Set Design

I didn't tell the boys why we were doing this, and they are so used to doing activities they don't ask. They just jump right in!

Our goal was to make a house and a multistory office building.
Grandma worked on the house.

The boys and I worked on the office building.
On the other side we drew desks and even had a working elevator.

We also added in a car.

The car is driving home from work

Robot Lightsabers

I went on a The Dollar Store shopping spree today.
One "find" were these lightsaber things. They are made of foam, but light up and make a few quiet sounds. Usually I don't buy this kind of stuff as I don't really like play toys that encourage fighting (we get enough of that without them), but apparently I cave for $1

Westley said (in his robot voice) "I am a robot... I like to hit moms"

Will of course had to copy him

Grandma has past experience in fencing and showed the boys some moves, but she avoided my camera t during most of them :)

Lil Busy Bodies

When Westley was 1-2 years old we went multiple times a week to a place called Weestart, with gym music and play activities for young children, much like a Gymborree. We were so sad when the owner moved and Weestart closed. Allison, the owner is back and is now running classes at parks and Babies in Bloom under the business name Lil Busy Bodies. We miss the big space of Weestart, with all of the balls, things to climb and play in etc. but I am happy Will has had a chance to do a few of the things Westley got to do.

What do animals do when they are scared?

Today Westley and I talked about what different animals do when they are scared... when they think something is going to eat them.
I first reminded him of how the rollie pollies roll up into a ball.
We listed out other things animals do when they are scared, and Westley acted them out

hiding in his "shell"

 rolled up like a rollie pollie

Others:
Bugs/Birds- Fly away
Deers and others - freeze
Cats- scratch, hiss, run away
Dogs- bark, fur on their backs go up
Skunk- sprays
etc.

Rollie Pollies

We've been very into bugs lately!
Today we studied rollie pollies that were in our front yard.

We observed how they roll into balls when they are scared, and we counted to see how long they typically took to unroll and walk around again (about 30 seconds when in your hand, but only 10 seconds when in the dirt)

This day reminded me of a day when I was a child, and at our baton teacher's house I filled my animal cookie box full of rollie pollies I had found. On the way home I opened the container to look at my rollie pollies. My mom instantly pulled the car over and had me dump them all out. Traumatized me for life :)

Paper Towel Rolls

Easy Entertainment!
I finished a roll of paper towels, cut the roll in half and gave one piece to each boy.
They ran off with excitement using them as microphones and telescopes.
One of those days you wonder why you spend so much money on buying toys :)

Golf Club Step Stool Hockey

Today the boys had out our golf clubs and Will came up with the idea to hit the ball into the opening of the stool (innovative I thought for a young 2 year old)
So the boys practiced this on their own. Then, since we have two stools I set up a kitchen hockey game for Westley and I. He totally grasps the concept and did pretty well (it was hard with plastic clubs and little lightweight balls) Fun though, they already pulled out the game again before bed.