Earth Day Events

We have had quite the Earth Day weekend.  Friday, William, Charles and I joined Daddy at his school's Earth Day celebration.  The boys were able to pet a ball python and a white rat.  They then played such games as aluminum can recycling hockey in which squashed cans were used as hockey pucks and shot into recycling bins.  William used his Wild Kratts knowledge to Velcro animals to the right locations on an inflatable globe.  The boys played recycling basketball, throwing plastic bottles into bins.  They shot darts at greenhouse gases, and they jumped plastic frogs onto lily pads hoping for the safe green lily pads and not the bird, snake, bacteria, or lizard lily pads.  They also got to fish for the snake headed fish to get them out of a pond while protecting the bass swimming there.

Yesterday, after an overnight rain, we found earthworms on the sidewalk in our backyard.  We quickly placed them in a gardening pot until we could get William's worm home, a gift for Christmas, ready with its layers of dirt and colored sand.  We placed eight earthworms in their home and placed wet leaves on top for their food.  Already the boys are having fun watching the worms make their ways through the dirt.

Today, the boys and I went to the ACUA Earth Day event.  We entered the grounds by driving through the recycling center, getting to see the mountains of recycling collected by the county.  We later took a tour of the recycling center to see where everything is sorted and baled.  William was very interested in talking to a biologist who works for Atlantic City Electric.  It is his job to protect the animals.  Just last week, he found a peregrine falcon roosting on the Brigantine bridge.  He is now trying to find its nest so it can be protected.  The boys also got to watch the meter reader as they turned on an incandescent bulb versus a halogen bulb.  They got to see a display on natures animals and see the whelk shells and the seed pods laid by the whelk.  They saw a display on solar energy and got to play with a solar powered toy beetle and a model of a solar powered house.  They got to make their own pine cone and peanut butter bird feeders, pet alpacas and baby goats, and plant milkweed seeds for butterflies.  William made an owl magnet, and Charles made a chimpanzee magnet.  William painted a stone for our garden, Charles squealed with fright at the sight of the Rainforest Cafe frog and the ACUA's walking recycling bin.  William got a picture with the bin.  They played on a playground with slides built into the ground, and we walked along a path in the woods while reading nature poetry printed on plaques.  We finished out the day by reaching into a tub to pet hermit crabs, a horseshoe crab, a regular crab, a sea urchin, a whelk, and a star fish.  William got an actual autograph from a turtle named Rocky, and Charles got to feed a blueberry to a turtle named Gracie.  It was a great day!

Mommy loves Charles

Charles the comedian

I was getting Charles in the car this morning for his play date and my prayer group. He spotted my turquoise flower necklace and asked about it. I told him they were flowers, and he started sniffing the air.  Sniff! Sniff!  I laughed and asked if the pretend flowers smelled. He said yes and pulled the necklace up to his nose to sniff them some more.

I also brought his milk cup along. Before we pulled out if the drive, he took a long swig and then belted out his pretend burp. Lovely. He took another swig, burped, and laughed, "I burped!"

Jelly Beans!

The Easter Bunny came last night and filled Charles's basket with a toy bunny, a chocolate bunny, jelly beans, the Aristocats DVD, and the Letter Factory DVD. He also hid eggs with the rule that Charles's eggs were green, yellow, and pink. The eggs had two gold dollar coins and twenty quarters. 23 eggs to hunt! (One egg had chocolate coins.) Charles was not a quick searcher for the eggs, though. Between finding each egg, he had to make a trip back to his basket to eat another jelly bean.

Outside all day

We finally had a beautiful day, and Charles and I spent most if the day outside. Charles and his friend John rode in a double jogging stroller while John's mom and I walked across the Ocean City bridge. They were lulled to sleep by the experience. Then we took them to Castle Park to play before the older siblings got out of school.

This afternoon, we went back to OC so the boys could see the boardwalk, and they ended up playing a little on the beach.

Pet store fun

Charles and I had to get Lang Se cat food, so we visited Petsmart and turned it into an experience. The workers were feeding the reptiles, so they called us over to see an albino snake. Charles was wary, but I showed him they could be touched. 

He really enjoyed the running furry creatures, like the robo dwarf hamsters, guinea pigs, and the chinchilla.

He also spent a lot of time looking at the goldfish.