Things to Do - Grateful List (August 2011)

ARTS
1. Listening to Coconut Records' Nighttiming
2. Reading Life by Keith Richards
3. Reading Melissa Coleman's memoir This Life Is in Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, and a Family Undone
4. Streaming Winter's Bone through Netflix
5. Watching Bridesmaids at the Cinema Drafthouse for date night (so so funny!)
6. Streaming Exit Through the Gift Shop (a documentary about Banksy and street art) through Netflix
7. Wyatt Cyrnac's live stand up at the Cinema Drafthouse
8. F's love of Wildkratts TV show on PBS

FOOD
9. Harissa Ravioli from the cookbook Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen
10. Veggies from my mom's garden
11. Raspberries straight from the vine at Great Country Farms

PLACES
12. Blueberry picking in South Haven, MI and T saying "I like this" over and over again
13. Kids' Corner Playground in South Haven, MI
14. Swimming at Warren Dunes State Park with the girls
15. Visiting Nicols Arb as a family of five
16. Playing tag and chasing seagulls on the lawns at Mission Point Resort (Mackinac Island, MI)
17. Bike riding on Mackinac Island and F riding behind Dan on the tag along
18. An afternoon next to the baby pool at my aunt and uncle's cottage in South Haven, MI
19. Grayline's Hop on Hop Off DC bus tour and riding on top of the double decker bus (the "bus roller coaster" as the kids called it)
20. Visiting the brand new Martin Luther King memorial
21. Visiting the FDR memorial for the first time

ETC
22. T trying to jump while following the Elephant Trails path at the zoo

23. The kids adopting my old Barbies and Cabbage Patch Kids (thanks mom for saving them!)
24. Visiting and crashing with friends in Cleveland on our drive to Chicago
25. P telling F "you can think what you think and i'll think what i think, okay?"
26. F giving T a rest stop "nature" tour ("this is a mushroom, don't eat it, okay?" "this is a tree? it's big, do you like trees?")
27. P always saying "you have to be kidding me!"
28. R and C visiting us from CO
29. A day all to myself!! (thank you to my in-laws for taking the kids for two nights!)
30. Decluttering (6 bags to goodwill, 2 bags to garbage and I'm still not done)
31. Celebrating Dan's birthday during hurricane Irene - a homemade cake, homemade birthday "shawls", and Star Wars - Episode VI, Return of the Jedi [VHS]
32. A week of perfect weather before school starts (sunny 80 degree days)
33. T and his light saber protecting our house from "bad guys"
34. An entire day of playgrounds and sunshine
35. F's excitement about kindergarten starting soon

F's list - making my bed, my family, losing my 1st lost tooth, going on vacation, Cybil Lily, the playground [in South Haven], my aunt and uncle [her great aunt and uncle], seeing where you and daddy met, a bicycle built for two, drawing pictures, hanging out with friends, when E [her good friend] and I cooperate, R visiting with her mom and brother, raising our hands on the bus [during the double-decker bus tour]

P's list - dollies, my friends, my cousins, art projects, my family, F loosing her tooth, Sabrina [her doll], the toys in grandma's attic, everything in our whole house, vacation, riding behind you on a bicycle, R visiting, princesses, my friend E

T's list - baba [bottles, which he's not allowed to have anymore], "key in pocket" [putting room keys in an out of daddy's pocket], dada, ride bikes, money [???], light saber, "get bad guys!"


Dan's homemade birthday cake (the girls decided to add the strawberries) during Hurricane Irene

Three New Books About Stuff to Do With Kids

My kids already spend a lot of time outside, so I hesitated over whether or not to purchase Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids. But now I'm so glad I own it. The author lists 365 different things to do outside, divided by month, most of which are simple, easy ideas. For example, in September the activities range from working on homework outside to playing four sticks ("grab four sticks to see how many different shapes or letters you can make"). And while some of the suggestions are no-brainers for us ("visit a local nature center") the author also lists many activities I never thought of, such as planting aster to attract butterflies and tracking seasonal changes by spending one day a week at the same place and detailing the changes in a special notebook. The book is great to grab during one of those "ugh, what to do?" parenting moments that hit at unexpected times. A great solution to hearing "I'm bored" (ugh, I hate those dreaded words).

(For more books on children and nature, check out my past post here).



I'm a big fan of the blog Soulemama (which, currently, is making me obsess over how much fun we would have raising chickens). I own Amanda Soule's first book, The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connectionsand have referenced it frequently over the past few years (this book inspired me to start making monthly grateful lists). Amanda's newest book - The Rhythm of Family: Discovering a Sense of Wonder through the Seasonshas less activities and crafts then her first book (if you're choosing between them, I'd recommend the first one) but I find the chapters, divided by season, an inspiring way of looking at the world around us. And I enjoyed the seasonal project suggestions, esp. making nature stamps and "a string of leaves." Definitely worth checking out.



Mariah Bruehl's book Playful Learning: Develop Your Child's Sense of Joy and Wonderhas been all over the blogosphere lately. It seems that most big bloggers received free copies (what about me Mariah? What about me? Small bloggers need love too!), but don't worry, I'm not bitter (okay, so maybe a little bitter). Luckily, it's a book worth buying. I think Playful Learning would work well as a how-to manual for homeschooling moms, but it is also helpful for moms like me searching for new things to try with our public-schooled kids. The chapters are broken down by subject (writing, reading, math, science, art, the environment, and "feelings"), with simple ideas for activities. Bruehl frequently recommends children's books to read then suggests complementary activities based on the suggested books. For example, I love the idea "drawing a map of your heart" after reading Sara Fanelli's My Map Book. I also love the idea of an alphabet scavenger hunt. Regarding the chapter on reading, I've noticed that F's kindergarten teacher utilizes many of the same methods, which, for me, means that Bruehl knows what she's doing. I highly suggest picking up a copy (if this was a bigger blog, I'd auction off a free copy, but no such luck, sorry everyone).

Places to Go - Double Decker Bus Tour! (Washington DC and Arlington, VA)

It feels dorkily exhilarating to spend a day as a tourist in your own town. I'm now convinced that if you have small children there is no better way to do so than Gray Lines' Double Decker hop on hop off bus tour. At the beginning of last summer my friend's daughter, E, saw 101 Dalmatians II and begged to ride on the top of a double-decker bus. When I discovered that Goldstar sells tickets for 50% off Tuesday - Thursday, we decided it would be the perfect end of the summer adventure before kindergarten began. If you miss out on the Goldstar deal, full price 24 hour tickets cost $35 for adults and $18 for kids 4-12 (under 4 are free). Two day passes cost $40 for adults and $20 for kids.



We started the tour in Pentagon City and wow was it fun to cruise the highway on top of a gigantic bus, the kids said it felt like we were on a bus-plane and it really did. The Arlington buses weren't very crowded (as you can tell from the picture above) so it sort of felt like a private tour. Once we entered the city, we had beautiful views of all the monuments and buildings. The bus speaker system broadcasts interesting facts about the structures and places, most of which I had never heard before.



We took the blue line bus to the Lincoln Memorial (three bus routes make up the tour - yellow, blue, and red and, ideally, you'll want to ride them all) where the kids enjoyed running in the grass for awhile and trying to climb all the old trees.



After running around the lawns, we walked to the top of the Lincoln Memorial, where the kids all decided to dance by the side wall. As they were out of the way of the main attraction, I didn't really see a problem with this, but lots of tourists kept looking at us like "what is going on here?" Oh well, as I see it Lincoln needs some people to dance by his side once in awhile, it has to get lonely up there.



After visiting our nation's 16th president, we decided to walk over to the FDR memorial, which was sort of a haul with the kids. On the upside, we ran across the brand spanking new Martin Luther King memorial without even realizing where we were (I find the geography of the National Mall a little confusing in practice). The MLK memorial has been the subject of a lot of controversy here in DC (why use white stone? was he accurately quoted? does he look too angry? etc.) but I found the whole thing so beautiful and tasteful and just lovely, especially the mountain-like entrance. Both my friend J and I almost started crying as we tried to explain to the kids who this man was and why we honor him. Plus, explaining the concept of racism to kids who have grown up in multicultural classrooms with friends of all colors and nationalities is always tricky. It's something they (luckily) haven't encountered yet (and for that I always feel fortunate).



The MLK memorial sits on the Tidal Basin, so we snacked by the water and fed goldfish crackers to the ducks. I always forget how beautiful and peaceful it feels to relax by the Tidal Basin. I wish we went here more often (but the parking, oh the parking).



From the tidal basin we walked over to the FDR memorial. I'd never been there before but my friend, J, insists that it is the most beautiful place in the city and she might be right. It's huge with beautiful waterfalls everywhere (none of my pics of the waterfalls turned out very well, so I highly suggest checking them out yourself). The statue of the men in the breadline almost made me cry (it was an emotional day for some reason). Plus the kids loved climbing on the large rocks placed throughout the monument. By this point the children were exhausted so we hopped back on our tour and prepared for a mellow bus-riding afternoon.



I took a million pictures of monuments, buildings, light, shadows, etc. but these two pretty much capture the day. DC looks so peaceful and lovely from above (I wish this sense of peace existed everywhere in our city). My friend's toddler even fell asleep in her arms. And we drove through parts of the district I'd never even seen before - wow, the National Cathedral really is as breathtaking as everyone says.



As much as we loved seeing the sights, for the kids the highlight of the day was probably the "bus roller-coaster." Once we crossed into north DC the trees branches hung pretty low. So low that we all ducked for cover. A little scary for adults. But for kids "the most fun ever." They shouted, the laughed, they screamed, they made my day.

Seriously, a perfect adventure. And we didn't even need strollers. I now consider the double-decker bus a MUST DO DC ACTIVITY. I can think of few better ways to enjoy a nice fall day.

Things to Make - Halloween Stained Glass with Tissue Paper and Liquid Starch

When I read about using tissue paper and liquid starch to make stained glass on the Artful Parent I decided it would be the perfect method for crafting Halloween decorations. I bought black, orange, and yellow tissue paper at AC Moore, poured some liquid starch into an clean old yogurt cup, gave P a paint brush and let her create. P decided she wanted to make a pumpkin, so we worked together on creating the circle. I thought it would be cute to use the black tissue paper to make the face but P stated that jack-o-lantern faces looked "too scary." So she decided to let it dry and color on her pumpkin with markers.

When T woke up and F returned from kindergarten they really wanted to make their own creations. I was pretty impressed that this project was so toddler-friendly, T spent over a half hour making a collage with not that much parental involvement. F made a pumpkin and a collage. She also liked coloring with markers on the still-wet tissue paper and watching the color swirl. All in all a pretty easy way to fill an afternoon. And now we're prepared for Halloween.

Here's the scoop: You'll need: liquid starch, tissue paper, wax paper, and paint brushes.

1. Buy liquid starch at the grocery store. Pour a small amount into a container.

2. Cut tissue paper into small pieces.

3. Using a brush, "paint" a small amount of liquid starch onto the wax paper (you may want to put newspaper underneath the paper, it gets messy fast).

4. Arrange tissue paper on the wet wax paper then paint over the tissue paper with more liquid starch.

5. Let dry.

6. Hang in windows. Lovely!!



CREATIVE IDEAS FROM AROUND THE WEB:

*LOVE these DIY popsicle-stick magnets for the fridge.

*Leaf printing on fabric from the Artful Parent.

*This pinterest collection has TONS of great project ideas. Check it out. Also, I have a fall craft project Pinterest collection - click here to view it.

*A face sticker pad!! I need to purchase some of these. This looks like a great activity for a wide variety of ages.

Things to Do - Get Bad Guys

T feels that I've portrayed him too softly on this blog. He wants the world to see him as a vicious, "bad guy getting" jedi knight. Now you know.

Sorry about all the short posts lately, I'm in the process of compiling a huge list of things to do with kids this fall, which I'm hoping to blog next week, so keep checking back.

Happy Monday everyone!!