nap time.  However at nap time, the visitors protested voraciously and the host babies were upset by wailing visitors. This left two frazzled mammas with eight grouchy babies.  It wasn’t pretty.

We now meet up after all babies are refreshed from naps and have several hours before bedtime. The hostess serves up dinner for everyone and the mammas enjoy a glass of vino while the kiddies play in harmony. I can honestly say this is the only way to have a relaxing play date with so many little ones.

Despite a week of flash flooding, we opted for an evening of water play.  What better way to celebrate summer?  In preparation for the event, I littered our backyard with water tables, a mini pool, slide and an assortment of water toys.  While my quads snoozed, I prepared a picnic for everyone: P B & J triangles with berries and veggie sticks for the quads, pimento cheese for the adults, and cakeys for dessert (cake bars Rylin dubbed “cakeys”).

During the day, I showed the quads pictures of the Bell family and explained they were coming over.  After nap, I dressed everyone in swimsuits and doused them in sunscreen as I reminded them of our company.  Clearly they knew it was time to parr-tayy because all four began running circles in the den as they squealed in delight.  When Amber and her crew arrived, I gave her the quick house tour then we ushered all eight babies outside.  Thankfully, George was home from work a bit early so he helped set up the goods for water play (he was also instrumental in clean up efforts).  Everything went swimmingly!  All eight babies scampered around, finding ways to entertain themselves.

It didn't take long before all eight babies were fully entertained with water play.

It didn’t take long before all eight babies were fully entertained with water play.

This is like a game of Where's Waldo....can you spot all eight babies?

This is like a game of Where’s Waldo….can you spot all eight babies?

Mason and Trystan cozied up in the mini pool.

Mason and Trystan cozied up in the mini pool.  Aren’t they adorable together?

I dropped some of our Color Dropz into the water tables and mini pool for a little pizazz!

I dropped some of our Color Dropz into the water tables and mini pool for a little pizzaz!

Amber helped dole out ice water to little beggars.

Amber helped dole out ice water to thirsty little beggars.

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It looks like someone found the mud.  No worries though, Amber and I had a solid clean up plan.

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All eight of the quads now interact with each other, and don’t always stick to their familiar siblings, which indicates play date success in my book.

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Look carefully in the background and you’ll see Harper bailing water from the mini pool to the galvanized bucket. He managed to fill it halfway with just that little red scoop!

As the dinner hour approached, I gathered our picnic trappings and brought them outside along with plastic dinnerware.  Within seconds, all eight babies gathered around our Little Tykes picnic table where we dished out dinner.   Our quads don’t have the best track record for eating meals away from their quad table so I wasn’t really sure what eight would do.  They amazed us as they sat for the entire meal and gobbled up dinner.  I suppose they worked up hearty appetites playing outside.

I couldn't squeeze eight plates around the picnic table, but sharing is commonplace for multiples so it wasn't a problem.

I couldn’t squeeze eight plates around the picnic table, but sharing is commonplace for multiples so it wasn’t a problem.

As the babies noshed on their picnic, Amber snatched ice water for everyone. She's a pro at this!

As the babies noshed on their picnic, Amber snatched ice water for everyone. She’s a pro at this!

After dinner, George became very popular as he was the cakey server.

After dinner, George became very popular as he was the cakey server.

When the sun began to set, George, Amber, and I created a pioneer style wash basin for the babies with our toy bucket.  George filled it with warm water then Amber and I took turns sponge bathing our respective babies and wrapping them in dry towels.  As each one was wrapped tightly, we lined them up in the den for a Veggie Tales movie.  Amber and I managed to “bathe”, dry, and dress eight babies in pajamas (complete with lotion) in a matter of minutes.  Impressive, I think.  I turned on our classical lullaby playlist as everyone enjoyed perusing a few books and novel toys before bed.  George tucked our babies into cribs as Amber and I loaded hers into the Suburban before we said farewell.  Another successful play date for eight!

Ahhh, clean, dry and jammied babies with a few good reads before bed.

Ahhh, clean, dry and jammied babies with a few good reads before bed.

hugs!

 

Amber

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