Sun, Surf and Sand

Sit back, relax and enjoy some sun, surf and sand from our vacation. We spent all of our hours just playing in the sand and spending time together!

Dawson's first steps on the beach....we went straight to the sand when we arrived at the hotel.

The beautiful view from our chairs in the sand.

Our Cabana where we could be when we needed a break from the sun. There was a constant breeze under this hut. In the corner, you can see Dawson playing in the sand by the hammock.

Dawson was always covering her feet in the sand.

Always building a castle...

Loving the water..in the water, out of the water, in the water, out of the water...

Another castle...this time we brought along some princesses to be a part of the royalty.

The air temperature was perfect. It was around 85 each day with a nice breeze that kept us cool. The sun was so strong I had to buy her a hat and a shirt to protect her from the sun. (on top of soaking her all day long with sunscreen!) You just couldn't feel yourself getting all the sun!

Back to the ocean.

Time to make a sand angel!

Where is Dawson???

More waves.....

More water....

Another castle...

Time to crash in the hammock. She was falling asleep as she was swinging with her one foot pushing her back and forth!

Time to go home! A wonderful, relaxing trip was had by all!

An "Ish" Day

We headed off to art first thing this morning followed by a pancake breakfast to welcome the arrival of the Blue Herons to our park.

Today Miss Nancy started off the lesson with a book called "Ish". This is a book about a character named Ramon who loves to draw until his older brother makes fun of him. He then feels like he's not very good at drawing! Ramon then starts to crumple up all his work and throw it on the floor. One day, his younger sister shows him that she has kept all his crumpled work and has hung it on her walls. When he declares that the picture of the vase doesn't look like the real thing, she says that it looks "vase-ISH." Now, Ramon adds the word "ish" to all his work that doesn't look just perfect! A new confidence was acquired!

After the story, Miss Nancy had the girls each draw their own version of the vase and then paint it with some watercolors.

Dawson listened carefully and created her own version of the vase. Looks good to me. Notice the two red ovals on the side of the paper by her arm...those are her favorite pair of red sparkly shoes. She really wanted them in the picture too!

After art we headed over to her school for the Blue Heron pancake breakfast. The Herons are back and have arrived at the park. There were lots of fun activities for the kids and tons of information about these amazing birds.

When we got home we measured her compared to a life sized Blue Heron. Dawson told me the Blue Heron was taller than her because he had really long legs!

After measuring, we colored our picture.

The picture was so large, Dawson got tired of coloring the long legs so she grabbed three crayons at once in hopes of finishing up faster! This girl is always thinking!!!!

Castle Building

Aunt Beth and her mom bought Dawson an extremely nice set of wood building blocks for her baby shower. Over the years we have used them for various things but recently, they are being used for castle building. I walked into the family room yesterday to find this castle.

Here she created a little bed for everyone to sleep on. Even the horse was a little tired.

I did ask her what this was above and she told me a draw bridge over the water. Wow! I had no idea she knew what that was? Then I asked where she learned that and she said her teacher showed her how to make one at school. I was quite impressed!

Clay Creation

Dawson and Grace had their first art lesson today. We tried to get into the art museum classes but, were closed out. Lucky us, we found a closer place that is going to be just perfect for the girls. The class has one teacher for the two of them! It's a small studio that offers classes 7 days a week by various artists with different talents. As our class was going on, there were two other boys drawing castles in a perspectives class. I really like the way the teachers bring a lot of art history to the lessons in general conversation.

Here is a part of the studio. The girls were sitting at the closest table.

What I liked most about today is that the girls were a part of the "whole" process. The project today involved clay. The teacher showed the girls the large block of clay. They touched it and then moved it to the machine above that would flatten it. It took both of them to turn the wheel and flatten that clay!!!

Next, we used textured rollers and stamps. The choices were endless on what they could use.

Here is her clay work in two pieces.

Dawson was very focused and interested in her creation. I did not touch her art at all...I want to make sure that what she creates is entirely her work!

It's a little hard to see but, she used a walnut and a fork to make the edges rough. She also was able to pick some cooking cutters to make some 3D shapes to paint. Here is the in progress piece of art.....

The teacher is going to put an antique glaze on it and fire it in the kiln for us to see next week. When finished, she will tie a ribbon on the top we can hang it up!

The Year of the Rabbit

Winter this year has been quite snowy and almost too cold to be outside much. With this in mind, I have been searching high and low to find things to do to get out of my house! Over the weekend, we made a few Valentine crafts with Grace and headed out to celebrate the Chinese New Year with our family and friends.

We started with few cards...

Then we did a little string dipping (in cornstarch and water) to make some heart decorations.

Here is the almost finished product. It takes a few hours to dry and then we can hang it in our house for Valentine's Day.

We then headed out for Chinese New Year. Dawson has been asking to see the Lion dance again since last year. We went a year ago and she thinks whenever we go to this restaurant it's going to happen again!

The Dragon always starts outside the restaurant.

Grace and Dawson shared a Shirley Temple. I think their favorite part was the umbrellas and the swords filled with cherries!

Next came the rose. There was a rose on the table and they kept wanting to smell it. Anything to occupy their time for a few minutes!

Next came our favorite...chicken low mein. She is getting so good at chopsticks already!

We heard some drums pounding and looked towards the door, the dance had begun. The Dragon danced around the entire restaurant stopping by each table for a little visit. It is Chinese tradition to feed the dragon a red envelope with some money. Both of the girls were a little hesitant to feed the big beast this year!

An up close and personal view....no fear here!

Part of the dance is for the dragon to throw the orange out for good luck. He threw it right towards us and, with a little help, Grace caught the orange!

Last year was supposedly a rough one since it was the year of the tiger. This year should be much more calm and pleasant as the year of the rabbit! Let's hope this is true.

Mayna's Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday Mayna!

We had a great day at the Little Gym for Mayna's 4th birthday! It was so much fun running, climbing, jumping, dancing, swinging and just playing with a bunch of friends. We especially loved the snacks and the cupcake. Thanks for a great time Mayna!

The birthday girl!

Climbing up on the beam....fearless!

Look at this...not even a wiggle!

It was so much fun to jump on the airtrack (it's like a trampoline but, air inside)

Grace and Dawson waited so patiently for their turn on the airtrack.

Climbing under the ropes.

Bubbles on the airtrack.......

Waiting for the airtrack to deflate...all smiles! What a great way to make our cold Saturday a lot more fun!!!