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The Larson House

Elsie + Jeremy Larson

Marigold’s first trip to Missouri.

This past weekend we took our first trip to Missouri as a family of four. The seven hour drives weren’t completely painless (lol) but it was well worth it for the chance to spend a weekend with our family and friends. It was almost everyone’s first time to meet Marigold.

Here are a few photos from our time in Missouri.

It’s funny because this is the time of year, “pre-autumn” let’s call it, that I always get a little homesick for Missouri. I’m not sure why, but it was good to be home for the weekend and go to all our favorite spots, bond with our new house (it’s an airbnb where we’ll be staying for holidays) and get a million hugs from friends and family.

We’re so proud of our joyful little girl! She melts our hearts every single day.

Thank you so much for following along and for your support through this big transition. Our family feels truly loved.

Just a few updates: We will be sharing Marigold’s adoption story and video soon (thank you for your patience). Also I have gotten so many messages about how out of date our blog sidebar is (it’s actually funny at this point) and I will be addressing that as soon as I can squeeze in a couple hours to work on in. I’m planning to blog here a lot this fall… lots of catching up to do!

On finding our community.

Living in Nashville we knew we could join a local group for children adopted from China. I will admit now that I was pretty sure these meet ups would be painfully awkward and that we would never make (adult) friends. Obviously it was something I wanted for our children, but I was nervous.

Well, I was so wrong. The friends we have made along the way have been far more than we ever hoped for. I love that our girls are growing up with a (growing!) group of friends from China in our area. It’s incredibly special, and even at just four years old I can already see that Nova has a special bond with her friends.

What’s crazy is that while we were in China one of the other families was matched with a little girl the same age as Marigold. I’m so grateful they will get to grow up together!

Here are a few photos from the other night when a few of “Nova’s friends” came over to meet Marigold.

 

When it comes to finding community my advice is- put yourself out there. I’m an introvert and can be painfully shy, but each time we’ve gone outside our comfort zone with meeting adoptive families it’s been worth it. In the beginning I thought out of as strictly “for” our kids, but the friendships and support I have gained have been so important. It’s been life changing for all of us to find this little community in our area. They’re almost like cousins. 🙂 My heart is so full.

Photos by Katelyn and Martha (and me).

100 Summer Fun Ideas for Children

I asked for fun summer activity ideas on IG and compiled all the ideas here. I’m so inspired by this list! Thank you to everyone who sent an idea. This is memory making GOLD.

1. Run through the sprinklers. 2. Go airplane watching at the airport (park in the cell phone lot and bring snacks!) 3. Go to your local farmer’s market. 4. Make s’mores. 5. Sip n’ slide. 6. Stay up late and catch fireflies. 7. Go to a pool or splash pad. 8. Play with sidewalk chalk. 9. Make a donation box of toys they are no longer playing with and talk to them about what it means to “donate” and why it’s important. 10. Go for a hike. 11. Go camping (even if it’s in your own yard!). 12. Make a bonfire. 13. Go berry picking. 14. Do sparklers. 15. Go to the park for a picnic. 16. Tie dye anything you and everything. 17. Watch a movie outside. 18. Make no bake cookies or energy balls. 19. Have ice cream or popsicles outside as the sun is setting. 20. Water balloon war! 21. DIY scavenger hunt (don’t over-think it!) 22. Blow bubbles. 23. Plant flowers. 24. Go to the library. 25. Bake a peach pie. 26. Do a blindfolded taste test of different fruits. 27. Visit a local museum (check online for kids activities)  28. Make a lemonade stand 29. Make jewelry with Sculpey or air dry clay, paint and string. 30. Make homemade popsicles. 31. Get (fake) tattoos. 32. Make potato stamps. 33. Go on a ceramics painting date and make coffee mugs for the whole family. 34. Paint outside (then take a hose bath). 35. Make dry pressed flowers. 36. Freeze small toys in ice cubes.  37. Wash the car together (bonus points if you have a mini car or tricycle to wash- or even just let your kids wash their toys). 38. Use sun printing paper to make art with leaves, flowers and plants outside. 39. Search science experiments ideas on Pinterest and go crazy. 40. Make slime. 41. Decorate a pot and plant a new plant. 42. Go to a lake or a river. 43. Make bubble paintings outside. 44. Attend an outdoor concert. 45. Fly a kite. 46. Make chalk paint. 47. Make your own puppet show. 48. Go out for snow cones. 49. Paint with water on the fence or concrete (just a paintbrush and water- genius!) 50. Take a nature walk and make a nature journal. 51. Make huge bubbles with a kids pool, hula hoop, soap and water- love this! 52. Take a nighttime bike ride with glow sticks. 53. Encourage your kids to write their own song, and record it. 54. Make a fort with blankets and twinkle lights. 55. Look up state parks near you to visit. 56. Make your own “water table” it can be as simple as a tub of water with some toys to play. 57. Go mini golfing. 58. Make elephants toothpaste (google) and homemade play dough. 59. Make a fancy tea party together. 60. Go to the park or a public place and write kind messages in sidewalk chalk for strangers to read. 61. Explore the murals in your city. 62. Have a DIY makeover night (you have to let your child do your makeup too- it’s the rules!) 63. Make a time capsule. 64. Have a clean up day where you clean up other people’s litter. 65.  Make flower arrangements. 66.Do a big puzzle. 67. Make homemade t-shirts (I loved making my own “fashion” as a child). 68. Get a blank children’s book and let your children write and illustrate their own stories. 69. Make a sticker chart with a reading goal for the summer. 70. Make homemade bird feeder ornaments to hang outside (google recipes, they’re simple). 71. Save large cardboard boxes and let your kids paint their own houses outside (just cut holes the the door and windows and let them go crazy). 72. Paint rocks and make a rock family. 73. If you haven’t yet, start a music jar. 74. Organize gummy bears by color. 75. Sew a toy together. 76. Make flower crowns. 78. Send letters in the mail to grandparents. 79. Dance in the rain. 80. Put raspberries on all your fingers and eat them. 81. Go to a drive in movie. 82. Go roller skating. 83. Make smoothies. 84. Watch a movie from your childhood. 85. Recreate a photo from your childhood. 86. Plant some herbs together. 87. Make funny costumes out of paper grocery bags. 88. Have a dance contest. 89. Dig up dinosaurs in the sandbox. 90. Make fruit salad. 91. Paint flower pots. 92. Make binoculars out of toiler paper rolls, string and paint. 93. Make sock puppets. 94. Make rainbow noodles with food coloring. 95. Melt crayons into fun shapes using silicon molds. 96. Do a photo scavenger hunt. 97. Make rice krispies treats. 98. Make frozen bananas! 99. Make a car wash for toy cars. 100. And if all else fails… go out for ice cream. 🙂

I hope this is helpful for some of you. I know we’ll be doing a lot of these this summer…. I’m so excited to make memories!

Remember mamas- YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB. xx