For the Birds!

One of L's many current obsessions is birds. She loves everything to do with birds. She loves pointing at them, shouting out in glee when she hears one twitter, and watching them zoom away when she comes running.  The girl is crazy for anything with a beak and wings! I wanted to capitalize on her love of feathered things, so we recently made a super simple bird feeder using only an empty milk jug, a length of ribbon, and a handful markers.


I used a box cutter to make a large opening in the front of a gallon milk jug that had been washed out and dried. Then I handed it over to L for her expert decor.  We used washable markers which were great for this project, as the colors are bright and showed up nicely on the opaque jug.  Then we headed outside to string it up with ribbon in a bush in the front yard.

Welcome, birds!

First we scouted out the perfect spot to hang the feeder.  I tied it up with a short length of ribbon by the handle.

Once we had determined where we wanted the feeder to hang, I pulled it down so that L could help fill it up with bird seed.  We talked about what might come visit our feeder (maybe a friendly squirrel of two might even show up!) and about how we would come back out and check on it often so that we could keep it filled up.

Now that the feeder was nice and full of delicious treats for our neighborhood birdies, we hung it back up and sat back to see who might visit.  L was so excited about even the potential for feathered visitors that she jumped all over the yard.  Here's hoping some birds will turn up soon!

Outdoor Adventures: Please Do Feed the Animals!

When I was a kid, being outdoors was not exactly my cup of tea. For whatever reason, I wasn't likely to be found out in the fresh air very often.  But having seen classrooms full of kids flourish in the great outdoors during my years of teaching, I am determined not to project my nose-crinkling disdain of outdoor activities onto my daughter, even if my enthusiasm isn't one hundred percent genuine. So what to do to get my kid outside?


We are very fortunate to live in an area where fantastic outdoor activities for kids abound. We recently took two separate trips to places where outdoor life is the thing to do, and we all had a blast at every turn.

Hungry baby goats are pretty feisty!

First we went to a local children's farmstead that offered plenty of opportunities for interacting with animals.  L had a fantastic time, and it made me really appreciate the wonders of experiencing things for the first time.

"Goat! Food!"

Next we visited a local wildlife preserve which houses elk and bison.  While we didn't have the opportunity to meet any bison on this particular outing, we did get up close and personal with some hungry elk, who were all too happy to take the apples and carrots L offered them.

These experiences have been sort of humbling for me, as I never really considered I could enjoy myself so immensely doing outdoor things.  The really fantastic part is that the entire family had lots of fun and created marvelous memories. And my enthusiasm was one hundred percent genuine.