Zoo Day
Beyond a doubt Monday was our favorite day this week. I decided to venture to the zoo with the just the entourage and I, and it was a huge success. The zoo was a lot less crowded this time, so the entourage actually got to see more animals and to see less of the backs of people's heads or knees. We got an earlier start this time around, so we also made it into the fish and reptile house--very popular! Some highlights of the day: getting face-to-face (through the glass) with a 6lb. bright blue pigeon (exciting because Pigeon is one of our favorite book characters), getting to see the zoo's two gorillas up close (they were napping right by the glass and we had the gorilla house to ourselves), watching a baby baboon wrestling and chasing with his parents, playing on the bronze animal sculptures scattered throughout the zoo, noting that the zoo had lots of billy goats with a bridge but no troll, and seeing lots of fish/sharks/rays like in Finding Nemo.


Enjoying the real animals



Enjoying pretend animals

Projects
At some point this week Bug requested that I come up with a project for her--something more complex than her usual throwing paint around. Here is what we came up with:

Cotton ball clouds + raindrops from hole-punched aluminum foil + a construction paper person with umbrella built from shapes (Bug told me what shapes to cut out and she took it from there).
They also wanted to do something with tissue paper, so we made butterflies (tissue paper strips + wooden clothespin).

Art in the Park
This Saturday the girls and I attended the annual arts festival at the park beside the "big library," and it proved a great low-stress way to take in the arts with the entourage. We started the morning by watching the county ballet company perform in the amphitheater (the girls didn't have to be still or quiet--particularly good since Bug asked completely appropriate questions throughout and Goose just wanted to run back and forth on the grass). Then we perused the artists booths. There were a number of kids arts and crafts activities available, but the entourage was more interested in seeing all the local artists, which suited me just fine (paintings, pottery, wood carving, etc.). We did stop to acquire some balloon creations from a local radio station, though (We came home with a purple dog and a pink sword. Anybody want to guess who requested what?) The big event at this festival is the chalk art contest. A Star Wars drawing done by a high school artist was definitely the entourage's favorite entry. The festival also designated a section of pavement for the preschoolers to have a chalk art free-for-all, which all three girls loved. And of course, we couldn't leave without playing on the playground for a bit.

Bible Verses
Monkey and Bug seem to have mastered their first verse, so I added a new one this week: Be kind to one another (Eph. 4:32). Bug was very excited when she discovered the new "special verse card" up on the fridge one morning and insisted we sit down, talk about it, and learn it immediately. They both enjoy going over the verses everydat before naptime, but in very different ways: Monkey wants to sit in my lap, snuggle up, and chant or sing them softly with me, while Bug is incredibly proud of the fact that she can stand up and say them all by herself. Goose just picks up on the happiness of her sisters and cheers from the sidelines. One of my favorite moments of the day.

Classical Music
I forgot to mention this last week, but I added a new CD to our rotation in the car. The girls and I have been enjoying Dvorak, particularly his Slavic Dances.

Pool Time
Our neighborhood pool isn't open  yet, but it is HOT. So the girls put on their bathingsuits and went swimming in the bathtubs and in the kiddie pool.

Library Day
Monkey and Bug requested that we go to the big library again this week. They were even ready to leave early, so I agreed (it's a bit farther away, and there's a playground we can visit before the library opens). We didn't actually stay in either location very long though. The playground was getting overrun with playdate group, and the girls decided they weren't up for that much competition for the slides. Then in the library Goose started getting tired and decided the best way to keep herself awake was to start pulling books off the shelf and throwing them. We cut that visit short, especially since she managed to nail Bug with one. We did, however, still come home with these books:
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Alphabet City
What's Your Sound Hound the Hound?
Velveteen Rabbit (The girls declared that it didn't have enough pictures, so we may or may not make it through this one.)
Brownie and Pearl Step Out
Arbor Day

Sometimes you just need to pull every book off the shelf and read them all.