The wooden firehouse and doll house haven’t been played with in a while. But, on a summer morning when the “What should I do?”s started, these toys were reincarnated.

1. With Evan all into the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory book, then the play, and now the book The Candymakers, Candy is a big theme around here lately. When I suggested creating a candy factory, his eyes lit up. Next time, I may suggest a super villain lair or a mad scientist laboratory or a haunted house.

2. Empty out the dollhouse, looking for things that might be able to be repurposed as you do.

3. Think creatively, and don’t squelch any ideas.

1. Have your kids look around for some items to contribute to the auction, things they don’t want any more or maybe a gift they got that didn’t thrill them. Throw in a King size Hershey Bar and other goodies to sweeten the pot.

3.  Beans. Each kid needs a cup of ’em. Use a glass cup so they can literally see how many beans they have left in there (trying to make this educational, you know). For this first attempt, I gave each kid an even 40 beans. Next time, I’m going to give beans as answers to questions….such as…. 

• Did you brush your teeth today? Yes = 1 bean
• Did you contribute more than 3 items to the auction? Yes = 3 beans
• Did you put your flip flops away today? Yes = 2 beans (obviously more valuable to me than clean teeth)
• Did you tell your mother you love her today? Yes = 5 beans

4. Be a full-fledged, fast-talking auctioneer, showing off each item and making it totally desirable.

5. Be prepared for the donor to suddenly believe your fast talk and change his or her mind and bid on his or her own donated item.

6. Choose the order wisely–mix up lesser desired items with more highly desired items.

7. Adore your child when he bids on a craft donated by your daughter and then immediately gives it to you, saying that you were saying such nice things about it, you sounded like you really wanted it.

8. Laugh hysterically when son is cheering at his win of the King-sized Hershey Bar for 28 beans after a tight bidding war with his sister only to have his friend jump in during the “going once…” talk to drive up the bidding so that son spends all 40 beans on one chocolate bar in total Wonka style.

we ♥ summer 

6. Take a lot of time to plan the obstacle course and figure out the order of what you have to do to get to the next event and lay it all out carefully. Be prepared that the events themselves are not nearly as fun as the planning, and the attention given to actually complete the organized course by the young children it was created for by the older children is over in about 5 minutes tops. At which time, allow children to become absorbed in books or bungee cord play.

I know, all quiet on the Western front the last few days.

That’s because we he has had jet lag. And, we’ve been catching up–he’s been talking my ear off about the last couple weeks in China, and I’ve been loving it.

And, we’ve had a star in the house–which is the reason Mark came home a couple days early.