A Palm Springs Thanksgiving

We spent the long Thanksgiving weekend in Palm Springs at a timeshare with a lot of our extended family. We celebrated Thanksgiving together, as well as my birthday!
I didn't have my camera out much, but here's a few shots from our trip

We took walks, "rock climbed" went swimming, and water sliding. After dinner in the downtown area, the kids danced to the music of a live band (which was hilariously adorable, but too dark for photos)

Westley also enjoyed lots of playtime with his cousin closest in age, Angelina.

We all had a fun time!

Elf Yourself

We created our elf images and the boys enjoyed watching us do all the dances
Click here to watch one of our favorite Elf Family Dance 
To make your own got to http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/CZjAwV8GHliTHuth7zVe

Conservation Test

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development places preschool age children in the Preoperational Stage. A defining characteristic of this stage is that children do not show consistent logical reasoning.
Conservation is that the shape or arrangement of an object does not change the volume.
Children in the preoperational stage do not understand the laws of conservation. They will answer incorrectly to tests like these I performed with Westley.
They answer incorrectly because of centration - the pay attention to (concentrate) just one aspect at a time.
Here, Westley is focusing on the height of the water and height of the play dough
Preschool children also show irreversibility- they are unable to reverse the experiment in their head to answer logically. Even if the test is redone before them (as the water glass test was with Westley) they will still answer incorrectly.
Typically between the ages or 5-7 children make a shift and can think logically in concrete situations like this.

Measuring Stairs

I have been thinking about a measuring activity for Westley, but wasn't sure if he was ready for it.
Well today he showed me he was but starting one all on his own.
He got out our Kapla block sticks and lined them up on a stair in two rows - near the back of the step and tip of the step. He then was counting how many blocks long the step was. I asked him if he wanted me to keep track of how many blocks he had on each stair and he was excited for me to do so.
Our stairs at the bottom are longer, then there are a few that are the same length. I helped him understand and predict the length of the stairs with the number of blocks each stair used.
He was really into this activity and it was so fun to see the learning process.

5 lil Frogs

Today we found our box of bugs and little animals.
I saw 5 frogs the reminded me of the 5 little Speckled Frogs Song (often used as a fingerplay but I wanted to step it up a knotch).
The frogs sit on a speckled log, so I got an old Paper Towel Roll and will helped me put speckles on it.
Then I told Westley we needed a pool, he found this blue little lunchbox
So we lined the 5 frogs up they ate their bugs and jumped into the "pool"

Since our frogs weren't speckled we said, "5 little colored frogs"

Here's the traditional song lyrics:

Five Little Speckled Frogs
Five Little Speckled Frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are Four green speckled frogs )

Four Little Speckled Frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are Three green speckled frogs

Three little speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are Two green speckled frogs

Two little speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there is one green speckled frog

One little speckled frog
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
It jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there is no more speckled frogs

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I have used a can of pumkin to make a chocolate cake before, but have also heard you can use a spice cake.
Westley and I tried it.
We just used a regular  boxed spice cake mix and 1 can of pumpkin, plus about 1/4 cup water. No need to add any of the oil or eggs the directions on the box call for.

We baked them as mini muffins as I took them to my students (along with Blackbean brownies)
I had all my students amazed of how they were made and they ate them all up.

Westley enjoyed his too :)

Shore Boogie Boarding

This was one of those where Kevin and I both thought... why didn't we think of this sooner?
We both boogie boarded as kids, and we have some tucked in our garage, but have never thought to use them with our boys yet since they probably couldn't truly boogie board.
The conditions of the beach were perfect for Kevin to pull them in just a couple inches of shallow water. He actually went really fast with Westley.
Both boys loved it!!

I'm sure they wont let us forget the boogie boards on future beach trips

Ten Little Rubber Ducks

Our bathroom is themed with rubber ducks... so we have over 15 actual rubber ducks lining the top of the tub/shower and in the bathtub.
Tonight I read the boys the book Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle

The boys helped me act out the story with our Rubber Ducks. The book counts the ducks upward, so each time we added 1 to the edge of the tub until there were ten. At the end one squeaks. The boys got a kick out of each finding one that squeaks.  Then they enjoyed squirting each other with water from the ducks :)

Waldorf Craft Festival

Saturday we went to a craft festival at our friend's school which is a private Waldorf school.

Westley got to make soap incased in wool creating a loufa effect. Will painted a wooden tree. They were both proud of what they made. At dinner Will said "Westley... I made a tree, I made a tree Westley. You made soap! Soap!!"

They also got to go in a little petting zoo, hear live music, walk through a garden with tree stump stepping stones, and Westley saw a puppet show.
We all had nice time.
Thanks for inviting us Jenny!

Tinker Trapeze

Kevin helped the boys build a Trapeze rig like the one I go to. I was impressed and honored.
We helped them find flyers - a truck driver figuring and gumby - who was great at holding on.
The boys loved this, they played with it for the longest time.

Pillow Ponies

I couldn't get a good picture as they move too fast, but here the boys discovered something as fun as pillow fights!
While it scares me a bit they are going to fall, they haven't yet, and it helps them practice gross motor skills

Pumpkin Soup

Tonight Will helped me make Pumpkin Soup.
I adapted a recipe I got from a friend to make a sweeter soup rather than spicy so Westley would eat it.

Will enjoyed adding in ingredients, stirring, eating some of the apple, and watching the soup in the blender. Unfortunately, he didn't like it (he is very particular) but Westley, Grandma, and I did!

Here's the recipe

 Pumpkin Soup

½ cup butter

1 small onion, diced

2 apples (granny smith, ambrosia, etc)
1 clove/tablespoon crushed garlic

1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ tsp salt

½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (optional)
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
4 cups chicken broth

1 30oz can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 ¾ cup half and half


chopped apple
chopped pecans (tossed with butter and a little brown sugar, lightly toasted)

Melt butter in soup pot, sauté onion and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add all dry spices and apple and cook for one minute or so. Add broth and bring to a boil over medium heat, boil uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Stir in pumpkin and half and half, cook for 5 minutes.Blend in blender or using immersion blender in pot until soup is smooth and creamy.
Top with chopped apples and pecans (Westley likes crackers in it too)Makes 7-8 servings.

Disc Shooters

Grandma looked everywhere for little foam disc shooters. She found some and the boys loved them. Monday they spent hours literally playing with them.
I set up a basket for them to try and shoot them into which Westley did, but then discovered it was more fun to watch them hit the door or walls and bounce everywhere. The next part of the fun (but also this part was not fun) was looking for them once they flew off.
We were smart and gave Westley all the yellow discs and Will the red ones. This way they each had 6, and if they lost them or ruined them, they wouldn't have anymore, and they couldn't fight over whose was whose.
Westley was diligent to always have 6, and practiced his math skills in doing so.

Balloon Challenge

I had a hard time talking the boys out of doing water balloons tonight... it was already getting dark and cold. So, I pulled out the regular balloons and that satisfied them.
I also found our balloon rackets that we made months ago, but I thought were worthy of showing again.
It is a heavy paper plate with a paint stir stick taped to the back. More simple, practically free fun.
This time I asked Westley how many times he could hit the ball in the air without it falling on the ground.
A few months ago I don't even think he could have done more than what would be by chance, but tonight he had one round go where he hit it up 17 times in a row!

Powerhouse Park

Today we took the boys to Powerhouse Park in Del Mar for the first time. We were going to get photos taken, but also got to hang out a bit and play.
This area has big open grass areas, and a playground right next to the sand and ocean.
They played football and soccer, and played on the play structure

Here they are practicing hanging for when they are five and can go on trapeze

Here's a picture I just took of Will, can't wait to see the pro pics!

Big Breakfast "Cookie"

Kevin took Will out to breakfast, so Westley and I enjoyed some quiet time in the house this morning.
We tried out a new recipe for A Big Breakfast Cookie. (Click there for the recipe. I used whole wheat flour and brown sugar instead of Splenda, and added a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of flax oil.)
The word cookie is used here lightly as it really doesn't taste like a real yummy cookie, but is convenient to eat like a cookie (and kids like Westley think it is a cookie).

Westley really liked it, I liked it ok knowing that it is healthy (and not really a cookie) but felt it had too much cinnamon. Kevin and Will tried it when they got home. I'm not sure if Will ate his or if Westley took it from him and ate it. Kevin didn't like it at all but he knocks all my healthy baking.

For an on the go more healthy snack, we will make them again

Kayak Harbor Fun

Today was another beautiful summer November day!
Kevin took the Kayak out to the Oceanside Harbor, and both boys got a chance to ride with him.

We all got to see a sea lion in the harbor too

Then I took the boys to ocean where they played on the shoreline for the longest time (together... without a grown up leading their play!), and then for a little longer on the playground in the sand.
We all had a great fun morning!

Will's Picnic

Thursday Will's preschool had a family picnic. They had apple cider and we brought our lunches. It was just Will and I. I brought his lunch but all he would eat was his yogurt. He was more excited about filling his apple cider cup with water and dumping it everywhere.

I had a little one-on-one time with Will, and then he fell asleep on the way home and napped early so I had a little one-on-one time with Westley while he ate his lunch and we played Chutes and Ladders. That can be a long game. He is really good at playing by the rules and has a longer attention span for it than I do!

Water Balloon Toss

Why I love where I live... Because it is November and we still get random "summer days:

I promised Westley a really fun activity for today. For the first time ever, we used water balloons for an activity! He has been really into throwing a little football back and forth, so I figured we would do the same with water balloons- like a classic water balloon toss. He loved it and had the biggest smile on his face when once he went to catch it and it exploded in his hands getting his shirt and pants all wet. Wish I would have gotten a picture of his face!
He also thought it was pretty funny that he got splashed when he dropped it.

Will enjoyed just throwing them to the ground and watching them pop and splash.

I imagined he was going to get quite a kick out of me getting wet by a water balloon, but I lucked out and stayed dry!

Popsicle Stick Creations

I bought these colored popsicle (craft) sticks awhile ago at the dollar store.
Today I presented them to the boys, and gave them each their own bottle of glue.
I was prepared for a lot of glue to be used.

Will enjoyed putting glue all over the paper and then putting sticks down in the glue. Westley worked at gluing while building with the sticks.
Westley  also enjoyed peeling the glue off his hands... ahh a classic childhood memory :)

Craft Sticks $1
Two Bottles of Glue $2

15 minutes of quiet, creative, sitting down time... = well worth it!

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

We saved the seeds from yesterday's pumpkin carving and gave them a chance to dry.
Today, Westley and I drizzled them with olive oil and sea salt and watched them toast.

I was thinking about how wasteful it is that we harvest all these pumpkins for pretty much pure entertainment... to play in them, forgetting that they are an actual food. Last year we were actually able to scrape out some flesh of the pumpkin we were carving and we cooked it up and ate it.
This year our carving pumpkin was too small to eat and carve, but at least we could make use out of the seeds.

Westley and I both decided though that pumpkin seeds are not our favorite.. but we tried them!