Springtime Adventures!

I don't know about you...but we have been longing for some warm weather and the moment it hit, the boys suddenly thought 80 degrees meant we were back in the tropics and it was time for some aquatic fun!  (Never mind that we are supposed to drop back down to highs in the 60s and lows int he 40s next week!)  So, with Springtime weather comes lots of outdoor activities and, consequently, adventures!

First, to celebrate Spring, we gave some new life to dingy white shirts needed for cold weather by doing a fun Tie-Dye Sharpie experiment!  We put cardboard inside each shirt and the boys just had fun decorating their shirts.  (Mommy helped George a little by adding some circles.)  Next we used Rubbing Alchohol in a spray bottle (or it can be used with medicine droppers) to blend the designs and watch the colors run together.  We threw the shirts into a high heat dryer for 15 minutes to let the colors set (though next time I might actually iron the shirts to make the colors stay a little better.) 

 And...voila! A fun shirt for each of the boys to wear on their Spring time adventures!  They just love this and wanted to make more.  Maybe we'll try some other techniques next time.

 The beauty of Spring continues to take our breath away...the blossoms and flowers alone are so beautiful! 

 

Even Joe appreciates the beauty of Spring! 

 

 This week, we took a picnic lunch to a favorite river park of ours - the one we visited just the day before Joe was born in the fall!  My little adventurers looked quite the parts in their Air Force cammo hats and tie-dye shirts!  :-)  The day started out with a lot of excitement when Jack saw something at the river's edge and picked up a loaded .38 handgun!  Thankfully, Josh was right there to take it from him and we called the police to come collect it.  The boys were just enthralled with the whole thing and made a pact to find more "bad guy stuff" so that we could call the police again!

 So...other than the gun...there were some natural treasures to be found!  They caught a small river snake.  After thorough investigation, he was returned to the river. 

 My little outdoorsmen!

 Joe napped peacefully in Mommy's lap while the big boys explored.

 But when he awoke, he was just intrigued with nature as all of us!

 But my fair little guy turned so pink so fast!  Even with sunscreen and a hat, he got overheated and had red cheeks the rest of the day! 

 Love these boys!  I love their adventuresome spirits and how inquisitive they are about everything they come across...rushing to tell me all about it!

 It won't be long before Joe is there with them. 

 By far the best part of the day was finding this little guy:

 May we introduce you to the newest member of the Meyer family, Rexie the baby Midland Painted Turtle!  (The boys wanted a clever name and came up with Rexie, since turtles are reptiles and their favorite reptile of all time is of course the Tyrannosaurus Rex!) He is an aquatic turtle and his shell is barely the size of a quarter!  We are all completely smitten with him.  So smitten, in fact, we made a trip to the pet store to buy a larger tank (we already had a smaller one for our goldfish) with all the necessary things for a turtle.  We learned that they have to have a perch to rest on and a basking light that is warm and can dry out their shells to prevent shell rot. 

 

It is so fun to watch him swim around with his little head up out of the water!  

  

And when he basks, he often pulls his legs and arms into his shell - and sometimes even his head disappears. Just intriguing! 

 

 Now that we have the larger tank, the boys are determined to find another water snake (yikes!) and a tadpole or two to add to it.  We have their small table in front of the tank and they spend many happy lunch times there enjoying the view!

 Along with four goldfish and an algae-eating fish, we have this little guy, too: Mr. Crabs the crawfish. 

 Spring wouldn't be complete without a little Slip'n'Slide action!  (I know this will ring true for all of my siblings!) It took a while for the boys to get the hang of it.  And, admittedly, the water from the hose was still a bit cold.  :-)

 Later in the day we moved it out farther back in the yard in a patch of sunlight and even Josh tried it out!  (I know you must be sorely disappointed that I did not have my camera for that!)

 

We have had so much fun watching the many, many types of birds that surround Grandma's house and yard.  Jack painted a small birdhouse and within a day of hanging it up, a house wren was making a nest in it!  We also did some exploring today and found another nest that we can easily keep an eye on.  We thought it was a robin's nest since we saw the robin hopping nearby.  But the eggs are not blue.  So, we'll have to keep an eye out for the parent birds. 

 All three boys just love being outside so much.  Joe is very intrigued by grass!

 Here is the boys' favorite climbing tree - an apple tree in the middle of the yard.  They spend lots of time up there together!

 We hope you are enjoying Spring wherever you live - even if you may not come across as much wildlife or outdoor adventures as the Meyer boys!  :-)