Natalie's Songs Part 2

I found more of Natalie's songs while I was cleaning up the play room (which looks so nice now that we got rid of so many toys, moved some up stairs and bought new shelving for their craft stuff).  I haven't found Noah's songs yet so I can't post any of those.

Natalie's Song #4
Kookaburra is sick.
And then monkey comes through and says
What are you doing kookaburra?
And the kookaburra just sits there.
Do you want to go to the jungle exploring?
Do you want to go to the jungle exploring?
Do you want to go to the jungle exploring?
Do you want to go to the jungle exploring?
Do you want to go to the jungle exploring?
Do you want to go to the jungle exploring?
I know you are not happy.


Monkey is Sitting Up in a Tree by Natalie
And we don't know what he's doing.
But he is going to the Jump Zone.
And then at the Jump Zone he meets his friends
Kookaburra and Parrot.
And my song just began
But it's time to end.
Not really.


Explorer Jungle by Natalie
Coo coo meets his friend, Monkey.
Ooo, Ooo, Ahh, Ahh.
And then...
Alligator comes by and asks,
What are you doing in those trees?
I'm going to the Jump Zone.
Jumpy, jumpy jacks
Jumpy, jumpy jacks
Jumpy, jumpy jacks
Jumpy, jumpy jacks
And then the other doggie's friend comes by and asks,
What are you doing up in those trees?
I'm going to dinner with kookaburra.
I think I have to go.

Natalie's Songs

My kids have recently been making up songs and making Brian and I write them down as they sing which is tough because they sing too fast for us to write.  Their songs have been mainly about pirates.  Here are 3 of Natalie's songs.  I know they are going to be the next big kids' hits!

Song 1
I like gold.
I like gold so much that I wish I could get all the gold.
I'm a mighty pirate.
And I am a pirate so I do not brush my teeth.
I don't shower so I smell stinky.
I'm the captain of the ship.
I don't take a shower so I'm stinky.
I don't brush my teeth so they are green.
Then my song just began but it's time for it to end.
Bye, I have to drive the ship so
Argh mateys, bye!
I'm the captain of the ship.


Song 2
The gold is buried in the sand.
I know it's buried in the sand.
Ahoy mateys
Ahoy mateys
Ahoy mateys
I like the treasure and you come with me.
I'll flap my tail in the air when I get the treasure.
Ahoy mateys
You can't come with me.
Ahoy the other captain and the other ship.
They can come with us.
We can share the treasure.
My song just began.
I know I should take a shower
and brush my teeth they are all green and I'll get cavities.


Song 3
This is the song of Pirateland.
And the kookaburra and monkey and parrot were afraid of the pirates.
And then he hugged his friends.
And his friends hugged him because they were scared.
And they said it's okay and they made him their pet.

Pony Rides

Another day we decided to take N2 and Charlie for pony rides.  We thought that we were getting 3 ponies that the kids could ride for a half hour.  We pulled up at the farm we were supposed to be at and had to talk to the man mowing the lawn.  He went over and saddled up one pony (first had to brush it down) and then took Natalie for 2 laps around the farm house.  Then it was Noah's turn and finally Charlie's turn.  They each rode around again and then the time was up.  Oh well, they all had fun but it wasn't what any of us expected!

Fishing

One day on our vacation Grandpa took N2 fishing.  We went first to Frankfort to fish in Lake Michigan.  After a little bit it started drizzling.  We hadn't caught anything.  We decided to leave and try the pier in Beulah at Crystal Lake.  By that point N2 were a little tired of fishing-they had to be patient and there wasn't enough doing of anything.  But Grandpa did catch a fish not long after arriving at Crystal Lake.  Then it started raining more so we called it a day.  Grandpa did take Charlie fishing the next day and they caught much more.  Must have just been the day we went!

Sleeping Bear Dunes

On Tuesday of our vacation we headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes so that we could climb one of the dunes.  We stopped first at the visitor's center so that everyone could see what was there (N2 had been there on Sunday with Grandma and Grandpa).  The visitor's center was a madhouse!  There was a ranger convention going on so there were tons of rangers but there were also lots of people.  After a short visit there, we headed to the Dune Climb.  This was one big dune to climb!

 N2 climbed up and then down and then up again.  Everyone made it to the top of the one dune but then some of us went further.  Natalie and I made it up the next dune just to find out that there were more dunes in front of us.  We wanted a view of Lake Michigan (we later found out that it was 2.25 miles to the lake).  Natalie and I went back but Brian, Noah, and Dan went a little further.  Dan, Paul and Brian went back another day and hiked all the way to the lake.  On the way back down the dune, there were gorgeous views of Glen Lake.

We played in the sand at the bottom of the dune after people climbed back down.  They had fun burying Grandpa!

Traverse City Children's Museum

We went to Beulah, Michigan for a week with Brian's family.  His parents rented a house with 4 bedrooms for all of us to stay in.  The first day that Lisa and her family were there, it was raining so we headed to Traverse City to the Children's Museum.  Their whole museum is nautical themed.  They have a boat that kids can steer and work the engine.  They had a sailboat that kids could hoist the sails on and turn the rudder.  They had a projection of a creek with fish that you could step on and the fish would dart away.  They had a huge water table where kids could set up different ways for the water to go and try to turn the paddle wheel.  Plus so much more.  It was a little small but other than that was really neat!

4th of July

We went down to Glenview for the 4th of July to attend the parade.  We had a small piece of curb partly in the shade (we got more space once the people next to us moved their chair).  The kids really just wanted candy and weren't too excited by all the other people walking who didn't have candy (admittedly there were a lot of politician groups walking and other groups that weren't exciting).  I did enjoy the 2 bagpipe groups (Megan held her ears for both of the groups), the Jesse White tumblers, the Bolivian dancers (because who knew that Bolivia celebrates the 4th of July with us) and the floats that made bubbles.  I didn't get any great photos.  As we were walking home, the kids had a parade back to Mom and Dad's house.

We stayed for lunch and then the kids played hide and seek around the garden afterwards.  We decided not to stay for the fireworks because my kids seemed tired and the saw fireworks the night before in Wauconda.