Happy Leap Day

We're having a fun leap day. Ethan and I got to come home early because of the snow, so we made a frog leap day craft. We also enjoyed some hot chocolate and played some games.

Close Encounter

 
I didn't post pictures of the animals we saw at the zoo last week, so I neglected to tell the best story. We were in the bird sanctuary in one of the open exhibits where the  birds can just fly around. We were up on kind of a mezzanine where you could look over down and up to see the birds habitat. The tree in this picture extended out over the area where people could stand and watch. I looked up and saw this bird there, and started snapping his picture. I took a few then looked at some other things. All of a sudden it flew off its perch, to the back of the room, turned around and came back towards us. He landed right in the middle of James's head. I wish I had the camera on then. James was holding Ethan so all I could think of was this book he has called Heedley Pecked me in the Eye. It goes "I did not blink, I did not cry, it's not his fault, he can't discern and eyeball from a juicy worm." So I was trying to think of exactly how to get the bird off of James when he moved enough to make the thing fly onto the wall. He was clearly a people bird.

Love Is...

Goin to the Mardi Gras

 
At dinner, Ethan declared  that we had a "Mardi Gras feast!" We made red beans and rice from the recipe in the "My New Orleans" John Besh cookbook I got for Christmas, and it was soooooo good. I was a little worried because it was made without soaking the beans, and I was afraid they would not cook all the way. But it worked just fine, and it was yummy. Ethan and I made masks, yes those are recycled Kleenex boxes. We embellished with pipe cleaners, ribbons, sequins and beads. We listened to lots of New Orleans music, everything from Trombone Shorty to Louis Armstrong. For dessert we had King Cake which Ethan and I made. We had a little trouble with the purple sugar, it came out more blue but he didn't seem to mind. It tasted just fine. Only way the day could have been better is if we spent it in the Big Easy.

Blast off!

 
Ethan has been very into rocket ships lately. We got his new car booster seat in a large box, so I decided to make him one. It's not done. He wants to paint the other sides and decorate the interior.

Bronx Zoo

We've been having such a mild winter for a change that we decided to go to the Bronx Zoo Saturday. It was not very crowded which was the goal. Ethan got front row spots for the seal and penguin feeding, we didn't wait in line for anything including the bug carousel or the Dora and Diego 3D adventure. Had someone mentioned that comes complete with being sprayed by water and having to smell some awful artificial scents they pipe in, I might have skipped that adventure. I think the only animals we didn't get to see because of the weather were the zebras. Everyone else had indoor viewing areas as well as outdoors, so whenever we got a little chilly, we went inside.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today we did our normal Tuesday grocery chores, but we did manage to give chocolate hearts to all the people who helped us along the way. After that, we went to Ethan's school to exchange Valentine's and have a morning snack. Ethan had a nice cupcake that his friend Alice made. Then we went to the library where we got lots of letter "K" books as that's the letter of the week. Ethan got a surprise when we got back in the car. Instead of going home for lunch, we went to Friendly's where he had a grilled cheese with apples and a cone head sundae (which he willingly shared with me). The two friends next to him are the love birds I crocheted for him. He told me "their names can be recycle guy and garbage guy and they can work at the dump." I am not exactly sure where that came from, but I'm hoping by next week they have different names. This afternoon we played with legos and trains, Ethan listened to some books on CD from the library while I did laundry, and then we finished our Valentines for James. We also listened to music and danced. Ethan picks a move we both do, then I pick a move. I think his are harder as they always involve some sort of squatting and bouncing. Now we're working on a Valentine's dinner of steak and mashed potatoes for James and lasagna for Ethan. Oh, and Ethan really enjoyed all the Valentines he got in the mail so thanks for sending them!

Sunday

Saturday night we went to New Jersey to go out to dinner with our friends and celebrate Chinese New Year. It was kind of a late night so we needed something relaxing. We borrowed the library passes for the Discovery Museum and went to check it out. We played with the interactives which included a cuckoo clock, the lawn mower Ethan pushed in the bottom picture, the make your own drum machine which is the giant thing behind him in the same picture, and a hard to explain kitchen tool thing you can see in the top picture. There were exhibits about different kinds of power, and another about sound. The big draw was the planetarium show called The Little Star that Could which freaked me out a little as the planets and sun all had human features and just seemed like floating heads. Ethan seemed to enjoy it though. 

Underdog

Last Thursday Ethan wanted to be underdog, so he put on his costume cape and all. He enjoyed some hot chocolate for an afternoon snack. We made some Valentines in the morning and played in the afternoon.

Earning

Last week when we went to Target, Ethan wanted to get a new Cars toy. He had $1 and it cost $3. I told him he had to earn the other two. So he earned one by helping make bread dough. He filled the measuring cup, leveled it off, and counted out the right number of cups of flour. He earned the other by taking a good nap (I couldn't think of another chore- I'm not ashamed to resort to bribery). I don't think we're ready for allowance, but he needs to start understanding that there isn't a money tree.

Groundhog Day

Ethan and I had an unusually busy day for a Thursday. We had a particular errand in Danbury (you'll hear more about that in a few weeks) so we did a few other things on the way. The pharmacy, the bank, the post office, then a stop at Trader Joe's and on to our main errand which included a stop at Starbucks where we were lucky enough to find mini vanilla bean scones. When our mission was accomplished, we had to ride one of the feed the quarters kind of rides. Only I noticed that these days they take dollar bills- or credit cards, whichever you prefer. We came home to have lunch- pb&j was the request probably thanks to a library book called Peanut Butter Rhino. The poor Rhino loses his sandwich at a picnic, turns out he sat in it. Fortunately Ethan did not do that. So we had a low key afternoon. After a brownie and milk, we played in the craft room. Ethan hung out in his dino cave for a while (you see him peeking out of the repurposed birthday party volcano) and then he helped me make a groundhog puppet. We never did decided if he saw his shadow. We also worked on our Valentines for a while before dinner. Ethan picked tortelloni at Trader Joe's, which we had with some homemade bread, followed by strawberries for dessert. Bath time was eventful thanks to my lack of coordination. Just had the kid ready to go in the tub, threw his clothes in the laundry basket in the hallway, and went to close the bathroom door. I don't know my own strength, I slammed it shut before my head was entirely out of the way and caught the top of my cheekbone and the bone right above my eye. I'll probably have a nice shiner in the morning.