They loved it! They would point at the animals, and babble excitedly. (Hadley is looking beyond the camera at a monstrous black rhinoceros--man, those things are big!).
I love that the girls can read about animals in books, and then see them in real life too!
I have no idea if they made the connection that they were seeing the live version of what they've seen in books, or not, but it was fun to see all the animals. I pointed the animals out, and referenced lines from our books all along the way, anyway.
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So, fast forward to today. We're transitioning to one nap. They are so very tired in the mornings, so I've been trying to get them out after breakfast, before the heat of the day, to take a walk or run an errand, so that they can rest in their carseat or the stroller.
One place we visit a couple times a week is a nature reserve, comprised of wetlands, prairie and forest. Much of the path is shaded and cool and it is teeming with wildlife.
Part of the path goes out over the marsh. I'm so thankful that the path is wide enough to accommodate the double stroller. On the path we: hear frogs singing, see dragonflies dancing, ducks floating, turtles sunning themselves, fish tails flicking, snakes slithering *shudder*, and one day we even saw a beaver carrying a log to his dam!
Today, as we went along, I was pointing out the dragonflies and the sounds of the frogs singing, as usual. Just ahead of us I saw something moving in the reeds. Suddenly, five startled ducks were madly flapping their wings, one of which flew up on the path right in front of us! It waddled along in front of the stroller for a few moments before hopping back in the water.
The girls got so excited, exclaiming, "Duck, duck! And making their duck noises. All the way home Brynne was repeating the word "duck" and then making her duck noise, which actually sounds like a siren, "Aawha aawha aawha."
When we got home, we had lunch and then settled down to read a few stories before naptime. I asked the girls to pick out books to read. Brynne very excitedly brought me Little Quack Counts, full of dragonflies, fish, frogs, turtles and ducks.
She made the connection. Be still my heart!
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6 comments:
Great idea to go our for a stroll to help ease into 1 nap. I do the same thing. If we don't go for a walk, I go somewhere that requires out stroller, so they are sitting still and just watching. the change of scenery helps too.
I think it's great that she brought you that book, too!
Yeah! Treasure those moments! The fun is just beginning for those aha-connect moments :)
Don't you just love how you can see the learning happen?! Amazing.
I love it! This is making me tear up! How neat to hear about how passionate you are in communicating with your girls about their surroundings . . . noticing God's creation. How exciting, then, to see them make the connection!!
I think it's nothing short of magical to see those connections!
I wrote a post a little over a year ago about such. I remember referencing Sally Field's "You like me! You really like me!" speech..."You understand me! You really understand me!" Hahahaha!!!
CUTE!!! I'm so glad you wrote about this! The whole thing was adorable!
We are transitioning Bennett to one nap right now. It is hard! I love you ideas of how to make the mornings easier! Thanks!
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