Summer Exploration Week 1&2

Week one of summer was Bugs, Frogs and turtles...
After a trip to the "Frog" pond and a "turtle" pond, Oscar and Poppy were well immersed in the animal surroundings...literally!

Oscar in the depths of the reeds

O'man had no problem heading into the depths to explore their habitats...you may be surprised however that Poppy only ventured in about calf-deep. I think her lack of swimming skills kept her cautious.
As we have a resident bee-keeper in our midst, it was no problem for a hands on bee-lesson. Having the second veil has been a great tool for the kids to get a little bit closer to the inside of the hive. OScar curretnly has a couple of drone male bees living in a jar(they are the pretty much useless bees that hang around the hive and can't sting you).
Other activities included tracking the number and kind of bugs/insects on our outings. This was a topic very familiar and yet we still learned some new things about how ants carry their young to the surface for air, and that frogs eat their own skin as they shed it. Pretty cool stuff.
Week Two was the topic of "People" (I should note that the kids picked the topics, I merely facilitate their request). We recently met some great friends who happen to be Korean. Shilla the mom of Patrick and Liah (sp?) lived in Korea until she was ten. She was our guest teacher for the week.
She taught the kids how to wrap egg rolls...
How to make some funny rice disks that turn into these fried rice chips...oh, so cool!
Next, she gave the kids a lesson on the Korean flag and the meanings of the markings. It was so interesting and enlightening. It was all about keeping balance in nature and in life. I was once again reminded that there are just some eternal truths in this world. It dosen't matter what religion or culture you are from, everything has to have a balance...Balance is one truth I can atest to. Without it we find ourselves in the midst of chaos...I was excited to discover the meanings of the markings and I think the kids really soaked it in too.
Thanks Sheilla for the great day on Korea!
We also learned about Portugal, Iceland, Switzerland (the land of my grandparents), Canada, Volcanologists, and we sailed through a few books on a few other cultures/ocupations.
Overall it went really well.
Lastly Hazel took her first swim in the pool...the swim suit was a bit big but the girl loved it. Not as long as the other two kids but she was a great fish for her first time.
Next week the topic is trees and wood...we'll let you know how it goes.

Summer begins...

Ahhhh...SUMMER!

We are now officially into summer mode, despite that the calendar still says it is spring. Oscar is officially out of school, we have veggies growing in the garden, I can hang clothes out to dry, we all seem to have tan lines (farmer tans), the out door pool opened(no that we have been, it is still a bit cold for that) and the farmer's market is in full swing....these are the days that we look forward to all year long!
Beginning Monday we will begin our summer-weekly themes. Fittingly the kids have picked to study bugs, frog and turtles next week. We hope to study habitats, life cycle, and explore their environments...I'm sure they will have no problem getting interested in this topic. The plan is that we will have a topic for the week and each day we will spend time doing different projects/field trips on the theme...I hope to post the progress and results, but if you only get little tid-bits you can rest assured I am mearly busy being a mom of three, and not lost somewhere in space.
Meanwhile Miss Hazel hit her three month mark...and boy is she ever cute!!! We all just about can't stand it. We want to squeeze snuggle and kiss her to death. Even Daddy has a hard time letting her go to bed at night. We all know it is for her good and well-being but man, it is hard putting her to bed knowing that she is so sweet to snuggle.

See that smile? Seriously, could you put that down? She lets us know she done however, she snuggles, a little gives us a cry and wants to be left alone to go to sleep. Reluctantly we let her go. Then each morning once again she greets us with a full gummy smile. She loves to wake up and see us. Poppy always wants to be the first one to climb into bed with her, so she can "make her happy" although she doesn't need to. She always greets us with a smile.
As busy as it is being a mother of three, it is great! And to be honest, I don't mind having a good reason to scale things back a bit. After all, what better reason could there be?

Poppy days...

(Poppy and Olivia on the trail)

It seems that some weeks have a particular child that is the spot light during the week. The past few weeks have been Poppy weeks...From alergic reactions, recitals, bug bites/stings, and a new bike she has been the family star.
She is the new proud owner of a pretty pink bike, with a basket. She loves to ride. She surprisingly hasn't complained about getting strong legs. She asks to ride frequently, and I sorta wish we didn't live on such a hill so that she could ride a bit easier from our front door.
We went out for a ride on the trail the other day with her good friends Olivia and Lucy.
Last night Poppy rode to the swamp. I think we are training a new Bicycle queen...

(Poppy pooped-out after the dance recital...she fell asleep on the ride home)

She also had her first Dance recital. Being 3 1/2 years old it was no surprise that she was adorable.
We also learned the new art of Recital hair...her dance teacher said we should tie her wispy hair in rags so that we would be able to put it into a side ponytail.This is what her hair looked like the morning after...total afro. It went into the pony tail like a charm. It was hilarious seeing her with such fuzzy hair.

Well, she is a growing fun girl with a bundle of energy and love.
I'm really looking forward to summer!
I'll try to post a bit more frequetnly...it's just that life is happening and trying to stop to document is often put on the back burner.