Lollipop Factory

The Spangler Candy Company is located about an hour from Fort Wayne. One day last week we took a trip there to see how they make their candy (they are best known for making dum-dum lollipops, but they also make candy canes).

We rode in a trolley inside the factory and got to see the different steps in making lollipops. It was neat to see all of the lollipops zooming along the conveyor belts to their different stations in the factory. The kids liked learning that the company makes some unusual lollipops, such as pizza or bacon flavored. They also thought it was really funny to wear hair nets during the tour. At the end of the tour, we got the check out the gift shop where there were tons of free samples of candy canes and lollipops.

Spangler makes regular candy canes and flavored ones. One of the flavors is Smarties candy flavor. The kids thought this joke the tour guide told was really funny: "As you visit the gift shop, buy some of our dum-dum lollipops and some of our Smarties candy canes, and then maybe you will turn out normal." We didn't buy any smarties candy canes, but the kids did talk me into buying a GIANT bag of the lollipops, so if you are our guest anytime soon, be prepared to be offered a lollipop since we now have a million.

The pictures below show them posing with a giant version of the dum-dums mascot, and then with the trolley. We also had some time to kill between when we arrived and when the next tour would leave, so the last picture is from a park we found where we ate lunch.

Passport to Imagination

Each summer the craft store Michael's offers crafting classes for kids in their Passport to Imagination program. This is the first summer we have tried out the classes and I was really impressed. There are certain crafts scheduled over the course of 5 weeks during the summer. We chose to go to one to where they were making a fishing game.

Samuel and Becca got to make the fishing game, and then they were given 4 colors of Model Magic to make whatever they wanted out of, and then they got to make something with perler beads. So they got to do 3 crafts all together, for a total of about an hour and a half. We happened to be the only people on the day we went, so the instructor worked one-on-one with them on everything. The entire morning cost $5 per child, so it was very reasonable. If you have a Michael's near you and are looking for a fun way to spend a morning, I'd highly recommend checking out their Passport to Imagination classes.

Water Fun

One of Samuel and Becca's favorite things to do is play in the sprinkler. When they tire of that, they like to empty out the toy bins that we normally use to hold outside toys, and fill them with water from the hose. Then they sit in there (how, I don't know, since the water is freezing!) They will play in there until their lips are blue and I have to drag them inside.

Walking Tour of Fort Wayne

In our district, each class gets to go on 1 field trip each year. This year the 3rd grade field trip was a walking tour of Fort Wayne. The kids learn about the history of town during the school year, then at the end, they get to go see the sites in person. This year I went as a chaperone with Samuel's class. Here are some pictures from the day.

The entire class by the statue of Mad Anthony Wayne, who Fort Wayne is named after.

Samuel and his friend Brady at the Historic Old Fort:

At the history museum:

The class making silly faces at one of the pieces of artwork around town:

I didn't get any pictures of it, but one of the things that Samuel enjoyed most that day was lunch because it was at a Fort Wayne landmark called Coney Island, famous for the hot dogs it serves. 

After walking around town all morning, we spent the afternoon at The Embassy Theater, a restored old theater in town. The kids had a chance to act out a play on the stage, complete with costumes and props, and then we were given a tour of theater, which was really interesting. Personally, one of the things I found most interesting was a fact our 70-year-old tour guide shared: when he was a kid, he would go to the movies on Saturdays to see a newsreel, 1 hour of cartoons, and 2 westerns. He would be at the theater for about 5 hours, and all of this cost 17 cents! That's a far cry from the $7.50 it costs for 1 ticket for a matinee in 2015. 

Running Club

Our school offers a Running Club for 3rd-5th graders in the fall and spring. Kids meet twice a week for 5 weeks and work on increasing their endurance and running form. Each week run for a little bit longer and track their time in a journal. At the end of the 5 weeks, there is a 1-mile race that the running clubs from all 6 of the elementary schools in the district compete in.

Samuel didn't want to do Running Club in the fall, but I told him he didn't really have a choice in the spring, I was going to sign him up whether he wanted to or not (because, left to his own devices, he would choose to play the ipad all day long, and as a mean mom, I felt it necessary to force him to participate in an extracurricular activity.)

He surprised me by really enjoying it. I don't have any pictures from the practices, but here are a few from the 1 mile race:

He didn't get a medal or anything, but he got a free t-shirt and water bottle, and I think he may like those just as much.

Spring Program

Becca had a Spring Program at her school in April. Here are some pictures/videos of her class singing their songs:

And here is Becca with her teacher, Miss Bethany:

Cake Decorating Contest

I am going to be adding a bunch of things to our blog over the next few days. Now that we have been out of school for a few weeks, I have finally had a chance to catch my breath. There just never seems to be any time to update the blog during the school year, so I will do a whole bunch of posts at once about what we have been up to the last few months.

Way back in March, our school had a cake decorating contest. Cakes were supposed to represent one of your favorite books. Samuel entered a cake based off a book called Jedi Academy. He made a cake in the shape of a light saber:

He won 1st place for 3rd grade!