letter l

Lions

We read lots of lion books, but our favorite was We're Going on a Lion Hunt

It was a hot day outside, so I set up a lion hunt in the garage.  We made safari hats and started our hunt. Chairs for trees, a blue tarp for river, fake plants for grass...These kids have great imaginations, so when we got to the lion cave (where I had put some stuffed lions and flashlights) we heard some loud shrieking as the kids ran back through the grass and river and trees and mud back safely home.  We did this over and over and over and over again.  

Lion Lunch

The kids are still a bit skeptical when I make them food that looks like other things.  Well, except Ethan, he'll eat anything.  

Brielle tells me that l stands for lollipops and lollipops are for lllllllllicking.  So, I guess I couldn't disappoint her.

 Leaves
We colored coffee filters with markes and then used a dropper to spread the colors to make some fall leaves.

we were also going to collect some leaves for leaf rubbing and painting, but my accidental l experience (see below) changed my plans, so we'll have to do that later.

 Lady Bugs

We read some fun ladybug books and then made some ladybugs.  

The Grouchy Ladybug

The Very Lazy Ladybug

What the Ladybug Heard

In this picture the kids are signing the letter l with their hands.

And, this is what the babies are doing while the big kids finish their cutting and glueing

Other L activities:
A trip to the library
Making lemonade
watching lighting, which is an unusual event in California!

Accidental 'l' experience:
Locked out and Lemons
When we went outside to drip water on our leaves the wooden stick fell down when I closed the sliding glass door which locked us outside.  The kids didn't know or care.  They were happy pulling lemons off the lemon tree and throwing them while I frantically tried to find a way to get into my own house.  Ethan was still inside napping.  Since we were stepping outside just for a second none of us had shoes on, I didn't have my phone, and in fact Brielle, who had just finished going potty, did not even have any pants on at all!
I kept trying and trying to push on the sliding glass door.  It would open about an inch so I was trying to find ways that I could move the stick out of the door.  I tried sticking my arm in, asked the kids if they could reach, found things that I could fit in there...nothing worked.
After saying a prayer with the kids I more calmly decided to quit focusing on the sliding glass door and we went around to the garage door.  I was able to lift it enough that we all shimmied like a snake underneath and made it back inside.  I was relieved.  The kids immediately asked if they could go back out to play with the lemons.

Letter k

I'm going to have to do weekly posts, because I forget what we did if I wait.

This week was all about the 'k'--Kings, Keys, Kittens, Kites, Kool-aid, Kiwi, Kangaroos...lots of stuff to talk about!

We painted paper plates and made them into crowns so that we could be pretend to be kings.

Made a 'K' for King

I haven't made the 'color squishers' with the kids for a long time, so it was a fun new project to practice writing our letters in the squishy bag.

The kids tried out kiwi.  Gavin and Ellie both said 'I like kiwi', but nobody ate very much of it.  Gavin wanted me to remove all the nubs (which is what he called the black seeds) from his.

We made kites.  Since it wasn't windy we had to improvise on the kind of kite we could make.

It still flies, if you spin fast enough

We had fruit leather kites which the kids loved of course.  

I introduced them to kool-aid.  They were very impressed.  Gavin and Ellie at 3 1/2 years old had no idea what they'd been missing out on.  We'll have to save it for a special treat.

We played a game called 'roll a kite'

The kids loved using keys to go around the house and lock all the doors.  Luckily my house has the kind of locks that is just a straight line so I can use my fingernail to unlock them.

The Favorite Books:

My 'k' soundbox by Jane Moncure

The Emperer and the Kite by Jane Yolen

The Berenstain Bears and The Big Red Kite

Little Lion's Lost Kite (had pull tabs that the babies especially loved) by Emily Bolam

When I was King by Linda Ashman

The Kitten Book by Camilla Jessel

Route 66 Parade!

Grandma was able to borrow the Sherriff Department's T3 for Duarte's Route 66 parade. The kids loved test driving it! Ethan was angry about having to wear the helmet, but once he got moving he was laughing.

Brielle and Gavin enjoyed riding in the 1951 Chevy Deluxe with their Grandma the Mayor.

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After the parade we went over to Royal Oaks park for the fair and car show. Brielle especially loved the huge blow up slide and waited in line to go again. Ethan decided it wasn't worth the effort to climb.

We need to work on 'the parade wave' but the kids loved being a part of the parade.

Letters h, i and j

Letter H

We learned about Hippos and practiced writing our letter H (the kids are getting quite good at the letters with straight lines)

We stamped our 'h' with hearts and happy faces.  

We planted wheat grass seed to grow hair on our own happy face planters.

And we went on a field trip to the Children's Garden at the Huntington Library and Gardens.  Ethan and Elise liked to drink all the water.

Lots of fun splashing in the water for everyone

and running through the rainbow tunnel over and over and over again.

Favorite Books: The Big Honey Hunt by Stanley and Janice Berenstain (along with honey on toast for a snack)

Favorite Songs: If your Happy and you know it

Head, Sholders, Knees and Toes

Letter I

We talked about inches and measured different things, including our snacks and ourselves

We practiced our cutting skills, which the kids love to do

We talked about and played with different instruments

Of course we had a lot of insect hunts outside.  We spotted crickets, earwigs, potato bugs, ants, beetles etc.

Favorite Books:

Inch by Inch, The Garden Song by David Mallett

Inspector Hopper by Doug Cushman 

Favorite Songs: "Insects" and "I can"

Letter J 

We made capital and lower case Js to practice jumping

We read a book about how orange juice is made and made some of our own

We counted, graphed (and ate) jellybeans

I got two copies of this book (The Giant Jam Sandwich) along with the sound recording.  The kids were able to listen to the book and each look at the pictures.  We also made Bread and Jam we could have our own giant jam sandwiches.

And of course we also made jello jigglers, I couldn't resist.

Favorite Books: Bread and Jam for Frances

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed

From Oranges to Orange Juice

Jamberry

Favorite Songs:

Jelly in a bowl

Camp Rim Road

We have been meaning to go camping several times this summer and between many other trips and outings we jut have not had time.  We decided it was time to let the kids enjoy the great outdoors... and Grandma and Grandpa's place.  They do live across the street from the Angeles National Forest and we had 4 deer wander through the yard so we will count it!

We roasted hot dogs for dinner with all the fixin's along with some fruits and veggies.  After that we broke out the marshmallows for some good ol' smores.  The older kids were so excited to be doing their own cooking that night.  

Smores themselves are a balanced meal right Dad?

Ok, so this part was not so "camping-like", but we did it anyway.  We set up the screen outside with the HD projector and watched an animated flick.  The kids enjoyed buckets (and buckets and buckets) of popcorn.  The adults enjoyed not having to worry about the kids making a mess all over the ground.

The two Megans read stories to the kids before they crashed in the tent.  They each had their own flashlight.  The tent looked like a disco ball until they finally tired themselves out and fell asleep.  The adults stayed up later and watched the second feature film at the "drive-in".  It was fun to sit around the fire, eat popcorn and watch a movie (A-Team).

James and Megster slept in the tent with the kids.  We all got enough sleep, but a nap was still needed the next day.

Don't know what it is about a tent that the kids find so intriguing, but they loved playing in there.  Here is Ethan "helping" to deflate the mattress that James and Megster slept on.

The next morning the kids (minus Gavin in this picture) helped to cook a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, carmel biscuits and fruit.  We will have to do Camp Rim Road again!

No Labor Required

James was able to take off this weekend, so we headed up to our favorite place. Morro Bay of course! Brielle wants to live there forever and never come home. I don't blame her. We spent Labor Day weekend relaxing and playing.

No trip is complete without plenty of time at the beach. Even in the foggy weather, it is still fun to play in the sand.

And go for walks

We went to the sand dunes for happy hour. We had pita chips and hummus. Ethan ate sand. Gross.

The sun came out. It was such a nice day to watch the waves!

Morro Rock is in the background, covered in fog...but it is there.

Hearst Castle

This time we went up to Hearst Castle. I've never been and James hasn't been there in a really long time.

Here we are in front of the Neptune pool. It was hot and sunny and the pool was very inviting. If you work or volunteer there you can actually swim there!

It was fascinating to learn more about the history of William Randolph Hearst and the Hearst Family.

While we toured the castle, Brielle and Ethan spent quality time with their Grandma and Papa Finlay. Brielle was NOT excited when we came back. She had so much fun she wanted to keep playing with them.

La Purisima Mission

Right when we got to the La Purisima Mission, James found a horned toad which the kids were really interested in.

We also got to see the other animals that live on the mission. Sheep, goats, horses, pigs, chickens and turkeys.

We decided we wouldn't want to live in a straw hut, but it was a nice place to sit and relax in the shade.

This mission has many, many rooms with displays of what it was like to live in the 1820s.

While there we met a man that worked on the reconstruction project of this mission. He is currently 91 years old. He had very old pictures of what it looked like when he helped build it when he was 16 years old!

Solvang

We stopped and walked around the Danish village of Solvang. It is such a fun tourist city with lots of fun shops to look in. We went in a clock shop and a candle making store.

We also couldn't resist sharing a hot fudge sunday at the ice-cream parlor. Yum.

I still can't figure out why in the world Ethan likes to eat sand. The texture is so gross to me. Obviously though, he likes it. Hopefully the phrase about '...dirt don't hurt' is true!

At first Ethan thought it was funny that we were running with him away from the waves. And then he was frustrated. He really, really wanted to jump in and swim.