Camp B, Day Six: Day of the Arts

Today was a Camp B day I've been looking forward to all weekend. We live in a great arts community. Our city's art museum has an almost century-old collection of masterpieces from some of the world's finest artists. We have a solid local and classical music scene. We have many theaters large and small. Today, we decided to experience the arts, kid style, for Camp B, Day Six: Day of the Arts.

We set the tone properly as our chariot arrived with Mama Bird at the helm. We headed to a local wellness community for an inexpensive children's music class. Along the way our big kids named musical instruments and we introduced the idea of the groups they belong in, much like the food groups Big B liked so well last week. Rose and her monkeys met us there, and the kids got their wiggles out before heading to the museum.When we arrived at the museum, the first (and last) place we visited was this darling circus dwarf statue exhibit. The little guys were nestled among the banyan trees, much like our own little guys were.Mama Bird had the brilliant idea to visit the gift shop before we set out through the museum, and buy a handful of postcards depicting masterpieces that we'd find inside. The big kids each took a few and made it their singular mission to find 'their' paintings.Architecture is the mother of the arts, and this loggia surrounding the museum's pallatial courtyard inspires me every time I visit. The kids had a brief reprieve between museum wings to rediscover their outside voices.After a lovely picnic back at the Dwarf Garden with the rest of our village, we headed to our next destination: our family office. Grammy took the boys on their beloved golf cart ride, and Big B found this unripe baby papaya. We cut it open to examine the inside. Its unique texture plus an old office inkpad created an impromptu art project.After we got settled in back at home and dinner was cooking, we gathered the two large boxes of art we'd collected during Big B's preschool years. This was my hidden agenda for today's Camp B theme. While I can't yet bear to throw these works away, as Big B transitions to kindergarten next week, I find the need to celebrate his sweet past in an organized way, a way that will remind him of his creativity and perhaps encourage deeper creative exploration in his future. Inspired by the re-discovery of nine identical small square frames, we decided to select snippets of nine of Big B's most favorite works to create The Preschool Years Collection.

"All children are artists.

The problem is how to remain
an artist once he grows up."
--Pablo Picasso

Camp B, Day Five: Car Day

Today's agenda was the very reason I decided to plan Camp B. In preparation for a day trip tomorrow, I scheduled an appointment for today to get long overdue new tires for my car. It was also high time for a deep clean on the interior, and since those two events alone require about three hours of waiting (which in kid-time is like three years), necessity invented Camp B, Day Five: Car Day.

The morning began with the boys playing happily in the car while I cleaned out its contents. Our trash went out early this morning, so our large, City-issued garbage can was an empty and waiting receptacle. We filled it to the top. I didn't photograph this transformation because a central purpose of this blog is its reflection of the beautiful things in my life--that mess was not one of them. While I cleaned, the boys played with the buttons, the radio, and the lights, which led to an explanation of the car's battery. Little b climbed over the seats and played with long lost toys that had been buried in the abyss. Big B was allowed to start the ignition, and we talked about how gasoline works to start a little fire in the engine. We also talked about what happens to the environment when that gas is produced and then released, and how smart people are making new kinds of cars to help fix that problem--and what we can do in our own lives to use our car efficiently.

We loaded up and went to the car dealership where my new tires were waiting. This very large, very shameless inflatable salesman told me we were going to have a good time.
And amazingly, he was right. We had to wait for just under two hours, but the boys were happy the entire time. I brought a bag full o' cars from the house, and we spent the first leg of the wait staging races, playing police, and having mock demolition derbies.Inevitably the boys wandered from the little lounge in the dealership to the showroom floor. There they found shiny new cars and engines to explore, and this very cool hands-on display of engine parts.
We were also able to go into the service office, from which we could see the cars on their lifts, getting new tires and oil changes. With four new tires and a belly full of a surprise lunch from Papa, we took our car to our favorite car wash. It's my favorite because we can walk to the mall from there, which has several distractions for antsy boys (and, let's be honest, a Starbucks for a dragging Mama). It's Big B's favorite because they give out free Dum-Dums to children. To each his own!
We arrived home in our sparkling pina-colada-scented car just before a friend from our alma mater visited with her beautiful children. We continued the car theme with an art project that Big B has enjoyed at preschool. I took six cars with tires of different shapes and sizes from the bag full o' cars, and squirted acrylic craft paint onto paper plates. They vroomed the cars into the paint and onto the paper. My friend and I were most impressed at how differently and beautifully they used their creative driver's licenses!
The little guys enjoyed the project too, and had four painted hands to prove it. The events of the day proved once again that cars and trucks are a great equalizer for my boys, and, I suspect, for boys everywhere. I was thankful for Camp B today, in a big way.

Camp B, Day Four: Beach Day

For as long as I can remember, my incredible group of mama friends and our village of little ones have gathered at a special, semi-private beach on Thursday mornings. We all feel the pull of this place like the tides feel the moon, and this morning was no exception. We happily packed our picnic, lathered with sunscreen, and set off for Camp B, Day Four: Beach Day.

On the way to our oasis, I asked Big B if he knew what made waves. He answered, thoughtfully, 'Octopusses?' So we talked about the tide, the moon, gravity, and the currents. We also talked about salt and sand and glass and buried treasure, and decided to bring along the metal detector Big B received for his birthday. As more friends arrived, a new learning experience evolved: Mission Snail Rescue. These rocks are covered with tiny black snails, and the big kids decided to 'rescue' them into smaller, more colorful habitats. After much swimming and picnicking, we took our troops for a treasure walk.Along the way we saw many sea creatures, large and small.An amazing piece of driftwood was instantly transformed into much more by the imaginations and bravery of our children.At the end of our treasure walk, we had a bucket of our beach to take home for our afternoon project: beach-in-a-bottle, made with water, food coloring, baby oil and our treasures. We tried to replicate the colors and textures of our favorite getaway.
A beach day and an afternoon playdate left my boys wiped out, so we watched the ocean-themed Finding Nemo to help everyone relax into the evening. Just before bed, we explored a great website full of ocean games. We are taking advantage of our proximity to the coast, the ocean, and its healing powers. Whenever we need a healthy physical outlet, a dose of fresh air, or simply to be washed with the beauty of our world, we have only minutes to drive to attain it...and an incredible community of families with which to enjoy it. For these things I am grateful.

Camp B, Day Three: Bird Day

Every Wednesday, we have three glorious hours of the best childcare money can buy, with our friend and babysitter extraordinaire Nee-Nee. This allows Big B and little b some adventure, and allows Mama to get some much-needed work done. Today, I gave Big B and little b the choice of camp themes based on places Nee-Nee likes to take them. The vote was unanimous, and Camp B, Day Three: Bird Day was underway.

As I was loading them up for their guided expedition to a local playground and bird-watching trail, we saw this blue jay in our oak tree--a good omen for Bird Day. Big B brought the camera along as Nee-Nee led them through the trails, on the lookout for birds. See the birdhouse in this majestic oak?Throughout the morning they snapped shots of other kinds of 'birds' in their natural habitats.Midday brought a torrential downpour to our house, followed by many graceful Ibis birds. Big B was excited to welcome one of his favorite friends over this afternoon. We began the playdate with a quick kid-snack and discussion about what birds eat.Then we got our supplies ready to make our own backyard bird treats. Instead of pinecones, we used the balls from the Sweetgum tree we had collected over Thanksgiving. After coating the Sweetgum balls in peanut butter, we dipped them in wild birdseed. We made a dozen little birdy treats and hung them in clusters from the trees in our yard.The sun was shining so we packed up for a trip to the duck pond, picking up another friend along the way. We usually walk, but because of the fickle skies and number of kids in tow, we drove. I parked on a street I had never parked on before and was absolutely shocked to spy an exact replica of our own dear Fiona there! Bird Day was meant to be.We fed the ducks, ibises, and turtles, and had a great time doing it. We are very lucky to be within walking distance of such a great pond. Big B has fed these ducks on a regular basis for his entire young life.As we left, we stumbled upon a nesting spot for a flock of Muscovy Ducks, two of which were molting. I explained this process to Big B tonight just before bed, as it was mentioned during the last of our bedtime stories: Make Way for Ducklings (we also read Kahasi and the Loon and The Early Bird).

There were so many other avian activities and destinations I wanted to explore; we'll have to save those for another day!