Hummingbird Festival

     For a few years now, Ben has heard on the radio about the Hummingbird Festival in Holly Springs, Mississippi.  It always sounded like a neat thing to go to, and with the girls a bit older now, we decided to go.  We also invited Hannah and Ragan to go with us.  After eating at Shoney's in Greenwood, we headed to the festival.  The festival was extremely educational with live animal shows, hummingbird viewing and banding, nature trails, wagon rides and a kid's nature tent. 

 "Good Ole, Down-home Mississippi Snakes

Terry Vandeventer, Herptologist

The first thing we did was see the live animal show called "Good Ole, Down-home Mississippi Snakes." It was so informative. We learned that there are no snake bite deaths ever recorded in the state of Mississippi, but a snake bite would probably put you in the hospital for a couple of days. He showed us about 6 different snakes that you would find in Mississippi.

The Kids' Nature Activity Tent was pretty neat.  They had all kinds of hands on activities for the kids to do.  All the girls got their face painted too!  Well... Ella got her hand painted.  =)

 

 "Exotic and Invasive Animals"

Bob Tarter

The next live animal show we saw was "Exotic and Invasive Animals."  He showed some birds, some snakes, an armadillo and more! Lots of really neat facts were shared about each of these animals.

Watch out Hannah!

    This part of the festival was by far the coolest.  The Hummingbird Banding Tent is where they measured, weighed, checked the fat, and banded the hummingbirds.  The hummingbirds are banded so that they their migration can be tracked for research purposes.  There are places all over the country and South America that capture and band the hummingbirds.  It is painless, harmless and doesn't bother the birds one bit to have the tiny, almost weightless, band on their leg.  Hannah and I got to hear the heartbeat of one of the birds.  Their hearts beat 1,200 times a minute.  It sounded like a little vibration in its chest.  Hannah also was allowed to hold a hummingbird and release it back into nature.  The hummingbird just sat in her hand after the lady let go of it for a few seconds, before the lady bumped Hannah's hand to urge it to fly away.   

The hummingbirds waiting their turn.

 

 Getting measured

 The band on its leg

 The hummingbird on the left is the one that Hannah held.  The workers said that the bird had a lot of molt, the most they've ever seen.

We had a great lunch... cheeseburger, chips, cookies and a drink... I had barbecue nachos... then later we treated ourselves to snow cones from this cute snow cone trailer.  Yummy!

   There was a two story, beautiful house in the middle of the grounds called Davis House.  When you walked to the back of the house, there was a room full of windows looking out over a garden.  There were several hummingbird feeders and traps for us to view the hummingbirds in action.  Never saw so many in my life. 

 On top of all the educational things going on, there was also arts and crafts vendors.  Some very unique, creative things... especially Biggy Piggy (which carried felt stuffed animals) and this cool praying mantis water hose holder.

It really was a wonderful day for all.  We finished it off by eating at Cracker Barrel in Batesville.  Couldn't have asked for better weather or better behavior! We even saw a beautiful rainbow on our way home! 

Book Report Parties

Hannah and Ragan just finished their first book reports of this year.  Hannah had to read The Secret Garden, and Ragan read Pippi in the South Seas.  After they both finished and turned in their book reports.  We had little parties where we watched the movies. 

 The first party was The Secret Garden party.  We had just had popcorn with different seasonings and blue raspberry lemonade. I also taught the girls how to make tissue paper flowers. 

 After the party was over, I put Ella down for a nap and then went and took a shower while Chloe was playing.  When I got out of the shower, I found this in our back door.  Too funny!  I think she enjoyed the movie!

 Next was the Pippi Longstocking party.  We decided earlier in the month that we wanted to invite some of Hannah and Ragan's friends over, so they can see where they have school.  Their friends and their friends' parents have been curious about what all goes on, so we had an open house.  Hannah's friends Anna Catherine, Mauri Beth, Elizabeth, and Macon and Ragan's friend Gabby came over.  They were all super sweet girls, and I believed they had a good time.  I made mini cookies 'n cream cupcakes upon request.  The Pippi toppers were just for fun.  We also had some orange punch, popcorn with seasonings, jalapeno Cheetos (Ragan's favorite... I think they look like Pippi's pig tails too), and some Munchies chips. Although we did not finish the movie because of busy schedules, we did get to do the special activity that I planned.  In the book that Ragan read, Pippi hides her friends' Christmas presents all over the house.  So I did the same.  I hid little necklaces wrapped in Christmas paper all over the house.  They had a little hard time finding them (even though the hiding spots were super easy), but they were really excited about finding their presents!  It was great fun to watch!

Chloe was so funny with these big girls.  She was the center of attention most of the time, and she ate it up.  She was not shy at all and was a great hostess.  She loved showing the house, and boy, was she upset when the party was over.  It was so devastating to her.  

First Day of Dance Lessons

Finally, the day came for Chloe to start dance lessons.  We signed her up about a month ago and bought her practice outfits and shoes.  She has been dying to put them back on ever since trying it all on, but I didn't want them to get worn out or torn up before even using them. So, I made her wait until her actual lessons to wear them again.  She was soooo ready!  I took her in and introduced her to her teacher Mrs. Marcy.  She had no problem leaving me even though there were 2 or 3 other girls crying because they didn't want their moms to leave.  Mrs. Marcy showed her where to put her dance bag, and then they all sat in a circle together.  I snuck out at this point, and Ella and I went grocery shopping.  I came back to get Chloe a little before class was over, so I could watch a bit and maybe snag a picture or two.  Unfortunately, Ella wasn't having it.  I walked in and sat in the back where the other children were quietly waiting their turn.  I sat down, and Ella spotted her sister.  She wanted to go join her so bad.  I put Ella in my lap to watch Chloe dance, and Ella let out one of her blood curdling screams that only she knows how to do.  All eyes on Ella.... and me.  Instantly I walked out, and as I was sneaking out the door, I heard Chloe, who was front and center in front of Mrs. Marcy, tell her, "That's my baby sister." Mrs. Marcy nodded and with a smile said, "Yes, that is your baby sister." On the way home, Chloe talked and talked about all the little things she learned.  She got most excited when she told me they had danced to "RAPUNZEL MUSIC!!!"  I can't wait to see her first show!  Hopefully Ella won't try to be the center of attention then!

Field Trip: Winterville Mounds

As the Browns and I have been studying Pilgrims and Indians in history for the past few days, I decided to try to find some place for us to go on a field trip that is related to Native Americans. After talking to Ben and G-Paw about it, they told me there are some Indian mounds outside of Greenville. I looked it up, got some information on it, and planned a trip! I told the girls that it might not be the coolest thing they have ever since, but it would be neat and would be an opportunity to see something they had never seen before. After school today, we all piled up in the car, grabbed some Mickey D's and headed to the mounds.

 First thing we did was visit the little museum with Native American artifacts. 

 The girls liked picking out with pottery was their favorite.

 Ella loves RAAAAgan!

 Ragan insisted I take a picture of this map in case we got lost.

 Love this group shot of them!

 Yes, I know Ella's pants are falling off!

 Right before I got smacked with the toy twinkle toe shoe.

 She's getting so big!

 Getting ready to make the trek up all those steps!

 The Brown girls on the summit!  Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!

 Making grass rings while enjoying the fall breeze

 The bridge to the little museum

Probably shouldn't be doing that, buuuut..... oh well.

After getting back to the museum, the director of the mounds showed us a little video and told us about a few festivals that were coming up.  We then made a couple stops by Sonic and Indianola Pecan House to end our outting for the day.  Super nice day for a field trip!