Happy, Happy Birthday!

Early morning snuggles and bday greetings from Nate (5:50), Nate's meltdown (frustrated with Dad), Amelia's meltdown (she wanted braids), Woodcrest service, IHOP brunch--our 2 free "rooty tooty fresh and fruity" plates AND the "Happy Happy Birthday" song complete with ice cream sundae from the waitstaff (kids thought that was GREAT), J let me take a short power nap, fun Facebook greetings, and finally a home-cooked meal from my love--hand-squeezed margaritas, marinated shrimp on the BBQ, roasted brussels sprouts, polenta and red-velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (from scratch)! The kiddos sang "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, you look like a monkey and you smell like one too!" Then they giggled and helped me blow my candles out. Finally, a quick walk and nice talk with Becca out in the fresh air around the Cosmo track. Thank you to Jason, Nate, Amelia, my friends and extended family for helping to make my day so special!

Wonders of Wildlife

Setting up our new 8-person tent for the very first time (gutsy move...luckily all the pieces were there!), wildlife calls on the turkey box, s'mores at the campfire, 5:15 am wake-up from the kids (as soon as the sun peeked over the horizon!), Kids Camp (Amelia excitedly shouting, "Mom, I caught a fish! I caught a fish! And I flew a kite!"), nature photography, windy canoeing (saw 4 Canada geese and 7 goslings, red-winged blackbirds in their nests, and a water snake we chased to the landing), and geocaching course (took home trinkets for the kids), wild-game lunch buffet (loved the venison marinated in "cheap beer and BBQ sauce!), and most of all SUNSHINE and FRESH AIR. Thanks for the hard work and preparation Wonders of Wildlife crew!

We All Scream for [Snow] Ice Cream!

We had another snow last night--about 1.5 inches. This is only the third snowfall this winter. The kids know that snow is fleeting around here. They make it a point to get out and enjoy it before it melts. We didn't get out today until after lunch, so as you can see most of it was gone. We skated on the ice-covered driveway and Nate invented a game called walnut curling (using nuts gathered from the walnut trees in our yard). We did have enough snow left in the shade of our front yard to make snow angels and gather a big bowl of fresh snow for another batch of snow ice cream! I liked this recipe better:
Big bowl o' snow
1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
Chocolate syrup to taste

Yummy AND easy-peasy!
It got rave reviews from the critics as well! :)

Today I Hear...BIG WORDS!

At 70 degrees, today was an absolutely perfect day for a picnic and a hike at one of the plethora of parks around town. Hmmm, but which park should we choose? Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial at Battle Gardens, of course! (Today being MLK Jr. Day and all!)

We played tag with a family who was there for the official MLK celebration (I guess we missed it by 10 minutes!), had our picnic, read a short bio about Dr. King from our "Tales of Famous Americans" book and read quotes (taken from a variety of his speeches) chiseled on granite pillars in the park. After our short commemoration, we hiked part of the MKT trail. Highlights? Throwing rocks from the old RR bridges to see if we could break the ice (it was deceptively thick!), seeing the red-tailed hawk grab a mouse scampering atop of the ice, and racing to the next exercise station.

Not only did we take advantage of this gift of warm sunshine in the middle of January, we were able to pause to honor a hero of our national history on the day set aside just for that purpose! What better way to meditate on his big words than on a peaceful stroll through a tunnel of trees with the ones we love best?!

She knows what she likes....

Tonight while snuggling during bedtime stories, I noticed A picking her nose (it's been so dry here this fall). She pulled out a big treasure and...ate it. I corrected her, "Amelia, that's gross. It's not OK to pick your nose and eat your buggers." She matter-of-factly protested, "But, Mom, I like buggers...and yogurt, and bananas, and cashews, and chocolate milk." Well, I guess the little buggers are in good company.

Editor's Note: The next day during snacktime she announced with just enough grandeur, "Mom, I just love havarti and grapes!" Maybe there's some refinement on that palate after all. :)

Mmmmmmmm in Jefferson City

Or, "What's wrong with a banana split for lunch?"



Really, we did it. We don't do it often, so I'm OK with it. We had ice cream for lunch. We'd heard the serving sizes at Central Dairy are RIDICULOUS, so we arrived with an empty stomach! I mean look at the banana split monster on the table in front of me. Jason and I split it. We chose coffee, strawberry cheesecake and moose track ice cream scoops and traditional toppings. Amelia wanted a "strawberry shortcake" (i.e., cheesecake) sundae with chocolate sauce. Nate opted for a scoop of peppermint ice cream in a traditional cone. YUMMO!

It was a Jefferson City road trip today--our first trip down to the capital (about 45 minutes from Columbia) since moving to Missouri. We've been meaning to get down to the Runge Nature Center in Jeff City for a little over a year now. We met a few of the enthusiastic staff members and volunteers at one of Columbia's Family Fun Festivals our first week in Missouri. We finally made it to one of the hour-long Little Acorn children's events.

Amelia wanted to sit on the turtle and even posed for this photo on the way into the center. However, she got a painful surprise on the way out! After three hours in the August sun, the turtle was too hot to handle! Ouch! Painful lesson on heat conduction....CHECK.

Today's theme at the Runge was "Fish is Fish and That is That." Hmmmm, I don't know anyone in our family who would LOVE a lesson about fish! ;) There was an introduction to fish (what makes them special, habitat, what they eat, etc.); story time ("Fish is Fish" by Leo Leonni); and three centers--science exploration (minnows and nets at a water table), a craft (Japanese fish prints), and a game (a fishing pond and identification game). With the treasure hunt on the trail (we were looking for a 5-lined skink) and the Missouri wildlife habitat exhibit, we stayed for about 3 hours. We look forward to going back soon.



My friend Christi took a photo of this same sign hanging inside the Runge center. Her fb quote sums up what I feel when I read it, "I hope we can expose our children to many things so they can learn, understand, love, conserve and be good stewards of the earth God has given us." If there is one place where God's wonder is evident, it's nature.

Here are the kiddos, following the clues on the Nature Trail to find the skink and its keeper. This was a juvenile skink, so it had a brilliant blue tail!

The exploration stations:

"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in."
--Rachel Carson, naturalist, writer, environmentalist

And finally, as we drove out of town, we decided to explore swing by the capitol building to get a quick peek of the downtown area (it's not a giant metropolitan area after all). It looked liked a very popular main street. We'll plan to eat lunch downtown next time we come (unless we chose to eat ice cream again)! As we drove by the capitol, we noticed a koi pond in the park between the capitol and the governor's mansion. The kids heard koi pond and it was over. They wanted to go explore some more. We ran around the little park and splashed our feet in the pond for almost 30 minutes before packing up for the drive home.




We all managed to stay awake for the drive home, listening to the last part of "The Magic Tree House: Blizzard in a Blue Moon" on CD. However, the entire house took a long nap after we arrived home--including a certain six-year-old who repeatedly told us that he wasn't tired and didn't need naps.
(See below.)

"No Cavities!"

Back-to-school dental appointments for the kiddos today!

Nate was complimented several times on his brushing and flossing. I guess the Delta Dental Tooth Wizard that came to speak at Nate's school this spring had some impact! He's been very diligent in his plaque-fighting efforts ever since. ("Mom, I need more floss; I'm out!" "No, it's not time for my book yet, I haven't rinsed!" "Are my teeth shiny?")

As Dr. Scott was complimenting Nate on his teeth, he pipes up, "And I have big muscles, too. See!" Now imagine a lanky six-year-old reclined in the dentist's chair, wearing the too-big-for-his-face black plastic sunglasses to protect his eyes, very sincerely flexing his biceps for the female dentist and her female assistant. Then he continues in his matter-of-fact tone, "My muscles are even bigger than my Uncle Jeff''s." The whole office was cracking up!

Amelia had her very first visit today and did great. She had her teeth polished with a "tickle toothbrush" with birthday cake-flavored toothpaste and flossed with "silly string." She just couldn't get the second x-ray tab to sit in her little mouth without gagging. We'll try again next time. Ms. Meghan said Amelia had great teeth, too. Dr. Scott liked all the space between her teeth. ;)

They left with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss sticks and two tokens to the GIANT PRIZE MACHINE in the lobby...a big hit with the kiddos! "Keep up the good work!" was their parting report.