Nature School: Shelters

I almost titled this "Nature school in the kinda sorta rain".  We were really hoping to have a constant (but light) rain to head out in and be able to observe the differences the weather caused.  Seeing as life doesn't always work out exactly as you plan (side lesson?) we ended up talking more about shelters.  It was amazing. 

Heading out into the wild.

Our goal was the rock formations we had spied a shallow
cave in last weekend.

We got distracted by cactus and talked about the plants defenses.

This one too.  Sharp!

Here is where we got to talking about shelters.  We talked about how these pockets in the rock would make great shelters for birds and other small animals.  So we had to check them out.

This pocket actually had a tiny tree growing in it.

A nice place to sit.

We came across a fallen tree and talked a little about what might have happened to it, who/what may have lived in it, and if they were still there.  This particular hole was very interesting.

It had hollowed out acorns in it.  Fisher determined (and he's very likely correct) that a squirrel had lived there and maybe still did.  This was pretty exciting for them.  We talked a lot about why a squirrel would make a nest in a tree.  For protection of course.  Fisher's exact words were "to keep them safe from predators".  I love that kid!

Double inspection of the squirrel nest.

These rock formations are so interesting.  It's like you're on another planet.

Planet Fisher?

I think this one is called giraffe rock.

That's close enough to the edge boy!

At last we made it to the cave we'd been searching for!  It was so exciting to finally get there.  It was maybe 8 to 10 feet off the ground with a nice slope right up to the front door. 

Fisher quickly got down to business.

My fearless explorer.

Guys!  Come check this out!

There's plenty of room for all of us!

After a little while (and some practice on lower and smaller pockets) Piper decided to go for it.  You should have heard her climbing up there.  "I can DO this, I can DO this, I can DO this."  She said that over and over again until she reached her brother.  It was fantastic.

She DID it and cheering ensued.

And her reward of an apple was quickly delivered.

And we snacked inside a CAVE!

And took even more pictures.

Group shot!

I flippin' LOVE Fisher's face in this one! 
That excitement and pride all rolled into one.

They were both SO proud of themselves for making it up there.  We had our snack and just hung out for a bit.  Talked more about shelters and why they were important.  Then they both left with the hope that we would one day get hopelessly lost and need to find our own shelter and get to sleep inside a cave.  We'll have to see about that...

One last look.

Nature school is by far our favorite thing ever.  Fisher always says "lets go discover something".  So that's your challenge - Go discover something!

JKFP

My Mama

I learned everything I know about crafting, cooking, being a wife, being a mother, being strong, being - in general - pretty kick ass from my fantastic mother. 

1979 ish

1978 ish

Helping Fisher carve pumpkins in 2009.

Lovin' on Piper 2010

Packing Johnny and Piper in 2010

Fisher took this one of us back in 2009.  I just love it!

Happy Birthday Mama!  I would not be who I am today without all the things you've taught and are still teaching me.  Thank you for being awesome. 

Love you!

Kristin


p.s.  Here's what Carly has to say about it.

p.p.s.  It's Friday!  I'm linking this to Happily Home Sewn and her Peek of the Week.  I'll give you a hint...there are some really cute pictures of her munchkins today.

Creative Thursdays: Let's make a boat!

Man I love it when these little monkeys get an awesome idea and run with it!  About a month or so ago I went through one of our closets and found some cardboard I had used for their Halloween costumes.  I set it by the door to recycle and didn't think much else about it.  Well, my sweet children found it and hatched a plan. 

She's not naked.

They built a boat.  Then they insisted on painting every square inch of it.  Every. Square. Inch.  Even the inches that were against the rug. 

I went back to spring cleaning and just let them be.  It was so nice to listen to their conversation and how sweetly they interacted with each other while creating something beautiful and fun.

It went on for hours.  It was messy and it was wonderful.  I love that they feel the freedom to create (even if there is still paint on the rug).  Honestly!  A rug is just a rug but they made a memory that day. 

I think I got a little paint on me.

Just a little.

That rug never stood a chance.  Neither did the dog.

That there is a dog with purple paint on him.

Let the creativity flow.
JKFP

Behavior

True story:

Somehow the severity of Fisher's behavior is directly related to how long his hair is.  Is that weird?  It sure seems weird.  But he'll tell you...when he needs a haircut, he's a total pain in the butt.  Which is funny because he really wants to have long hair like his Uncle Nikos.  He begs to grow it out!  It gets about this long....

...and then his behavior become so consistently terrible we assume it's his hair, cut it, and watch in amazement as he magically improves.  Seriously.  Last week I told James it was a good thing for Fisher that we had been building this loving bond for the last seven years or so because I was ready to Craigslist him.  Cut to yesterday when James pulled out the clippers and shaved his head in the kitchen.  How is he today you ask???  Only the sweetest, most loving, hug happy boy I've ever had.  It's the hair I tell ya.

Does this happen with anyone else? 

JKFP

Easter

**Note**  I linked Carly's post at the bottom so you'll have the full account!


I'm trying to get back on the blogging horse.  With all our sickness, bathroom mold remediation and remodel, and staying at Nana's I've just not had writing on the brain.  Lucky for you I've still been taking lots of pictures so I reckon we'll be playing catch up for a bit.

It's Easter Sunday.  We dyed eggs yesterday morning and had a fun little egg hunt with Johnny and Carly today.  Ready to be slammed with pictures?? And GO!

Getting set up for egg dying.  Is this the sweetest face or what?

We figured out that this was Pipey's first time dying eggs.  Last year we were in Germany and didn't dye any and the year before she was only one so, too small.  She caught on really quickly and did a great job.

In goes the egg.

She did pretty good.

The old pro dropping his first egg.

He was in lovely form this morning.

SUCH a typical Fisher face!

That one too.  And yes, I did ROYGBIV the dye cups.

See what I mean?  Top form.

Getting pretty good at this!  She's decided to try the white crayon trick.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of all the finished eggs.  They turned out beautifully though.  Let's move on to this morning and surprises from the Easter Bunny!  (note- yes, we are still staying at Nana's.  While our bathroom is free of mold there is still no toilet installed.  That's pretty important for your only bathroom.  Soon though!)

Sleepy little faces!

Pipey's Easter crown.

Carly and Johnny joined us over at Nana's for a little egg hunt and cascarone fun.  Johnny wasn't too sure what the big deal was.  He kept finding eggs and treating them like balls and throwing them in the street.  (another note - we use plastic eggs as Fisher is allergic.  We do dye real ones so he gets to have the "full Easter experience" but try to minimize the risk of exposure after that.  So Johnny was just tossing plastic.)

Getting started.

Look at that cute little team.

Johnny at full speed.

Showing him the ropes.

Is he cute or what?

Now for our newest Easter tradition.  Last year Nana brought cascarones from Texas and saved some for our return from Germany.  We had so much fun that she sent some more this year.  In short, they. are. awesome.  They are real egg shells that are opened just at the top, emptied, rinsed, filled with confetti, sealed with tissue paper, and smashed for big time fun!  Apparently it brings you good luck to have one smashed on your head.  Let's just say we should all have really good luck.

This may be my favorite picture of Carly and James...ever.

Carly smashing one on Johnny.  He thought it was totally
awesome and kept trying to smash the plastic ones over his head.

I think we found them all.

I know Carly has some pictures of the smashing of the eggs so when she posts hers I'll link them here.  Check back!

Next year I think we'll kick it up a notch and make our own cascarones.  I've seen them filled with bird seed so that may be fun too.  If you see them anywhere you should definitely try them out.  It IS for luck after all.

Next on our Easter list was heading over to the park.  I took some cute pictures there but thought I might save those for a second post.  Be on the lookout. 

We hope you all had a fabulous day.  Happy Easter!

Hugs, jelly beans, and lots of chocolate,
JKFP