Panda meander

Ever since Lola (from Charlie and Lola fame) had informed Little Miss that Pandas were in danger she developed a thing for them. Well its more than a thing, its like she is a magnet to all Pandaness in our world.

"There's a Panda" she would cry, as we wait for a lift at a shopping centre. We would all look about searching for some kind of Panda looking animal somewhere, eventually finding a tiny plastic keyring Panda creature on someone else's bag. 

Admittedly we live in a city that has real Pandas so her cries are not totally crazy. No we are not in China, but our city Zoo has come to some complicated arrangement with China, so for the next ten years we have Wang Wang and Funi - real giant Panda's living with us. 

Now in the past I have not been a huge Zoo fan. The Zoo was a fairly sorry experience, with too many sad animals looking bored and cramped in old fashioned run down enclosures. Couple that with a boy, namely B who is not really into animals at all, or in the past walking more than 5 steps in a row, and you can gather that going to the Zoo with him was a memorable experience for all the wrong reasons.

But B has grown long legs, the Zoo has had squillions spend on it and Little Miss is persistently on about Pandas, so we thought there was never going to be a better time for a Panda expedition.

I gather the necessary equipment-

Husband

Children

Pram

Map

We check out the Panda's food while we wait in line

Little Miss doesn't enjoy the sound of the noisy monkey neighbours

But the noise and wait are worth it. This is Wang Wang, Funi was asleep.

Wang Wang eats sitting up like a human,

wanders around this way

and that way

then poses beautifully with my kids.

Time to move on, so B consults the map.

We spy the noisy monkeys through the lush foliage

Discover fluffy babies balancing

and underwater wonders.

See tall animals and short ones trying to be tall.

Time to check out the map again

We find animals to touch

and feed

and talk to.

 

Then make some Panda purchases and call it a very successful day.

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Adelaide Zoo is open 9.30-5pm everyday including Christmas and is located on Frome Road in the city.

Food Face #8

Dribbling is something you eventually grow out of.

Cereal necklaces

Last week when Trish's comment suggested Cheerio necklaces in response to our pasta ones, we were all keen to give it a go. I also thought Nutri-grain might be suitable too.

I prepared some white cotton and big needles ready for an after school activity. I thought big needles would be a good lesson in learning respect for sharp poky things. They were also the only tool I had at hand that would go through the small holes in the Nutri-grain.
















Being after school for B, this did turn into an eating activity too

Little Miss concentrated hard on not hurting herself with the needle

B preferred the Nutri-grain over the Cheerios and varied the ways to thread it on.

He was also very keen to eat his finished necklace

Little Miss lost interest about 10 minutes into it, and asked me to finish it off for her. She did learn what the sharp end of the needle felt like on her finger, but no tears emerged. Maybe a bracelet would have been a better size for her concentration span. And she really didn't like getting her fingers all sticky. But I thought this was a fun activity that fed them along the way. It could be quite portable too.

Check out what other kids are playing at over on childhood 101.

Spooky

Around this time of year things can get spooky.

In the past we have ignored it, but after a freaky day it was only right to join with friends to celebrate and embrace scary things.

After all the best treats in life are often tricky to realise.

Thank you to our dear friends for all your help and support.

Pasta

Little Miss loves pasta.

If I ask her what she wants for lunch, she always replies, "Pasta." If we go out to a cafe for dinner Little Miss will always order pasta and eat it all up. She really really loves the stuff.

And what's not to love. Pasta is a very versatile food. I have given her uncooked pasta to play with in her toy kitchen. Turns out she likes to eat that too, crunchy though it is. 

Penne pasta is her firm favourite, not only is it great for stirring around in a cooking pot, hear it clink about, but you can put your finger inside when its a nicely cooked soft tube. Plus as a bonus you can make a pasta necklace with penne as well.

Find out other ways to play and learn at childhood 101.

I love it when...

Little Miss and B show love to each other.

It might be a morning cuddle, a happy greeting hug after school, a thoughtful gesture or simple hand holding. It really touches me that they care deeply for each other. 

Their relationship is constantly going to change as they grow up, I can only hope that these days of taking delight in each other lay a strong foundation for the future. Whatever happens in their relationship, at least  they will always have their parents in common.

Lipgloss

At a recent school fete B very kindly bought Little Miss a roll on lip gloss. She really really loves it, and is constantly rolling it on.

And she does a really thorough job.

Maybe because its runny like paint or because its container is roll on, she had the idea to draw with it. I fought my instinct to say "No" and went with it...

I love how the paper went translucent and you can see type through the page. I was also impressed with her zig zag drawing, showing great control.

 With one painting finished it was time to put on more lip gloss.

 

Then she kissed the page

To make lovely lip prints, and signed the work off with the letter 'L'.

But that wasn't all, she then made it into a paper fan.

I love this little girly girl so so very much.

Visit here for other play ideas.

Monsters

Inspired by these library books, which we had to read and reread again and again

We got to making some monsters from our crafty box

The great thing about monsters is that they are whatever you want them to be...


Doilies, pink tissue and purple paper got Little Miss thinking.

And brown paper bags and satay sticks inspired B.

Amazing monsters!

Find out what other kids are playing with at Childhood 101.

For Sale

We are selling up and moving on. It's time for change. Our home for the last 12 years has been polished, painted and styled so that it looks amazing, but is not really our comfortable lived-in home anymore. It's a show home out on display and ready for sale. Toys and kids stuff are not in every room, the junk and dross of life is gone, no tea towels, no files of paper, no dirty dishes, no lego under the couch, no shampoo bottles, no crumbs on the counter, little hand prints are removed from the windows, each and every room is sparse and clean. And until its sold, that's the way it has to stay.

Needless to say living in a home on sale with two small children has its challenges. I have caught myself saying,
"Dont touch the walls, eat over your plate, don't use the white towels, get your hands off the window."

Despite their mother turning into a cleaning machine B and Little Miss have been fantastic. They love the idea of moving, and they are most adaptable. They particularly loved the idea of moving into a house with other kids toys in it. I had to explain we didn't leave our stuff behind and neither did the people in the other house. A conversation about house fittings soon deteriorated though as I couldn't explain to B why the dishwasher stayed, but the fridge comes...


Why would we do all this? When we bought our inner city house we were a couple, as we are now a family, our little plot on inner city land is just too small. We have made do as best we can, a sandpit and water feature have been great entertainment. A gravel driveway has been paved for ball games and bikes, we have even put in tiny areas of imitation lawn to keep little toes happy, but there comes a time when you have to face facts. As much as we love this house and its location, we are all longing for more space. A real garden that we can grow vegetables in, space for a trampoline, or even a pool, trees to climb, a real lawn to run on. Our new house has all of this and much much more.

Exciting times are ahead...

Take a walk

B has been asking to walk to school. Often.

We live about 2.5kms from school. That doesn't sound far, but its about a 30 minute walk depending on how long your legs are.

Since spring is finally here, (Yeah!) one fine afternoon I walked up to collect him so he could walk home with me. It's a gentle downward walk home so I though that would be a good start for him, and we wouldn't have to worry about getting to school on time.

We held hands for a while

He happily carried his school bag

We window shopped

And noticed things we had never seen before

He got thirsty and hungry here

So we refuelled

Back on the move we did road safety

And took a short cut

B found this

He made some noise

And finally ran for home

Not only was this a healthy active way to get home it was great for B to get to know his neighbourhood and experience the details that normally whizz by. He felt a real sense of achievement at home, as well as feeling tired, but not tired enough for bed of course.


Find out what other parents are playing with their kids at Childhood 101.

I love it when....

My kids are fast asleep

The conflicts of the day are forgotten

Any tears have dried up

There they lay, trusting in the dreams of tomorrow.