2 Bug Days, 2 Zoo Days and Robert on a Motorcycle!

I taught the kids the "Slug Bug" game about a month ago, and they think it's the greatest game on earth.
It's more like the "gently and delicately pat each other on the hand game" whenever they see a VW Bug (or a P.T. Cruiser, Mini Cooper or Smart Car that they mistake for a VW Bug.)
When we started the game, I told them when they got to 50 points they could ride in a Slug Bug, thinking they would give up after a few days, but they didn't. They are like devoted "I Spy" wizards, and it only took them a little over a month to find 50actual VW Bugs.
So, being a mom of my word, we searched used car dealerships and found one with a single VW Bug in the lot. The kids were excited.
However, it was like Salesman Frank could sense my driving history or something because he did not let the kids and I test drive the car.
Maybe I didn't strike him as a serious customer because we kept refering to the car as a Slug Bug.
Maybe he noticed the masking tape covering the cuss words keyed into my van door when I drove up and thouht I was probably not really in the market for a car that would not fit my childrens' 3 car seats, even though I told him that it didn't matter because I like that the Bugs come with vases next to the steering wheel. (It's true. I love that part.)
Or maybe there's something about me that says to Salesman Frank that he doesn't want his VW Bug to be the victim in my 14th fender bender.
Either way, the kids still enjoyed sitting in the car and honking the horn over and over and over...not sure Salesman Frank enjoyed that part as much. He did give me his card though, but we probably won't keep in touch.
A few dys later, we had actual Bug Day!
Stanton and Noelle have been asking to do Bug Day for a while, so we got our creative juices flowing and got to work .
They came up with a game where we put all of our bug flash cards on the floor, and if you step on a poisonous bug, you can never play the game again cause you die.
I thought it was a pretty inventive of them, and luckily nobody was harmed, for pretend or for real.
Then we played my game that I mostly made up but kind of stole from Pinterest.
I printed and laminated all sorts of bugs and then you close your eyes and pick either a number, a fly swater or a can of bug spray. Whatever number you get you take that many bugs. If you get a fly swater, you lose one bug, and if you get the bug spray, you lose all your bugs. And whoever has the most bugs in their jar at the end wins.
Just call me Milton Bradley! My Dad used to try to invent board games too when I was growing up. It must be genetic.
Then we had our bug snacks and read bug books.
Ants on a log was not a fan favorite, so after they finished their celery, we made it with bananas, peanut butter and chocolate chips, which I must agree were much better than raisins.
Then we taped all of our bug cards to Grandma's window and hid glow bugs in Daddy's car and finger painted caterpillars and butterflies, which turned out so, so, so cute!
When it got dark, we "caught" fireflies and drank their glowing juice.
Stanton asked if we had to crush them to make the juice, and I said "no," but he wanted more of an explaination. So Grandpa told him we milked them. That still makes me laugh to think of milking fireflies.
And then we went on a bug hunt with flashlights.
It turned out at bathtime, I just happened to have some glow sticks lying around, so we put them in their bath water, and turned out the lights, which ended up being their favorite part of Bug Day, the firefly bath. They liked it so much, they've taken a few more since.
The next day our fun friend Liz planned the best zoo scavenger hunt ever! She led all the kids around the zoo, reading them stories, singing them songs, playing games and puzzles and she had snacks and a treat bag for them at the end.
It was great fun!
We went to the zoo again a couple days later with some more friends. We seriously can't get enough of the zoo with this beautiful weather!

And last, but not least, Daddy had some fun on his own.
For Christmas I got Robert a Groupon for a motorcycle class, and he finally used it. He's always had this secret (oops) dream to have a motorcycle gang. We've even made gang names for a few of his friends...Bones, Bish, Grizz, Tiny Tim, etc, etc. Robert's gang name is Curly.
So getting him the class was the least I could do, since he will never actually own a motorcycle.
He said he had fun at the class, and he even learned to ride. Plus, he was totally surprised by my gift and loved it, so I redeemed myself from last Christmas when I got him 4 of the exact things he already had. I'm happy he liked it so much!
Kimmie + Curly Forever!