Pirates, Leaves, and Parties

Genevieve's friend had a birthday party this weekend, so after soccer we headed to the park to play with them.  Then on Sunday, we celebrated Talk like a Pirate Day by reading pirate books and following a treasure map.

We had gymnastics, storytime and Music Makers.  Between classes, we practiced patterns and puzzles.  She practiced writing some numbers and made some math symbols like plus and minus.  Genevieve made some doughnuts with Grandma too.

Our friends came over and we had great fun experimenting with plants.  We used some liquid water color to color some white flowers and some celery.  We sorted some fall leaves by color and tore them up in some hot water and rubbing alcohol.  Then we used coffee filters and chromatography paper to see the different types of chlorophyll inside.  Whenever we do chromatography, we like to try a few markers too.

Grandmum Arrives

This weekend, Tobias joined the 4 others in his soccer class, playing with squishy balls, cones, bubbles and parachutes.  Genevieve had fun in her soccer class, then created an owl out of a clay pot in art class.  We stopped at the rock and mineral store to have a good look around.  At home, we did laundry, decorated some presents for friends, blew bubbles and created our own Halloween village collage with pictures from Michael's.  We also played a great game of "what does that spell," where she arranges letters and I attempt to pronounce the word she created.

Tobias went back to gymnastics, and is so happy to be back to trampolines and balance beams.  We then enjoyed some time at the park.  Genevieve was inspired by some pictures from Beauty and the Beast, so used some Model Magic and markers to create her own versions of the stained glass windows.  We enjoyed some storytime, then enjoyed watching baggage claim at the airport while picking up Grandma.

We let Grandma settle in by playing lots of games, art and puzzles and including her in bath and outside play.  We all went to Music Makers in the park this week, which was great fun but a little challenging since it was a little chilly for the California kids.

Off and Running

With it being Labor Day weekend, there was no soccer but Genevieve made a windsock in art class and we stopped by the rock store.  She found some citrine, peacock ore, blue agate and some fun Magic School Bus books.

We spent Sunday with grandparents.  She had made a treasure map of their back yard, so they followed that.  Then we headed to the Bay Discovery Museum.  Tobias appreciated the Daniel Tiger exhibit, but Genevieve was more excited about other things.  She made a trolley, played with glitter sand and took a nature walk.  He played in the construction pit and they both enjoyed the room with trains and boats.

On Labor Day, we read some stories and built with some unconventional blocks like bottles.  We played with water, and Genevieve asked if she could make a fountain.  I found some instructions from Australia, which involved making a small hole in a plastic bottle, where you should insert a straw.  We sealed it with some tape.  We filled the bottle with water and blew up a balloon, placing it over the opening.  The air pressure then creates a fountain.

We went to storytime, then all worked on some cleaning.  They both helped with dishes.  Then Genevieve helped with one of her favorite activities - baking.  We made some blueberry muffins.

We had some friends over for science activities.  We experimented with trying to float fruit, cut them open to see the seeds and used them as stamps.  We also tried to explore what might help keep an apple from turning brown, but actually just had fun with baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice.

We went to music class, where we sang about animals.  Tobias was happy to be back for marching and Genevieve had a great time throughout.  After music, we came home and she started working on invitations for her birthday.

We ended the week with building the tallest towers we could and painting a Day of the Dead skull.

Week off

This was the last week before most of our activities start up again, so we had lots of fun at home.

Outside the house, Tobias had his first week of soccer.  He was a little confused about being allowed to play on the field, but had great fun building with cones and playing with the parachute.  Genevieve made a neon name plate in art class, so she got to practice her letters.  Then she painted another rock; this one was in the shape of a heart.  She decorated a jar and mixed some glitter in some slime.  Tobias also spent some time in the UC Davis Language Learning Lab, where he helped in a study about recognizing objects with multiple names and a few longer term studies.

We did a few science experiments this week.  We've been practicing eye-hand coordination and demonstrating density in pouring water in different containers.  We experimented with surface tension with bubbles and watching pepper on the surface of the water.  Salt was used to help stick ice cubes together and to attach ice to a string.  We used chromatography to see the colors inside black markers and used vinegar to remove the shell from an egg.  We just keep the cards that came with our Magic School Bus kit out, so when we feel like an experiment we just draw one.

We did some foam painting, making marble patterns and playing with color.  We also had a great time using our Melissa and Doug magnet shape set to create pictures.

We also played quite a few games.  There were a few rounds of the Very Hungry Caterpillar Game.  We played a few matching games, including Tobias a little.  We also enjoyed some Hi Ho Cherry-o.