100 Books in 100 Days

Brady finished preschool last Thursday, so summer vacation has already started in this neck of "the woods".  I wanted to make this summer really special for my family and wanted to intentionally plan some activities for the boys and myself to do.   So, we have started this week "strong" and I hope to continue with this same gusto as the summer continues!

Last summer we had season passes to a local amusement park, and we definitely got our money's worth from those passes, but this year we chose not to purchase those passes.  We decided that we wanted to explore other places without having the thought, "but we have season passes, let's just go there!"  I am not saying that it is "bad" to have a season pass to anything; we just wanted to try something different this year (and we will probably get season passes again next year - because we did have a LOT of fun!).

So, what is on our plate this summer?  I don't have it all laid out yet, but I do know that it will include some "themed" weeks, bowling, watching some free movies, going to story-time at the library, swimming at my sister's house, playdates, soccer camp, and going on various "field trips".

I got the idea of having themed weeks over at "Life as Mom"  - she creates a "home camp" for her kids and calls it "Camp Wannlaffalotta."  I am using some of her ideas as a springboard for use with my own kids.  This week, we focused on the "Oceans of Fun" theme.  We have checked out LOADS of books from the library, made many crafts, had fun with food and watched a few videos!  It has been a lot of fun, and I have been pretty flexible about it too.

We have SO many library books in our house - some from this week's theme and some for next week's theme.  When I was looking at all of these books, I said to myself, I bet that we will read over 100 books...in 100 days.  Today is day 4, and day 100 will be August 31st.  I figured that I would make it easy on myself as far as the ending point to my 100 days...and that is how I chose the beginning date...and it really does not completely matter, because I am sure that we will read 100 books before August 31st anyway!

Here are some of the books that we have read so far this week - and notice that they are not all ocean themed:

1. Henry and Mudge and the Tall Tree House by Cynthia Rylant
2. Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble by Cynthia Rylant
3. Disney's the Aristocats
4. The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson
5. 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle
6. Duck, Duck, Goose by Tad Hills
7. Yummiest Love by Lisa McCourt
8. Otter on His Own: the Story of a Sea Otter by Doe Boyle
9. Sailor Moo: Cow at Sea by Lisa Wheeler
10. Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
11. Exploring the Deep Dark Sea by Gail Gibbons
12. Rainbow Fish Discovers the Deep Sea   by Marcus Pfister
13. Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale by Marcus Pfister
14. The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole
15. Pickles to Pittsburgh by Judi Barrett
16. The Marshmallow Incident by Judi Barrett

We are well on our way to 100 books!

So, what are you doing this summer?