Happy, sunny, carefree days

Imagining

Picnicking

Bouncing

Learning new skills

Playing baseball with water balloons

Digging

Discovering the names of flowers (Blood root) in nature and the nature of Fibonacci numbers. There are 8 petals on the Blood root and the pine cone has 13 spirals clockwise and 8 spirals counter-clockwise.

Building forts

Reading

Dreaming

Introducing the jitterbug!

You can learn how to make a jitterbug here. Do a search for jitterbug.

YoYu can leYarn how to make a \

How to entertain yourself on a rainy morning

1) Invite neighborhood friends over for some basketball

2) Set up school in the garage

3) Steve Spangler water crystals are always fun!

They're back!

If you missed yesterday's post, I have some determined starlings(those are starlings, right?) trying to build a nest in my grill. I think I'm going to have to stuff something in the holes to keep them out. They're driving my cats crazy! So much fun to watch. . .should I give up the grill??? No, I can't. When we start using the deck they'll want to find some new real estate. What's a bird lover to do!

Making a home in the grill

I looked out my window this morning and saw a Starling enter our grill through a little hole. It emerged a minute later and flew to the back of the yard and then returned a minute after that with its beak full of grasses. It was making a nest in our grill! The kids and I pondered our predicament for a while(J and B didn't want me to stop the nest building but I was not willing to sacrifice our grill) before I went outside and opened the grill. It was filled with nest making materials. We watched from the window as the Starling returned and pondered what to do. I could see it thinking, "wait a second, didn't my nest have a nice cover?" and then returned a little while later with its friend to check things out. It was so interesting to watch but I did feel bad for those birds. It's been a while now since they've been back and I think they've found a new spot to build their home. Maybe to a grill near you???

Back home again

We've been away for almost a week visiting my parents in Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the trip:

An Easter egg hunt with the cousins

Walks through the meadow behind my parents' house to get to the pond

J is writing in a nature journal that is left out all year for anyone to write down their thoughts and reflections.

Drawing with 3D chalk on the driveway

A trip to the Children's Museum in Boston

A tour of the Orchard House in Concord(my second time)-oh, how I love the Alcotts! The whole family was just as amazing as Louisa May.

And a visit with Henry David Thoreau and Walden Pond(I think I could live in this little cabin)

And hanging out in the backyard!

And last, but not least, the kids got to go out with their uncle to see Charlotte's Web at the theater. After the show they got to go out for ice cream at not one, but two ice cream shops! You can't beat that!

Glorious Moon