Decorating Brown Bags

I was desperate for an activity to keep the boys busy while I was packing up the food for camping.
We were taking some of our home grown tomatoes, so I asked Westley if he wanted to draw on a bag so Grandma would know there were tomatoes in there.
While the activity was simple, it was special to me as Westley is just starting to show an interest in drawing actual objects. Literally overnight he has begun to show representational art. Hist tomato really looked like a tomato!


 Will decorated a bag too, I just didn't get a picture.

PS They used Washable Crayola Markers (on sale as part of the back to school sales at Walmart for $2) I highly recommend them over all others - they washed off their hands and Will's clothes without any scrubbing.

Sea Life at Legoland

Today took they boys and Darian to Sea Life and Legoland. We went to Legoland right when they opened and got on a few things without long lines. Later, we headed to Sea Life. We don't always go to Sea Life, so it is is a more unique experience for the boys, and they enjoyed having Darian along (and so did I! Thanks for your help Darian - especially for keeping track of Will through Sea Life)

Miniature Golf

Today we went miniature golfing at Boomers. I have been happy with my Boomers experiences... up until today. This is the first time we miniature golfed there. The boys cooperated well. Will was so cute as he would run right up to the hole, set his ball down and then try multiple times to hit it into the hole with his club.

Westley did a great job following the rules of the game and learning a little bit of the form involved in hitting the ball. Westley and Kevin made a great team and beat Darian and I

The bad thing about to day is that there were 3 different summer camps there. Unsupervised kids were everywhere on the golf course... camp leaders who were supposed to be with the children were no where to be found. The kids were unruly, wouldn't listen, would cut in front of us and hit their balls on our hole while we were still playing. It was really frustrating, especially as we were trying to teach Westley how to play respectfully.

Sea World

My second cousin, Darian, from Alabama is staying with us for a week.
Today Darian, Grandma Kathy, the boys and I went and joined the summer crowds at Sea World.
They boys were excited to have Darian along.

               Westley traded me in for a new ride riding partner!

Twistables Crayons

This morning we had a simple, but fun time with our Crayola Twistables Crayons.
I love these crayons and highly recommend them.
1. They don't break,
2. They aren't as easy to eat
3. They do not melt easily
4. There is no paper for kids to peel off.
5. They remind me of my childhood because I used to have crayons like this... although I'm pretty sure they weren't Crayola.

Black Bean Brownies

Last night I was searching the web and came across recipes for Black Bean Brownies.
I was definitely skeptical, but curious enough to try it. So today we did.

We used a low fat Betty Crocker Browning Mix and then only added 1 can of black beans, pureed in a blender.  (I also added a tablespoon of flax oil as I do with all my baking)

I was expecting the bean taste to be very noticeable in the batter. But it wasn't the batter tasted good! So I was hopeful!

We cooked these in my new Brownie Perfect Pan (thanks mom!) I wasn't sure if the pan was a pain as many as seen on tv gimmicks are but it was great! It was so easy to use and made perfectly cut brownies. I highly recommend it if you make brownies or other bars.

These came out better than I expected! I think a brownie connoisseur would know that there is something a little  different, but I don't think they'd guess black beans. Kids won't know the difference.  Adults might not notice at all if you added nuts, chocolate chunks, or frosted them etc.
They are more filling though.

I'd give these 4 out of 5 stars and suggest you try them!

Making Play Dough

Tonight we made a fresh batch of play dough. Westley was very excited to do so.
He helped me measure and add ingredients but then I had to take over stirring as it is tough for a child to mix, and it's hot.

He patiently waited for me to mix it, knead it, and cool it. (We ate dinner while it cooled)
Then both boys enjoyed playing with it. Westley made a snowman and Will liked smashing down balls of dough

Here's the recipe we used:

Classic (Non-Edible) Playdough

       1 cup Flour

       1 cup Water

       1/2 cup Salt

       2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar

       2 tablespoons Oil

      Food coloring

Mix ingredients in a saucepan and cook until fully mixed (may still be a little lumpy and really moist, coloring may be splotchy). Turn out onto a plate or piece of wax paper, and once it is cool enough for you to touch it (but be sure to do it while it is still pretty warm) knead until play dough consistency forms and coloring is evenly absorbed.

Fireworks at Legoland

Tonight we stayed out past bedtime to see the Fireworks at Legoland. We got there about 6:00 and went through Sea Life and the play town area of Legoland.

They do about a 5 minute show on Saturday nights in the summer, at 8:30pm.
We viewed them from right inside the entryway to the park which was perfect as we exited quickly once they were over.

These were Will's first fireworks. Will watched them very quietly... I couldn't tell if he was scared or just focussed, but he clapped at the end.
Westley was anticipating the fireworks all afternoon. He enjoyed them!

Tennis

Today Kevin and I took Westley and Will on the tennis courts. I pictured us trying to teach Westley a little bit (he has a racket) and Will maybe being ball boy.
The boys were great. Westley did attempt to hit a few balls but didn't get the timing of when to swing down. Will was great, he just played with one ball the whole time and was trying to throw it over the fence.
Having a little gated area where they could run around worked out well ;)

(check out the action shot of Dad in the background!)

Games in the "castle"

Kevin and Westley discovered a fun new way to play games.
I think it started out that they were just hiding from Will, but then used their imaginations, and colored flashlights to pretend they were in a castle.
Well, Will found them, so my involvement was to keep Will from messing up the game, but for a few minutes at least all 4 of us were together playing in the "castle"

Picking Strawberries

Today we picked strawberries at the U Pick Carlsbad Company Strawberry Fields
It is near the end of the strawberry season, so the ones we picked were small, and very ripe, but we were there for the experience.
The boys seemed to really enjoy it and were great strawberry pickers!

If you ever do this, make sure you bring a complete change of clothes, socks and shoes as we did. The fields are dirty and theres a good chance everything you are wearing will get strawberry stained

Cornstarch & Water

This evening I brought out some messy fun - cornstarch and water.
Under the water, cornstarch feels like a gooey/squishy substance and clumps up. You can grab a handful, but when you pull your hand out of the water it dissolves and slips out of your hand.

Both boys couldn't wait to get their hands in it.

It's often called oobleck and is common sensory preschool activity. Ours was too watery to be labeled as oobleck, but we will make true oobleck sometime (and color it with food coloring)

Will was more interested in plain cornstarch. He liked for me to keep pouring straight cornstarch on his hands (hence why him, and the table got so messy)

"Ladybug" & Leaf Collages

This afternoon we had friends Riley and Jonah from our playgroup over. We shared the ladybug looking seeds we found yesterday, along with leafs from our backyard and made collages.
I had enough glue bottles for everybody.

This was Will's first time using a bottle of glue like this. I was picturing a giant puddle of glue, and glue everywhere. I was impressed at how well he did with little instruction and no help from me. He squeezed out small humps of glue, and stuck in his leaves and "ladybugs"

It was fun to watch them all.

Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt

Today Westley wanted to go on a neighborhood scavenger hunt.
We made a short list of things to look for - a feather, a shiny rock, a piece of paper, and a lizard.
Westley got out buckets for him and Will, and they each had a pretend octoscope that was I guess like a pretend magnifying glass. We didn't find a lizard, or a feather, but we added other interesting things in our buckets including a penny, snail shell, and these little seeds incased in red that looked like ladybugs to me. We spent a long time gathering "ladybugs" We might use them in an upcoming activity!

Plan B

Today we planned for me to take Westley to a birthday party and then in the afternoon, take the boys to their first Padres Baseball game, where there are lawn seats with a park in the park.
The birthday party was at Pump it Up in San Marcos and it was great.  I took just Westley (as Will is too short) and he loved the one-on-one time. Parents are welcome to jump and slide too, but I was the only mom who did so. But I went down the inflatable slide and jumped in a gigantic jumper with Westley and raced him in an inflatable obstacle course.

Then I had to break the news to Westley that we couldn't go to the baseball game because they were sold out of tickets.

We still got together with Lisa, Curt and Drew at their house. We went swimming which the boys loved, played, ate dinner, and they had their bath their. No more tears about missing the baseball game, we had a fun time anyway

Growing Reptile

The dollar store as these eggs that you put in water in a couple days it cracks open and there is a chick or reptile inside. You leave the animal in water and it grows in size.

Westley has had a few of these and gets the biggest kick out of them.

To add to the fun, this time, after the lizard hatched, we traced him on paper and measured him. On July 9th he was 2 1/2 inches long.
I believe he reached full size, so today we took him out of the water, traced him again on the same paper, and measured him. He was 5 inches long. I talked to Westley about he doubled in size.

Now out of water he will shrink back smaller again.

I'd say the $1 was worth it :)

Sick Day

Thursday I felt really sick and literally laid in bed half the day.
The boys got to spend lots of quality time with Grandma in the morning and Dad in the afternoon.
I was so thankful to have them around that day as there was no way I could have functioned to care for the boys all day

Egg Peeling

Will is a very particular eater. Not only will he only eat a few certain foods, he has specific conditions on where he will eat them. When Grandma is here, he only wants to eat yogurt in our front yard. He loves Quaker Oatmeal squares but will only eat them out of his white snack trap cup. He will sometimes eat apple, but only if it is a whole apple or a big piece (not a cut little wedge). He will only drink chocolate milk out of a juice box type container. These are just a few examples.

So I try to do whatever I can to get him to eat, and to eat more things.
I know involving children in the cooking/meal preparation helps get them to eat more foods. It worked with Westley on homemade pizza and quesadillias, but I doubted any success with Will.

I had a hard boiled egg and asked Will if he wanted to peel it. He was very excited. I showed him how and then watched him peel the whole thing- better than I can most of the time. I was amazed on how well he did - it looked perfect.  He was very proud

Will has never even tried egg in any form before (he usually cries if I put a small piece of scrambled egg on his place, and then throws it on the floor). He sat there and took about 10 nibbles onto the egg white.


Update:
I tried this again two days later to see if the first time was a fluke - once again he peeled it well and ate a few bites!

Red Light, Green Light

Today we played Red Light, Green Light in the backyard. Classic and simple. Westley has played before, so he knew just how to do it. I think Will understood, but sometimes chose to do his own thing.
Westley and I took turns calling the lights or being the one to stride across the yard.
He thought is was extra hilarious when I called silly lights like "Purple Light!"

Painting Rocks

When were camping at the beach, we gathered some rocks from the beach.
Today we painted them.
I was surprised how interested the boys were in painting these. They kept adding paint for 20 minutes until I had to stop them for bath/bed time (with a promise that we could do this again)
Luckily, we have many more beach trips planned so we can get more rocks