Book Nook and the Velvet Underground

 I meant to post something bout this project but never got around to it.  Jay made the "book nook" out of Indigo's old crib!  Though an expensive crib in good condition, drop side cribs are now banned, so we couldn't donate or try to sell it.  I couldn't bear the thought of a perfectly good crib being sent to the landfill so Jay created this little spot for Willow to sit in the sunshine and read and Indigo to maybe one day sleep in (if ever she will leave our bed...sigh).  He just cut off the legs and one side and screwed the rails together.  Pretty ingenious, huh? Now it is easy for both to access and Indigo won't roll far if (when) she sleeps in it as a transition to a big girls bed. I am slowly making pillows to make the space extra soft and comfy, but the girls like it as is-- and it makes a cool fort when covered with a blanket!

Willow loves this Velvet Underground inspired t-shirt I made for her :-)

Easter and Elm Bank Reservation

Sorry folks!  I started this post last Sunday but never got around to posting.  Worse, I have older stories and pictures that I meant to post but didn't.  I plan to post some of the older ones anyway in the next few days.  I also plan to focus more on some of the local sights and our travel around the region.  That was the original plan (and the reason for the blog title) but starting this little space in the dead of one of the worst winters on record meant that there wasn't a whole lotta travel happening.  The sun has returned, though, and we have begun to venture out again! 
Anyway....here is my slightly late Easter post:

Sorting through the loot

It is always a little strange celebrating holidays like this without extended family, but today wound up being a really nice day for everyone.  The girls woke to find hidden Easter baskets and dairy free chocolate (hurriedly made by me the night before!) and coin filled eggs.  They were so happy and excited!  We were told the day would be a little rainy but the skies were blue and the temps were in the 70s so we headed off to a favorite spot-- Elm Bank, a large horticultural reserve on the Natick/Wellesley border.  The girls biked around the trails and Jay and I enjoyed the sunshine.  Elm Bank also has a special children's garden called "Weezie's Garden for Children", which is made entirely of natural materials and is filled with birdhouses and many different species of flowers and plants. There is a beautiful old mansion surrounded by a formal English garden and many other pretty, historic structures, along with test gardens and whole gardens devoted to herbs or tulips or azaleas.  There are also hiking trails, where Jay often takes the girls on days when Mama needs some "Me" time.  We are so lucky to have an outdoor space like this so close to our home!

Beautiful climbing tower in Weezie's children's garden

The girls playing in the "bird nests" in Weezie's garden

Weezie's has a giant sand box that blends in very nicely in the garden setting.

Natick Community Organic Farm

Friday gave us sunshine so the girls and I headed to the Natick Community Organic Farm to visit with our sweet animal friends.  There are lots of babies at this time of year and it is always exciting watching the fields being planted and see the many bottles of maple syrup produced from the trees right there on the farm. 

The "sugar shack" where the maple syrup is made is right behind the sign.  Volunteers work there nonstop, 24-hours per day during syrup season.

Unfortunately, this farm is not a sanctuary, so it is also a good reminder for our family about why we are vegetarians and vegans.  These funny, adorable little piglets will be slaughtered by autumn.

They were so sweet, holding hands all day.  The next day...not so much.

This cow loved Willow.

At the school playground next to the farm.  So worn out that she almost fell asleep in this position!

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day on Friday!

The girls and I started our Earth Day celebration a day early by creating recycled art out of old toilet paper rolls and scraps (sorry, I forgot those photos), visiting some cute little bunnies, creating an offering for the birds, and doing a little science experiment.  A fun day was had...though I wish Mother Nature would have cooperated and given us some warm weather.  I am tired of these chilly temps!  Tonight is supposed to be in the 20s!  Hope my baby lettuces and herbs survive the chill...

Our Earth Day offering to the birds-- a basket full of shredded junk mail, strings and discarded yarn for them to use in their nest building.

We examined both dirt and potting soil to determine what they are made up of and how they differ from each other.  Then the girls drew their observations in their science journals.

Happy Earth Day!!

Marathon Monday

Happy Patriots Day to our fellow Massachusetts residents!  Patriots Day happens to also be the day that the annual Boston Marathon is held.  For the third year in a row, we walked down to cheer on the runners.  It is always so exciting and inspiring and there are always a few crazy costumed characters to keep things interesting.  How did the guy in the full gorilla costume make it the whole 26.2 miles??

Willow's sign says "Go Runners!!!" and has drawings of the wheelchair athletes who we watched leave the starting line on television before we headed down to watch them roll by.

We watched from the 8 mile mark.  Here are the volunteers getting the water station ready.

Here they come!

Masses of runners, as far as the eye can see, for hours.  Amazing!

On the Road...

Lookin' for adventure...

And whatever comes her way...

Birthday weekend and Spring days

Finally...Spring is giving us some warmth after months of coats and icy windshields!!  This weekend included Jay's birthday,  and the sunshine allowed us all to spend time together outside, walking out to Morse Pond in Wellesley and then returning home to grill out in the backyard.

Decorating Daddy's birthday gifts

Creating a birthday banner for Daddy's birthday

Playing at the lake

Today the temps were in the mid 70's!!  The girls and I took advantage of the opportunity to wear shorts and soak up some sunshine.  Love these little teases of summer!

Already looking summery (she put the stickers on her leg a week ago and the WON'T come off!)

A face flushed with warmth and sun rather than cold!

Checking out the insect situation

Wednesday

An unraveled ribbon inspired several rousing rounds of limbo, though their form may have been a little unusual

Happy to play in the sunshine

Never let a two year-old in on a practical joke,...

Happy Monday!  I plan to start doing something more formal here in the coming weeks, but for now, here are a few pictures and stories from the past few days....

Friday was April Fools Day and this was the first year that the girls (well, Willow) really understood the concept and was excited about the possibilities. A few weeks prior, we planned a joke on Jay (Daddy), that we called "Operation Fake Cake".  Jay is known for his love of all things sweet-- especially cake-- so we planned to frost and decorate an old plastic container so that it looked like a delicious cake and then present it to him after dinner, waiting for the disappointment as he tries to cut into it (hmmm...that sounds kinda mean now that I write it out :).  The girls were beside themselves with excitement!
Here is the plastic container awaiting frosting:

And the finished cake with two devious helpers

 The plan was good and the caked looked real, so we were sure our plan would go off without a hitch.  However, we didn't consider the fact that two year-olds are terrible at keeping secrets.  So, Daddy walks in the door after work and immediately April Fools Day chaos erupts.  Willow goes into her first joke-- telling Jay that she had lost her first tooth and as she is yelling the April Fools Day punchline, Indigo jumps in with her "cow goes to the moooovies" joke (she thought a practical joke meant telling jokes and this kid is a regular Don Rickles ).  Then Willow loudly asks me where Daddy can have the real cake now  (Her attempt to make Daddy think the cake is real and no, the accent on the word real doesn't call attention to the fact that the cake is fake at all), then, Indigo screams "De cake is plastic!!  Don't eat de plastic cake!!", which made Willow pout, until Jay told her that he didn't hear the super loud reveal.  Willow accepted this and we just went and brought the cake to Jay, at which point he dug in and feigned surprise at the fake cake.  All of this happened within a couple of minutes of Jay coming in the door.  The girls were delighted with their joke and Jay and I have never laughed so hard.  These ages are the best!

Other things we did the past few days....

Caroline wasn't able to come to art class on Thursday, so the girls and I did a classic art project ore suited to their ages-- marbled paintings made with shaving cream.  The idea is simple-- each child is given a tray filled with shaving cream and a few dots of  paint.  They use their finger or a brush to rake through the cream, swirling the color around.  The swirls are pretty and the kids can mix the colors in places to make new colors.  Once they are done, I laid a piece of heavy art paper on top, to capture the the marbled art.  You are supposed to scrape the shaving cream off the paper, but I liked the chunky look of the shaving cream contrasted with the smooth swirls of paint.  This is a fun, but super messy project.

The next day we did another project with our current favorite art material-- bleeding art tissue paper.  I gave each girl some strips of different colored papers and a moistened piece of watercolor paper (they have to say "bleeding art tissue" -- regular tissue paper doesn't work).  They then tore the strips into different pieces and placed them all over the wet paper.  We gave them one last spritz with the spray bottle (too little and the color won't come through, too much and the colors will run all over) and let dry.

They make beautiful abstract art!  The next day we took them down and removed the tissues, leaving the color behind on the paper.  Then we used pens to doodle on the little splotches of color, using our imaginations to find all sorts of different objects in the shapes and drawing outlines around them.  This was definitely a favorite project and one that we'll be doing again and again!

Yesterday we went to a sweet little farm near us to visit the many amusing animals.  

And then off to the garden center to daydream about our garden.  No plants yet-- but there was this giant rocking chair that Willow commandeered