This morning we celebrated Ada's 3rd birthday, which is today! Ada chose some photos to share with the group.  We saw pictures from when she was a newborn, when she turned 1, kissing and feeding a dolphin for her 2nd birthday (she told us how she was careful not to put her fingers in the dolphin's mouth but just dropped the fish inside). And we also read the first chapter of a book that Ada enjoys a lot: Penny and Her Doll. Later, during snack while we enjoyed mini, chocolate croissants from Christophe's, we finished reading the book.  

Today was our amazing field trip to Boulangerie Christophe!


At morning meeting, we discussed the logistics of our trip and brought up one of the objectives of the field trip: To learn more about food from bakers and chefs.  Teachers explained that we might get to see how they make the bread.  We asked what kinds of experiences children and parents have had with different kinds of bread.


Emilia: One time we made beer bread.  And Alex tasted the beer.
Eliza: What about raisin bread?
Emilia: Banana bread.
Lizanne: Croissants.
Melanie: What ingredients go in bread?
Lane: Maybe jelly or spinach.  My mom puts some sandwich in the oven.  And she has the mixing bowl and she sprinkle the flour on.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the pancake breakfast yesterday! We appreciate your support with this learning thread. We are excited for the field trip Monday as a way to expand our thinking around these concepts.

Olivia and Evelyn played some baseball:

While we were inside, Ada's birthday committee was hard at work - here's a sneak peak of their process:

Gigi showed Maren her binoculars and they used them to spy on the Tucker Room. Maren was delighted to spot her sister:

The friends got safari hats and headed to see fish, stingrays and frogs. The highlight was seeing the world's largest fresh water fish. Looking at the photo this morning Cannon exclaimed, "That's a BIG fish!" But with the next photo Ada proclaimed, "That's an even bigger fish!"  Later at the party, after cupcakes and ice cream there was a visit to the ape house where the children saw a mommy and baby gorilla. Thanks for sharing some highlights from the zoo birthday party! It's extra special since it was won through the Book Fair raffle - a perfect celebration for Cannon, the animal lover!!!

The birthday committee handed Cannon his gift, he walked around his candle 3 times, blew it out and we sang to him.

To end our celebration Eliza read one of Cannon's favorite books, "Ferdinand." It was a gift from his grandpa Bobby.

Later, during snack, everyone enjoyed yummy cupcakes! 

And in case you need more cute: here are some friends making an ice cream sandwich on the slide:

As a follow up to the tour of the kitchen we did a few weeks ago, we experimented with drawing some of the tools we've seen in the church kitchen.  Some objects we drew inspiration from: a spatula, a colander, a large pot, and a whisk.

Click the the gallery to see more drawings, plus details about who made it and their comments:

Today was our first Valentine's Day for delivering messages!  We asked the children after snack: WHY do we send messages to each other in paper bags on Valentine's Day?
Ada: It's about sharing.
Emilia: It's about passing out sweets!
Lane: Or cookies!
Emilia: Cookies are sweet.
Melanie: Why do we pass out sweets to our friends?
Ada: Because we love them.

Step 1: Knead and shape your dough. 

Step 2: Bake the dough for a brief 5 minutes.
Step 3: Spread the tomato sauce. 

Step 6: Cut peppers and add if desired.

Step 7: Bake for another 8 minutes.

Step 9: Take home to enjoy!

Some friends also drew their pizzas:

We used the digital magnifier to study foods up close. 

Ada, Cannon and Ellie make a plan with the animals...

Gigi builds a tall tower.  Later it got knocked down.  When Palmer helped her rebuild it, he asked, "Where do the small blocks go Gigi?"  Then the blocks kept falling off the top.  Palmer said, "Whoopsie daisy!", making Gigi smile and say, "That's funny."

Olivia helps Evelyn put on her yellow cape, then they sit down to make some messages.  After a while, they take the babies and go to "lie down", which is a ritual they often do while taking care of the babies.