Since many of you are probably clueless about our crazy ABC summers, I want to share a little background. If you really want all the details, you can read them on my original post, Beating the Dreaded Brain Drain. We've been celebrating our summers with the alphabet since 2009, the summer before my eldest began kindergarten. This fall, my youngest will be a kindergartner. In our family, that means we will be having one giant ABC summer blowout!
Here's a brief glance at what we've done each year:
2009 - all ABCs all summer (for my oldest)
2010 - found photography (my oldest took pics of letters he found in objects around our house and town; see more at Photography, Books, & Food... Oh My!)
2011 - we read lots of books with titles that started with every letter of the alphabet
2012 - all ABCs all summer (for my middle child)
2013 - photography (my daughter created letters from objects that started with each letter; i.e. a B from buttons and an E from eggs. Read all about it at ABC Photography Summer 2013)
2014 - foods that started with each letter of the alphabet
As I said, this year will be another "all ABCs all summer!" We've been used to summer break lasting from the end of May through mid-August, but this year we'll be adjusting to a different school calendar. Our summer break will be from mid-June through Labor Day. I still need to sit down with the calendar and plan out how many days we'll be spending on each letter, but the kids and I are really starting to look forward to it! We know the plans will include a huge road trip to IA, lots of fun with relatives and friends there, and another road trip home including a caravan with my parents and sister's family. It should be loads of fun!
I'll also be posting ideas for each letter that are geared towards those of you in the Pacific Northwest. Many of the places I planned around in my first ABC posts were in the Midwest. This year, I'll post new lists of places in WA and OR, as well as things that can be done around here. If you are native to this area and have ideas that you don't want me to miss, please let me know! :)
