My Little Pony

Princess is a huge My Little Pony fan. There's the new TV show, My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. And in a clever marketing scheme, Build-a-Bear has two of the most popular characters available to build. Princess' favorite is Rainbow Dash. Of course, we had to head out to the mall.

I see lots of creative pony play in the future.

Scavenger Hunt

You are probably aware that we go to Walt Disney World every year. It has never been a surprise and we  always have a countdown going, anxiously awaiting our next trip. We've considered Disneyland a few times, but always go back to Disney World, because the price isn't that much different, but the parks sure are. Well, the Lizard King earned free hotel nights and free airfare, so our trip is practically free! How could we not go to Disneyland?!

This time, we decided to make it a surprise. We began searching for a fun way to surprise Princess. There are a lot of ideas out there, but Princess loves a good mystery. We decided on a scavenger hunt with a puzzle.

I created the poster board puzzle and LK cut it into pieces. Then I came up with some poetic clues. Princess likes rhyming and I did my best. Here are the clues.

1

You walked into the room and what did you see?

A piece of a puzzle with the name Akee.

She could be found anywhere, yes that’s what I said, 

But there is one certain room she would lay her head.

2

A place for a Princess, where flowers grow inside,

Could this be the place where the next piece will hide?

Are you here? Did you find the room?

Look for the flower with the biggest bloom.

3

You go up, you down down, have you noticed the light?

If you do you might find something colored so bright.

You might need some help to reach this so high,

Perhaps Mommy or Daddy can hold you up toward the sky.

4

There is a room that’s intended purpose was to dine, 

but we made it a place where imagination can shine.

You are welcome to dress up, you can always dress down,

Open the treasure chest where you can find a gown.

5

You can wash them and dry them, you can hang them about,

This room is a room that we could not do without.

Open the door and look inside,

This place is a warm spot for the next piece to hide.

6

Go up, wait, go down to the room with the strainers, 

Then look in the place where we keep the containers.

It could be inside or maybe on top,

Keep looking and looking, you may have to hop.

7

Go toward the place where Santa Claus comes,

it’s warm and it’s cozy and its fan loudly hums.

Here you will find a small doggy bed,

Search around this spot for something red.

8

It’s big and it’s white, and was built with great care.

It lives in the same room as hockey with air.

You will find a closet that used to have games,

Towels can be found there, Mommy exclaims.

9

Now turn to the right one hundred eighty degrees,

Then walk forward eight steps, do it with ease.

Find the stand near your drums, look inside the book,

There you will find the last clue, take a look.

10

That’s just about it, you are nearly done.

But wait, can you tell me? Are you having fun?

The next piece is a scramble that you have to find,

It’s in the only room downstairs without a blind. 

Then I shot video of Princess doing the scavenger hunt. Sadly, it won't properly upload for me to post here. :(

I'll post pics soon from our weekend in Disneyland!

P.S. Akee is Princess' aunt, my sister.

New Game in Town

Skylanders Giants is the current number one game in our house. Both Princess and the Lizard King are hooked. While I am not one to play those kinds of video games (I'm more of an Animal Crossing kind of a gal), I totally see the attraction. It is a really cool concept!

Not only does it come with the game, it also comes with "The Portal of Power" and three Skylanders. Each Skylander has a different power and element. They have their own individual attacks. You need different elements to accomplish tasks that can only be done with that element. Additional Skylanders can be purchased separately and new ones are being released. You place your Skylander of choice on the Portal of Power and then play as that character in the game.

LK's first plan was to purchase one of each element to allow access and abilities in all areas of the game world. Now he is adding on to that. The really cool thing is that you are not limited to just playing the video game on your gaming system (and it's available on just about any gaming system), you can use the codes that come with the figures to play online.

Princess has totally gotten into all of it and recently decided that she wanted to create her own YouTube Channel and make Skylanders videos. So far she's made two. Check them out! If you'd "like" or comment on her YouTube page, Princess would be tickled. And if you subscribed to her channel, she would be over the moon. :) Thanks!

CM Again

Yes, we went to the Children's Museum again. This visit was quite artistic.

I'm certain we'll be back again soon.

Getting Crafty

Princess and I spent a good portion of the day crafting.

Princess made a clothespin snowman.

And we made a selection of Perler Bead items, including a couple creepers (it's a Minecraft thing).

What have you been crafting lately?

Happy Halloween!!

This year Princess dressed as Disney's newest princess . . . Merida from the movie Brave. She wanted to wear makeup this year and I was happy to oblige. I even added freckles that I think came out pretty well, even though this photo didn't. I really need to start using my camera again. *sigh* The Lizard King says that, with those freckles, Princess looks exactly like him when he was her age. Yes, LK used to be a red head. 

Love all those red curls!

 Princess' best friend, Blue-Eyed Boy...

 Our close friends who are back from Florida  . . . hopefully to stay!

Here I am with my best friend. Unfortunately, I have no pics of LK.

 As she does every year, here is Princess' note to the candy fairy.

Yes, my friends, she still believes and I don't see it ending any time soon. I guess I must be really good at the fairy thing. I hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!!!

Art

I recently came across several drawings that Princess has done. We have so many of these and I thought a great place to save and share them would be right here!

Princess & me:

Snivey (a Pokemon) eating grass:

 Alligator on rock by the water:

 Bat flying by barn in the rain:

 Ant carrying a big giant berry up a hill:

Princess and me:

 Have you seen the Disney Channel movie, Lemonade Mouth? This is the band.

 Happy music:

 Drums on stage:

I know that I'm the mom, but I think she's pretty darn talented!

LiG Fun!

The highlight for us of the LIFE is Good Unschooling Conference was the talent show. Princess was inspired to dance . . .

. . . and perform a comedic puppet show, featuring a tiger and a pig.

I think standup comedy may be in her future.

Sonic Spelling

I've mentioned before that, as unschoolers, we don't do lessons. Not doing lessons doesn't mean not learning. Princess found "Amazing Sonic Scene Creator", in many versions, online for free. She spent a good part of the day yesterday working on it.

As you can see there is a lot of spelling involved and typing, too. There were some words that Princess didn't know how to spell and figured out or asked me. I'm certain that she is learning countless other things, as well, while working on this.

 And of course, lots of imagination and fun. Is there any better way to learn? 

Knights, Castles and Dragons

Knights, Castles and Dragons is one of the classes that Princess chose to take this year at Village Home. We have three terms, so the kids get a full 10 weeks to explore each item: term 1, knights; term 2, castles; and now in term 3, dragons. Classes meet weekly for one hour. In the last class they made dragons out of clay. Princess' dragon doesn't breathe fire, it breathes hearts! :)

Girly Playdate

Most often Princess has playdates with her best friend, Blue-Eyed Boy. They have the best times together, incorporating common interests (like Pokemon, Lego NinJago and Star Wars) into their play. While they are the best of friends, playdates with girly friends, while different, are so much fun, too!

Happy Friday!! Wishing you all a playfully fun weekend . . .