We were on the road for a couple weeks… starting in Philly for my hubby’s cousin’s wedding. We went several days early so the kids could hang out with their cousins and we could check some of the fun things to do in Philly. Unfortunately I’m still having issues with my camera… I really need to have it looked at but who can live without their camera while waiting for service? So none of the wedding shots turned out since my flash is basically unusable.
The thing that we had to do while we were there as predicated by Bug… check out Dinosaur Hall at the Academy of Natural Science. I’m sure no one could have guessed that one… lol.
Although this was not a Liopleurodon (my kids’ favorite… do all kids have a favorite prehistoric sea reptile?) but some other prehistoric sea monster it was really cool to see one up close.
The kids got a chance to dig for dinosaur bone with a small chisel. It would have taken them years to actually get one of those bone out of the waxy composite in the display.
The ANS also had an awesome gecko exhibit. They are such cool little critters.
Then we made our way over to The Franklin Institute for some hand’s on science. Here is Daddy helping the kids operate a large mechanical arm.
They had several very large mechanical art installations.
Bug sitting in the cockpit of an airplane.
We snuck in a trip to a Dairy Farm.
The rest of our time was spent at the pool and parks with the cousins.
And of course there was the wedding. Fairy girl joined the ladies to get her nails done.
Hmm… no the photo below was not me trying to be artsy… I was just desperate to get something from the wedding on film (err in pixels). That blur in the front is Fairy girl dancing. My kids couldn’t wait to hit the dance floor… Bug was literally twitching in his seat to get out there and I had to coax them back at some point to eat a few bites of dinner.
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.
I’m not going to kid myself into thinking that Spring is here. I am fully aware that we still have a full month or two of winter left… BUT we are coming out of the bitter cold and we have had proof that there still is a Sun! If nothing else, this past weekend was rejuvenating in its teasing sense of Spring. What struck me most were the sounds!
Little joys of the day…
We spent over two hours at our favorite farm were there was an adorable litter of 5 day old piglets. What a noise they made at feeding time.
The sky was filled with birds. Swooping, diving and chattering up a storm. It must have felt nice to stretch their wings.
There was a constant sound of running water. The streams were vigorously flowing… icicles dripping. And who could resist the splash of jumping in all those puddles… oh so tempting.
Gone was the squeak of stepping on super cold snow, replaced instead with a satisfying crunch. We trudged through the 2 foot deep mounds without feeling cold just in our fleece coats and stocking caps. It was the perfect wet snow for packing to make snow forts and for throwing snow balls that landed in a thudding splat.
Once inside, hot chocolate was served by Gammy in English Garden tea cups that made such a delightful clinking sound.
The Fun on the Farm theme for this week was Fur and Feathers (kids activity at our local petting farm). It was a perfect tie in for us and a beautiful day so we packed up and headed to the farm.
There was a brief demonstration and explanation of the difference between animals with fur or feathers. Mainly they classified the farm animals into one group or the other. They read a couple stories, had a snack, did a quick craft and then out on the farm we went.
The kids favorite part was getting to lead one of the goats around on a rope (even better than walking the dog, something they always fight over). It became too difficult for me to try and keep up with the three kids going in opposite directions, carry all the coats (because it really warmed up) and not damage my camera in the process so there are unfortunately no outdoor shots just the ones from in the barn.
For Week Three our focus was on tractors/farm machines and the book Rusty, Trusty Tractor. To go along with this theme, our art project was Tracks in the Mud.
It was a beautiful day so we rolled out a large sheet of paper on the drive way, filled a baking pan with WASHABLE brown paint and then dipped a variety of items into the paint to make mud tracks on the page (you could easily do a scaled down version at the kitchen table but I do think it is important for big, messy art sometimes). This is one of those projects that is all about the PROCESS not the PRODUCT.
It was so much fun. By the end, the kids had gotten so into it… they were literally IN it and left their own tracks in the mud.
Week Three (Sep 15th-19th)
Rusty, Trusty Tractor
Machines at Work: Tractor
C is for Columbine
We will be coloring the Columbine page from our Flower Fairies Alphabet Coloring Book and reading the accompanying story in the Flower Fairies Alphabet Book.
We will be dipping a variety of objects (toy cars, old toothbrush, combs, marbles, etc) in paint and then making tracks on a page.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) margarine
2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 c. Post Grape-Nuts cereal
2 c. oatmeal
1 c. dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc.)
DIRECTIONS
Mix flour and baking soda in small bowl. Bear margarine in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed to soften. Gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in cereal, oats and fruit. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in a 375 oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely on wire racks.
Do you think taking the kids to HomeDepot to play on the riding lawn mowers would count? ;). Actually the Cider Mill we go to all the time has a wonderful play ground complete with several old tractors the kids can ‘drive.’ We will probably make our almost weekly appearance there… and will take the tractor pulled wagon ride out to the orchard to pick some apples.
No, not I. For if I do he’s sure to cry.
Little Boy Blue
Little Boy Blue,
Come blow your horn;
The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He’s under a haystack, fast asleep.
Will you wake him?
Our craft project for Week Two was making our own Barn Yard Stuffed Animals. LOL – I’m not sure they really count as barnyard animals, although Bug assured me his knight was riding a horse so that makes it ok.
We used permanent craft markets on white muslin. I used painter’s tape on the edge so the kids knew they couldn’t go all the way to edge. Once their picture was done, I used a hot iron to help set the colors and then I cut the images out along leaving about a 1″ border. I cut out a matching blank piece for the back (you can cut both pieces at the same time). I sewed the two pieces right sides together leaving about a 2″ gap. We flipped them right side out and stuffed them. I then hand sewed up the open gap.
I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are enjoying ours! Images from the past week’s Sunny Summer Weekend.
