J is for...

Jellystone Park

Jelly Roll Morton

Jelly fish.

Sealife, Mall of America.

M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i

The mighty heron. Or is that a crane?

You'd think I'd remember as this was less than a week ago. I think..therefore I forget.

Our local nature center had family fun day: Herons.

The island on the Mississippi just outside the building had a heron rookery up until last year when a tornado came thru. Sad. But I think they've re-situated themselves down river a bit. They're moving closer to downtown. Hipster Herons.

We got to learn about them a bit. And color some pictures a couple bit. There is progression with technique. Notice how Roman selected one color for each animal. Green frog, orange fish, purple crab. Taste the rainbow, Craney. Note the egg timer. We brought that from home. I should say ROMAN brought that from home. He likes it. He likes to carry it. He likes to set the time. He likes to hear it ding.  One night he brought it to bed and before tucking him in I took a look at it. 55 minutes to go. "Bad idea, little guy. This is going to scare the trix right out of you when it goes off." He gave me that blank 'thinking' face and let me take it without protest. There wold have been some hootin' and hollering coming from that room if I hadn't. Nothing worse than freaked out half asleep kidlets.

We spied a bunch of bird feeders outside the building.

This bird. Not a clue.

Yellow bellied hickory hound.

Little Bird.

An attempt at a mom and kids picture. Couldn't get one with all 3 of us looking with eyes open. Zo was mostly fixated on her wand's unwinding ribbon. 'Fix it mom!' If I were MacGyver,maybe. I'm not. And BOY is that a cultural reference you won't get.

We went for a little stroll on the park grounds. There's one spot that's treeless, open and full of mulch.. Very depressing. I'd guess this tree was felled by the mighty 'nado..

I love trees.

You might call me a tree-hugger, but you'd probably be wrong.

Three Rivers: Coon Rapids

My preschooler(s) and me. Three Rivers Park District, where else?

And I learned that there's a Coon Rapids Dam park on the west side of the river (Three Rivers: FREE) and another on the east side (Anoka County: NOT free). Good thing I got my directions from the right place, or we'd have had a doozy of a walk from where we were supposed to be. Not that I didn't drag the kids on that same walk across the river after our educational time....but still.

I must say that I'm pretty amazed at what's available out there.  You kind of have to make an effort and have the time available (weekdays people, weekdays!), but if you do....wow. We had fun with some other preschoolers...

Digging in the dirt

(to find the places we got hurt...sorry I had to do it)

Looking for WORMS. From the farm to the backyard. It's all good.

Stretchy, fake, humongous worms. Fuzzy pipe cleaner worms (that you feed to a crafty baby bird).

Magnifying glasses.

Investigate! My little scientists.

We even got to go outside in the 'nature exploration area' and find some worms in the ground. Good thing you guys have had your practice digging in the yard, eh? 

And WHY were we digging for worms?  To feed the TOAD. You even got to touch him. And you all got a good giggle out of the fact that he liked to jump around. That was the best part.

We patiently waited to see if he'd eat the worm. Nope. Smaller one? Nope. Meal worm? Yep. But it didn't get the reaction as much as the hoppy hoppy action. That was fun. Hearing a bunch of preschools giggle uproariously is a delight.

We took our picnic lunch down by the river.

'No pictures!' That's what he said.

As he ate his pb & j (one of 3 foods he eats...well more than that, but not by much)

After lunch we walked down to the sandy riverbanks and found...

A mussel shell. YEE HAW (Dam background)

We saw some geese too. As we approached their spot they sat in the river and floated away down the mighty stream. And Zo posed with her shell. Again. She told me she was going to put it in her jewelry box.

I think what happened is that it made it home and Roman carved himself a little picture into a side table in the living room. Mementos.

When you're older and can write are you going to be smart enough to graffiti the furniture and sign your siblings name, like your mom did? I distinctly remember that. Underside of the coffee table. I think I was really surprised that it really worked. Ah, deception and deceit. It starts young ("I'm hungry" upon seeing a 'treat'). Doesn't matter if you just ate dinner and told me you were full. "I'm HUUUUUNgry" usually conveys a selective target. Not broccoli.

TGIF

Gale Woods Farm Day

So we went to Gale Woods Farm last year (here), but this time we got to actually go IN the barn and see the animals up close. I'd recommend 'Gale Woods Farm Day'. $5 a person and worth every penny.

In the morning there were a bunch of school and/or preschool groups coming thru.

So we weaved in an out with them. 

Good thing about not being in a group: if you want to stay and look at the lambs a little longer, you can.  I love my Wednesdays.

There was a large group of lambs that had been born the week before.

And  4 or 5 that had been born he day before. Like this one. This little guy was having some problems, he couldn't stand on his own. It wasn't until late that I learned that wasn't the way it was supposed to be. I hope he's standing now.

These little ones were just ADORABLE. They seem to like to cuddle up with each other and their mama.

And we had ample opportunity to learn about nursing.

Look - she's smiling!

And a chance to pet the little guys.

Another Mama posing proudly with her babes!

Chickens!

And this was pretty cool. You got to meet and greet...Mimi.

She's a dairy cow.

Cheese! Hmm, that takes on different meaning when it's a cow, no?

And with her mouth full, too.

I think she wasn't too upset with all the kids brushing her that day.

Milk. It does a body good.

It's hard to tell what this big white blob is, but it's one of the sheepdogs on the farm. He's a BIG guy, but a gentle giant. The kids got to brush him and his mama too.

Time for a Zo Puppet show!

You love your "muppets". They are all "muppets".

We had a picnic outside the barn at lunch. Some of the school groups were sticking around, but not quite so many kids as were there before.  You saw these bean bag toss games and couldn't wait to try them out after eating.

Roman developed his own technique.

The road we traveled last year.

We didn't see as many critters as last time, but we saw the calves out in the pasture, heard frogs in the pond and watched the fluttering butterflies.

As soon as we got out to the dock on the lake, Zo decided she wanted to catch one of those butterflies, so she plunked herself down and stuck out her finger. Apparently that's the 'butterfly pose'.

Isn't it?

Sure.

And docks are for running.

Where'd you go?

Back to....

...the Barn!

This time ALL the groups were gone, so we had it to ourselves.

Zo chuckled "this one likes me!" after he came right up to her (kind of like a dog nuzzling for a scratch!)

You were telling the Farmer that you got to feed the baby lamb that couldn't stand and he said we could try it again if we wanted.

Not going to turn that one down, are you?

The little guy wasn't too interested, but we tried.

That was a super fun day for all of us.