Discovery Camp with Mahaska Co. Conservation

I signed the kids up to attend Discover Camp with Mahaska County Conservation.  The camp was for kids ages 5 & under, and since Scott was going to be out of town the whole week for work, I figured it would be a fun thing that will make the time when he's gone go by a little faster!  And since we were outside I could carry Nicolas on my back most of the time and he would still be happy.  Unfortunately, I did not feel good all week, the kids were crazy maniacs and had huge temper tantrums at night and would not go to sleep, and my house was a big huge mess by the end of the week.  But camp was fun.

The first day of camp the kids talked about land. 

Looking to see what kinds of bugs they can find inside the hula hoop

Eating "dirt"

 We hiked down to an area with a lot of fossils, and the kids got to dig.  I let Nicolas run around, and I got a nice long scratch on my leg from a dead tree branch.

Laurel is digging for fossils.

 All the kids were supposed to find something from nature to bring as show and tell on the second day.  Laurel and Kyler (the kid I babysit) found acorns for their bags.

Laurel showing off her show and tell item.  I have discovered that although she is way ahead of the game in vocabulary and learning, she is definitely a 3-year-old when it comes to sitting quietly in a circle listening to other people.

 The theme for day 2 was "Air."  They made binoculars, decorated kites, tried to fly a kit, and decorated their camp shirts.

Laurel watching a bird through the binoculars she made

Kyler using his binoculars

all the kids eating popcorn and listening to a book about flying kites

Everyone's nicely decorated shirts

 The final day the theme was "Water."  They drew on river mats, hiked down to the pond and looked at wiggly things in the pond scum, then got to play in the sprinkler.

Laurel had fun drawing fish, and even more fun erasing everything.

All the kids at camp

Kyler did not even hesitate to rip off his shirt and run into the water.

I put Nicolas into his swim trunks as well because I thought he might enjoy the water.  Turns out, he loves it, and isn't at all afraid to stick his face in the spray and get wet!

Laurel was really excited about the water, but when it came down to it, never really ran into the spray and was hardly wet.  I guess she inherited her mother's aversion to getting her face wet.