Our Playdate Was So Great!

Thumbs up Morton Grove Park District!

At the Prairie View Community Center they offer an open play time for parents and young children in their gym.  It is such a wonderful idea! Each time they bring out a variety of play things including bikes, hoops, and gymnastics equipment for the kids to explore.  I was very excited that I was able to bring both girls if I wanted but opted to only take Maise since we had our friends Payton and Carrie join us.  It turned into almost a private playdate as we were the only ones there other than an employee's child.  The concept is super cool and I was hoping that Maise would have had the chance to meet other kids in her preschool class this coming fall.  But we will just see if we can meet some other kids at the park this summer.  The open play is only in the winter months and we showed up for the final day.  Even if we have to wait till the weather is bad again I am glad we gave it a shot.  This is something we will totally do again.

Payton and Maise had a great time, so that means the mommies are going to have to plan another date soon. I wonder what kind of trouble we can find. There is always something fun to do with a couple of 3 year olds!
Check out our pictures from our Open Play Date:

Science is for the Birds! and the little squirrels to!

Joe will be so happy when he finds out that I actually put all those toilet paper rolls I have been saving to good use. We finally got out to do our big science experiment. The scientific question the ladies and I were out to answer was - What kind of bird feeder will our local birds prefer. We constructed three different bird feeders from recycled products around the house and then hung them from the bushes out our back window where we like to watch the birds.

The 3 feeders we decided to construct came from three separate sources. We used Pinterest, a mom friend of mine Susan (S.M.) and an old one from my old girl scout days. I have wanted to do this with the girls for a while and so glad we finally had the opportunity!

At first I saw the pinterest one and liked and saved it for an activity to do with the girls. Then I saw that Susan did something similar and added that to the grand plan along with the one I remember doing as a kid. So then since I wanted to do all three I had to add the experimental twist just for fun.

The girls had fun building them, pouring the water and seeds, and hanging them up. Results from day one proved interesting...the first birdfeeder to be emptied was the Cheerio/pipe cleaner one I stole from Susans brain. The interesting part was that it was gone in about a half hour and was consumed by a squirrel. Always have to take precautions for the unknown...see learning about the experimental process early!

What the squirrels left us!

Unfortunately the rain came that night and kind of washed out our work but there are still some seeds left. Think we will try again when the weather decides to stay dry for more than a day.

But we still had a blast! Check it out:

Bird feeder 1- Needed pipe cleaner and Cheerios. Great for motor skills! Add Cheerios to wire and twist closed. Then place on tree and wait for squirrels.

Bird feeder 2- Need a cup of sorts and string. I adapted this one from Pinterest but instead of using a tuna can I used plastic from disposable cupcake tins. The top was for a 6 pack of cupcakes and I cut it in threes attaching string to the sides. Cutting it in threes allowed us to have water and food for the birds.

Bird feeder 3 - Needed toilet paper roll, creamy peanut butter, and a knife/spoon. This one I did in girl scouts. Smooth peanut butter over tub and allow kids to roll toilet paper roll in seeds to cover. String a ribbon in the hole and hang.

What have we been up to you ask?

We experienced our 1st school lotto. We had lucky # 7 and actually got the location and schedule we wanted. Woo Hoo! It was a mind-blowing experience. Not only was I registering my 1st born (yeah I know dramatic) for school for the 1st time. I was also competing for a spot. Very Waiting For Superman! Well not that hard but still. I had to get a number a week ahead of time and gather the proper paperwork and physical and return a week later to have numbers drawn. You registered in the order you were called. It was more really for time slot but was a bit nerve racking as I sat not having my number called. But alas it was called and my park and time were still available. I also registered the girls for a music class and Maise for gymnastics in hope of maybe meeting some of her classmates early.

We have been doing a lot of arts and crafts. We have lots of purple paint to get through. Joe argues that the following picture on the right is not a foot but I swear it is. Right after that foot print went haywire I got a print of the same foot on my favorite pair of jeans. I do believe that was the 1st Pinerest injury ever!

And some more Pinterest fun...

Nessa is really good at coloring.
She is getting in to it way faster than Maise did.
Maybe we have an artist on our hands!

Below the girls create butterflies...

This one we call the Mrs. Lippy!
Stolen from Billy Madison and not Pinterest.
Thank you MRS. LIPPY!

Cleaning out the storage!
Look what we found!
Some of mommy's old toys.
My Precious!

This is a Target activity.
From the dollar section; they are paint an animal pots with grass seeds.
We will revisit when we see green.
So far Maise's looks pretty good but mine not so much...Still waiting on my 1st sprouts.

Oh and I got a tattoo!

And of course we have been hitting the gym.
Got to look good for summer.
DISCLAIMER: No children were hurt in the taking of this photo.
Machine was unplugged and the room was full of adults. 1:1 ratio!

Ok now your caught up...see ya after Maise's Party!

My Kind of Farm...Chicago is My Kind of Farm...

Now this is the type of farm I can handle!

Check out the pictures from my new camera! A little present Joe and I got for ourselves and just in time for Maise's upcoming 3rd Birthday this weekend. Note to self...remove date stamp. Grrr, these are some great pictures that I won't be framing on wall do to those silly numbers across the bottom. I am sure I will get over it as the debut shoot produced 51 pictures. It is so easy to keep snapping when you got a new toy. We got a 14 MG Kodak Easy Share for a steal. The screen on the back is huge and everything on the camera itself is so easy. I am not a huge photo person but I obviously LOVE taking pictures of the kids! You gotta have a good camera these days...I know I feel lost when I don't have one. The world has become so picture worthy!

Ok enough of my camera! We hit the zoo today because it was such a nice day, a bit windy but awesome! Don't worry not more Brookfield pictures we actually had a little city fun today before I had class. The plan was to do the farm and then hit the road but once we were there we had to explore. A while back I was almost bored of Lincoln Park but it was so nice visiting after we have been doing Brookfield faithfully for the past 3 years as Zoo Members! We will have to do it again!

The farm was awesome and there were even baby chicks...THANK GOODNESS...because we kept telling Nessa that was what we were going to see. YAY we are not liars!

So what did we see today? Well lets take a peek:

 There were goats!

 And the biggest bunny EVER!

 CHICKENS!

 Ah the comforts of Brookfield! $2.00??????? Yeah we still bought 2...

 The baby chicks for Nessa!

 Maise got a kick out of being a cracked egg.

 Where is Maise?

 Beep Beep!

 I'm done this thing don't move!

Why won't they just stand nice for my picture? Funny story Maise actually stood there waiting in a nice pose while we chased Nessa around.

 Mooooooo!

These piggy's were hungry! They were almost knocking at the door. They were giving it head bumps and snorts it was super cute!

 I don't remember Lincoln Park having ponies, glad we saw them especially this one. So pretty!

 I love these skyline shots!

And now we are exploring outside the farm. Hello Mr. Camel! Can't help but feel for the one with the broken hump...he has been there forever!

 Silly duck you are not a flamingo!

 The monkeys were super active - I LOVE when that happens!

 

 The lions were not so active but still pretty!

 Who needs an active lion when you have a roaring Nessa?

 The seals were right about to eat so they kept coming up to say hi!

The walk back to the car Maise walked on the wall with daddy. Every wall to Maise is Humpty Dumpty's wall so this was a huge accomplishment for her. Something to scratch off the old bucket list!

 And that's a wrap! Thanks for joining us on our trip to the zoo!

 Have a great week!