Sunny Day Playin'

Most of the ground is still covered in snow, and temperatures are generally pretty chilly, but there was some sun shining on our back patio this morning, which thankfully had been shoveled earlier and was quite dry. The sun was warming up the air so the kids & I headed out for a few minutes of fresh air.  The warmth gave us almost that free summer feeling; as you will see, Fynn went barefooted!

We busted out a tub of "chocolate dirt" that we had made earlier in Fall, and Rowan and I drove Lightning McQueen, Mack The Truck, and Red The Firetruck around in it. We also used the cars to make tracks in the snow.

Chocolate Dirt is a really fun sensory toy. It's mostly baking soda  and some cocoa powder, enough vegetable oil to give it a moist sand texture, and a sprinkle of glitter. It smells good, feels good and tastes terrible! We've had that same tub sitting outside with the lid since early fall and it's still good. As long as water doesn't get in it it should last even longer.

We also colored with chalk for the first time since Summer! Rowan and I drew a solar system together, and Fynn drew one of his own.  Fynn also made a model of Horsetooth Rock (a natural landmark here in Fort Collins) out of chocolate dirt.

These are planets he drew in the dirt.

The snow had been hardened by melting and freezing and Fynn was thrilled to walk on top of the snow instead of sinking into it.  However, the kids both wanted it to be more moldable so they could make snow planets. I told them I had a recipe for play snow and would they like to try it? "Oh yeah!" they said. So I got a salad tub from the kitchen and some baking soda, tea tree shampoo, peppermint oil and glitter and we mixed it all together.

Rowan and I tried to make a few planets, but the next thing they wanted to do was mix it with the chocolate dirt.  So they mixed and mixed, added snow and water, making "Hot Wash" and Hot Chocolate.

An orange kitty also came to visit us for the morning, but I failed to get a pic of him.
Cheers!
~Beth