last minute park date!

we have beautiful weather all week long!  so we have been spending lots of time outside, but today we met a special friend for a picnic at our favorite park!

moments like these...

OMG melt my heart!  i am seeing more of these sweet moments between the two of them and today i happened to capture it.  they don't last long, but they are the best!  i am excited for them to be able to play together!

tea party!

PLAY...it's what we do all day, everyday!  bowie is loving setting up a tea party with her babies and ryder is busy exploring it ALL and gaining lots of confidence with his new view (standing and cruising)!!!

open ended toys!

this is why i love open ended toys so much!  bowie used our grimms ocean stacker as a slide and pool lounge chairs for peppa and family!  so creative!

love watching her imagination at work!

mud kitchen essentials!

i've learned that kids really like using real life objects in their play.  so of course bowie will improvise with her kid version of pots and pans in a mud kitchen activity, but i decided it would be even better if she had a real set.

i put an ask out to my buy nothing group for old pots and pans in rough shape that we could use for outdoor play and i got my wish fulfilled! now we have a set that will live outside this spring and summer!

and YES we are still wearing our christmas dress!

chicken wings!

i see a lot of chicken wings in my future!  both my boys love them!  i have a pic similar to this when ryder was about 4-5 months old. 

mud kitchen!

right up there with the pour station and a similar set up.  i use our plastic garage shelving to create a workspace for bowie and add some containers, trays, tools along with some water, flowers, dirt, sticks and pinecones.  this keeps her busy for a long time!

baby sensory play!

i can't wait for ryder to jump into sensory play, and last week he got a taste with water beads in a bag.  he got to pound, squish and feel the fun sensation of water beads as bowie showed him the ropes.

tinkergarten!

this weeks class was about emotions.  the kids got to make some mud and then plop it on a tree and use nature items to create a face.  here is bowie's creation!

edx education!

one of my favorite toys is our rainbow pebbles, if you have been following along you have probably seen us use them in small world play, play dough activities and with sensory bins.  i always make sure to tag them on instagram and they have been posting/sharing some of my activities.  recently they sent me a message wanting to send a thank you gift and it arrived last week. they sent me some numeracy cards!  very excited to practice these with bowie!!!  i love their high quality educational toys!  and i appreciate them taking the time and effort to take note of my account and send me something in the mail from britain!!!

the other day we worked on counting, number recognition and matching with these cards and a number puzzle!

bubble party!

post nap bubble party in the living room!  ryder liked the bubbles but was more interested in the bubble machine.