Paint!

The girls really enjoy anything that could be considered a craft. If you get out paint, glue, paper, crayons, scissors, etc. you are guaranteed that they will have a fun time!

It had been a while since we pulled out the paint. Olivia wasn't too sure about wearing a smock but once she got the paintbrush in her hand she was a happy camper. 

She only used the red paint and we pulled out a for work sheets that cover the color red. 

Grace got to pick four colors because she is four. 

She always likes to draw/paint people. I'm not sure who she painted that day but she painted a person.

When she paints she works slowly and really concentrates on what she is doing. She wants it to be just perfect!

 Doesn't her person just look beautiful? Before she was done she had pretty much covered her paper with paint!

I think Olivia may need 2 colors because she is 2 next time. She got bored a lot quicker than Grace!

Great Wolf Lodge

My cousin made a trip to Dallas and stayed at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. Since it was only her, her husband, and their little boy (who is just 2 months older than Olivia) they had a couple extra passes for the waterpark. We were the lucky ones that got to go with them!

We spent most of our time in the kiddie pool which was a blast for the girls.

Out of everything there I think these wave runners were their favorite.

We actually got to go TWICE! We went with them on Monday evening after they checked in. And since we had the wristbands we decided to go again on Tuesday morning. The first day I left my camera in the room but I decided to try extra hard to stay dry and take a few pictures on Tuesday. Staying dry is hard to do with all of the things that spray water everywhere!

They had a few water slides and both girls tried them out but they enjoyed swimming and splashing more than sliding.

Just look how big this place is! When we were leaving I realized we missed an entire section that the girls were big enough for. I guess we can check it out next time!

We did go through the not-so-lazy river. We did that with my cousins family and I was glad to have an extra adult to help with the girls. Since they only had 2 extra passes, Dustin stayed home to do some homework (Olivia was free).

And this is where we spent most of our time. Since it was a weekday, it wasn't very crowded which was great.

Just look how fun the fountain is!

They both had a blast! We are even considering going there for Grace's birthday this year. Wouldn't it be fun for a December birthday?

Olivia is TWO!

Whew! What a busy month we had. February was packed with lots of fun. And LOTS of celebrating! It felt as if we celebrated Olivia's birthday almost the entire month (which we pretty much did).

We celebrated with our family in Oklahoma one weekend, the next we met Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Mike at a hotel near the half way point to celebrate (including swimming, cupcakes, and presents), then the next weekend my Mom came to visit and we all went to the zoo.

Her actual birthday was last Monday, February 25. I like to do something fun for the girls on their birthday so we met Daddy at Chuck E Cheese for lunch. 

This is their favorite game. They win lots of tickets on this one.

And Olivia can pull the lever all by herself! She needs a little help reaching the big button though.

Since we were getting lots of tickets on this game we played it for a long time. Then we played a few more games and came back to this one.

And since we were celebrating a birthday we just had to have cake!

Olivia got a birthday sticker when we walked in the door too. She was pretty excited to wear Chuck E Cheese on her shirt.

They even had candles and a lighter. Olivia loves to blow out candles!

So we lit them over and over and over!

She had a great time! And she loves being TWO!!

Let's Jump!

Last month I took the girls to Let's Jump in Keller, TX. It is an indoor bounce house facility.

I wasn't sure how much the girls would like it but they ended up loving it! Look at that BIG slide... that was Grace's favorite!

When we first went in, Grace took off and went right up to the top of the slide. I thought for sure she would get scared (it was the biggest bounce house slide I have ever seen!) and I would have to retrieve her. But she proved me wrong. She went up and down countless times and had a blast!

Doesn't it look fun??

Olivia liked climbing up and down the stairs. She didn't go down the big slide but she went down another one. She even had a great time!

We went to the Toddler Jump time which is for kids ages 5 and under. There were a couple of older kids in there playing with their younger siblings. After a while they opened it up to anyone but by that time we were getting tired and hungry so we left. 

Grace didn't slow down for a minute! She even made a friend and they followed each other around the entire time. I think they are going to want to go back sometime soon.

Chinese Lantern Festival at Fair Park

We visited the Chinese Lantern Festival at Fair Park in Dallas on the last weekend they would be opened.

We went on a Saturday and got there early. I am so glad we did because by the time we got in the gate the line was twice as long and when we got there (and it was long when we got there). Also, by going early we got to see everything before it got dark and then got to see it all lit up!

 

We took a few pictures of the girls before it got dark. 

Everything was very colorful and pretty!

They really liked the butterflies. Some of them had moving wings! 

There was a very long dragon made from dishes - bowls, spoons, and egg cups. It was pretty neat to see.

When it started getting dark the lights came on and all of the displays.

 

There was a pond with lots of floating displays. One of the lotus flowers opened and closed. We even saw a mermaid!

By the time we had walked through the entire park it was beginning to get really crowded and we were getting hungry so we decided to head home. When we left traffic was backed up for miles with people waiting to get in. 

We had a great time seeing all the beautiful lights!

Look! SNOW!!!

What a surprise we woke up to!

We woke up and were surprised with SNOW! We had no idea it was going to snow. I even checked the weather before going to bed.

When Olivia woke up I opened the blinds so she could see outside. She started pointing and saying SNOW!

 

Grace was so excited! She had already seen the snow falling out the window. She checked out all the windows to see if it snowed all around our whole house. It did!

We had plans to go to a neighbors house and play this morning so we got all bundled up and went outside.

They got to play in the snow a little on the walk over. Grace likes to make snow balls and throw them. Olivia likes to eat snow. When Dustin came home tonight Grace told him that they woke up to snow outside. Olivia told him she ate snow!

Olivia was so bundled up in her big coat (that used to be Grace's and is a little too big) that she had a little trouble staying balanced. She leaned over to get a handful of snow and fell face first. Just look at all that snow on her hat! She wasn't too happy about that.

The snow didn't last too long. By the time we left the neighbors there wasn't enough to make snow ice cream. But this is the THIRD time it has snowed this winter! Next time Grace wants it to last long enough to build a snowman and make snow ice cream (with caramel and chocolate syrup!)

Preschool Science Lesson: Sink or Float?

Sink or Float?

One afternoon we did a fun and easy science experiment. It kept both girls entertained for quite a while. They would have kept playing but I needed to get it cleaned up so I could start dinner.

If you would like to try this you will need:

A large bowl of water (this would also be fun to do in the bath!)

Things from around that house that can get wet!

Towels to clean up the mess ;)

 

First, I sent Grace on a hunt! Her task was to find things that could get wet but they could not be bigger than her fist.

These are some of the things she found - blocks, toy food, paper clip, straw, toy people, foil ball, silicone cupcake liner, straw, balls.

Before she put them in the water she had to guess (make a hypothesis) as to whether the object would sink or float. She did pretty good but some of the things surprised us!

Some things would float and then fill with water and sink (like the cupcake liner or lego block). And then she saw that the ball floats and the plastic grapes are made similar to the ball so the grapes will probably float. Great logic! 

And our favorite was the Dora from her Dora block set. Her head floated but her feet and legs sank she she was walking on the bottom of the bowl!