When we said good-bye to Papa this morning (Leo licking and banging on the front door window) we had no plans. Our one appointment had been cancelled and laundry wasn't piled up enough to warrant a day revolving around washing, drying, folding and putting away. Clara asked to watch some cartoons and we agreed to two cartoons, one of which was her favorite - Poko. She sat with a grin on her face while she watched Poko and silly Minus, Leo enjoyed the 'toon too which was kinda cute in a brain numbing , turning to mush sort of way. Anyway, I'm glad we watched because the show gave me an idea for a morning activity; a science experiment!
After the cartoons were finished and Clara B had turned off the tube we set up a big bucket of water in the living room. We spent the next 45 minutes guessing and then testing if things would float or sink. It was so fun, Leo of course loved plopping things in the water, fishing them out and tossing it back in. Clara seemed to enjoy the anticipation of finding out what each item would do once she dropped it in the water. Our major discovery was this: most of the things we were willing to dunk in water floated.
After testing and re-testing our hypothesis Leo crashed; science is exhausting! While he slept, I showed Clara how to bob for apples. Since we had a floating apple in a bucket it seemed the obvious thing to do...Then while I was working in the kitchen, Clara suggested we make ants on a log. Had I not been watching the cartoons this morning I would have been completely lost but luckily I has seen a Kids CBC personality show Clara how to make Ants on a log with celery, cream cheese and raisins. We substituted cream cheese for peanut butter and whipped up a fun snack.
The weather looked so confusing this morning, but when I realised it was grey but it was 15 degrees I took the kiddos to the park after lunch. I guess it was nap time because we had the whole place to ourselves. It was Leo's first trip to the park as a walker and he had so much fun walking (and falling) in the sand, he followed Clara around and they swang and went down the slides together. To be honest, today's park trip seemed so much more fun than the ones this Summer when Leo was confined and often frustrated.
After a very brief "quiet time" Clara and I made pumpkin cookies while Leo slept (yes, it was a two nap day not the norm anymore) and then I convinced her to play on her own a bit while I made chili for dinner. Too bad the day didn't end there. Soon after the chili was on the stove and Leo woke up, our idyllic, fun day came to an end. Clara was obviously tired and her exhausted, grumpy, defiant alter ego appeared. The last few hours between then and bedtime were a bit harrowing but thankfully sleep came and took my daughter to where she needed to go. Leo on the other hand was wide awake much later than the usual 8pm bedtime (the shortfall of a double nap day) so I've only just gotten to sit down now, at five to ten to post this little snapshot in time.
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