We went to one of the nearby historic villages last weekend. When I was a kid we went all the time and now my kids request going all the time too. Their favorites… riding the train, the round house and the trades area.
Bug would watch the glass blowing all day… even when it is 200 degrees in there (ok, I’m sure that is an exaggeration but it pretty much feels that way and it was only 70 outside. Last time we went it was 85 outside and I think I lost 5lbs just standing in there).
Fairy Girl… has gift for getting free stuff. I’m not kidding, whenever she runs weekend errands with Daddy, she comes home with free stuff. I don’t know how she does it but she scored us all some free brand new tin cookie cutters while chatting with the lady doing the demo in the tin shop. Normally all the stuff the trade folk make ends up in the gift shop. We will be making cookies one day this week to try them out ;).
And of course everyone loves riding the 100 year old carousel.
Today is just gorgeous outside and I wanted to get the kids out to do a big messy project. I was going to have them finger paint at their picnic table but it really needed a good cleaning since it has been outside all winter. Then the brilliant idea of using the bath tub paints we made in the past came to me. I mixed up a batch of finger paints (1 cup clear dish soap, 7 TBSP cornstarch, separate into bowls, add food coloring… btw, I added 2 extra TBSP of cornstarch this time and liked it better) and we headed outside to clean the picnic table. Not only did they have a blast finger painting, they practiced writing words in the paint (nice school tie in) and they cleaned everything in site! I followed along behind them with the hose set to power wash. Now everything on our deck is sparkly clean and ready for many hours enjoying the bbq.
NOTE: All was well until Pixie decided to clean the dog when I had my back turned. LOL! I ended up with a half sudsy, half muddy, annoyed schnauzer. But other than that it was a great way to make a mundane chore a lot of fun.
It has been a couple months since we have participated in an Unplugged Challenge and we finally got back into it this week with the theme Sun. We have been working on recognizing syllables in words to help with spelling so we used the theme as a basis for writing a Haiku poem together. We brainstormed adjectives on the white board and then Bug and Fairy took turns turning them into sentences. We counted the syllables in each line and then put together the sentences in a way that fits the Haiku format. We then copied the poem onto journal pages and the kids illustrated their poem.
A Haiku poem does not have to rhyme. Instead, the structure is made up of three lines with set syllable counts; 5, 7, 5.
Sun Haiku
The Sun is yellow. (5)
It is a star far in space. (7)
It can make plants grow. (5)
We went to a Spring Festival a couple weeks ago and got to watch some Sheep get their summer cuts. The kids always enjoy watching this. Bug stood up at the end and explained to the crowd how they then need to clean the wool and then spin it into yarn to make sweaters. I didn’t take my camera but luckily my new cell phone has a camera. I couldn’t figure it out… but my hubby finally figured out how to get the photos off of my new cell phone. I was pretty impressed with the photos considering.
There is nothing like kid-sized umbrellas and lake-sized puddles to entertain the kiddos. Pure Joy! This was the before photo… I was too afraid for my camera to get the after. It did result in a before dinner bath and a laundry room mop down. Ahh… who am I kidding. I never mop the laundry room… but it could really have used a mopping!
The girls (especially Fairy) are keeping the house filled with little jars of flowers, mainly dandelions. I keep finding our little painting jars filled with them all over the house. Delightful!