kaleidoscoping chaos...: humpday hijinks

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Flood + Frogs + Friends = Fun

No, we are not talking about 2 of the 10 plagues... come on people!

It is June, Passover was months ago! (remember my Passsover posts - see here, here & here)

Yesterday was Humpday Hijinks No. 3 - Destination the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. We went with our buddies over at My Adventures with Buster Yellow. Always, we had big big plans. We all got up extra early, got ready super fast and left extra early so that we could be at the gardens at 9:30am and have the opportunity to see the flowers blooming on the water lilies. This is the main event over there at the Aquatic Gardens.

So what are these Aquatic Gardens anyway? It is a protected area comprised of ponds, marshes, bogs and rivers, overflowing with wild life and nature. There are a number of trails and a boardwalk that you can explore. We were very excited! Our theme was FROGS! We were going to look for tadpoles and frogs and then come home and have snacks and crafts - all frog inspired! Whoop whoop for us!

What we did not know is that approximately 4 times a year, the water floods at high tide. What that means is that all the "paths" become impassable and you can just sort of get to see the aquatic gardens from the edge of the park... Yep, yesterday was one of those four times...

Start kaleidoscoping! We were there... we weren't going home so we walked where we could. The boys ran where they could. They tried rock throwing into the pond, climbing a big tree, picking up goose feathers, fighting with sticks, jumping off logs, chasing each other in circles and yes, Jonah even had to jump in the pond puddles on the path... he just couldn't help himself.

We tried to get them to see, feel, and hear the nature. The butterflies flying right by us, the flowers, the fish, the birds, and the bugs... they thought the bugs were cool.

The rangers were really friendly and nice. Ranger Alexis brought us into the "bookstore" which has a tiny little play area. The kids liked that. They did the matching game on the wall. Rebecca had brought two great books, Tadpoles & Frogs and In the Pond. So we sat down on the lily pad stools and tried for some story time. That sort of worked for like 4 minutes. Then Ranger Alexis gave it a shot - She brought out The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That - Would you rather be a Pollywog? Vera really liked that one, but the boys just wanted to go and do!

We went back outside and walked around a bit more and then headed back to our house for an afternoon snack/craft playdate.

Jonah and I had decorated the house for our buddies the day before. We were going to make "snack ponds" - I sort of made it up while at the grocery store... and I wanted to use those "ice molds" that I got at Ikea (remember those - see here) Here's what Jonah and his buddy got when we got home.

tupperware of blue Hawaiian Punch pond water (we did see the pond)
bowl of orange juice fish ice cubes (we saw some fish)
bowl of cranberry juice water lily flower ice cubes (which we did not get to see at the pond)
bowl of "flies" - raisins frozen in ice cubes (we saw those)
bowl of green lily pad ice cubes - I melted the premade green jello cups with hot water, added more water poured in swirly star mold - (we saw plenty of lily pads)

The boys got to stock their own pond with what they wanted. I had looked all over Pinterest for an edible frog and the one I was going to do was a green apple and peanut butter one, but I couldn't do that ahead of time because the apple would get brown. While I was in the grocery store I saw a bunch of kiwis and I knew that would work! So they each got their own kiwi frog! (I also found a whole package of these really cute candy eyes in the store - I love my local Safeway!)

The ponds were a hit until, Jonah, decided to spill his out on the floor... we should have done it outside... With that, we took the boys outside and Rebecca took over with a craft. She brought all this stuff to make these adorable frog masks, including tongues that actually caught flies! Very very cool. See her blog post here for the details. They came out great and both boys were totally into making them. Buddy J was totally into wearing his... Jonah would not. He would only "blow" his frog tongue. Masks & tongues adorned, the boys became frogs (and Jonah is still hopping around like one screaming ribbit every so often) - hopping and ribbiting all over the back yard. We drew some lily pads for them and they spent a while hopping from pad to pad.

I don't know about the boys, but Rebecca and I were exhausted from our super dooper frog-a-thon pond-apolooza playdate...

We definitely need to go back to the Aquatic Gardens when it is not flooded.

But in the end, the day was filled with lots of laughs and ribbits and jumps... I give it two "tongues" up!

Boys, we are here for the pond?

Hello, Mr dragonfly!

RUN!!!

JUMP!

Mom, the water is on the path?

we can't go anymore mom, too much water...

CLIMB!

matching game

story time #1

story time #2

my kids love cat in the hat!

Vera really loved the book!

more water on the trail

throwing rocks...

right after this photo, Jonah jumped into the water... and then we left...

Vera ate her humus on spinach tortilla lunch...

frog shaped tortillas!

Ribbit!

Jonah only had his mask on for one minute...

and like that-they were frogs!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Berry Berry Fun Farm Friday!

Today was Humpday Hijinks - take 2 (remember our dress rehearsal last week - see here). Except it isn't Humpday (Wednesday), it is Friday... but we are flexible over here - kaleidoscoping our lives away.. you know.

STRAWBERRY PICKING! In honor of May being Strawberry month and today being June 1, our unofficial start of summer - we (our buddies and us)went strawberry picking! The rain did not frighten us this time... it was now or never. Those strawberry fields do not hang around forever, despite the song lyrics.

We met up with our buddies (they are now blogging at My Adventures with Buster Yellow) in the parking lot at 10:30 at Homstead Farms. Of course when we got there, my kids were sleeping...

Up and out I told them. I made the executive decision to take the stroller through the farm. Good decision.

We hung out with the animals first. The goats, chickens, and pigs. The kids really liked the animals. Vera especially liked the goats! And they liked her too.

Then we trekked out to the fields. First, we walked through the tart cherry trees and picked some of them. The trees were small so the kids could totally pick them. Jonah did not like the cherries at all - picture smiley Jonah eating a cute little red cherry... then picture Jonah spitting it out and making a lemon face. Vera picked them and decided to eat them - and yes they have pits... and apparently she liked them!   Due to the choking aspect of these cherries, I had to back her way up and prevent her from picking/eating the cherries! We hear our buddies are going to be making maraschino cherries from them... we are waiting to taste them when they are done!

Side note, we brought a "bag" to carry our loot in (the stuff we were going to pick). Well, we were supposed to bring something to carry the stuff in. Of course I totally forgot that part of the excursion but managed to bring everything else... so I grabbed one of the random reusable shopping bags in the car and we used that. Not the right carrying vessel. Everything we picked was pretty much smooshed and gross after Jonah carried/dragged it round the whole morning.

Back to the story.  We followed the path past the cherry trees but hit a fork in the road. The boys decided which way we should go (because the moms apparently were not paying attention when we received the initial instructions) - it turns out it was the road less traveled and we did not get to the strawberries... so we had to back track and go down the other path. Finally, there it was - the strawberry patch!

I parked the stroller at the edge and we all jumped (literally) right into the patch.

But first, another digression. I have been strawberry picking many times. With friends, boy friends, family and even by myself (growing up on Long Island - it is the thing to do in June).  We would always come back with a ton of amazing strawberries. It was fun and never took that long. We'd gather those babies up and put them in the blender and make some strawberry margaritas! (and some other strawberry stuff) We'd freeze strawberies for more margaritas later in the summer! When you go on a play date for 3 yr old boys and a tagalong 1 yr old sister... this is not how it works!

So there we are the 2 moms, 2 boys and Vera in the patch. There wasn't really anyone else around - that was cool. The boys were into the picking for about 6 minutes. Vera was totally into picking and then eating all the strawberries and me and my buddy were trying to pick strawberries while carrying backpacks on our backs and sometimes I was holding Vera... and as we explained to the boys - the strawberries grow on the ground in bushes not up in the air on trees! Geez, my back and legs were reminding me of this fact over and over again!

I am complaining a bit, but it was actually pretty hysterical and very fun. The boys were hilarious - talking about the strawberries, the bushes, their bags and who picked more strawberries, when actually neither of them did much of any picking at all... And Vera was in love with the strawberries. My kids managed to somehow get strawberry juice ALL OVER THEM!!! I mean from their noses to their toes! They felt and smelt like big strawberries when we got home.

LUNCHTIME
We had brought along a picnic and got ready to have lunch.  Everyone had lunch except Jonah.  Jonah had a supersized order of "I AM TURNING THREE AND GOING TO HAVE SUPER DOOPER TEMPER TANTRUM UNTIL YOU PICK ME UP AND LOCK ME IN MY CARSEAT" with a side of "KICKING, SCREAMING, SPITTING AND CHOKING"...

We met back at our place for crafts and playtime.  Vera napped and the boys played. We read two berry books (Jamberry! - which I love & The Mouse, The Strawberry & The Big Hungry Bear - which is sort of interesting) Buddy R brought over two crafts and Jonah did them with her and did them really well.

(1) Strawberry Sun Catcher - clear contact paper, red and pink tissue paper, scissors, green paper and tape. Tape a piece of clear contact paper to the table stick side up. Cut up tissue paper and stick on contact paper. Cover with another piece of contact paper- sticky side down. Cut it into the shape of a strawberry. Cut a green leaf top out and stick to strawberry.

(2) Strawberry Finger Prints - red ink, paper, green markers. Uses fingers to make red stamps on paper (Jonah also used his toes...) Then draw green leaves on stamps and color the patch.

Buddy J read the books with us (they both liked that part) but he was having a picnic and going on the trip to his grandma's house and didn't want to do the art.

There was lots of playing, running, jumping, laughing, screaming, and tackling to be had.

Around 3pm Vera got up and our buddies went home.

Jonah wanted to do more "strawberry" things... Where is that kaleidoscope?

After snacks, we made strawberry smoothie ice pops. I salvaged about 2 cups of strawberries from our adventure and we blended them up with some vanilla yogurt and then poured them into our new ice pop molds. We'll see tomorrow how they turned out.

In years gone past, I'd be sipping on my strawberry margarita right about now... looks like I'll be having smooshed strawberry vanilla smoothie ice pops for snacks tomorrow instead. I got 2 thumbs up from Jonah at bedtime tonight and Vera adamantly shook her head yes when I asked her if she had fun today and gave me the biggest hug ever.  I am secretly going to have a nice glass of "strawberry" colored wine tonight. Friday at the farm was berry berry good. And yes, I am still tired... although today I think anyone would be.

Shabbot Shalom y'all!