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!!

Spring Break Fun - Ice Skating!

At last...the moment Jaden couldn't wait for...ICE SKATING! When we left Las Cruces for our 4(ish) hour drive to Albuquerque, Jaden insisted on wearing his gloves and hat the entire way, in anticipation for ice skating later that evening! He absolutely could not wait. I'm not sure why he was so excited about it or what he even really knew about ice skating in the first place. After thinking about it, I came up with two possible reasons for his overwhelming anticipation to step foot on that ice: 1. He wanted to be just like his former figure skating mother and get a early start at doing the twirls, jumps, triple lutz, and of course, the triple salchow that I used to do in my younger days; OR 2. He loved watching the figure skaters in the Olympics and was excited to try his hand (actually, feet) at it. Hmmm...I kinda like the way the first one sounds. I'm gonna go with that one.

But whatever the reason was, once he stepped foot on that ice he was a natural at it! I wasn't sure he would actually want to continue once he discovered the possibility (the very likely possibility) of falling. But he was amazing and would have stayed on that ice forever if I hadn't pooped out on him. It was so exhausting trying to keep my balance and make sure I didn't fall (after all, it has been a while since my ice skating days...haha), while also holding him up and making sure he wouldn't fall! It was so much fun getting to skate together. And once ice strollers are invented, Elijah will get to join us instead of watching from the stands.

On the way to Albuquerque...Jaden's ready to go ice skating.

They had the most adorable little ice skates!

All suited up and ready to start training for the Olympics (you know, like his mom used to do). Actually, he'd been suited up for about 12 hours at this point. The only thing he needed was the skates!

On the ice at last! We hung very close to the wall, just in case...and used it many, many times. Acutally, I used it more than Jaden did :o).

Being the beginners that we were, I didn't know about the "skating bar" until we saw a little boy, a little older than J, gliding around the ice with ease (and no exhausted mom trying to hold him up). He was holding onto an interestingly shaped metal bar and pushing it along to keep himself up. Brilliant idea, I thought. Sam hurried to get us one and Jaden was excited to get to skate by himself. Well...after about the third fall, Jaden decided he was done. And uninjured, thank goodness! We had a blast!