Our reliable local newspaper...

 

I find sarcasm refreshing yet at the same time, I know I need to keep my tongue in check.

Where to find the balance?

Thank you RGJ for not helping.

They had listed a big rig truck day and put the wrong time, so we headed over to this "fiesta" that was ghetto but ended up being fun. It was in one of the worst areas in town and was meant for lower income families. The amount of screaming, rude, horrible moms was depressing.

 

Yet, we got to bounce in a jump house for a good 20 minutes.

 

Had a lovely time hoping we wouldn't catch lice or fleas from bike helmets.

Volunteers are the bane of my existence. I was helping Maria ride her bike because they didn't have any bikes with training wheels. A volunteer comes over and says we need to be on the edges of the course... that's like the size of my kitchen. And there are no kids on the course.

Sometimes I do think we need to legalize weed. 

 

 

 

As annoying as that was, all 55 seconds of bike riding.... First the girls had to get the helmets on 4 minutes, have a guy tell them the ABC's of bike safety, 5 minutes and then go get a bike... then the 55 seconds of riding....

They did end up getting FREE helmets!!!!!!!!

Wooooooooooooo. So it was worth it!! Plus they are matching so the girls are excited.

 

 

Face painting took 20 minutes... longer than artown... curious, yes?

 

The girls got to ride in this cart which was the highlight for them.

 

Eli loved waving to all the animals. So friendly.

 

They encouraged the kids to try on these glasses to see what it's like when you drink and drive. Maria was fascinated. The girls got stickers from each table and then we got a free book. Plus a crapload of junk from all the tables.

But there is something just invigorating about getting free junk. We got free water bottles, sunscreen, bandaids, glass cases, toys, bags, rubber duckies with built in temperature registers....

 

Then we went for pizza and our car broke down.

Papa to the rescue and the tow truck man who charges too much.

Fun $$$$$$$ times!!!!!!!!!

 

It was so lovely out that we whipped out our after summer clearance pool from Target!!

It was a grand day!!

Our Earth Day Festivities at Home

 

Our little guys have sprouted! It was very exciting just in time for earth day!

 

We made some apple bird feeders and recyclable bird feeders. Our backyard is quite the hot spot now!!! We love watching the birds. Christina has a lot of updating for her Who lives in our Backyard chart!

 

I looooooooooved the girls reader theater of The Kapok Tree!!! We have 2, 10 minute videos that are utterly fabulous!!

 

The girls started their paper mache giraffe.

 

 

 

We did Kapok Tree art, recycled earth art, paper mache globes, lots of singing and KWL chart. We did earth shape poems and read lots of earth day books. We also did a nature scavenger hunt where we looked for the 5 senses in nature. We picked up trash, 6 pounds along the way.

And of course, we went to a park to have plenty of outdoor time.

 

Eli loves to do work with sissies at the table.

 

He also enjoys pretending he's Michael Jackson and shouting/screaming "Weeeeeeeeeeeeenie!!!!!'.

He's not a pervert, but it's just really funny. Then he sees us laugh and loves the reaction. 

We need to be better about not laughing.

 

 

Lastly we did origami seed pots of recycled paper and earth day cupcakes for our neighbors and friends.

 

I am constantly amazed by the beauty that surrounds us. I'm dumbfounded as to how people can believe this earth was just an explosion and created from goo. I know that our loving Heavenly Father created this beautiful home for us to have joy, to learn and to grow. To be tested. It's such a blessing to know why I'm here on this earth and what is expected of me. I'm grateful to Christ who made eternal life possible through His sacrifice. Indeed He organized this earth and lived on this earth and set the perfect example for us.

 

 

A few more updates to add to our earth day collection:

 

The earth in our hand, colored pencil art.

 

Summer- the giraffe. Although her name changes, I find, hourly. She prays and eats with us, however I have not let her ride in the Barbie jeep for fear of her life... seeing as there are no seat belts.

 

Earth Day Celebrations... kind of

 

You know, sometimes.... Rarely.... Reno comes up with a good one. We got there right at the start of the event which was perfect, because it ended up getting pretty crowded and they ran out of supplies. Plus they needed more tables to accommodate the number of kids. Despite that, it really was well organized with great activities. The girls loved getting stickers for their hats and learning about all the different things there.

There were recycling boats, paper pinwheels and kites....

Great bug display. Super interesting!

Did you know our state insect is the Vivid Dancer Damselfly.

Quite a mouthful.

It was so nice to have our daddy with us on a Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!! It's been around 2 months and feels like a lifetime.

 

The girls panned for gold. Seriously, these old panners were soooooooooo nice. I guess they have some sort of official association and brought out metal detectors too. They had tons of coins for children to find with metal detectors. I mean, how wonderful is that? It actually got me a little interested. Supposedly it's only $50 for a kid's metal detector.

 

Man! This is kid is AWESOME!!! He is seriously just such a joy. He loved all the animals and was so gentle and soft with them. He (and the girls) even touched a boa!!

 

And of course, you gotta love the dinosaur part of the park. It's small and simple, but great. Elijah loved all the dinosaurs.

 

Christina, the mountain goat.

Daddy spent a good 25 minutes pushing the babes on the swings.

 

They had a great tree scavenger hunt! We had just done one that I created for the girls and it's fun to see how "into it" they get.

 

 

We also got to plant seeds. Eli loved this !!!! He thought it was so fun to dump in the seeds. He kept on taking the empty packet and dumping.

 

Umm... saddest picture ever. Supposedly there are 70 falconers in NV. 4 are women. We met 2.

 They are beautiful birds, it just feels wrong that they are tied up for exhibition. One kept trying to fly away. How horrible it must feel to want to soar and not be able to.

 

We ended the day with a trip to Raley's. They advertised free hot dogs.... which ended up being samples the size of my fingernail. However, there were lots of free tasters that were delicious and Christina won a cake at the cake walk!!!!!!

 

Also, I got a nap!!!!!!!

 

We read 10 chapters in Gregor The Prophecy of Bane (Book 2)!!

 

Joe fixed the fence and cleared up the backyard tree branches!!

 

It was one great Saturday!!! We are so blessed!!!

Hiking Mt.Rose... Almost

 

Well, it's spring isn't it? I guess Mt. Rose didn't get the memo. Ghetto mountain.

But we are not ones to be easily thwarted, off we went in search of another adventure.

Thank you, we'll take Lake Tahoe.

 

We headed to North Lake Tahoe at Incline Village. We went to a park that was fabulous on Lakeshore. The weather was gorgeous and I'm positive that Maria would have gone swimming had I brought a suit for her. She's insane and loves the glacier water.

 

It's amazing. They don't even need play toys. I love this throwing sand shot.

I entitle this one "The Force is With Him".

 

Eli was amazed by these, he kept shouting "Hello!! " and then running around laughing.

 

 

We went for a short walk down the way to enjoy a

picnic lunch. We ended up on a restricted beach, but no one told us to leave... so... we didn't.

 

 

His "cheese" face.

 

He kept shouting bear so Maria took him over to enjoy the statue.

We also ran into a kayak parking lot. There were hundreds of them in beautiful bright colors.

Eli loved the "boats".

 

 

It was a lovely day. I've been trying to make as many spiritual connections to the things we're studying as possible. With the water cycle, we've learned the importance of having clean water. We watched a clip on storm drains and how trash can pollute the water systems that empty into the ocean and lakes. We've been talking about King Mosiah also and tied the two together. King Mosiah, an ancient Nephite King and prophet taught the importance of keeping our thoughts clean. We don't want dirty thoughts to run through the words we say and the things we do. We brainstormed all the different ways to keep our minds clean. The girls told me story after story they've read in The Friend. Anyways, it was great to actually see at Lake Tahoe- Incline Stream that emptied into it  and to make the visual concrete.

 

Lovely day with lovely company!!!!!!