Here & There with Bug & Bear: February 2013

February was a great month! The girls and I had a blast celebrating all of the mini holidays. We also got to enjoy some nice, fall like weather.

The girls had fun doing shadow dances on Groundhog Day. We also read a few Groundhog themed books that we got from Bug's book order, made groundhog snacks, and tried our hands (pun intended) at shadow puppets.

We had the privilege of celebrating Granny D's 80th birthday with family. The girls even got to help Granny blow out her candles. That was really special.

Kyleebug's class spent a week learning about the body. She was so excited! I set up an anatomy "center" in the living room that week, and the girls and I did the experiments in their Magic School Bus kit. We also watched all the body themed Magic School Bus videos. Kenna Bear loves the one where "that boy eats the schoo bus"!

On the Chinese New Year, we had a Chinese inspired tea party, ate Chinese food with chimpsticks (kids' cheater chopsticks), watched youtube videos of the Dragon Dance, and made Chinese Luck Dragon puppets.

We learned about Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras by readings books (Amazon is awesome!) and watching videos. The girls dressed up in Mardi Gras masks and beads and danced around to our Mardi Gras Kids CD (another awesome Amazon find).

We feasted on chicken & sausage jambalaya, corn on the cob, Cajun rice, and Cajun style Mac N Cheese. Then the girls each made their own mini King's Cakes.

Valentine's Day was pretty low key. We, of course, read a variety of love and Valentine's Day themed books, including the story of St. Valentine. We wrote love notes to each other and handed out roses to some of the people we love.

Since we were blessed with some beautiful, mild weather, Grandma and I took the girls to the refuge so that they could explore. They got to use the "explorer packs" and vests that they got for Christmas for the first time. It was HUGE hit!