We did a family field trip to the Austin Nature and Science center and traded in our 'treasures' from nature with the Naturalist's Desk. Matthew redeemed his points for a new deer antler and a cow tibia bone. He's immensely proud of it because it looks like a caveman's club. Sarah is saving her points so she can eventually turn them in for a full cow skull. Yikes. We headed over to play in the fossil pits.
I love seeing little tiny toes playing in warm sand.
Even my sister Rachael had a turn.
We enjoyed a picnic in the shade before heading out into the heat again to explore the zoo.
The children were drawn to the little stream we passed over, so we stopped to splash our feet in the cool water.
Daniel ended up falling in the 2-foot deep part in the quick currant. The algae-coated rocks were too slippery for him to get a good foot hold and he fell back in several times. There was a bit of panic and drama as his shoes started to float away in the currant, but Matthew leaped to the rescue and all was well.
We enjoyed a wonderful summer party at Marti Gaye's home, who was a MOPS mentor for us last year. She is one of those friends that is a real gem. Her home was a perfect 'grandmother' home, and the children begged to stay forever. There was a large playscape, swings, sandbox, and a HUGE backyard for running.
She set up 3 slip-n-slides in the backyard, which were a highlight.
She also let the children each make a pizza for lunch. The table was spread with all the toppings and they had so much fun building custom pizzas.
As if this wasn't all wonderful enough, she took the children over to her neighbor's house to play in the magical backyard. There we discovered a collection of tire swings, a zip line, fountains, and a carousel of all things. There was also a bubble machine filling the yard with floating bubbles. The yard was dotted with antiques from zoos and colored glass balls. The music from the carousel added to the surreal atmosphere. The entire backyard was just so magical; the perfect place to have a childhood adventure hunting for fairies. The children were delighted and exclaimed that they've never seen a personal-sized carnival before.
I remember drinking out of these fountains in my childhood at the Hogle Zoo. It was so strange to see it in a backyard.
The zip line was a favorite, and Marti was so sweet to help the children over and over again.
1 comment:
This looks like SUCH a fun time! How wonderful! :-)
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