Violin Recital

The most lovely song

I have ever heard played is

“Pop Goes the Weasel.”   

Bubbly Bubble Bath

To make a bubble bath even bubblier add a bubble gun!

Bubble guns are fun.

They are fun for everyone.

Kiddos watch where bubbles land

and try to catch them in their hand (or on her arm as was the case tonight).

Bubbles make the baby smile

Well, for at least a little while…until such time as she gets put in the tub and remembers she hates bubble baths and starts crying and climbing, trying to get out, while all the while Aurora laughs and giggles about some many extra bubbles and orders them not to fall on her play village and pops those who disobey.  

Mega Blok Bath

Oh well.  It started great and ended in tears.  Ah, mega blok bath.

To make a mega blok bath, simply dump all your mega bloks into the tub.  Ta da!

Aurora’s giggles indicated that she was quite tickled by the idea.  She hopped in and began pouring water from block to block.  She pretty much ignored the fact that they could connect to each other. 

Adeline LOVED this bath. Blocks were good for pouring, chewing, knocking, and smashing.  Clashing them together especially delighted her.  She even took a pair with her as she exited the bath. 

With her sister gone and the hyper-tired creeping in, Aurora began to get restless waiting to get bathed.  Here is where I made my major misstep – I built a tower with the mega bloks.  All of a sudden, she did not want the blocks in the bath.  Blocks were to be played with in her room.  Why weren’t these blocks in her room?  Get these blocks out of the tub!  Put these blocks in my room right now!  Why are there blocks in the tub?  Blocks don’t belong in the tub.  Get them out!  Get them out! 

The break down had everything to do with the fact that she was overtired and little to do with the actual blocks.  Still, I had planned a lego themed sequel, but I may wait on that one!   

Kiddie Pool Bath

Aurora loved the idea of taking her bath in her kiddie pool.  She was giggles and grins the whole time. 

Adeline hated this bath.  See photo below.  

Sound Wall

It has happened.  I so badly wanted a music wall for the girls, and now I have one.  It is beautiful, just like I hoped it would be.  Most importantly the sound is as lovely and random as I imagined.

Aurora took to it immediately.  She explored it very intensely for twenty minutes…then declared she was all done.  Really?  All done?  But the sound wall is so cool!  Oh well. At least Adeline thought it was the neatest thing since sliced bread. 

Turns out Aurora’s “all done” was really short hand for “I am really hungry and need to eat dinner right now, but when I am finished then I would like to play the sound wall again.”  Cool.  She played the sound wall until dusk.  She sang the quiet “Sleeping Gnome” song (until such time as the gnome woke up and the decibel level increased quite dramatically.)  My favorite tune was “The Cat Who Was a Tiger Who Chased a Butterfly” with the super catchy, though slightly repetitive chorus “And that’s so silly, that’s so silly…”

This morning after breakfast Aurora asked if she could go outside to play her sound wall.  Yes!  I love it. I love it.  I love it.  

Mosaic Lamp

Before we took our neighbors on an adventure to India, Aurora, Adeline and I took a smaller journey to Turkey just the three of us.  We found it on a map, we read clever stories about the Mulla Nesreddin,* and we talked about the sights, sounds, and smells at Istanbul’s grand bazaar.  Finally, we crafted a mosaic lamp for our window.  Not quiet the stained glass masterpiece that might be found out the market, but beautiful all the same.

To make a mosaic lamp, gather wax paper, tissue paper, construction paper, a glue stick, scissors, and a bit of string.

Cut out the lamp frame (two sides) out of construction paper.  Cut out two pieces of wax paper to fit inside the frame.  Cut the tissue paper into small squares.

Paste the tissue paper squares on to one of the pieces of wax paper.  Multicolor works beautifully, but Aurora was in a pink mood on this day. 

Once the first piece of wax paper is covered top it with the second wax paper piece.  Then paste both into the lamp frame.

Ta da!

I did not think our small lesson on Turkey left an impression until last night when my little girls was playing “Aurora to the rescue!”  Before she slid down her slide in Wisconsin to save whoever needed rescuing she would announce where we were.  I was in Turkey. 

*My favorite Mulla Nasreddin stories follows. 

Once Nasreddin’s neighbor came to him with a complaint against a fellow neighbor.  The Mulla listened carefully and concluded, “You are right.” 

Then the other neighbor came to Nasreddin and put forth his case.  The Mulla listened carefully and concluded, “You are right.” 

The Mulla’s wife, who had listened to the entire proceeding, came to her husband and said “Husband, both men cannot be right.”

Nasreddin listened and declared, “Dearest, you are right.”  

4th of July

Happy Fourth of July!  Aurora woke up just in time to throw on her stars and stripes, quickly adorn her tricycle with “sparklers,” and jump out the door to join the parade! 

Who needs a band when a kid pulling boom box in a wagon can grand marshal the parade by blasting out the patriotic tunes of Sousa!  I waved and cheered from the doorstep as our friends and neighbors marched past in a glitter of streamers, flags, and balloons.  Aurora took her role in the event very seriously and blew her little whistle as loud as a little plastic whistle can blow! 

And the nice thing about waking up five minutes before a parade is that you get to eat popsicles for breakfast!  

Milkshake Bath

To make a milkshake bath, pour 1 ½ c skim milk ice cubes, ½ c skim milk, 1 T cocoa powder, 1+ T sugar, and a pinch of salt into a blender and puree until smooth.  This is enough milkshake for both itty bitty and for Mom!  Secure the milkshake in a cup with a lid, add a straw, and drink the cold icy deliciousness while soaking in the bath water.  Ta da!  Most enthusiastically anticipated bath to date.  

Exploring India

All yesterday Aurora talked about India.  When were she and her friends going to India?  After snack?  After the library?    She was about to pop.

She and her two buddies gathered at our neighbors while I set up.  Folktales to be read.  Saris decorating the room.  Sitar music on the stereo.

It was time.  We boarded our imaginary train, chugged across the sidewalk and opened the door to India!   We identified it on the globe to be certain we were in the right place. 

The girls costumed up and enjoyed a dance lesson in traditional Indian movement from the same neighbor who loaned me all the beautiful garments.  The girls jangled in the ghungroos tied round their ankles. 

We stretched our bodies with yoga.  The girls mooed as cows, meowed as cats with arched backs, and hissed as cobras being charmed by a pungi.

As we sat to enjoy our fresh mango, which the girls collectively declared that as of that moment they no longer liked eating, we read about camels and monks and coconut drinks and elephant crossing and fluttering saris and other fun things that might be seen on the way to a monkey wedding in The Road to Mumbai (Jeyaveeran, 2004). 

Finally, the girls decorated elephant masks.  Only, the girls were not ready to be finished and requested one last go at dancing before they de-robed.   They giggled and swirled and spun and stomped. 

Today when Aurora woke up she asked, “Which country are we going to visit today, Mom?”  

Ball Bath

To make a ball bath, place a dozen-ish balls into the tub.  Ta da! 

This might have been the most excited I have ever seen Aurora to take a bath.  In fact, so great was her enthusiasm that she crawled into the water with her shirt still on!  Oops!

She had a ball throwing our collection of old racket and tennis balls into the bathtub.  She  chased the “doots,” as they were renamed, around the water and herded them into a big bowl, but doots are tricky and  often tried to escape. 

Adeline benefited from the escapees.  

Camping

Adeline’s first night in the woods.  She took to camping like a rock star.  That’s my girl!  

Dyed Rice

Aurora stars in the musical of her everyday life.  She sings and sings and sings about everything.  We call it “Aurora Radio.”  So the other day when I told her we were going to dye rice, she erupted into song about “oh, it will be so much fun to dye rice” and “dying rice is my favorite” and “I love dying rice.” 

Carefully, she poured ¼ c of vinegar into a small jar. 

Meticulously, she squeezed several drops of food coloring into the vinegar.

Enthusiastically, she poured the 1 c rice into the jars.

The jars were topped with lids and given a good shake-a-shake.

Then Aurora poured the damp colored rice onto paper bag lined cookie sheets to dry.  It took them two hours, but Aurora tested them every ten minutes of so, just in case.

At this point Dad asked, “What are you going to do with dyed rice?”

Geez, I did not really know.  A substitute for glitter in a craft.  Pour it into a shaker to make a toy for Adeline.  Practice pouring, weighting, mixing.  There were so many things we could to do with the dyed rice!

But we did not do any of those things.  Aurora asked me to pour it into bowls and she spent the better part of half and hour stirring the bowls round and round with her hands.  She pat it into “cookie” and “cakes.”  She pretended it was porridge.  She asked me not to put it away because she wanted to come back to it through out the evening to do more cooking.  She returned to it often, singing as she played.  

Number Chart

To celebrate post # 100, Aurora showed off her number chart.  Each night as part of her elaborate coucher, she reads the accending number and then places a sticker on that number.  It has been a simple but amazingly effective way to teach numbers.

Actually, getting this picture took Aurora, sorry – Queen Victoria, some doing as the chart was “being crazy” (i.e. wiggling around all over the place.)  

Buttermilk

Buttermilk from Andrea Southgate on Vimeo.

Verona Library

Everyone talks about Dream Park.  I would like to introduce the title Dream Library to describe the Verona Library (No.12), because it is equally as awesome!   I feel like when they built the new library in 2006, they give the children’s librarians a blank check and said “oh, just make a list of everything that would make a kid’s program spectacular.”

They have a train table, mountains of puzzles, and even a slide!   There are blocks for building, gears for connections, and a magnetic sand table for shifting around metal cars.  Aurora has spent hours and hours pretending to shop, prepare, and eat their giant collection of plastic food.  Adeline enjoys playing with/smashing together their Sesame Street figurines and loves their wooden baby toy. 

Their book collection is enormous, as is their kid’s music collection.  Their computers are set up with fun children’s games that only allow for fifteen-minute sessions to encourage kids to do other things while simultaneously expediting sharing.  They have a terrific themed box selection of kits they have compiled with books, movies & toys centered around a theme.  This is the library that allowed us to check out a parachute! 

We have played with rocks and minerals and learned animal tracks in their rotating science corner. It is currently stocked with binoculars and field guides to encourage birding from their windows, which overlook the beautiful tall grass prairie of neighboring Badger Prairie Park.

Their activity room is clean and modern.  Their story times are well blended with songs, dancing, crafts, short films, and lots and lots of books.  Storytimes are diversely themed; this spring we went to one promoting good money practices and the following week we enjoyed one about pickles!    For their really big events, they move into the community room.  Here Aurora has seen magicians, danced with the Verona ballet, and discovered she does like eating ham thanks to their Green Eggs and Ham party! 

Best of all, in the center of their rows and rows of books, they have a castle.  A castle!  In the middle of the library!  Each corner is cushioned creating four delightful reading nooks - perfect places to devour piles of books to fill your 1000 Books Before Kindergarten or summer reading book journal. 

I feel like I am forgetting to rave about something.  Their iPad full of educational apps. Their family bathroom complete with toddler potty located right in the kid’s section.  The fact that Aurora and Adeline never want to leave and beg to stay at the library longer.  Anyway, like I was saying earlier – Dream Library!  

Eagle Heights Community Garden

Next week is “In the Garden” week at Aurora’s preschool, so we got a head start by walking around the Eagle Heights Community Garden (No. 11).  Last year at this time, the garden was lush and full of green leafy vegetables and lettuces, even the tomato plants had started to flower, but this year’s long cold spring meant we mostly looked at flowers.

We peaked at people’s plots and spotted creeping strawberries, leafy rhubarb, raspberries bushes and other yummy, sweet treats.  We found early green leaves from potatoes, onions, and beets. We picked weeds growing in the paths so that we could taste the gently bitter dandelion greens and smell the cool, crisp aroma of freshly crushed mint leaves. 

We retrieved Dad, who had been working hard in our own plot, and Adeline, who had been napping hard in our own plot, and spread a blanket in the shade for a peanut butter and banana sandwich picnic lunch.  We watched the tree swallows swoop across the gardens as the cowbirds picked seeds from the freshly worked dirt.  

As the season progresses, it will be fun to watch the dirt kinds of fruits and vegetables grow to maturity.  The garden is a great place to see orioles, cranes, and hawks.  And we know of no place that has better mud puddles for splashing after a good rain!