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One Saturday morning when Mama had to work, I happened to stumble across a crazy cool sounding event near our house. Just down the street and down the hill at the Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake, they just so happened to be hosting the "Native Plants & Prairies Day." The advertisement said "kids activities, dancing, and Mo the Buffalo." I'd never seen a bison before, and you guys hadn't either, so we went to check it out! I figured it would be cool, and thought it might occupy your attention for an hour.
Little did I know that we would spend pretty much the whole day- just the three of us- exploring nature and the natural heritage of our land!
The first major thing that caught your eye, after we made pipe cleaner butterfly rings, was "The Snake Lady." You could get up close and personal with Native Snakes- we were all pretty fascinated with the Rattler- and even pet a corn snake!
Then we stumbled by the Butterfly Guy where we saw tons of cool (dead) butterflies and could pet a handful of (live) caterpillars:
Then we had a quick picnic by the lake:
...got our faces painted (Julia you got a bumblebee, and Aidan, you got Darth Vader!)
We then found the crafting area: Aidan- you discovered how much you liked painting with Shaving Cream/Finger Paints on a plexi glass board. You liked this so much, that you forgot about the Popsicle you had just purchased. We put it back in the freezer while you painted!
Julia, you chose to eat your popsicle first instead.
One popsicle done, and then we had two artists on the scene. They had a little craft where you could paint a flower pot or a bee hive. Julia, you loved painting these little wooden things a LOT.
Then, Aidan, you decided you wanted your popsicle. And Julia -who at this point had no popsicle- very sneaky and wisely, cozied up to her dear brother, plead her case, and got some very generous shared licks.
But not too many all at once...
With the frozen treats all done, both of you got back to work on your painting projects. Julia, you made 2 more flower pots, and Aidan, you got a little more creative with your colors and painting methods. It was very exciting to see both of you so interested in art!
We put the art on pause for a moment to watch the Native American tribal dancing. You both were very interested in the dancing, even if you both ditched sitting next to me to sit next to some slightly older kids, who welcomed you to their bench without question.
Finally you rejoined me with many smiles and giggles and stories. Aidan, you told me that for your marbles you wanted a head-dress...a blue one! Julia, you liked the instruments and the dancing too, but eventually you lost interest and went back to your passion project of the day: painting bowls and beehives.
We learned about dancing to the 4 elements: earth, sky, water, and wind.
Aidan, you too took your leave of the performance to do some painting.
...and then back to more wild and more and more painting:
It was at this point that you, Aidan, and a few other boys got a bit more... "hands on."
..things then got a bit more 'natural' as we stripped down and went down to the waterside.
On our way home we stopped for some honey sticks from the Honeybees...
