february 28
The warmer weather had us out the door and in the park first thing this morning.
Our first stop was the climbing tree, which is a bit tricky to climb in muddy boots, but we made it work. Then we asked Deidre to make a “really huge obstacle course” on the nearby path. We loved jumping on the letters of our names and getting caught in the spiderweb.
Autumn got a new watch from her neighbor and around 9:45am she told us it was time for lunch :) So, we crossed the street and decided to eat at the table in the pine forest. While we were eating, we heard a “hoo hoo” amidst all the chirping. We immediately got up and began searching the tops of the pines for our friend, The Owl. Sure enough, we found him staring down at us! We were SO excited that he came back to visit after being away for some time.
After an early lunch, we explored the cypress grove and creek. We found a branch full of dried milkweed pods! Each pod was filled with tiny cotton-like seeds, which were fun to blow and drop into the water. We used the outer shell of the pods as little boats that we floated and followed down the creek.
Back in the pine forest, we used the magnifying glass to closely investigate pinecones, walnut shells, the cracks in tree bark, and other tiny treasures. We also collected long sticks and leaned them up against one of the trees to make a tunnel. We had fun crawling underneath and pretending to be stuck.
We bumped into Matt on our walk back to school and he walked with us! That made us REALLY happy :) When we arrived back at school, we asked Matt to show us how his “tools worked.” He showed us how to use the loppers and then we each got a turn cutting up a branch from the plum tree. He also showed us how to use a small saw. We like tools!
After rest, we mixed gelatin and hot water to make a resin-like substance to preserve the witch hazel blooms we collected today. Once the gelatin hardens, we will be able to hang our witch hazel sun catcher in the window!
We ended the day by planting and watering in magic pea seeds around the trellis in the front yard, breaking a giant cube of ice that we found in the mud kitchen sink, collecting FIVE eggs from the chicken coop, and having a dance party on the muddy grass out back :)
We missed Sylvie and are looking forward to seeing her tomorrow!