Healthy Eating

This week we learned about good food choices.  There were so many game and activity inspirations for this one that I had a blast trying my favorites on my little learners.  We started, as usual, with a trip to the library and came home with many good finds.  Fabulous Fruits and Vital Vegetables were good preschool-age books on those topics from a series called Slim Goodbody's Nutrition Edition.  The kids and I also really enjoyed Sesame Street's Happy Healthy Monsters: Grover's Guide to Good Eating.

And I picked out one of the various books they had on the food pyramid.

Since information on food and health is updated so frequently, I made sure all the books were published within the last five years.

The next activity we did was a food sorting activity.

First I gave the kids a stack of old magazines and scissors and helped them to find and cut out any picture of food they could find.

Then, after cleaning our mess, we worked together on our big table to sort them in various ways.  We sorted our fruits and vegetables by color.

We learned from the Happy Healthy Monsters book what types of benefits the different colors of fruits and vegetables have for the body.  So I drew a body and Isaac drew the body parts that are benefitted by each color fruit and vegetable category.

Yellow/Orange: Eyes and Heart (and germ fighting!)

Blue/Purple (we didn't have very many of this color!): Brain and Heart

Red: Brain and Heart

White: Heart

Green: Eyes, Teeth, and Bones

We sorted by "Sometimes Foods" and "Anytime Foods" (as we learned again in the Monster book).

And we sorted by food groups into our own food pyramid.  The idea behind doing the pyramid this way is that the foods at the top of each food group are to be eaten less often than the foods at the bottom of each food group (such as canned vegetables at the top and fresh at the bottom).

The next day, we took a trip to the grocery store.  Unlike our normal grocery shopping experience (where I usually try to have as little interaction with the kids as possible!), this time I had the kids help me select a rainbow of fruits and vegetables.  We also discussed good and bad food choices as we went down the aisles.  (Abby wanted a yogurt so I talked her out of one choice that had 18 grams of sugar in exchange for one that had 3 grams.)

Later, the kids helped me prepare a colorful salad and fruit smoothies with our fresh produce.  We used our whole wheat bread to make some crostini-pizzas too! (Recipe blog post to come!)

Sampling the goods.

Earlier in the year, the kids discovered some great games on pbskids.org that are about eating healthy.  This one from Sid the Science Kid called "Mix it Up" helps the kids practice sorting foods by food group.  There's another Sid game called "Kitchen Magician" where kids learn what basic food item goes into certain simple dishes (like applesauce or a grilled cheese sandwich).  I helped reinforce what we were learning by asking them what food group it came from too.  And in this one from Sesame Street called "Color Me Hungry," Grover and Cookie Monster help kids practice sorting food by color so they can "eat their colors."

Playing "Mix it Up."

Family Reunion

Really that's a misnomer.  In my mom's side of the family, there's only one household not living in Texas.  However, when my cousins from Lubbock drive down and we all convene at my mom's house, we call it a reunion.  So what if that happens several times a year?

Boy in action.

Girl in action.

The kids had some poolside fun with water balloons.

A relay race.

A water balloon fight.

Then we lined them all up with nets and buckets for an in-the-water egg hunt. (Note to self: nets work better than buckets for pool-based egg collecting!)

We weren't sure whether the eggs would float or sink.  Turns out they float.

Abby needed some help because she kept losing the eggs she collected in her little bucket.

Isaac may have been sinking, but he wasn't about to lose an egg!

Some eggs on the steps for non-swimmers.

The best part: discovering what's inside!

Hungry kids ready to eat.

And finally, eleven kids lined up in a row in jammies to watch a movie before bedtime.

Then comes our favorite time, after the kids are in bed, when the grown ups can play some games.  This one is called "Mafia."  I was trying really hard to convince Bethany that I was innocent, even though I really wasn't.

No matter what we play, it gets pretty hilarious.

You just can't beat a good laugh!

We spent three fun days swimming, playing games, and eating to our little hearts' content.  We laughed till we cried, as usual.  What a fun family!

Snowmass, Part 4: Adventure!

Day 3: Lindsay, Kelli, and I took the kids to the park again so the guys could go on a real hike to Maroon Bells.  That night we learned to make sushi rolls with my cousin Brian.

Day 4: We geared up for a bike ride.

It started pouring rain right after we made it over the tough uphill part.  So, with most of the kids in covered trailers (Lily, Aubrey, and Julian each spent some time in the rain on a tandem bike), we rode the next hour from Snowmass to Aspen in the cold rain.

Soaked and tired on the bus ride home.

Vacation Quotable  -  We were discussing how we would love to purchase an expensive piece of land in Snowmass.  Aunt Kelli suggested jokingly that we could sell the kids to pay for it.  Then she countered that they were too old to be sold.  Lily piped up: "We could sell Amelia!"

That evening we took the kids to the Snowmass Rodeo.

Even living in Texas, we don't own any cowboy boot.

This got us into trouble later!

Isaac roping a steer.

Dinner time!

Vacation Quotable  -  Julian to Isaac: "Are you from here?"  Isaac to Julian: "No, I'm from Houston.  It's hot there and there's lots of mosquitos." Julian to Isaac: "I'm from Egypt."

Ready for the rodeo.

Cowgirls showing off.

The rodeo begins.

Isaac, Lily, and Aubrey lined up on the field for the "calf scramble."

And they're off...the idea is to be one of the first 3 kids to grab a ribbon off a calf's tail and turn it in.

Isaac made it clear to the other side of the arena...

Then he and his city-slicker sandals got stuck deep in the mud!

This nice lady was helping him cross back over the field barefoot, after digging his shoes out of the mud...and here comes momma to help...also wearing flip flops!

The result: yuck!

So gross!  Horses and cows poop out there!

Couldn't wait to get home to wash this off!

That's what we get for being city slickers at a rodeo!

Day 5: We went on the gondola to the top of Aspen Mountain.

With cousin Tristan.

Back in Aspen, exploring the stream that weaves through the walkway.

A few minutes on the playground after lunch.

That night we went to the ski slopes on Snowmass Mt. for a free concert.

Day 6: The daddies take the kids back up Snowmass Mountain so Kelli, Lindsay, Aunt Linda, and I can get in a good hike at Maroon Bells.  That night, our last night there, we went on a triple date in Aspen...and brought along my cousin Jason to thank him for all the time he spent playing with the kids.

Vacation Quotable  -  On the journey home, Mimi asked: "What was your favorite part about our vacation?"  Lily: "The mountains.  And I wish we could eat lots of ice cream and not get sick."  Isaac: "Playing Legos with Julian." Abby: "Cheese Puffs."

Memorable Moments

• The fox who came to check us out as we were talking on the balcony.
• Playing "The Newlywed Game" with DD and Papa.
• Fresh cookies in the lobby every afternoon.
• Learning to make sushi rolls with cousin Brian.
• Isaac and Abby being so "popular" with their cousins.
• The all-girl hike with Lindsay, Kelli, and Aunt Linda while the guys watched the kids for the day.
• The fox who came back to check us out on our last morning as we walked to breakfast.

Thank you Uncle Tom and Aunt Linda for hosting us in such a beautiful, fun location!  We love our family!