Time Capsule

Today, we discovered a neat website, called Keo.org. Keo is the name of a space time capsule, basically a satellite, that is set to launch in 2012 and will roam space for 50,000 years before returning to earth. The entire world is invited to submit messages to the "future earth" before the satellite is launched. There is technology for the future earth to receive the messages and instructions on how to relay them. Sounds super complicated to me, but Lola decided on her message and we submitted it. She is concerned about the state of the earth and hopes that we don't ruin it too badly for humans 50,000 years from now....

Plant life

We strolled through the gardens at a popular park near our home. There is a beautiful cactus garden and even a rose garden that are open to the public to learn from. Fortunately, most of the plants are labeled, which was fun especially in the rose garden. Some varietals of roses have funny names, which was very amusing for the kids. Gourmet Popcorn was one of the most memorable!

Sewing!

Lola is learning to sew!

Making Lotion!

Today, we made body lotions and butters. I needed to make them for a craft fair that I was co-hosting, so I thought it would be fun to include Lola in the lotion making process. She loved choosing the oils and the fragrances! She spent a lot of time smelling and feeling each one. She also enjoyed stirring the melting wax & oils together.

Chinese New Years!

We celebrated Chinese New Year and marked the beginning of the Year of the Tiger. We ate dumplings and noodles. We learned that unbroken noodles symbolize long life!
The kids made crafts and really enjoyed themselves!

Local Wildlife Hike

We took a walk at a nearby lake to observe our local wildlife and take pictures of any plant life that interested us. We found a white bird with long legs wading in the shore that we had never seen before. An internet search revealed the bird to be a snowy egret. We also observed geese and rabbits.
We found an unusual plant that we had never seen before. It has bunches of small round balls that have spikes all over them. We tried hard, but still haven't been able to identify it. We hope to someday soon!

Pretend Store!

To reiterate what we were learning about coin values, we decided to set up a pretend store in the playroom, where Lola was the shopkeeper and I was the customer. We used all the play coins from another money game that we have and Lola used her cash register. I pretended to purchase a toy and she would tell me the price. Whatever the price of the toy, we came up with as many different formulations of the amount as we could. For example, if the toy cost 60 cents, we would count out 2 quarters & a dime, or 6 dimes, or 12 nickels.