Five, If You Can Believe It

We had a big shindig at our house to celebrate Zoe Wren's fifth birthday. All kinds of curling ribbon and construction paper decorations, balloons, cupcakes (she blew out the candles as soon as we started singing), fun crafts, heaps of food, and many good friends to help us celebrate - it all made for a wonderful party. 

So far, five has been pretty good for Zoe!

Puff

This song was their gate way to Peter, Paul, and Mary appreciation. Too bad they only know one line! Other favorites are "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" and "Blowing In The Wind."

Definitely Pink

This rhododendron, along with two pals, was planted in spring 2012. This is the first year we've had blooms. I'm almost certain they are supposed to be yellow, but I haven't bothered to check the tag (which I have on file). Not much point in checking, since they are THIS color, and quite beautiful.

Little Help With The Wings, Please

For the record, they also like to dress up as firefighters and construction workers. 

Also, Vincent does that two-sided puzzle all by himself, lickety-split.

Fishy Field Trip

 Yesterday we went to a fish hatchery with Zoe's preschool. It was a perfect spring afternoon for an outside adventure.

"I yite dis one!"(I like this one!) Vincent pointed, while Zoe explained to us about fish eggs in the gravel.

Checking out the little steelhead before the rest of the class arrived. We thought the electric anti-bird wire might be hot. It wasn't. Apparently it didn't work, hot or not. No self respecting great blue heron would let an annoying zap deter him from such a smorgasbord.

10,000 or so baby fish, fingerling size. No hands or other foreign objects in the water, as the bacteria on your skin might make the fish sick. Zoe and Vince understood this (Do we want the fish to get sick? Serious faces and head shaking no), but the water was irresistible to a few of the kids. Maybe the hot wire would work on them?

The grand finale, a feeding frenzy. Our guide provided a bucket of fish chow (itsy bitsy kibble), which the children flung by fistfuls into the troughs. The fish rose and thrashed and splashed, thrilling the children. The kids mobbed the guy with the feed bucket, the fish mobbed the feed, and all was chaos for the few short minutes the feed lasted.

There were lots of interesting things to look at, and it was great to be outside. I wish the guide had explained more, rather than just waiting for questions. He told us it was all a little much to explain to preschoolers, but he was underestimating their understanding. This became especially clear to me when they started asking about the life cycles of steelhead versus salmon.

I asked Vincent what his favorite part of the field trip was: Looking at jumping fish in the water. We throwed fish food into the water. Maddie and me was doing it.

And Zoe: Feeding the jumpy fish food. And the fish ladder.

Row, Row, Row

A lion puppet and a tiny toy hamster joined Vincent in an afternoon of boating. Merrily, merrily, merrily.

Perch

Let's build something: a bench! We're having a birthday party at our house in a few weeks, and don't have as much seating as we have invitees. Now three more bottoms have a place to perch. I used lumber we already had, just had to buy the correct length screws. The bench still needs sanding to soften the corners. I'll also try to eliminate the tiny rocking caused by my uneven cuts where the legs touch the floor. It'll have to wait, though, because another cold front is rolling in.

Scientific Inquiry

Zoe loves the nature explorer kit she got for Christmas. The idea is to go outside and make detailed observations with your head lamp and magnifying glass, then make drawings or write about what you find. But sometimes you find wonders of nature indoors. In this case, a sprouting onion!

Her drawing is of the onion before she started peeling.

Park It Here

Yesterday was so sparkly, we had to spend it outside. 

Spring Blossoms

A lovely spring day for a stroll!