Spring Fest 2010

We had an awesome little event here just before Easter called SpringFest, which was especially for kids!! I think my ears were made specifically for this purpose - listening for any event or activity that pertains to KIDS - and we are there! And in this case it was all free, so even better! Unfortunately we missed the Easter egg hunt, but we got to do loads of other activities while we were there. Daddy was out of town for work this weekend and missed all the fun, so I had to make sure to capture every moment for him. And you know how I love pictures, so here it goes...

Elijah and Aubrey feeling a little parched from the warm spring weather.

Jaden got to make a Fruit Loop necklace. He was really good at stringing the loops onto the yarn. It took a while because this is kinda how it went..."string a loop, eat a loop, string a loop, eat two loops..."

And the mommies made Cheerio necklaces for the babies!

Writing with Easter egg chalk. (It really wasn't as sad as Jaden makes it look).

Enjoying the duck pond.

There were huge sandboxes set up and the boys had so much fun getting down and dirty. Aubrey wasn't too sure she wanted to get involved in that mess.

JUMBO building blocks! These were so much fun. I looked into getting a set for the house after this. Only $300.00 - hmmm...I guess we'll just have to wait and enjoy them at next year's SpringFest.

This was the most clever use of old pots, pans and utensils! The pots and pans were strung and hung from metal bars (like pocket chart stands) and there were all sorts of utensils (forks, spoons, whisks, potato mashers...) that the kids could use for banging and making "music." Now this we can recreate at home.

Spring Break Fun - Dinosaurs & More at the Museum of Natural History

As I posted earlier, I am super behind on blogs and have a lot of catching up to do! And because my main purpose in blogging is for myself and recording my family memories, I don't want to leave any of these moments out! So even thought it was over a month ago, here is the beginning of our spring break trip...

We couldn't vacation too far for spring break because Sam was only off on the weekend, so we decided to spent the weekend in Albuquerque, NM, which is close enough to drive, but far away enough to feel like we were actually on "vacation"!! And it's the perfect place to go to experience some fun family activities that we don't have here. I did some research before our trip to plan our days to get the most out of our time there! On our agenda: New Mexico Museum on Natural History (Dinosaur Exhibit); Ice Skating; Science Center and Children's Museum (which was a surprise addition once we discovered it while already there); Aquarium; Botanical Gardens; and Trader Joe's.


(Thank goodness for Play Foam! This stuff entertained Jaden the whole way there and back. Elijah liked it too...his diaper had little blue and white beads in it for a week after.)

Our first stop was the Museum of Natural History, which had a dinosaur exhibit, and Jaden is all about dinosaurs! One of his current favorite books is a little critter book called Just Me and My Mom by Mercer Mayer. In the book, little critter and his mom go to the Museum of Natural History's Dinosaur Exhibit. Jaden felt like he was living the story, only his was called Just Me and My Mom and My Dad and My Little Brother.

Making dinosaur footprints in the sand. Elijah loved the way the sand felt and kept trying to climb in!

Getting a closer look at the only bug Jaden likes...butterflies. Sweet, huh!

Wouldn't be a museum without a couple of fish tanks.
Walking through a volcano with roaring dinosaurs and running lava...just a little nervous!

The Dinosaur Experience.

In Jaden's Little Critter book, little critter gets in big trouble at the museum because he touches everything, even though all of the signs read "Do Not Touch!" or "No Touching!" So throughout our walk of the museum, Jaden wanted to know what every single sign said. And at this wonderful museum, Jaden was very pleased to find that many of the signs read "Please touch!" And he followed those directions perfectly!

Solar System Exploration.

And of course, souvenirs!!