Nature Center and Birds

Today we went down to a program at the Nature Center.  We love our Nature Center and they have wonderful programs for kids plus exhibits about local wildlife and plants.  Today's program was about groundhogs.  Even though the class was really for kids three to five, Austin sat right next to his brother and paid attention almost the whole time!

Yes, that is a real, stuffed groundhog!

They talked about shadows and what causes shadows, then the kids took turns playing with a groundhog to make a shadow and making the shadow larger and smaller.

After learning about groundhogs, the kids did a groundhog craft.

The groundhog 'pops' out of the ground.

Then we explored the exhibits.  We have been here before but not since fall.  Austin really loved it today!  He ran around from one exhibit to the next pointing at everything.  The catfish below swam over to say 'hello'.

This snake had just shed it's skin, very gross!

Gavin really liked this prairie chicken!

When we were done we went to lunch with Dad which is a very special treat! 

Last night we got a few inches of snow and school was closed again today.  I was going to start a bird unit with the boys on Monday but I figured since we had the afternoon together we might was well start now.  We are learning about birds because Austin loves birds and I knew he'd like to do bird crafts with his brother.  He has just about worn out our poor bird field guide because he looks at it every day and likes to carry it around and point at different birds.  He even knows cardinals, blue jays, geese, ducks, chickens and owls by name!  I think he's said Chickadee a few times but it's not super clear so I'm not going to count it for now.  For Christmas I made him a little book with common birds that I printed out and laminated then put together with a binder ring - thinking this would save my field guide.  He likes to look at this book, but still likes the field guide better.  And, since we've had birds coming to eat our birdseed, Gavin has been asking lots of questions about them too so birds will be our theme for the next 6-8 weeks.  Today we made bird kites.  The boys colored their birds and we tied yarn to the front and when you run around with them they 'fly' behind you!

These are the books we read today.

The knight book obviously has nothing to do with birds but Gavin wanted to read it.  We've also spent the last three days at lunch reading a biography of John James Audubon.  It was printed in the 1960s and I couldn't find a picture of it.  We had read it before but thought we would read it again.  I don't know any famous 'bird' people but thought it would be a good introduction to birds.

Austin

Here are some pictures I took of Austin today while Gavin was at school.  I think his hair darkened overnight.  Is that possible?  It seemed more light brown today for some reason.  It's still blonde in the sunlight.

If you notice the bed behind him, Austin has moved into the bottom bunk of his brother's room.  This is his second week sleeping in what is now 'the boy's room' and they are both loving it!

 

Gavin and I read some books about Abraham Lincoln yesterday.

The book Vinnie and Abraham is really good.  It's about the girl who made Lincoln's bust (she was 16 and had no formal instruction) and the 7 ft statue of him that is still in the Capital today (she was 18 when she started that).

This is out of order for some reason...sorry!



Sunday

Yesterday Gavin and I went to see Gnomeo and Juliet after church.  We both really liked it!  I liked that it stayed close to the original story line, even throwing in some of the more famous lines, while keeping it kid friendly.  The language was fine and there weren't any inappropriate sexual innuendos that they like to throw in kids movies these days.  The Disney movie about African cats coming out on Earth Day looks good too so I think we may see that as well.  Hopefully they'll show it in our town because we missed Oceans last year and it was very disappointing!  So after not seeing a movie in a year or more, I saw two this weekend because I went to see The King's Speech on Saturday - also a very good movie!  Of course you can't go wrong with Colin Firth in a movie!

When we got home we went outside to play.  Gavin played 'dance of the basketball' and Austin rode around in his police car.

Outside Time

After months of being stuck inside, we have been enjoying the weather this week.  Yesterday the boys had a picnic for dinner.

This morning we went to the library for story time and to get some new books.  Yesterday we finished George Washington which was the last of our library books.  Last night we started the original Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne.  We read this about eight months ago but enjoyed it and decided to read it again. 

This afternoon we played outside.  The boys have been playing basketball on the deck but today we went out front a little to ride bikes.  Gavin's bike has flat tires so he decided to ride the tricycle.



A Beautiful Day

This morning the boys played with Play-Doh.  Gavin was using his Playmobil knight to chop down the wall he made.

Austin decided my shoe was a hat.  He has been making lots of things 'hats' these days.  I don't really mind until he does it with his plate.

Of course Gavin had to upstage him so he put on my shoes and tried to walk in them.  Luckily, they were flats but he still looked silly since they are covered in sequins.

And, it's beautiful outside.  Last week we had snow and this week it's in the 60s!  The snow is almost all gone now but it is still very wet outside.  We played out on the deck for a while.  Long enough for Gavin to fall and put a hole in the knee of his best pair of jeans!

Then the boys played with their Duplos

Today we finished Theodore Roosevelt and started another book on George Washington.  This one reads much faster, we'll probably finish it tomorrow.

And we read this book about knights.

And this book about Mozart's first six years.  Yes, he has a biography focusing on only his first six years!  And he actually accomplished things by the time he was six.