A Fun Saturday

Remember how I mentioned we were getting ready for a trip? Well... in the midst of it all, I kind of took a Saturday off. It was only going to be a morning then spontaneity hit.

That Saturday before our trip, Jeremy, several of the kids, and I went out looking for bobolinks. We didn't find any. We found plenty of other birds including a lot of snipes so we got some new good snipe pictures. I never see snipes when I go on a snipe hunt but when I don't go looking for them...

We also saw quite a few marmots as we often do in that area.

The sandhill cranes were pretty photogenic as well.

 

After we got back, Jeremy and Jr. went out to help friends move. While they were gone, I got a text from my friend, Stephanie, inviting me last minute to go see a play that her friend was in. Jeremy was okay with it so off I went and didn't do as much getting ready for the trip. But I had a blast.

Three of us drove up to Salt Lake together and met another there to watch the play, The Importance of Being Earnest at Parker Theatre. When my oldest two heard which play I was going to, they absolutely encouraged me to go. They've both read the play. 

I love the theatre. It was such a fun production. We chatted with Stephanie's friend afterward who was in the play. She was so fun to watch in it. So expressive in a humorous way, which the part called for.

After the play, the four of us spectators (audience members?) went up the street to Salt Lake Chinatown (did you know Salt Lake City had a Chinatown?) to try some new foods and had a great time getting to know each other better.

That afternoon/evening was just what I needed.

And I still eventually got ready for our trip. Tee Hee.

 

P.S. That night I spent a bit of time outside taking photos of the Strawberry Moon.

Impromptu Date

Jeremy needed to check on getting something fixed in our van. I volunteered to go with him. It turns out the person said he could get to it right then so Jeremy and I went across the street to wait at a park.

It was North Park in Provo and the pioneer museum was open. I'd never been to the museum just the pioneer village once.

We decided to go in, look around, learn a little bit about pioneer history, put a few pieces on a jigsaw puzzle (It was an Eric Dowdle puzzle of Nauvoo), and enjoy ourselves. 

Jeremy said it's been a long time since we've been able to do something spontaneous like that. It was little impromptu date and it was very pleasant.

Impromptu Science Experiment

The day after our Batman Party, Jr. was asking about "Mr. Freeze's Iced Cubes."  I don't remember exactly what happened.  We must have been talking about what happens to the ice cubes when they melt.  All of a sudden, we were sending an ice cube into the microwave in a little bowl.  I think it was Jr.'s idea.

 It melted.

We had talked before about states of matter.  Solids, liquids, and gases.  We'd frozen ice cubes before, but this time we kind of really got going.

We melted another ice cube, this time on a plate.

This time there was still a tiny bit left to the ice cube when it came out of the microwave.

Which gave me an idea.  What if we put an ice cube in a pot on the stove?  That way, Jr. can actually watch it melt (it's harder to watch it in the microwave).  

In the pot we had a point where we were able to get all three states- solid, liquid, gas- at the same time.  After the ice cube melted completely and a lot of the steam had escaped into the air, we poured what was left of the water back into the ice cube tray.  It was half as much water as when we originally filled the ice cube tray a few days before.

Jr. wanted to try it again in the microwave, so we did with a couple more differently sized bowls, all the time talking about changing the states of matter. 

 

I love Jr.'s surprised look.  As if he hasn't already seen this several times.

I love these moments.  These spontaneous activities I am able to do with my children, all because of a little conversation we get into.

Spontaneous Play

After grocery shopping with Nichole and a nice discussion with the cashier about children using their imaginations, I was putting groceries away with Nichole in our kitchen. She saw one of the paper bags and immediately stuck it over her head saying, "Look, Mommy." She appreciated my laughter. I took another bag and cut two eyeholes in it. She could tell what I was doing and reminded me that I had to draw a mouth on it. Which I did. I traded her for the original bag and she's been having much fun ever since (including entertaining her little brother).

Talk Like A Pirate Day

September 19 was Talk Like a Pirate Day. To celebrate, we played the game Monkey Island most of the day. We're fans. We continued our celebrations this morning. My husband rearranged the furniture in the living room to make a pirate ship. Nichole was very happy to see it when she woke up. She's been into the Monkey Island and pirate thing lately. Here are a few of my favorite quotes we've heard around here recently.

Nichole: I'm Elephant Princess Darby.
Daddy: Hello, Elephant Princess Darby.
Nichole: I'm a pirate.

and when her brother was bothering her while she was trying to steer the ship (with the unicycle wheel)-
Nichole: You're going to break my beautiful little boat. Get off.

After church we all got in on the pirate fun and had a battle. Jeremy built a balloon cannon around a fan so when the kids stuck a balloon cannonball in the cannon, the air would shoot it out.
Later we battled with balloon swords. After beating the adults and chasing them off their ship, the kid pirates took their balloon shovels to dig up buried treasure (a balloon treasure chest).

Spontaneous fun. We weren't planning on doing so much with pirates today. The furniture ship was a good idea and it was wonderful for us all to get in on the fun and see where it led.

Go with the flow

Sometimes you have a plan. You decide what you're going to do, maybe when you're going to do it. Then... things don't go according to plan. One child sleeps in longer than expected. The kids decide they don't want to participate in this activity you have planned. What do you do? Go with the flow.

A while back, I wanted to let the kids help me make butterflies using empty toilet paper rolls and egg cartons. What did we make? Glasses for the kids to wear, using empty toilet paper rolls and pipe cleaners. Nichole also made a birdhouse with my help, using the toilet paper roll and egg carton.

A few days ago, we were talking about birthdays. I had printed out a couple of birthday pictures for the kids to color. Nichole decided instead of coloring they needed party hats, so...

We made party hats. I didn't have a plan for how we were going to make party hats, so both of them were a little bit different from each other, but acceptable to the kids. Nichole let me know that we should use glue to put hers together. We just used staples for Jr.'s.

The kids really help with creativity. Nichole's good at figuring out how to put things together. Either she'll suggest a material to be used or she'll tell me what it should look like or be shaped like.

The kids also help me be spontaneous. I'll ask them if we should do one thing, and they'll suggest another. Should we go to the store? No, we should go to the library. O.K. Let's go to the library.

Spontaneity. Go with the flow.

These children are precious and as I try to teach them, I am also learning so much from them. What a blessing.