With temperatures staying below freezing for many days in the row it was time to test our artistic skills and make some outdoor ice sun-catchers. We made ours for decoration to hang on the porch so we wanted to use all natural materials. As we have been walking the property we have found many beautiful plant material in their winter rest and wanted a way to use it for decorations. Material: Pie and bread pan Natural material Rope/yarn/string Water Science with a five year old - Ice Sun-catcher
1. Hot water or tap water? we wondered if hot water vs tap water would make a difference in how it froze and how quickly it froze. Result: Because we froze them through the night we missed out on finding out which froze quicker, but we did find that the one with the hot water had more bubbles left in the ice, creating a cool effect. 2. What was the best way to hang our creation? Freeze something in the pan to create an empty space....Or freezing it with nothing and drilling a hole later...Or freezing a string into the creation. Result: we found that freezing the rope into with the material to be the best way to create a way to hang the finished design. We had a very hard time getting the bottle we used to create the hole out of the ice and the drill just broke the ice. 3. Decorative material or water first? Would putting the material or water in first be easiest for small designers? Results: Adding the water first, but only deep enough to cover the material allowed for the material to stay where it was placed, but carrying it did jostle the design slightly. The one we added the water to after the material shifted the design quite a bit. We would suggest, if you are able to create the design where it is going to freeze, that would be best.
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We did a few winter science experiments during the coldest months in Canada. Here is one we did in February. When the dead of winter sets in and temperatures are constantly staying below freezing, it is a perfect time to create some beautiful outdoor art to decorate your property. We also found that the tops of our globes have a divot the perfect size to hold seeds for the birds. Material needed: *balloons *water *food coloring *consistent freezing temperatures Instructions: Fill each of the balloons with water from the tap, put 5-10 drops of food coloring in the balloon, tie it closed and play outside for about 24 hours. Although these globes make a beautiful addition to the yard, they also create many open-ended science-based questions. Here are a few that were discussed in our household...
You have probably played this game before but these are unique to experiences that we have had since we left Utah in June of 2018. You get one point for every line that you have not experienced. Like golf, the lowest score wins. Leave your score in the comments and a short story about your craziest experience related to the list.
Never have I ever.... 51. Gone ghost crab hunting 52. Sat in the cockpit of a Blue Angel plane 53. Ate gator 54. Ate dinner with a wild flock of turkey 55. Been to a field of painted Cadillacs 56. Walked the rim of a volcano 57. Driven through a canyon in a car with the top down 58. Listened to sea lions barking for 24 hours a day 59. Used the toilet with the company of a scorpion 60. Become a Jr Ranger at over 15 US National Parks in just 3 months 61. Walked through the forest of Endor from Star Wars 62. Experienced the distinct aroma of a 2 month old rotting whale carcass 63. Constructed a sea creature out of driftwood on a Washington beach 64. Visited the cabin of Lewis and Clark 65. Climbed through the bow of a shipwreck 66. Went hiking with banana slugs 67. Visited Tillamook cheese factory 7 times within 4 days 68. Walked across a covered bridge 69. Ate dinner with a grey whale 70. Been splashed by a puffin 71. Shared a cave with 2500 lb sea lions 72. Added my gum to the famous Gum Wall Seattle 73. Ate lunch from products exclusively from a farmer's market 74. Climbed a 30 foot mountain made of oyster shells 75. Played ocean keep away - and won 76. Slept in a tree house 77. Been on evacuation watch for wild fires 78. Had our picture taken with Paul Bunion and Babe the blue ox 79. Driven through a tree 80. Spent the night at a highway rest stop 81. Explored a sea cave 83. Been to Glass Beach and not taken a piece of beach glass with you 84. Had a picnic at a winery in Napa Valley 85. Swam in Lake Tahoe 86. Visited an old west ghost town frozen in time - (Body, CA) 87. Walked on a columnar jointing rock formation 88. Rode on electric bikes through the mountains 89. Explored an abandoned observatory in the Mojave Desert 90. Ran into a friend from your home state in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park 91. Experienced 114 degree Fahrenheit temperatures 92. Sledded down the sand dunes in White Sands National Park 93. Walked in 11,000 year old dwellings in New Mexico 94. Said, "Remember the Alamo" at the Alamo 95. Toured the Earthship Community in Taos, NM 96. Saw the "Worlds Largest Rocking Chair" 97. Walked around inside Colorado's oldest church 98. Took a picture with the Worlds' Largest Pistachio 99. Ordered your burrito Christmas style in New Mexico 100. Met your favourite princess, in her castle, at Disneyland You have probably played this game before but these are unique to experiences that we have had since we left Utah in June of 2018. You get one point for every line that you have not experienced. Like golf, the lowest score wins. Leave your score in the comments and a short story about your craziest experience related to the list.
Never have I ever.... 1. Bought a crab pot to go crabbing 2. Pet a baby tiger, lion, and/or cheetah 3. Made eye contact with a grey whale 4. Had a chickadee land on my hand or head 5. Built a shelter in the woods 6. Sold my house, most worldly goods, and moved to another country 7. Slept in a mini van for 3 straight months 8. Ate bear 9. Walked among the Saguaro Cactus 10. Been within 10 feet of a wild bear 11. Been in 3 provinces within 40 mins 12. Built an ice igloo in the middle of a town square 13. Been approached by a wild shark 14. Drank beer with an Orca (Killer Whale) 15. Went ice skating on a driveway or parking lot (in actual ice skates) 16. Stood in line for more then 25 minutes for a doughnut 17. Ate a "bird's nest" 18. Walked on the ocean floor 19. Have made maple candy on fresh snow 20. Have won free doughnuts in "roll up the rim to win" 21. Have seen a two headed cow skeleton 22. Made an outdoor ice sun-catcher 23. Been hit by a deer while driving 24. Waited over 7 hours at a hospital for a very minor concern 25. Drove across the longest bridge over frozen water 26. Took a porcupine for a walk on a sled 27. Had the magical experience of being present for the birth of a grandchild 28. Had a visit from Flat Stanley 29. Known what a fishing weir is 30. Cut your own Christmas tree from your property 31. Participated in Dinovember (this was our third year in a row!) 32. Made an edible snow person 33. Stacked 3 cords of wood for your winter heat 34. Had partridge berry jam 35. Snuggled with an emu 36. Ate lobster in Maine 37. Experienced fall colours in Acadia National park 38. Travelled across the US with Buddha on your dashboard 39. Seen the Hope Diamond 40. Stargazed with the secret service 40. Met a 4 star general 41. Watched the VP fly in and out of his home 42.Touched writings from Galileo and Plato 43. Been smiled at by a whale shark 44. Played chase with a Beluga whale 45. Gone beach combing on a Florida beach in the nude 46. Walked in the footsteps of Marten Luther King Jr. on the freedom walk 47. Scratched the head of a Texas Long Horn 48. Been to a slave market 49. Done grave rubbings on a great grandparent's stone 50. Picked cotton This easy to make pocket bear was sparked by a group I joined in January that focused on expanding your outdoor time as a family. It is a group of people, all over the world, who recognize the value of outdoor time and support each other with ideas and inspiration for activities to do as adults and with children. Although this is something we always strive to include in our lives, it is nice to see this movement growing and see some of the things other families are doing to participate. As part of that, the idea of Adventure Bear came along. It is a small, hand-stitched, personalized felt bear that fits in your child's pocket that they can take on adventures wherever they go. I found it to be an amazing idea for those kids who sometimes have a hard time spending expended periods of time outdoors. This bear can help by giving them a partner in crime and make them accountable for ensuring that their bear has a fantastic time. Dylan loved hers so much that we made one for Carver and Bridger and sent them in the mail for Valentines Day! Below is the pattern for creating the bear as well as the Facebook movement if you would like to join:
Facebook group Adventure Bear Pattern I felt as though this needed its own post for many reasons. When we decided to make the leap and start a new life out here in eastern Canada one thing that we wondered was how easily we would make friends. Dylan started school just a few days before Christmas holiday, so she really had not met many kids before the school Christmas party. It was at the Christmas party that a sweet woman came up and introduced herself to us, helped us figure out how the party was to work and then introduced us to a couple of other families at that party. About 2 weeks later, it was one of the women's birthdays and they invited me to join them for a trivia night at the local Brewery. From that effortless beginning, friendships began that I could not be more grateful for. To be able to have a group of women who I can be myself with, bounce ideas off of, share excitement with and spend quality time with is invaluable. For Easter, one of the "gang", Nina, offered to host a mom and kids breakfast at her home. She is so incredibly creative and has expressed how much she enjoys having people over and feeding them. Well, for this party, she went above and beyond. First of all, she planned and prepared an incredible meal for 13 kids aging in range from 2 months - 8 years-old and their six moms. On top of that, she went all out with the decorations and the activities to keep the kids entertained. On the day of the party it was raining off and on the entire morning. Although a little wet, we did have the egg hunt outdoors while the rain slowed slightly and the kids had a BLAST. The day could not have been more lovely. The kids all got along so well, and truly enjoyed each other's company and all of the special extras of the morning. And the moms all got to sit to a meal, around a table, and share smiles and stories. I can't express how blessed I feel to have found this incredible group of women to spend time with and support each other in this crazy road of motherhood and life.
Our first Easter at the Little Yellow House on the Hill!
For well over a decade, the Bollder family tradition on Easter has been for all of us to spend it in the desert. The Easter bunny leaves the kids a basket full of treasures outside their tents and then the adults (usually Auntie Rachel and occasionally other chosen family) hide plastic eggs, filled with treats among the red rocks. So, what will be our new Easter tradition here in Nova Scotia? I don't know that we figured that out this year, but we did have a fantastic Easter here at the Little Yellow House on the Hill. In the days leading up to Easter we.... 1. Dyed eggs with natural food dyes (see a separate post for instructions) 2. Went to an Easter celebration at one of our meet up groups 3. Made felt eggs to stuff and hide to avoid having to buy loads of plastic (see separate post for instructions) 4. Visited the bakery to get all of their Easter treat bake goods 5. Attended the town Easter egg hunt 6. Spent a very lovely morning with friends for a lovely mom and kids breakfast at Nina's house 7. Had a visit from an Easter bunny at school 8. Woke to Dylan's Easter basket full, followed by an egg hunt around the property 9. Bunny pancakes for breakfast 10. Helped friends move on Easter Sunday and received a lovely Easter gift from friends. When, for the past 19 years you have lived thousands of miles from your family, and you now only live 2 hours apart, you take every opportunity to spend time together. Sugar Moon Farms is a commercial maple syrup farm that is about 15 minutes north of Truro, which is just over an hour from Laurie in Halifax and us in Parrsboro, the perfect halfway spot. Plus, they offer a fantastic pancake breakfast topped off with delicious maple treat coffees. The farm backs onto some beautiful hiking trails, so we were able to combine breakfast with a short nature walk. Sugar Moon Farm is a very popular restaurant in the spring so we arrived as it was opening. The farm is located at the end of a gravel road, lined in blueberry fields and consists of the restaurant, shop that sells a large variety of maple products, a sugar shack that offers maple candy, and a full boil house where the syrup is made. They offer a guided tour of the production facility so that "city folk" can experience how syrup is made. We were seated at a family style farm table in front of a large fireplace and of course Dylan chose to be sandwiched between Aunt Laurie and Uncle Spike. After enjoying a fantastic breakfast we decided to take advantage of the hiking trails on the property. Unfortunately, we didn't make it far as the trail was still covered in snow and ice but it was lovely to get out, even for just a half of a mile. Spring in Nova Scotia has brought some lovely experiences, and this one will be one of the most memorable for a very long time. Photos for the day are presented by the one and only mini photographer who got a hold of the camera and went wild. Last year was the first year we attempted to dye our eggs using natural dyes and they turned out OK. This year we wanted to try a different method to see if we could get more vibrant colors - and it worked. I think the key was to use a good amount of vinegar, and soaking overnight.
Here are the steps we took to dye our egg... How to Make Boiled Easter Egg Dyes
An added version would be to wrap a natural object (flower or leaf) around the egg after it is boiled, and then put pantyhose material around it and pull it secure so that it holds the object in place on the egg. Tie the pantyhose tight on the top (as if you are are closing a bag). Then place it in the jar of the colored water over night. |
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |