Summer Fun

We have also been doing non-alphabet activities this summer.

 Milder weather means some outdoor play can be considered.

We welcomed the Aggies by handing out food and smiles during Howdy week,

 then cooled our feet in a fountain.  

 Our big summer project has been recording songs for verses for each letter of the alphabet.
We've had lots of people graciously volunteer their time and talents for this project which is now halfway done.

Working with born performers means plenty of drama!

Alexa's favorite pastime is baking (otherwise known as tasting), so we have spent lots of time in the kitchen making messes. 

Before this video Jenny asked, "Fink we can baff her?"

Jenny is starting to use nicknames, her favorite of which is to call herself "Jenty."  She still persists in calling me Lori a fair amount.  Alexa says "baba" instead of Mama.

EFGH

E is for eating, and we did plenty of that.  Not even tortillas in the package were spared.

I didn't take pictures of any of the E or F projects, but they included eggs, elephants, pressed flowers and feathers.

G is for granola 

and gorilla fingers! (olives)

 We also made green eggs and ham and copied his expression before and after eating them.

H is for hand prints, so we used finger-paint to make some.  I could have gotten away with making it all pink.

 There's a reason we haven't done finger-painting before "it's too messy."

At least somebody enjoys it.  Good thing it was edible :)

We've also been learning about rhyming words.  I don't know that it's caught on...
most common kind: Gram and Grammy rhyme!
also: reindeer and antelope rhyme!
closest: crocs and crocs rhyme!
my favorite: mac and roni rhyme!

ABCD

We started doing some preschool activities this month.  The beauty of homeschooling is starting whenever you want.  We are studying a letter a week.

A is for Apple pie and albatross.  She also remembers animals, ambulance, and of course, 'lexa.

B is for balloon, books, blueberries and bubbles.

                                                            I love it when Alexa lays on the floor like a big girl

Bubble goatee!

Fresh off the bush. Yum!

C is for new car

and cousins.

D is for donuts, Daddy and puppies?

As you can see, Alexa is enjoying this every bit as much as Jenny.  

Jenny calls her "Alexa-puppy-dog"  all the time.

 Celebrating your first birthday is a big milestone, and big milestones should be celebrated in big ways.

The previously mentioned party was most of what we did, but we didn't want Alexa's "actual birthday" to go by unnoticed.

Marble Slab was kind enough to treat her to her first real ice cream.
She had birthday cake with sprinkles, of course :)

She also celebrated by pulling up and climbing steps that week.

 She can sign more, please and all done, if whining doesn't work.

Crawling is her 2nd favorite mode of transportation, after being carried. 

She was quite pleased with herself for figuring out how to stand the people up.

She enjoys her morning smoothie, and just about anything else from a cup.

and if Alexa gets a picture taken, Jenny obviously needs one too.

Alexa also barks "aa!" when she's hears a dog, and can growl like a lion or bear.

Alexa is one

For Alexa's big day we went to the splashpad. What else is there to do outside in June?

At first Alexa wasn't sure what a birthday party was.

She figured it out pretty quickly. 

"You've been holding out on me."

She was very excited about the new baby dolls.

The big buckets make the babies happy!

Tub for two.

Aunt Lori imparting the necessary skill for kids: filling and tying water balloons. 

Jenny and Caleb are content to hoard their own balloons.

Zoo Study

In conjunction with our trip to the zoo, we studied zoo animals.

Jenny got to be a zookeeper, feeding...

and washing the animals.

For monkey day, we went to Aunt Amy's house...

to visit her monkeys ;)

For bears we read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears

then acted it out (several times).

We also took a polar bear/penguin bath with ice cubes. 

For birds we painted with feathers and had a feather race. 

Jenny has pretended to be a seal, frog and a baby monkey all week.

She has also gotten much braver at holding critters.  This is one of our 3 gecko "pets."

We found a toad and the cat found a skink while we were searching for snakes.

I have decided that moving to the music of Carnival of the Animals could be a full workout routine!

Zoo Trip

We decided to take a trip to the zoo while the weather was still bearable.

 Jenny enjoyed the fake animals as well as the real ones.

 It's amazing to think that this orangutan's arm span is that much bigger than Jonathan's.

 This meerkat wanted you to think he was watching for danger, when really he enjoys all of the attention of visitors.

We did lots of toting of the girls, even both at once! 

Jenny wanted to lay down next to the jaguar.

The playground renewed Jenny's energy even though the splash pad wasn't turned on.  

She shed her shoes at every available opportunity. 

Alexa's favorite part by far was the aquarium, she kept laughing and patting the glass.