Some Outdoor Fun

There is a fun little play area outside Wilmington Montessori School where the kids go to camp (This is the last week.).  It has picnic tables, trees, boulders, and student art work.  It makes you want to have a picnic.  One day, that will happen.

Olive chewing on her cup

Mom-mom on top of a boulder

Mosaic tiles

Delaware Museum of Natural History

Here are some pictures from the Delaware Museum of Natural History that I have been sitting on for 2 weeks.  Enjoy!

Poppy on a fake deer

Olive on a fake tortoise

Darn museum glare

Look at the size of that emu! 

No, Poppy, you may not climb into the diorama!

A raccoon freaking out Olive

Poppy

Poppy would not move from this spot for fear of falling in!  There was some crying involved.

Olive with the sea shells

Camp

Poppy and Olive started camp today!  For 3 weeks, they are attending Wilmington Montessori School for 3 hours per day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  If you don't know what the Montessori Method is, take a look at this.  The kids had seen the classroom a few months ago when I was researching different camp options, and they made themselves right at home!  Poppy immediately found two dolls to play with, while Olive found one doll.  Typical!  I gave them kisses and drove home to an empty house.  I have to admit it was wonderful!  It was as if the kids were napping, but I could make all the noise I wanted.  I blasted music, clanged dishes around, and scrubbed the outdoor toys with reckless abandon.

Then, at 10:30, the phone rang.  It was one of the assistant teachers, and I thought either Olive tripped over her own feet and got hurt or Poppy hit someone.  I guess I shouldn't assume because I was wrong.  Since it was their first day, the teacher thought I should know that Olive would not use their potty.  She said she had to do poopies but would not sit on the potty.  She was holding it in and was in immense pain.  She carried on for 45 minutes.  Poor thing!  I felt so bad that she was crying for daddy and I couldn't help her.  That's when I got emotional.  I knew she'd be fine, but it was heartbreaking.  I almost cried for her.  The teacher said that some kids get picked up early on their first day if they are having a hard time, but I didn't want to do that.  Instead, I decided to drive back to the school and stand in the observation room until noon (pick up time).  When I got there, Olive was absolutely fine!  As soon as the teacher hung up with me, Olive went poopies on the potty, and all was resolved.  Phew!  When it was time to leave, I got a big hug and kiss from both Olive and Poppy.  I missed them so much!  

So what exactly did they do today?  First, they had independent exploration time.  They can literally do anything they want as long as it's safe.  Then, Poppy did some finger painting while Olive was "sick."  During snack time, Poppy even tried to give Olive a snack to help her feel better.  How sweet!  The last hour was outdoor play and water play.  Sounds fun to me!

Here they are standing outside the school dragging their belongings.  They look so grown up!  

I had to zoom in on this picture because Poppy's face is priceless!  Smile!

Olive was all business.

Let's get this show on the road.

Blast from the Past

Remember puffy paint?  I don't know if they even make it anymore.  But, I found a recipe for microwave puffy paint on my new favorite blog, Play at Home Mom.  Please check out this site if you have kids.  There are so many fun art and sensory activities.  Anyway, the puffy paint isn't for t-shirts or hats.  You paint with it on cardboard squares and then microwave it.  It basically dries it out right away and gets spongy like puffy paint.  Ours was a little too thin so there was not as much dimension to it as I would have liked.  We all had fun anyway!

Stir, stir, stir.

Stir some more.

Stir until smooth.

Taste it.  Don't worry.  It's just flour, salt, and water.

Grimace.

My kids chose to make brown, green, purple, and pink paint.

 Now, paint!

Poppy and Olive didn't quite understand the concept of microwaving their creations to dry them out.  Actually, I think it scared them.  I had to microwave Poppy's in secret because she would cry every time I tried nuke it!  They stacked them on top of each other and smooshed the paint all around.  It was mostly brown in the end.

We also got a visit from one of Jill's dear friends, Andrea.  Hide and seek was the game of choice!

Where's Olive?