We visited San Francisco again for a couple days this July. This time we went whale watching! Levi really enjoyed the boat ride (which was rough, luckily we don't get seasick), and we saw whales, dolphins, sea lions, sunfish, birds, sea otter and even a shark!
Sea Lions
Sunfish
Dolphins
Sea Otter
Whales! These were so hard to capture because they move fast, the boat was pretty far, and we were in rough seas.
This is Levi's valentine shirt, made with the only zebra fabric I had on hand, chosen because we got to meet the zebras on valentines day! I really like this pattern though next time I will make the arms longer. Levi seems to have monkey arms - I used one size for width and 2 sizes up for length and the arms just fit him in length even though I made the cuffs a little wider! I'm going to modify it some more to make it work, because the body and shoulders fit him really nicely.
Embroidery design from Lynnie Pinnie. This one didn't stitch out quite as nicely as I'm used to with these designs, I'm not sure why but I didn't worry too much for just a valentine shirt.
He paired it with his "twist and shout" pants.
Some pre-party crafting:
We went to the Explorers Club Valentine Party. He used his metal detector to look for treasure (didn't find any)
And climbed a tree
On valentines day, we went to the zoo. We got a special invite to see the zebras before anyone else. The new extension allows you to see the camels, lemurs and giraffes more easily.
Levi showing off the "love monster" I made him for valentines day. They gave him zebra ears to wear too!
Jahari (the big male) kept looking at us on the new bridge. It looked like he was asking us for snacks, now that the new extension goes along the edge of the giraffe area. Giraffes usually get snacks at the giraffe platform.
And another giraffe was easily seen
The zoo had a quartet serenade the zebras (both girls) for valentines day. They had bouquets of "flowers" made from hay and apples.
Finally the zebras came out. They were hiding a bit at first, because they aren't quite used the rhinos who now have to share their enclosure.
Levi wanted to learn more about groundhogs for Groundhog day so I found him a lapbook and we chose some of the activities to do.
First we had to find out what the "results" were this year, so we watched this quick clip here.
This was the lapbook I found, from Homeschool Share, we didn't make every single element, but did talk about all of it and made many of them. I introduced classifications for the first time, something I find confusing myself. We learned about diet, rodents, the history of Groundhog's day, how groundhogs help/harm farms, and how much dirt groundhogs can really move (700lbs!).
We also watched this short video, all about groundhogs.
Here is Levi's finished lapbook!
The cover is actually a paper bag puppet printable, I found it here. Paper bag puppet printables are great for lapbook covers because they are already split. Levi chose to paint this with water color paint.
And Levi presents his lapbook the phone rang in the middle and threw him off!
These are some little dresses I made. I don't often make girls clothes, so its fun when I get to! These are from a free sewing pattern, the Izzy top. I added some length to make them into dresses.
And now I am back to sewing, getting a few more shirts made for Levi for our camping trip this weekend. We are very much looking forward to the Florida Earthskills Gathering!
We had another Brevard Zoo Jaguar Society event today, this time with the kangaroos. We not only got a talk, but got to meet them too!
One of them, named Bindi was very friendly and was incredibly soft. She loves to be scratched under the chin and puts her head wayyyy back for it.
We learned that their back legs are "connected", they move together. They are called magapods (mega = big, pod = foot, which Levi knew from Mr. Science). We saw up close how much they use their tails for sitting, moving and balance.
They have a burlap bag that the kangaroos "kick box" for training - kangaroos must support themselves with their front feet in order to kick, so they kind of grab on.
Here she is in action, though not kick boxing!
This one, J.C. is 4yrs old, but they still give her bottles because it makes it easy for the keepers to examine her while she is busy.
Bindi came up to everyone to sniff (here she is sniffing my mom's ankles)
... and Levi's boots
And his "pouch"
Bindi let Levi follow her around and pet her.
And notice his outfit? I made it last night just for the occasion. Orange, turquoise, some kangaroo touches... perfect! I saw a circle pocket on Project Run and Play, by Max California, and loved the idea. I've had it in my head to use for a long time, but finally was inspired by the kangaroos to use it!
This is made from flannel, which I bought when it was on sale - its soft, cozy, but not TOO warm for our not-so-cold weather (that we think is freezing anyway).
The buttons are cute mushroom shapes that I bought on ebay forever ago, nothing to do with kangaroos but I liked them so I used them!
