Park

With over 14 days of DRY, cool fall weather, we have been spending lots of time outside.  It's so easy to skip lesson plans, crafts, structured learning time, and even snack once in a while when we get all caught up in an innocent game of freeze tag, or go on wild grasshopper hunts.  We LOVE the outdoors!

One of my favorite things to do is to go for a long walk to the park.  I like the park that is a little further away because there's a nice greenway path to walk on to get there.  We are so spoiled to live in such a pretty town with wonderful parks and playgrounds.

An added bonus: last week, our trip to the park included a meet and greet with Miss Toshia and her group! We love meeting friends at the park, and I love having another adult to laugh with, chat with, and share ideas with. Our recent trip the park was nothing short of AWESOME.  Enjoy some pictures!! :)

Deanna Rose Farmstead

We've been talking a whole lot about farm animals around here! We're learning their sounds, what they look like, how they walk, and what they do for us.

So, isn't it befitting that we managed a trip to the Deanna Rose Farmstead today! To truly appreciate this field trip, you should know that trips do not happen without a wee little bit of planning. On field trip days like today, the following three ring circus must take place in the morning:

Pack snacks

fill water bottles/sippy cups

pack diapers/wipes/hand sanitizer/kleenex/change of clothes

check first aid kit

install extra car seat

take the wagon apart and stuff it in the trunk

change diapers/visit potty

apply sunscreen and bug spray

get camera, cell phone, emergency backpack that has children's important records

load STUFF into the car

load the kids into the car one at a time, while the kids who are left to wait their turn are crying and sad because they're not currently being loaded into the car nowrightnow

buckle everybody's seatbelts and crank the air conditioner, check fuel level, scan tires/car's condition and GO!

And then, once arriving at the destination - almost all of the previous is reversed in a specific order:

Unload the wagon, and assemble

Unload the STUFF (backpack, snacks, diaper bags, etc.)

Put camera and cell phone in easily accessible pockets.

Unload the kids one at a time, while the kids who are left to wait in the car for their turn are crying and sad because they're not currently out of the car and in the wagon.

Pass out ice waters because it's hot and humid out.

Load kleenexes into easily accessible pockets.

Check car for random contents (Rebecca's shoe, how did I get her from the car to the wagon without noticing that one of her shoes fell off?)

Lock the car, pull the wagon in and have fun!

It should go without saying that trips outside the home that involve someone else's kids are exponentially more stressful. Not necessarily as in hard-work-stress-me-out kind of stressful, but stressful in that I worry more about my performance. Am I driving carefully enough? Did I apply enough sunscreen? Will we have any major injuries? What if someone gets sick? It's hot and humid - did I pack enough water? Will we SURVIVE?

Our trip today to the farmstead was 150% worth the preparation, prayers, and sweat that went into planning it. We had a wonderful time! My favorite part was hearing the roosters crow. I think the kids enjoyed seeing the cows give milk. It was magical being at the farmstead with two toddlers and a preschooler. I love it when they are all experiencing the same things and I love seeing how each child is gaining something unique from the experience.

Julia made more of a connection between animals and humans. (We use the animals for food and shelter.)

Rebecca learned the "real" sounds that animals make. A cow doesn't actually SAY "moo" ... it kinda goes, "mrrraahhhhhhhh." (that's fun to type!)

Noah loved show off his vocabulary the whole time we were there - and we practiced saying the names of the baby animals (lamb is a baby sheep? kid is a baby goat? foal is a baby horse?) ... this is especially meaningful as Noah is going to have a baby brother in his house soon!

Ahh - it really was such a blessing of a trip. I absolutely loved today.

After the farmstead, everybody was wiped out. Julia loved being my assistant, and helping me keep the toddlers awake in the car so that we wouldn't spoil their naptime. She was naming stuff that she knew each child would like - pointing out trains and big trucks out Noah's window - and finding airplanes and birds out Rebecca's window. Things were going so well - I couldn't resist stopping for happy meals on the way home. I didn't have to cook, I barely had to clean up after lunch, and right now the kids are happy, safe, sound, and content from today's trip as they are sleeping at naptime. I really do love this job.

Check back soon for pictures of the trip - I will get them uploaded some time this weekend!

Staying Busy

As always, we've been staying busy here. With the summer upon us, it's hard to resist trips to the park and play days in the pools. Luckily, we have a fairly flexible crowd - it's usually easy to keep everybody entertained.

Yesterday, we played in the pools - but it wasn't the same without Noah and Rebecca (They were snoozing - perhaps they figured it better to nap than deal with the heat?). Savannah and Julia had a blast, though - and I was surprised at how quickly they "jumped" right in despite the freezing cold water. I have to admit, it does feel pretty good since it's been so hot and humid around here. I even got wet up to my knees. :) Fun!

Today, we took a walk to the park. Cornerstone Park isn't that far from here, but I prefer to venture to the park at the Greenbelt. It's a bigger park, tends to be less crowded with field trips (Cornerstone is right by the swimming pool) and sometimes we see a class from our old friends at Open Arms there. When we do run into old friends, it's great fun to play with other kids and it's wonderful for me to get some adult conversation! Plus, the extra walking is good for all of us, and it gives us a chance to appreciate nature a bit more.

Unfortunately, we didn't stay at the park very long. We had snack and then played for just a few minutes. I got worried about the weather moving in. Despite the great forecast, the sky was darkening and I could smell rain. So, we jetted out of there quickly. The girls were good sports - even Savannah picked up the pace a bit and we enjoyed talking about weather all the way home. It's too bad, really, because by the time we got halfway home, the sky cleared and it was hot and sunny again! Oh, well. Better safe than sorry!

There are tons of new pictures up at flickr. Enjoy :)

Oh, by the way - we are going to visit the Deanna Rose farmstead tomorrow, and then I'm hoping we'll get to the library for story time next Thursday! Busy fun!!