Snips and Snails and Beaver Tails- That's What Little Boys Are Made Of

What an interesting, but for the most part, fun week! Today the kids were able to enjoy an hour at a splash pad, we grabbed some lunch and I was able to get a great workout in. We stopped at the library to check out 14 more books, I think our total is almost to 100 now in our home and yes, we do read most of them! After arriving home and having a very quiet "quiet" time I had my devotional time and then went up and spent some time with two of my favorite buddies. The three of us layed spread out on their floor reading library books and talking. Just having their sweet little bodies next to mine, Jay rubbing my back, was very precious.

Then, transitioning to the end of our beaver week, we went downstairs and began our last two activities. For the life of me, I could not find faux fur or atleast faux fur I would be willing to spend money on. So, I started searching the Internet for an alternative fun idea and found one: Beaver Tails!  You can find the recipe here, beaver tail pastries. Apparently, this fried pastry is made in the shape of a beaver tail and is very popular in Ontario, Canada. For the second time this week, we found ourselves kneading dough and have gotten quite good at this. As the dough was sitting and rising, the boys and I went out back and collected various size sticks and twigs to create a beaver lodge.

Unfortunately, one of the pavers I was standing on slipped down and I caught my entire arm on a block wall and now have a very bruised tricep with some pretty amazing looking scraps. What was I doing so high up?   Yes, I was jiggling tree branches from the vacant neighbors home to see if any would come off. Ahh, the sacrifices.

We then poured water over the dry ground so we could create mud and the boys stayed outside for quite some time building together. The end result was a pretty cool looking lodge. They are able to tell me most of the facts we learned this week as well as why beavers are responsible. One disturbing fact we learned this week, however, is that our friendly otter is actually a predator of the beaver. . You horrid animal, leave those poor, non stop teeth growing, wood gnawing, forest friends ALONE!

The boys started watching 101 Dalmatians ( which we checked out the classic book this week to begin reading- yeah!) and I finished the beaver tails because it involved heat and oil- not a responsibility I'm ready to hand over. They turned out so stickin' cute! The kids each molded their own and ate their own doused in sugar and cinnamon.

What a great day and tomorrow we have a super fun event planned. Will I take pictures and blog about it, of course- this is, of course, my journal of our adventurous education!