Happy kids!

Here are two happy kids!  My wonderful friend Jen's youngest girl, Hanna, and Caleb enjoyed being together after not seeing each other for a while.  They love playing on her swingset in the backyard.  We hadn't been over for piano lessons in over a month while we let Jen recuperate from her surgery.  We are so thankful that she is feeling better!

 One of the first things the kids wanted to see at Jen's were the kittens.  I have known Jen for almost 30 years and it seems like she always has some cute little kittens around! Believe it or not, at one point in my life, I had one of her kittens as my pet, Frankie. Jen helped the mama cat deliver these kittens...she never ceases to amaze me!

 A few days later, we had our next gathering of our Little House on the Prairie group.  This book was so much fun, we had two meetings full of activities.  Our group activity was organized by Laurie, who taught us all about the Pony Express.  She explained how it started out in St. Joseph, Missouri, and ended in Sacramento, California.  She explained to us that it cost $5.00 to send a letter through the Pony Express, so not very many people could even afford the service!

 She set up a miniature Pony Express trail in the backyard, with a bag full of letters that needed to be delivered to various stations.

 Different kids were spread out around the stations helping to deliver the mail.  I think the moms enjoyed watching this activity as much as the kids did!

 Through Marilyn, I have had the pleasure to get to know Kim Medina and her two sons, Reuben and Isaac.  They are such a pleasure to be around, and fit right in with our group.  They love to play cowboys!

 Inside each letter, was a handwritten note, courtesy of our resident novelist, Laurie, and the letters were hilarious!  Sadly, I don't have a picture of any of those!

 Marilyn also taught us all about some of the simple machines/tools that Pa used in the story.  Here she is showing us why Pa used a wedge when he was cutting wood for the house that he built.

 She also explained to them why there are grooves in a screw and how that helps it to keep things together.

 Kim Medina taught the older kids how to make lots of fun designs with string, like the cat's cradle games that Mary and Laura played in the book.  Dylan and Gracie really got the hang of it quickly.  They both carried around string with them for the next couple days trying to come up with new tricks.

 Laurie showed them even more tricks that she remembers, like overalls and bananas.

 My activity was to play cowboys and Indians, and make our own little tepees to go with them.  We looked up various Indian symbols to use as their designs.

I just love these times we have together, because the kids learn so much from the unique talents that each of the moms bring to our gatherings.  Looking forward to On the Banks of Plum Creek, our next book!