First Five Summer Fun

We've spent a lot of time enjoying First Five free activities this summer.
July 7th we went to the Simi Valley First Five Summer day camp.
After stamping inky bugs on paper, painting a wooden snake, and listening to one of the teachers read some books about bugs and reptiles, we got to SEE some real live creepy crawlies.
It started with a tarantula crawling on the reptile expert


Madison was excited and horrified all at once (Kennedy was asleep on my hip in the sling)

Then we saw some lizards.
Three kids were called up to each hold one of the lizards.
Then the reptile man asked me (since I had the camera) which child was mine.
He asked Madison to go up for an extra special assignment.
She held her towel in anticipation

Then watched as he laid each of the dragon lizards on her towel one at a time until she had all 3!

She held them very still with her crazy hair for all the other kids to see

I was so proud of our brave little one. Mommy is NOT a fan of things things that creep, crawl, and slither. It's so neat to see our little girl so fearless.

Next the reptile man brought out a little lizard to do a special trick.

He said this lizard used to take a nap for free, but now had to hold a dollar bill to do it.

They rolled up a dollar bill and handed him over to one of the other mommies...and he napped.

We saw turtles small and large

Madison watched intently

while the big snake came out

Madison wasn't interested in touching the boa constrictor

****

The next day, July 8th, we went to Moorpark for the first Preschooler's Picnic in the Park

They had all kinds of crafts and toys set up for the kids to play with.

Kennedy was just starting to show interest in walking then, but spend a lot of time crab walking around chasing after the bigger kids.

A little girl we didn't know even came over and tried to help Kennedy hula hoop.

Kennedy played with shaker instruments

Madison limboed

Kennedy tried to follow

Then Madison found some instruments, too.

It was another fun day

****

July 9th was our second day of the Simi Valley mini Summer Camp

Madison made sand art

and tie die shirts.

Then Madison ran relay races with the other big kids

While Kennedy hung out with Mommy and practiced her standing/balancing.

One of the relays was dipping a ball into a cup of water to act like a sponge

then running across the field to another bucket and squeezing all the water out

I was really impressed with Madison's coordination.

Didn't take her long to figure out what to do.

Her team ended up winning!

Kennedy was content to watch

***

July 17th, Daddy was on an off-roading/camping trip with some of his friends so the girls went to check out Pinocchio- Fairy Tales in the Park at the Moorpark First Five center parking lot.

I practically had to sit on Kennedy to keep her from walking around.

That is until the good Fairy came out- then neither of the girls could stop staring.

Overall, we were less than impressed with the Gypsies in a Trunk production.

The best part was when they called the kids up to help dance.

and of course photo ops with the Fairy at the end.

****

July 27th was our Field Trip to the Moorpark College Teaching Zoo.

It's one of the only (or maybe the only, I'm not super sure) facilities like this in the nation AND it's right in our backyard!

They had a special program in their little outdoor theater called 'Who wants to be a Zookeeper'

Kennedy sat on my lap while we watched each of the animals come out

When the show was over, we got a tour of their facility

Madison loved the monkeys most, and the eagle second most (only because the mountain lion was sleeping and she couldn't see him)

Do you see what Kennedy is doing?

She is signing 'Bird'. She was looking at the same bald eagle pictured above (by the way, all the animals at their facility are rescued. the eagle only has one wing and can't fly anymore)

This was the first time she used her new sign.

Such a big girl!

We also saw Baxter the 'big pig' as Madison called him

When the tour was over we talked to our 2 tour guides/students for a little while.

Ally is from the midwest (I can't remember where) and was happy to answer all Madison's million questions.

She told the girls all about the GIANT tortoise at the bottom of the hill

Rebbie, short for Rebbecca is from the Northeast (again, don't remember which state) and was slightly more excited about the animals than the girls. She was still super friendly, though.

First Five is keeping us super busy!

One of Madison's favorite activities has become the Wednesday Kids Club at our mall.

We do a craft or see a performer (magician, juggler, silly song singers) each week then get a 99 cent single scoop from Haagen Dazs- which is only available Wednesdays until 1pm....conveniently during the time of Kids Club!