Fairytale Town

We love fieldtrips. Basically everyday, Ryan asks, "Is it preschool day?" I say yes or no, then he'll ask, "What day is it?" Then I tell him and then he says, "Well what do we do on Monday...(or whatever day it is). He loves to know what's going on and loves to do stuff. Frankly so do I. Even if we just take a walk to the park, we're all happy campers. But fieldtrips are the best! Getting out to the Zoo, or other real fieldtrips are very fun for us. So when our friends called Friday morning and suggested doing something fun, we were all in! Sacramento has some great places for families with younger children, one of them is Fairytale Town. Built in 1959, it has play equipment from various fairy tales. It's a fun day for the kids to run from story to story, playing on and around these things. Unfortunately for us, last Friday happened to have lots of 1st graders on fieldtrips enjoying the park too. There were lots of big kids who didn't care much to watch out for the little ones. That bugged. Otherwise, it was a fun filled day. The favorites were the train as always, Jack's beanstalk, the giant's, and Kennedi LOVED being in Cinderella's carriage(We've been to fairytale town a few times a year for the last three years...but with my boy and their boy cousins...no girls, so it was fun to see her love the Cinderella carriage). I think my favorite is the Old Lady's shoe that is huge and has a fun slide down the middle. But that day with all the big kids, our kids only got to go down a few times. I was having nightmares of my sister's fall from a high dive ladder when big kids were pressuring her to hurry up. The ladder for the old lady shoe is very steep...so when the big kids were crowding and not caring about the younger ones, we were outta there.






Speaking of preschool...have you ever had super glue on your hands? It's so annyoing! We had preschool here today. I was a loon and planned a beach theme...not checking the weather. Yes! It rained. Brilliant me. Oh well. Anyhow, we made Lei's with paper flowers and pasta. The whole time, Ryan is saying, Mom, we've never been to Hawaii. When are we going? Who went to Hawaii? (His Motley grandparents and cousins just recently went). Anyhow, then we made beach in a bottle - you know, the oil and blue water...we even added small shells. The water and oil will always separate...my dad LOVES these things. He had one from when he was a kid. But I didn't do research to find out the correct way to do it. I used cooking oil, so it's rather yellow instead of clear. Also...right before taking this picture I dropped the bottle...so it was all shook up. Normally, the two colors would be completely separate...and after being shaken, it'll take a few mintues before the bubbles all settle. I was just not patient for it to go back to normal. So back to the super glue, I tried super glueing the lids so the kids wouldn't be able to make a big mess (with food coloring no less). And it didn't work, except for on my hands. Oh well, have a great day!

We're going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...How bout you, you you?

When Scott was little they sang this song every time they went to the Zoo. from my memory this is how it goes:
Daddy's taking us to the Zoo tomorrow Zoo tomorrow Zoo tomorrow, Daddy's taking us to the Zoo tomorrow and we can stay all day! chorus: We're going to the Zoo Zoo ZOo, How bout you , you , you? We've been to two Zoos in the last month: Sacramento and Folsom. Did you know a flamingo's coloring is because they eat shrimp? This was our discussion at the Sacramento Zoo. Three of us had heard this fact, while another was curious if it was true since shrimp are not pink until you cook them! So I researched.

From this research, I have discovered that a flamingo's coloring is because the food they eat is high in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments. They eat a variety of crustaceans, mollusks, small fish, blue and green algae and brine shrimp. So it's not exclusively shrimp that they eat, but all of their diet has these pigments. Evidently blue/green algae has more red and orange pigments to it than it's name. And in researhing brine shrimp, you'll never guess their color! Yes! Orange, pinkish little tiny shrimp! This conclusion was set after reading various internet sources. However, such sources deny shrimp is the only cause of the pink coloring and some sites contradict other sites.

Donuts and Puke

We were able to go to Krispy Kreeme with our preschool group for a fieldtrip last week. We had been to one a few years ago and it was great, so we were excited. The kids had been sick but had at least one day of feeling better before the fieldtrip. So off we went. Tuesday morning we were waiting for more of our Preschool friends to get to the donut shop before beginning the tour. Out of nowhere, Sean pukes...and pukes...and pukes! I don't know where it all came from! He started while standing on a bench of a booth, as it pooled at his feet and began dripping down to floor, I grabbed him to hold him over the garbage to continue his puking. He puked on the way to the garbage and still more in the garbage. We made a HUGE mess! Ryan had been looking forward to the donuts that they got to decorate, so we cleaned up and I held Sean to keep him separate from the other kids. If you know Sean, that's really mean to do to him. He loves to be with the big kids. So he was really sad, but did pretty good at letting me keep him quarantined. Yes, I did let him have a donut, and no, thank goodness, he didn't puke it up! So now rewind 4 days and this is what our day was like: rounds of pukes and runny poos. One when he was napping on his belly. He cried so I went to get him and then I saw it, the evidence of more issues on his blankets, so I started taking his clothes off, and the evidence was on his belly up to his chin! While disgusting, I couldn't help but laugh. Poor kid had three baths that day.