Fall leaves round 2

Well the sun has come out in full force so a lot of what I had planned has been put on the back burner.  We have been outside as much as possible lately.  On one of our walks the other day we brought some buckets to collect some leaves.  The kids had lots of fun finding the leaves they likes the most. Little Princess lost most of her bucket a few times, but it didn't seem to phase her.  She also came back with way more rocks than Little Monkey.  We have also seen a lot of slugs lately on our walks....yuck!  The kids seem to love them though.  (Sorry about the picture quality....my camera and I are fighting)

'Look Mom, a G!'

With all the leaves we collected I figured we could make fall trees.  They had lots of fun with this one.  Little Princess's favourite part was painting the glue on.  I think we might need to do more painting in the near future.  I also under estimated how big the leaves were.  I think they still turned out cute. :)

  

Today we picked a bunch of acorns so now I have to go think of something to do with them. :)

Fun at the park

The sun came out this morning so off we headed to the park.  I didn't get any pictures today because we were having so much fun playing, but I wanted to share all the fun things we did.  This particular park is right by the water and across the street from a great walking path.  We decided to go for a walk first to see if we could see any sea planes taking off.  We collected rocks and sticks to throw off the bridge (it is just a platform/dock that goes out in the water) when we got to it.  Little Monkey had lots of fun running around trying to find the best rocks and sticks.  Little Princess spent most of the walk in the stroller just chilling out.  She did get out to throw some rocks in the water and run around on the grass.  After we had decided that was enough rocks we headed to the park.  We lucked out and were the only family at the park.  We did lots of running and chasing each other around.  I was Captain Hook trying to capture Little Monkey.  The sand was prefect for making tracks in.  I made a long squiggly line for Little Monkey and Little Princess to walk on.   They were quite funny trying not to fall off the line.  Once Little Monkey dove off once Little Princess fell over and started giggling.  Little Princess is so funny because she loves to play outside but she hates to get her hands dirty.  It is one of the funniest things I have seen, watching her try and get up off the ground not using her hands so they don't get dirty.  While Little Princess was climbing up the big toy to go down the slide Little Monkey and I were playing in the sand making letters.  I would 'draw' one with my foot and we would step back and say what it was and then look for something around us starting with that letter.  Little Monkey would then walk on it and when he was finished he would erase it for me to make another one.  We did T (Tree), S (Slide), C (Caterpillar), B (Boat), and R (Rock).  I think I am going to make another scavenger hunt sheet for the kids.  It will be a park themed one.  When I finish it I will link it up.
We have another Little Princess spending a few days with us this week so we are going to be doing some fun toddler themed ideas to end the week!

Spring and sun

Today was going to be a post about shaving cream painting.....but the sun came out so we went outside instead.  I wasn't sure if it was going to be a long trip out because yesterdays attempt lasted 30 minutes and Little Monkey was cold!  The sun came out in full force and we had so much fun exploring.  Little Cousin came over to play as well.  As soon as Little Princess woke up from her nap she was out with us too.  We spent the morning drawing on the fence with chalk and digging for worms.  We have a good size garden that hasn't been touched all winter, so I thought, why not let the boys help me dig it out.  I knew if I just asked them to help me dig it up, it would never happen.  As soon as I mentioned that there might be worms, Little Monkey was over there so fast!  Little Cousin was perfectly happy watching from afar as we found more and more worms.  Little Monkey insisted on picking them up with his bare hands....ewww.   After I got over the initial shock, I too was picking up worms with my bare hands.  The mocking ('you don't need a shovel silly mommy') from Little Monkey probably helped me get over my squeamishness towards the worms.  We talked about what worms eat (dirt....and sometimes mommies veggies) and we also had to have a conversations about being gentle.  There are some wounded worms in our garden now!
It was so nice to get out side and run around and not worry about making a mess or trying to clean everything up right away.  I am going to start stock piling outside fun ideas this weekend so when the sun shows up again we will have new exciting things to try!

Tomorrow I have shaving cream painting on the to-do list.  If the sun is out in full force again, it might have to be put off until I need a Rainy Day Distraction :)

Scavenger Hunt

Little Monkey LOVES to be outside.  He loves it so much he will start asking at 6 am when he wakes up!  We try and get out a little bit each day (don't worry we all have really good rain gear).  I love watching him explore.  We spend lots of time on walks and I was trying to think of something to encourage us to talk more about what we see.  Then it hit me!  Why not make a scavenger hunt for him to find stuff we see all the time.  He loves it!
I printed it off and laminated it so when if it starts to rain we are fine.  I also bring a dry erase marker with us so we can check off things as we find them.  I have also turned it into a counting game.  We put a check mark every time we see one and when we get home we count them all up to see how many we saw.  This has become a great conversation starter.  We talk about size and colour.  Every time we find the fire hydrant Little Monkey must tell me 'that is where dogs poop mommy'.  Well at least he is paying attention!
Here is a link to download the Scavenger Hunt.
I hope you enjoy it.
It is raining today so I am off to make an indoor scavenger hunt for Little Monkey!
*Rachelle