Category: the Oldest

From My Monkies to Theirs

We had the privilege of going with Aunt Jes to the Zoo last week. [Thank you again, Lauren, for the tickets]. The girls had a blast and were quite good for staying up hours past their nap times.

We started our adventure early, having breakfast in the car to try to get down to the Zoo and utilize our morning energy stock. After bathing in sunblock and stuffing the stroller with dryer sheets (keeps bug away without the need for bug spray on skin [motions to eczema kids]), we hit the zoo. We organized a plan of attack when looking at the map and show times.

Abi was initially QUITE nervous about the animals themselves moving unpredictably. But with Mommy holding her, she only shuddered a little bit and eventually warmed up to the fact that the animals were in cages and not free to, say, bite her toes. It’s funny but while that little girl ADORES animals, the actual things make her nervous and she comes a little unraveled at first. Security is found in the trusted’s arms, though.

Rachael was her regular all-in three year old self. She took an extra step of independence in wanting to walk for most of the Zoo, with some stroller breaks. [Now, I’m a fan for her walking and she’s on the verge of being too big to ride in a stroller at “walking events” but for now if I have the option of getting her red-head skin out of direct sunlight under the stroller’s extended hood, I’ll take it.]

We re-slathered on sunblock throughout the day (Matt would have been so proud, Mr. Apply hourly to avoid 3rd degree white skinned man) and paced outside viewings with inside AC rechargings for this pregnant Momma. But I must say, while the on had some hot moments found behind the double stroller of 66+lbs of kids…. on hills, the breeze and the temperature when not “working out” were perfect! I was thankful. And the baby animals – especially the baby fox? A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

The Zoo Park: YAY for burning energy with JOY!
Such a brave “jumper”. hehe.
Abi’s idea was to ride on Rachael’s lap. =)

My Spiderladies.



Turtle Petting:
Oooh… he’s slow and isn’t unpredictable in movements. I can do this!

brave in the trusted arms of Aunt Jes.
– despite her pain-labeled face in this pic, she really was thrilled. Just caught her in an odd-faced moment. –

It was a wonderful time. And while we were there all day, I only took a few pics so as not to be “the photographer” but instead to be fully there. =)

– Thanks for sharing in our Zoo fun!

0

The Creek

This morning I got up and felt the desire to “go away” from our house. We’d settled back in since vacation and now it was time for a little cabin-fever driven play. Today not being a homeschooling day meant we were free until nap time, while I still hoped to spend the lunch time with Matt.

At first the idea was a local park that has farm animals, play equipment and not too much walking. I gave a few friends a call, discovered their full plans, and then rethought about our original plan. If we were not partnering with anyone else, we were free to do whatever. Then the idea popped into my head: muddy water play. The level of grease in Rachael’s hair this morning sealed the deal, clearly bath time was in order for today so why not get the most out of the dirt before returning to the world of clean.

Rachael was all-in, my previous “ew-dirt” toddler now turned into a “dirty can be fun” preschooler. But Abi had her own plans of lying in a pile of play jewelry (can we say uncomfortable?) and wrapping her stuffed duckie in a blanket. VETOED! Abi got over it with a few minutes of consoling and then happily got into a swim diaper and bathing suit. With T-shirts (for extra sun protection), water shoes, a few bath toys, some towels and my camera we were out the door to our adventure.

The girls, having never play in a creek before (dude, they’re small), learned all kinds of things about creeks through hands-on experience. And boy can I tell you, we experienced the creek TO THE FULL. Short of drinking the water intentionally (sorry Abi), we did just about every other little sensory experiment imaginable.

Rachael learned about water currants, floating and sinking objects,

 Boat floating down-currant. Then whale’s turn to float in a bucket.

depth of water, mossy rocks being slimy,

and all kinds of other personal experiments like how much water can be splashed by jumping furiously in the water.

Abi enjoyed many dump and fill pleasures with her self-declared recycled cottage cheese container which was a HUGE “no no” in the sharing category. That container was an emotional attachment, a beloved friend not just a selfish moment of “I don’t want you to have it”. No, cottage cheese container was NEEDED  (funny how they attach to things randomly). Rachael was content to play with everything but Abi’s cottage cheese container so no wars were waged creekside. Abi also highly enjoyed kicking and splashing – a must for my mud-inspired baby.

 Dump and fill.                             Kick, splash, kick!
 Catch the small waterfall.

While the girls were a little hesitant at first about the shiftiness of creek rocks, they soon kicked into their regular selves, sitting in the cold water with squeals and ‘do it again’s. In a few minutes their limbs had gone numb in the creek’s shade-covered arctic waters and their focused turned to exploring the water.

 Explore. Discover. Delight. 
           Joy.                                         Catch and release.
      Exploration.                                Watering her hair. =)

We stayed for 45 minutes of bliss, soon-to-be lunch grumbling encouraging our departure. I wondered what people thought as two young children emerged from the “no swimming” lakeside entrance (we walked a little ways back to the creek) fully wrapped in towels and soaking. We looked like rebels, but there were no signs posted in the creek area regarding swimming (probably since the water was um ankle-deep), but my children very nearly swam in that very ankle-deep currant.

A quick towel-drying, change of clothes for the ride back, peanut butter sandwich lunch, bath time and redressing has produced two wonderfully exhausted children and a quiet napping house.

I’d say our adventure was a success for all. =)

2

Colored Play Rice

I was asked by my sister in law, Kat, if I’d share the recipe for the play rice I made with Rachael for homeschool back in November 2011. So I figured I could share it on here too to not only gawk at her cute pictures again, but also help anyone else out who is interested in making similar joy in their household.

Recipe for Colored Play Rice
1 cup regular rice. 
1 tsp rubbing alcohol 
food dye to your hearts content. 

Step 1: Stir rice, rubbing alcohol and food dye in a bowl until the color distributes, 

 She’s concentrating, not scowling, I promise. 😉

Step 2: Spread rice out flat on wax paper or whatever,

 Clearly the spreading was the most fun in the making part. =)

Step 3: Let dry for 1 hour.

 Start of drying process.                  End of drying process.
***No she did not stand there for an hour. ***
Then you’re good to go and ready to play! It’s really that easy!!!

***Warning: you will have fun and will need to vacuum.
***Second Warning: sometimes food dye slightly comes off on hands with prolonged play, but the dye washes off easily with soap/water and the rice still remains colored.  









Recycled medicine cups, funnels, old teaspoons, large straws, whatever make wonderful play tools. And I must say, playing with rice has such a calming and soothing affect while encouraging great creativity and manipulation of the rice. We enjoyed burying each others hands in the rice and also just letting her go to town making up communities and storylines in her rice play. We haven’t tried it yet, but another way to play in the rice could be to use toy buildings, people, animals or cars to add in more story play and less sheer manipulation of the rice. But Rachael has enjoyed sitting and playing with the rice for 45 minutes, in which I had to put an end to the play because it was lunch time. I’d suggest a plastic tub with high sides that are high enough to keep most rice in, but low enough to allow the child to play without having to stand or bend their arms awkwardly. Also, the larger the tub, the more the mess – so you’d be surprised what a medium sized (for the preschooler) tub of rice would do for creating clear boundaries and also allowing all play to be in view without requiring the child to turn their head (permitting more distraction opportunities). [Recalling how we used rice for play therapy in attending to one task.] Rachael has never complained about the size of the tub of not having enough room to play. We do use the lid to put extra play items on though, when she is not currently using them. The tub we use is about the size of a show box.

0

Christmas on May 11th

I heard the doorbell ring while I was sitting at the computer researching local pick-your-own farms. My ears perked up… could it be? I had just heard air breaks…. Could it be?!

I half-danced to the doorway as I saw the joyful brown tail end of the truck through the front window’s open blinds. It could be… it could be.

A smile spread across my face as I saw the small package sitting on my doorstep, the delivery man having returned to his truck with a wave.

MY PACKAGE!!!!!

Christmas had come on May 11th when it was scheduled to come on May 12th.

I swiped up that package and headed for the kitchen pear knife in the knife-block. (Am I the only one that uses those things to open boxes?)  The seams cut easily and joy filled my heart at the sight of the bubble wrap (a promise of pop-ability later). There it sat, my organic coconut oil – a hope of three year old eczema and toddler diaper rash surrendering control.

So what did I do?

I knew she was still awake in that crib, fighting the occasional nap time stubbornness. I plucked that child right out of the crib, pasted her fanny and tucked her right back in. And the already asleep three year old? One side of her cheek was dusted. =D

People… it was CHRISTMAS!!!! hehe.

– Hopeful for future results. =)

*** When you fight sensitive skin needs any hope of relief is such a welcome helper, especially when watching your kids suffer. That AND… clearly I am easily amused. 😉

0

Wordless Wednesdays: Close

 Close:
it’s their default. 
– blessed so.
*** I had to post this edition of the Wordless Wednesday late due to these pictures be taken in a batch of Birthday pictures given to Matt on his Birthday Thursday. I didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Thanks for your patience. 😉
0

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑