Getting into the Swing of Things

As you know we are in week 1 of Camp Mom . I realized, that for me to really make this thing work. I need to set up some more "routine activities". My goal is to get help while the kids are keeping active and having fun.  I decided we needed a morning circle time to keep us focused. I found a good morning song to kick off the mornings.  I plan to add more songs, as well as a story time element. I would also like to incorporate a Bible story and memory verse. I am building slowly to this. Here is the song we are listening to each day:

Good Morning song

I think baby girl likes the song the most. She dances like she is in some kind of competition. My little man sings so loud and continues to sing through out the day. My big girl is working hard to memorize the words. It reminds me of what a sweet and diverse blessing they each are. I am enjoying having them all home together.

Monday morning after wrapping up our morning time and making pb&j and peanut butter and honey sandwiches (my personal favorite) we went to Schönbrunn Tiergarten, the Zoo in Vienna. We were working on Nature badges. The kids each picked an animal and I made sheets with a picture and questions for each one. They picked out Horse and Panda. While we were at the zoo we focused on those animals, while taking note of interesting things we saw other animals doing. 

We saw a sleeping bat up close. This is actually a pretty big deal as I have a (now small) phobia of birds. My son wanted to go into the rainforest area. This is something I normally avoid, and run through when forced to go. I am trying hard not to pass on my "weird issues" to my kids so I agreed we could go in. I was determine to discover and focus on something new, neat and positive while enclosed in an area with live free flying birds. 

As funny as it sound I actually missed and was excused from at least 6 classes in High School due to my phobia. I have worked myself through it all over the years by gradually forcing myself to get closer to birds. So far the most impressive thing I have accomplished was not freaking out when a man placed a macaw on my head in Turkey!  I actually have a picture of that somewhere. I was again trying to hold it all together for my little boy. He was 10 months old and curious about the pretty bird so I went closer not expecting to be a part of a bird photo session!!!!

Anyways back to the zoo.....while in the rainforest we saw a bat sleeping a few feet above us. I was so shocked how cute it actually was. He looked like a baby teddy bear wrapped up in a burrito!  I took a picture, but it just looks like a leaf so I won't post it.Once we made it back outside we saw some ducks working together to build a nest. That was also pretty cool. 

I let the kids ride horses, and we played at the playground for a while. 

    

Our last stop was to see Fu Hu. He is the baby Panda. The second panda baby born in the zoo since we have lived here. Once they are weaned they are sent back to China. Fu Hu is scheduled to leave in a month, after his 2nd birthday in August. Last time we were at the zoo a couple of weeks ago he was certainly not weaned so I am curious how that is really going to work out! This time we saw him, but not his mom.  

I always enjoy a trip to the zoo. It makes it more fun when the kids feel like they are learning something as well. They were excited to look for clues to learn about the animals. My oldest can read, so for her she really gets something out of the hunt. They were proud of themselves for earning stars towards their nature badges. 

I think this Camp Mom stuff is going to leave all of us with some great memories. That night they had Dad Camp while mom had girls night out! I really enjoyed my time reading on my Kindle on the U-Bahn and meeting a friend for ice cream!

Be sure and check back often as we get further into Camp Mom. Next week I will be revealing a secret to my readers...don't want to miss that!