Field Day!

Back in May my friend Starr went on Facebook and said she'd like to host a Field Day for the kids. She felt really bad about the kids missing out on this fun end of the school year tradition. She asked each family to bring something to contribute to the day whether it was food, supplies for the games or tables to set up food on. We brought our own camping chairs, chips to share and a bag of small candies to entice the kids to clean up when we were all done with our fun day. 

A couple days before the event I asked Starr if she invited Christina and her kids and she hadn't. She told me to go ahead and invite her because the more the merrier really! Starr's house is really close to Christina's so it was super easy for them to make it. 

Field Day was June 24th! 

Christina brought a couple containers that were going to be used for water balloons later, but in the beginning the kids put them to use as a roly poly habitat! 

So many roly poly bugs!

The kids kept finding all the bugs up next to the fence line where there were these bigger rocks.

The reason Starr felt like she could host this event was because this field is right outside her backyard. This was only part of it!! It was honestly probably bigger than 4 football fields. Such a great place to have Field Day! 

Those green arches were pool noodles stuck in the ground. Those made up the parameter of the field for our games. 

It was perfect weather...a bit overcast with some breakthrough sunshine. We decided to set up our chairs over by these trees so if the sun did come out we'd have some shade. 

Like I said everyone brought food....Starr made hot dogs. After we all ate it was time for the festivities to begin! 

Ready and waiting for instructions! 

The first game was a relay race where you had to get from one side of our game field to the other holding a beach ball between your legs. I bounced around to show the kids what Miss Starr was talking about. 

The teams were made up of 3 or 4 kids. You bounced around one way and then past the beach ball to the next person that was waiting on the other side. 

If you happened to only have 3 kids on your team one of the kids had to go twice. I'm not sure which team won, but it was so much fun I don't think anyone cared. 

The next game was also in teams of 3 or 4. One of the kids wore a shower cap and we put shaving cream all over it. 

Then the other kids on your team tried to get cheeseballs to stick to the shaving cream. 

There were cheeseballs flying everywhere! 

It was fun to see the different strategies. Some kids threw them one at a time, some threw handfuls and some of the kids with the shaving cream tried to help by bending down their heads.  

It was hilarious!

Look cheeseballs!!! 

My little cheesehead! 

Between games Zeke wanted a picture with his rock collection or habitat he made...I'm not sure now its been so long! 

The next game was a relay race with sponges and water. 

It really was nice that Christina and her kids came since my kids didn't really know any of the other kids that were there. I know they would have made friends and sometimes it good to push your kids to get outside their comfort zone and do that, but with them being stuck at home with no kind of interaction with their classmates or friends it would of been hard for them to put themselves out there. Because I have 4 kids and Christina has 3 kids it was just the right number for them to be a team together. 

This game was hilarious in that it took the kids a bit to really get the whole concept. It was also ridiculous that at first we had Zeke the shortest behind Caleb who's the tallest. Poor Caleb couldn't get his arms down low enough to pass the sponge to Zeke and Zeke couldn't reach up high enough to grab it. Poor vertically challenged kiddo! 

Once the kids got the concept of the game and understood that they had to move from the back of the line to the front of the line they got in a good rhythm. 

They were definitely getting wet each time they put the sponge over their head. Owen was so proud of himself for wearing his coat because his t-shirt underneath never got wet! 

Squeeze all that water out! 

The kids did great, but their team didn't win. Honestly I never heard the kids complain once about not winning. They were just so thrilled to be outside playing with other kids! 

Starr certainly knows the way to kids' hearts because she purchased this awesome parachute! 

This is always every kids favorite thing about Field Day! 

Hours of entertainment if we let them! 

Those beach balls came in handy for the second time! 

Explaining the rules for the water balloon fight. This took WAY longer than it should have, but these poor kids haven't been used to sitting still and taking instructions so it's understandable. 

Ella Bean did not want to get soaked so she did not participate in the water balloon fun! 

I didn't get any pictures of the water balloon fight, but of course it was loads of fun. At the end we told the kids to pick up every little shred of water balloons and they would get candy for doing so. I have never seen kids pick up so fast and be so helpful. They didn't complain one bit and were actually racing over to get pieces picked up. So proud of them. 

After the clean up us Mom's hung out and chatted for a bit while the kids played together. At one point the kids were WAY over on the other side of this huge field chasing each other. It was so glorious! 

The morning of Field Day I called Christina to see if Jack and Ella could spend the night. It was such last minute request I wasn't sure if it would work, but it did! They were so excited. Of course Owen and Zeke didn't want to be left out so they asked if they could spend the night at Ga-Ga & Pa's. It all worked out so amazingly since the next day was Pa's birthday and Family Night so they picked up Jack and Ella from Christina's house and they all came up for Family Night and to celebrate Pa's birthday. 

Such a fun time and so grateful for friends that take the time to plan events like this that bring joy to those around them. Thanks Starr!!!!