Katharine keeps her sketchbook next to her bed.
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She was especially proud of this leg that she sketched two weeks ago.
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Sunday, May 19, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
We're learning at the Dallas Zoo
It is only Wednesday, and we have taken two trips to the zoo already. Katharine's main lesson is "man and animal" at the moment, so I decided to take advantage of our membership and learn about reptiles, birds and mammals by observing them instead of just reading about them.
Last week we already to a trip to the Dallas Children's Aquarium to observe fish, our main focus being the zebra sharks. The kids did some beautiful water color paintings.
On Monday, we had two animal encounters, the first one with an African Black footed penguin, the second with a Ball Python, a constrictor snake that is also known as a royal snake because in ancient times, African kings and queens liked to adorn themselves with those smaller sized pythons.
Katharine, Lukas, Keira and I touched the snake, and to the kids surprise, it wasn't slippery and slimy, but dry and warm. They learned much about the animal and even had extra time to talk to the snake keeper after everyone else had left.
As always, we took a ride on the monorail, which is always a welcome break for the kids, especially on a hot and humid day.
Katharine's hand is the top, Lukas' the bottom
Today was much cooler, overcast, and as we left the zoo, we got rained on pretty hard. The animals seemed to enjoy the cooler weather, too, and were very active. We visited the tiger, the white cheeked gibbons, the Mona monkeys and the Allen Swamp monkeys, watched the river otters all curled up together, and then had a nice picnic lunch. The kids all agreed that Tiger Creek is a better place to observe tigers, but they still enjoyed learning about how a tiger stalks and kills his prey, compared their hands to the size of a tiger's paw and Lennon realized that his head could fit in a tiger's mouth.
After lunch we headed over to the Galapagos tortoises which we observed for quite a while before looking at the large birds (Bald Eagles, Andean Condors, King vulture, African Fish Eagle, Harpy Eagle etc...). The even heard an eagle's cry which sounded actually quite pretty.
While watching the tortoises, the kids noticed how the dome shaped shell is made up of lots of little mounds that looked like mountains. They found out that the shell is actually pretty light weight, compared to the rest of the animal. It is made up of a honeycomb structure that has lots of air chambers.
I asked Katharine how tortoises are usually portrayed in stories, she gave me the correct answer, ancient and wise.
The Harpy Eagle looks pretty cool.
Last we proceeded to check on our friends the gorillas. Only two of the boys were out today. We then decided to check on the chimps, which was a great way to finish today's visit. All but two of the chimps were out, and very active. We watched them get fed and got to talk to their keeper. there must be something about my kids that makes people want to talk to them. Katharine could match almost all of the chimps correctly. The oldest chimp there is Bon Bon, she is 55 years old. The youngest is Kona, a little 4 year old toddler that entertained the kids greatly. It was great seeing the family of chimps interact with each other and learn more about their personalities. I took a video, but have to figure out how to load it, first.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Last week we already to a trip to the Dallas Children's Aquarium to observe fish, our main focus being the zebra sharks. The kids did some beautiful water color paintings.
On Monday, we had two animal encounters, the first one with an African Black footed penguin, the second with a Ball Python, a constrictor snake that is also known as a royal snake because in ancient times, African kings and queens liked to adorn themselves with those smaller sized pythons.
Katharine, Lukas, Keira and I touched the snake, and to the kids surprise, it wasn't slippery and slimy, but dry and warm. They learned much about the animal and even had extra time to talk to the snake keeper after everyone else had left.
As always, we took a ride on the monorail, which is always a welcome break for the kids, especially on a hot and humid day.
Katharine's hand is the top, Lukas' the bottom
Today was much cooler, overcast, and as we left the zoo, we got rained on pretty hard. The animals seemed to enjoy the cooler weather, too, and were very active. We visited the tiger, the white cheeked gibbons, the Mona monkeys and the Allen Swamp monkeys, watched the river otters all curled up together, and then had a nice picnic lunch. The kids all agreed that Tiger Creek is a better place to observe tigers, but they still enjoyed learning about how a tiger stalks and kills his prey, compared their hands to the size of a tiger's paw and Lennon realized that his head could fit in a tiger's mouth.
After lunch we headed over to the Galapagos tortoises which we observed for quite a while before looking at the large birds (Bald Eagles, Andean Condors, King vulture, African Fish Eagle, Harpy Eagle etc...). The even heard an eagle's cry which sounded actually quite pretty.
While watching the tortoises, the kids noticed how the dome shaped shell is made up of lots of little mounds that looked like mountains. They found out that the shell is actually pretty light weight, compared to the rest of the animal. It is made up of a honeycomb structure that has lots of air chambers.
I asked Katharine how tortoises are usually portrayed in stories, she gave me the correct answer, ancient and wise.
The Harpy Eagle looks pretty cool.
Last we proceeded to check on our friends the gorillas. Only two of the boys were out today. We then decided to check on the chimps, which was a great way to finish today's visit. All but two of the chimps were out, and very active. We watched them get fed and got to talk to their keeper. there must be something about my kids that makes people want to talk to them. Katharine could match almost all of the chimps correctly. The oldest chimp there is Bon Bon, she is 55 years old. The youngest is Kona, a little 4 year old toddler that entertained the kids greatly. It was great seeing the family of chimps interact with each other and learn more about their personalities. I took a video, but have to figure out how to load it, first.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, May 13, 2013
Hats and Gloves
Kassidy and Keira acting silly last week.
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Kassidy loves hats, and has always looked great in them (even with yogurt smeared all over her chin).
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Saturday, May 11, 2013
Happy Birthday, Kassidy!
Kassidy turned three years old today!
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We ate the cake first, but that would never spoil her favorite meal that she picked out for supper.
Pizza, of course :)
She got a Lego set from the Grandparents, and Car toys from the siblings (except for Keira, who gave her a "My Little Pony" doll).
More pictures from today:
Kassidy facts:
Her favorite color is pink.
Here favorite toys are cars.
She loves to get speaking and potty lessons from her big sister, Keira.
She is obsessed with cars- toys, clothes, shows, books, real cars...
She has a very sweet disposition, unless someone gets too close to her cars.
She loves to ride in the car.
She often breaks out into song and dance (the songs will go on for a long time).
Her favorite song is "Happy, happy..." (add whatever she is happy about to the end of that verse).
She loves taking dancing lessons and wearing her leotard (she calls it a "be-tard").
She is a night owl, and is slow to go to sleep when put down.
She is still very much a Mama's girl.
She loves to eat cereal (any time of the day).
She loves to drink soy milk.
She loves Mac and Cheese, pizza, avocados, cake pops, any kind of berries, and apples.
The boys currently want her to move into their room with them.
She always has a big smile for photos (and needs to see the picture right after it is taken).
She is an honorary member of Sheena's competition team.
She dances up and down the aisles during every recital.
She prefaces most of her nouns with the "nnn" sound (ex: nnn - car)
She loves wearing socks and shoes.
She loves to hug, and makes lots of friends.
She doesn't like it when told "no".
She doesn't like ramen noodles.
She loves the cats.
She loves books and magazines.
She loves to show her tummy and belly button.
Sometimes she and I will point fingers back and forth and smile to communicate.
She still loves to lean back over your lap so that her head is upside down.
She is in the 84th percentile for height.
She is in the 70th percentile for weight.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Solo
Katharine's solo at least weekend's dance competition.
The girl rocked it, and we are all super proud of her :)
Monday, May 6, 2013
Breakfast with Kassidy
Here is a typical Kassidy breakfast consisting of waffles and cars.
Her other morning/afternoon/evening favorite is a bowl of cereal.
In other news- Kassidy turns 3 on Saturday!
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Cub Scout Camping Trip: Spin
On our last morning, the kids found this cool spinning station (or whatever you call them) at the campground playground.
Much fun and dizziness ensued.
Cub Scout Camping Trip: Miscellaneous Pictures
Here are the rest of the pictures from the trip.
At the beach behind our cabin.
Keira's pony campsite.
Lukas, who became fascinated with caterpillars.
Lennon, dribbling his soccer ball around and looking cool while checking out the birds.
More caterpillars (this one was named Pepper).
Running along the beach on our last morning there.
Cub Scout Camping Trip: Rachel and Keira
The little sisters of Lukas and Andrew came along for this camping trip, and found a way to make their own fun among all of the cub scouts.
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