And the best toys award for the summer go to.....

This summer was full of great sticks, rocks, plenty of mud puddles, and some great pine cones, but in the "toys we had to purchase department" our newly started collection of animal calls came in first place for best toys of the summer. 

Watch Saule using her buck call here!

It all started with a couple of turkeys that wandered into Nana and Pappy's gardens, and we ordered our first turkey call so Saule could communicate with them. Its hand held, easy to use, makes a variety of turkey sounds, and would probably attract a turkey if it was used correctly and quietly. Saule stalks them around the yard, shaking her gobbler and living in a world of wild things. Its all fun and games for the turkeys and her!

It was so much fun we also invested in two other calls, a deer buck call and a prey/fawn call 

All the calls are easy enough for Ursa to get a sound out. We have gotten endless entertainment out of them in the yard and forest for imaginative play, and living room for parades! We have yet to attract animals- well not real ones anyway. Each call invokes a different kind of fantasy play- you might find a wounded fawn, a flock of turkeys or even a bear!

The selection to be had of animal calls is huge, and a trip to the local sporting goods store revealed a entire range of "hunting" supplies beyond our wildest dreams that could be put to good use in our games. Hunting blinds for bird and squirrel watching, Camo suits that look just like cut grass, tree stands that make an instant and movable tree house, feeding stands to attract deer, salt licks for porcupines, coyote pee the possibilities are endless!

I highly recommend checking out this new and exciting line of "toys" for kids of almost any age, as they are very well made, and can continue to be used to bird/animal watching later on.

Watch Saule and Ursa in the woods here

Of course no game in the woods in complete without a trusty hunting dog! Or a good hiding place in the yard!

School was like a zoo today...

We usually go to the Copenhagen Zoo about once a week. Having the chance to visit so often is wonderful because it means we can really take the time to get to know the animals at a slower pace, rather than just rushing through to see them all in one day. Its an amazing home school resource and I don't see anyone else using this here. (Please tell me about how you use your zoo!)

Yesterdays visit we spent in the tropical area, which is an entire building that is open air and set up to give you and the animals a feeling of walking in a rain forest. There is no cage or glass between you and the critter (expect the alligators), so if you sit still and quiet you are often approached by large jungle fowl and sloths.

Saule testing out her butterfly wings in butterfly room. We did a study on silk production when she got these.

There were very few people at the zoo yesterday, so we were able to spread out our picnic blanket, take off all our layers of clothes, and put on our butterfly wings. I did some yoga. Ursa (almost 9 months) enjoyed having the freedom to crawl/cruise around where she liked, touch some plants and  the waterfall.  We had lunch, read books, took a nap, and did some worksheets.  But mostly we enjoyed being in the nature, and being able to sit long enough and quiet enough to really absorb it. We

These are the books we brought with us- all of them are rainforest themed.

We read this one "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth by Eric Carle      
to the sloths that were sitting just above us. Ursa had a little nap.

Time flys when you're having fun

What happened! They grew up! Ursa was born and suddenly we were no longer 3, but 4. Summer came and we spent it out doors, in Upstate NY, with hummingbirds buzzing, cool nights and hot days. We wallowed in our little stream and played trucks, until it dried up in late summer and the surrounding raspberry bushes provided ample distraction. It was one of those blissfully perfect times when the thought of spending time doing anything inside (blogging...) is almost sinful.
As summer drew to a close we had visits with family, In NY and Lithuania. We ate home cooked meals, and laughed. And then, like all good things, summer came to an end. For everything must have its season.

Our time in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

A picture is worth a thousand words as they say. So here are a few. Our time in Central America makes  some of the best memories of my life. We were all so happy. In love. Bonded. I would trade that time for anything. I am so happy we went. I am so happy to have carried Ursa and my big belly all around in the heat, and to have camped and hiked and swam through my pregnancy. To have enjoyed the food-lots of it. To sit and hold Saule in my lap, and look up at the monkey in the trees. To do yoga in the rain forest and feel one with the world and all the nature in it.  I am so happy no to remember- Its enough to get me through another cold Danish winter.

Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

Granada, Nicaragua

Belly Painting

Sloth

"...today was another fantastic day at the beach- we spent the day rolling around in the waves and enjoying the sun. we saw a sloth in a very low branch and got a good look at him and he got a good look at us with lazy eyes. we love this town, camping here, and saules is as happy as a flea (expect for her 39 bug bites that are driving her crazy today...)"

Our last day in Costa Rica

Saule learned how to swim while we were there!

Our tent set up

Kalvebod Faelled Vestamager

Give a kid a fish and you entertain him for a day; teach a kid to fish and you entertain him for a lifetime.

Imagine- just outside the hustle and bustle of the downtown wide open spaces, apple orchards, and tiny ponds. There is a place loaning (for free) nets and buckets and laminated ID pages filled with pictures of pond critters. The kids are going wild. Saule and I took off our shoes pulled up our pants, and waded in in search of water bugs, snails, frogs, and fish. The excitement in the kids eyes, the way they chased each other around the banks, got muddy, and shared their catch with us was fantastic! It reminded me of when I was little and used to play for hours in our pond in the yard. How much fun we had. 

That's what is happening today, and everyday at Kalvebod Faelled Vestamager. This wonderful park is a huge expanse of open space just a short peddle from the airport and the downtown. Fields, orchards, and ponds are left in their most natural, sometimes overgrown state leaving room for lots of waterfowl, birds, deer, and other animals. This is a birding hot spot, complete with guides, blinds, and other friendly birders!

There is a nature center "Naturcenter Vestamager" which has a fantastic array of exhibits about Danish wildlife and ecology, a natural playground built from tree limbs, a child size stork nest up a ladder, a chicken coup complete with about 2 dozen hens and chicks.  There is also a bee hive with a glass viewing window, a "fox den" complete with props, rooms filled with stuffed animals (real ones), and all of this is housed in the middle of an enormous field in a lovely open glass sided building. There is a scope set up with bird books nearby. 

The park is huge and flat and stretches as far as you can see. There is no way we could explore it all in just one day. So at Saule's request we are going back tomorrow.