Field Trip to the Zoo

Boogs 2nd grade class went on their field trip last week. They went to the Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary. The Austin Zoo is a small zoo dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of animals. Some of their animals came from people who tried to illegally raise them. The class enjoyed seeing all of the animals.

 The tigers were roaring loudly! The kids were cheering them on by yelling, "Fight, fight, fight!"

We were very lucky to have a nice cool day for the field trip. The high only reached 75 degrees. A few days before, it was in the 90s.

I can't believe we only have 5 weeks left of school!

May the 4th Be With You (2014)

This is the 3rd year for Bento Bloggers & Friends May the 4th Be With You Blog Hop. It has been a lot of fun seeing all of the Star Wars inspired lunches made during the past two years. I am excited to see the new lunch creations this year. After you see my Star Wars lunch, make sure you click the May the 4th Be With You button at the bottom of this post to hop over to Bento Lunch to view Shannon's lunch. Then keep following the May the 4th buttons to see the rest of the lunches in the blog hop.

Darth Vader and Son by Jeffery Brown is a cute little book. Boogs bought it for his dad last Father's Day. It is one of the only Star Wars books in the house that is not a Lego Star Wars book. So, Luke and Darth Vader made their way into Boogs' lunch.

Sometimes my lunches do not turn out how I pictured them in my head. Boogs pointed out to me, "Princess Leia's hair should not look like buns on the side of her head if Yoda is going to be in the lunch. Her hair was different in the movies with Yoda." That is true.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: spinach tortellini Yoda, Babybel cheese split in half for twins Luke and Leia, mini pb&j Han Solo sandwich, falafel Chewbacca, Darth Vader on top of marshmallows, salad with radish stars, yogurt (not pictured), and Star Wars logo on top of applesauce. Luke and Darth Vader are holding lightsaber picks.

Here is a look back at my favorite Star Wars lunch. 

In the lunchbox: marshmallow Stormtrooper, carrot stick lightsabers, nori Darth Vader, Yoda spinach tortilla quesadilla, Trash Compactor scene of leftover rice/beans/cheese/sour cream "garbage" with Luke, Leia, & Han cheese heads, chocolate Teddy Graham Chewbacca, and a pretzel rod to brace the walls of the compactor.  

                       

 Click this button to travel to see BentoLunch.net's Star Wars lunch.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. To view other Bento Bloggers & Friends hops, click the "blog hop" label at the end of this post. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Science Share Night

Way back in October, Boogs asked if he could make a potato clock for the Science Share Night at school. We bought a potato clock kit and then forgot all about it until the notice came home to sign up for Science Share Night.

Boogs had to write up his question, hypothesis, materials, and resources before he could start experimenting.

Boogs decided he wanted to see what could make the clock run besides potatoes. He picked out a few things from the produce section to use in his experiment.

 He tested potatoes, apples, bananas, lemons, and sweet potatoes.

Everything he tried made the clock work. I went in Boogs' playroom and got out a couple of foam balls. I asked Boogs to predict whether or not the foam balls would make the clock work. He said no and he was correct.

Daddy wondered if the clock would work with water. It only worked if you used two separate glasses of water, it would not work with the zinc and copper electrodes in one water glass. Boogs and Daddy experimented with tap water, bottled spring water, and distilled water.

Then, Daddy helped Boogs word the conclusion for his experiment. Boogs practiced what he would say to people who came by his booth to view his experiment.

Boogs had quite a few "customers" come by and try out his experiment on various items.

Boogs also enjoyed viewing the other booths at Science Share. He really enjoyed spending time with the snails.

Boogs and a friends had fun trying out the different pieces of wood, sand paper, and carpet to make ramps for toy cars to go down.

Boogs had a fun time at Science Share Night. He is already thinking about what kind of experiment he will do next year.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Lunches April 28th - May 2nd

Boogs' lunches are usually inspired by the books we read together. Story time is part of our daily bedtime routine. Boogs reads to me and then I read to him. I usually post his lunches once a week. Click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see lunches from previous weeks. We like to pack our lunches in ELBs and Laptop Lunchboxes.

I Will Not Read This Book by Cece Meng

The little boy in this story has a lot of excuses for not wanting to read this book. I told Boogs it reminded me a little bit of him and his reading homework books. The little boy's excuses soon turn into refusing to read this book no matter what is done to him. He starts with I will not read this book even if you hang me upside down... Then he adds another, then another thing that could happen to him that won't change his mind about reading this book. I used this book as a fun way to work on prediction skills. Before we turned each page, I had Boogs try and guess the next horrible thing that might  happen to the boy. Some of our guesses matched the author's list. In the end, the boy really wanted someone to read with him.  Boogs says he is glad that he has someone to read with him every day.

In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j little boy holding the book in his hands, cheese I WILL NOT on book cover, veggie straws, yogurt covered pretzels, salad, and berries.

Eating a rainbow - Quick and colorful lunch

In the Laptop Lunchbox: red strawberries, red salami, orange carrots, yellow Goldfish crackers, blue blueberries, green okra chips, brown Zbar, and Babybel cheese.

A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech

Tillie loves spending time at home learning how to climb trees and teaching her brother how to skip. Tillie also likes going to school. Well, she liked it until Principal Keene decided that his school was such a fine, fine school there should be more time spent at school learning more things. Pretty soon, Principal Keene has the school open on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and even in the summer. Principal Keene was proud of all the amazing learning going on all the time at his school. Meanwhile, the students and teachers were looking more and more frazzled. Finally, Tillie found a way to make Principal Keene understand that it is not fine, fine to spend every waking moment at school learning more things. 

In the ELB lunchbox: Babybel Tillie with almond butter & jelly backpack, cheese test reminder notes on backpack, Pringles books, kiwi, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, broccoli, and radish.

Knit Your Bit by Deborah Hopkinson

Mikey's dad left home to fight overseas during World War I. Mikey wants to do something big to help support his dad, other soldiers, and the war effort. Mikey's mother and sister are knitting socks, hats, and mittens for soldiers. They encourage Mikey to knit for soldiers, too. Mikey thinks that is a dumb idea because knitting is for girls. All around the country people are knitting for soldiers, there are even sheep on the Whitehouse lawn for wool. The girls at school challenge Mikey and his friends to join the Knitting Bee in Central Park. Mikey accepts the challenge. Hundreds of people are there knitting for soldiers. Mikey kept at it and did contribute to the war effort. He even made a pair of socks for his dad. This book was inspired by real events. 

In the Laptop Lunchbox: Mikey salami sandwich with KNIT YOU BIT cheddar cheese letters, pistachio balls of yarn, provolone flag on knitting needles, cheese sock & mitten, yogurt, apples, and salad.

Boogs was intrigued by this story. He asked me if I knew how to knit. I told him about the baby blanket I started knitting for him over 7 years ago. He wanted to see it. I dug it out of my craft room for him. He asked me to finish it for him because the yarn is so soft. I guess I will have to figure out how to finish it. Boogs thought he might even try to help with it.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by. 

What We've Been Up To

The month of April has simply flown by! Boogs has been busy this month with turning 8, Easter at Nonnie's house, swim team, soccer, Math Pentathlon, Lego Bricks class, playdates, cooking, visiting parks, playing video games, and just hanging out at home.

We almost missed our family Easter get together. SOMEONE forgot to tell me that the family gathering was taking place on Saturday, not Sunday. Boogs, Daddy, and I went out to brunch with friends on Saturday and then started taking care of some errands. My sister called about 1:30 and asked where we were. What? Apparently, everyone was waiting to eat until we arrived. Oops! We told them to go ahead and eat. It was almost 2:30 by the time we made it. At least Boogs did not miss the Easter egg hunt. I did not have a chance to get my camera before driving to Nonnie's house. My phone pics did not turn out well.

Eight egg hunters raced to find eggs in Nonnie's backyard and in the greenbelt area directly behind the house. Each egg contains 25 cents and a few special ones have $1. The kids have never complained about not getting candy in their eggs.

Boogs had to work to get down the high eggs in a couple of trees.

Only Easter eggs were found in the woods, no snakes. Yay!

My brother made 3 dozen cascarones (confetti eggs) this year and filled them with confetti and glitter. I HATE when he puts glitter in them. I took pictures from the protection of the living room.

 Everyone was covered in glitter.

 I stole this picture from my niece. Boogs loves this part of our Easter family get togethers!

Boogs got a little bit of help from Daddy for better aim.

Counting the egg money is always fun! Boogs collected $9.75 this year. Wahoo!

After the hunt, we spent a few hours visiting, eating lots of junk, playing games, and trying to pick glitter off each other. I think Boogs still had a few pieces of glitter stuck to his scalp for at least three days.

Boogs made up his own game in the backyard. He took an ice chest, bucket, foam roller, and his bike helmet to make a crash dummy. He then used his bat to see how far he could make the crash dummy fly. I played too and it was fun.

My husband called a lawn service to come an aerate our lawn. Before they came, we had to mark the sprinkler heads so they would not be damaged. My husband decided to turn the sprinkler marking into a fun job for Boogs. Boogs had to go around putting flags by the sprinkler heads while they were spraying.

He got soaked but had fun with this chore.

Boogs used his Christmas, birthday, and chore money to buy a 3DS. He has been very happy with his purchase. (Daddy approved it.)

Boogs and Daddy worked together to finish Lego Mindstorm Robotics R3PTAR.

 

The R3PTAR is like a King Cobra snake. You can program it or use a remote control to make it slither around. I has a sensor in its head that causes it to strike when something is in front of its face. It is really cool! 

This weekend we are working on Boogs' Science Share Project. I better go see how he is doing with it.

Lunches April 21st - 25th

Boogs' lunches are usually inspired by the books we read together. Story time is part of our daily bedtime routine. Boogs reads to me and then I read to him. I usually post his lunches once a week. Click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see lunches from previous weeks. We like to pack our lunches in ELBs and Laptop Lunchboxes.

I only made three lunches this week. Boogs missed school on Wednesday and wanted to get the cafeteria pizza on Friday.

Crabby Lunch

Boogs QUEST class is studying sea creatures for their independent study projects. I thought it would be fun to make a sea creature lunch. Boogs is researching sting rays for his presentation. I will most likely make him a sting ray lunch the day it is his turn to present.

In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese crab sandwich with Nutella eyes, CRAB Cheez-its, fish crackers, yogurt raisin seashells, mango coral, broccoli sea anemone, carrot orange finger sponges, spinach kelp, and yogurt.

Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles by J. Patrick Lewis

The librarian at my elementary school had this book in her "read to classes" basket. It looked like fun but I had to wait until she was finished with it before I could bring it home to Boogs. This book contains 13 rhyming riddles about familiar children's book plots. It was interesting that our latest trip to our public library, the children's section had a contest to see if you could name 12 book characters by their shadow outlines. Two of the outlines were from the same books that two of the riddles came from. Boogs was able to guess all of the shadows except for Madeline and he was able to guess all of these plot riddles except for Madeline. He knows his story character outlines and plots. The riddle he liked best in this book was the shortest one: "Good wood makes fake bad lad. Toy boy cries, lies. Nose grows." The illustrations are cute and give visual clues to the identity of the books. I drew characters from the stories mentioned in the book on some of the items of food in Boogs' lunch.

In the ELB lunchbox: salami, red/white ski hat carved on Babybel cheese, kiwi with pig pick, carrrots for the bunny with hummus, and pb&j mini sandwiches with drawings - moon, spiderweb, dog in basket, and bunny.

Snoopy and the Red Baron by Charles M. Schulz

Boogs likes Snoopy, Woodstock, and all of the Peanuts characters. This week he asked me to search Netflix for Peanuts cartoons. There weren't any but I did find this Snoopy book at the library. Snoopy hops on top of his doghouse and pretends it is his World War I Sopwith Camel airplane. The Sopwith Camel is a single seat British Fighter Biplane (yes, we did have to look it up). Snoopy tries his best to destroy the Red Baron's plane, but he keeps getting shot down. We watched THIS video of Snoopy in action on Youtube.

In the ELB lunchbox: Zbar tree trunk with okra leaves, Babybel moon, cheese Snoopy, almond butter & jelly doghouse/plane, WWI cut in radish slices on top of spinach & broccoli, and SNOOPY letter picks in mango.

This post is linked to:
Fun Food Friday

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.  

Lunches April 14th - 18th

Boogs' lunches are usually inspired by the books we read together. Story time is part of our daily bedtime routine. Boogs reads to me and then I read to him. I usually post his lunches once a week. Click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see lunches from previous weeks. We like to pack our lunches in ELBs and Laptop Lunchboxes.

Marley and the Great Easter Egg Hunt by John Grogan

Boogs really likes Marley stories. In the story, Marley and his family attend the town Easter Egg Hunt. The Mayor tells the crowd there will be a huge special egg, whoever finds it will be declared the winner of the Easter Egg Hunt. Marley tries his hardest to find eggs but each time he almost has one, a child comes by and snatches it up. Marley decides to look in more unusual places for eggs like the market, bakery, and the party supply store. Yikes, Marley leaves a wake of destruction in his path. He gets covered with streamers, confetti, yolks, and frosting. Marley looks like a giant Easter egg. Boogs really thought this story was cute.

In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Marley wrapped in streamers, boiled Easter egg, cheese eggs hidden in okra chips, kiwi egg, and salad with hidden tomato and carrot eggs.



 Fifi the Ferocious by Lucas Miller

Lucas Miller was a guest storyteller at Boogs' school this week. According to the kids, he was hilarious! After school, Boogs asked if we could go to our local library to see if he could find Fifi the Ferocious to share with me. Fifi is a cute little poodle who decides she is a ferocious hunter ready to attack her prey. When the door is accidentally left open, Fifi makes her move. Unfortunately, Fifi is not as ferocious as she thinks she is. Poor Fifi breaks some of her teeth when she tries to bite a turtle shell. Later she tries to attack a skunk and a porcupine. Things do not go well for Fifi and she soon returns home.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: pb&j Fifi with Chex Mix stick porcupine quills in her face, Chex Mix, cheese turtle, grapes, blackberries, and salad.

 
Spring Lunch

In the ELB lunchbox: carrots, hummus, orange, Zbar, GF pretzels, Babybel cheese, okra chips, and salami.

The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick

 

Victor is amazed by Houdini's magic tricks. He constantly tries to copy some of these tricks and often gets trapped inside trunks and closets, bumps into walls, and tries to hold his breath for long periods of time in the bathtub. Victor is able to meet Houdini in person and tell him about his love of magic. Houdini gives Victor his address and tells Victor to stop by and discuss magic with him. Victor arrives at Houdini's house on the day Houdini has died. Houdini's wife gives Victor a box with the initials EW on it. She tells Victor it has belonged to Houdini for years. Victor does not believe this was Houdini's box because of those initials. He disappointedly puts the box away and does not think of it for years. When Victor is an adult with children of his own he rediscovers his love of magic. After the story, Selznick has several pages of biographical information about Houdini.

In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese locked box sandwich, EW marshmallow, cheese lock, blueberries water for Houdini's water escapes, and salad.


Quick Colorful lunch

In the ELB lunchbox: ham, Zbar, veggies chips, pistachios, salad, strawberries, grapes, blackberries, and blueberries.


 
Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.