Going for a Walk

Earlier this week, Andrew and I were able to take the kids to a local salmon fisheries park near where we live.  I know both of us would like to do this sort of thing more often so it was nice to have great weather and two children who were in the mood to be carted off and see the sites.  The only hitch to the plan was the stop we made on the way there.  We needed to check on my sister and brother-in-law's house because they are away on vacation.  Poor Hannah recognized where we were and had a complete and utter melt down.

She loves her Uncle.

She thought we were keeping her from seeing him.  She thought she was in trouble and wasn't allowed to visit him.  Well, we did our best to explain that uncle was still on vacation, we showed her that uncle wasn't home and we dried her tears.

Then was got on to the fun part of our day.

Hannah loves the freedom to run by herself without holding hands.

We found a mushroom on a stick.

Threw lots of rocks in the water.

Woke up very confused.

Sorta smiled a  little later on Daddy's shoulders.

Explored.

Walked.

We had a lot of fun.  Hannah had a blast seeing squirrels, birds, even a nest. She wanted to see some bugs but we didn't see much in the way of bugs.  Not yet anyway.  It needs to warm up more still.

Wordless Wednesday

Letter Box A

Hannah was very excited to receive her first letter box that I made for her today.  She said that it was a present. Then she said she was a good girl.  She makes me laugh.  I was trying to think of some creative ways to teach her the alphabet.  So I came up with the letter box.  It is my spin on the alphabet boxes created by Counting Coconuts (here) and The Adventures of Bear (here).

Inside, I put a bean bag that we can use to play games, two apples from her felt food, a baby alligator toy, an ant card, an astronaut card, some magnetic letters, and an "a" stamp.  So my plan is to use these things to play games, do crafts and activities to teach Hannah the alphabet, but mostly to have fun together.  

Spring...for now

We have been enjoying the warm weather here the last couple of weeks but I know that it’s really just a tease.  We often have warm sunny weather in March.  Then cold rainy weather in April that makes people complain bitterly.  Knowing this, I enjoy it sceptically.  We have been going to the park more. For Ethan, who was too little to enjoy the park before the weather became miserable and rainy, has loved it.  Hannah has always loved the park. Last summer, we often went twice a day.  It is amazing to see the difference a few months can make in her ability to be able to climb up and down some the playground equipment.  

The flowers around the tree in front of our tree look spectacular and Hannah asks at least 3 or 4 times a day to go out and see the flowers.  She is so sweet as she runs around the tree and leans over to smell them.

Hannah's Rice Box

Last week, I finally put together a rice bin for Hannah to play with.  It was easy to make too (except for the dyed fingers).  I got the idea from Rockabye Butterfly (here).

All you need is rice, food coloring, a plastic bag and rubbing alcohol.  I have also read that hand sanitizer works well in a pinch.  I used a couple of cups of rice, a few squirts of food coloring, and 1-2tsp of the rubbing alcohol.  The rubbing alcohol helps distributes the color but dries quickly because it evaporates so quickly without making the rice go all funny, it also seems to boost the color vibrancy.

I laid out the colorful rice on paper towel covered cookie sheets and let it dry while Hannah napped. Later, with the help of Andrew mom, we put the rice in a bin in neat rows so that colors wouldn't mix until Hannah played with it.  I added some of her kitchen toys and then it was already.  She loved playing with it and so did I.

The untouched rice bin.  It was so pretty, it was hard to wait.

Scooping.

Hannah was making soup.