Fairy Houses and Flower People

Well, we are in the wilderness right now, so it seemed appropriate to do some wildernessy things with the kids. I have to admit that I get a little bored with the wilderness, unless I have some kind of project or goal. Like, exploring a place I don't think someone has been or climbing an impossibly hard mountain. I really am a city girl at heart. I probably get more excited about a street packed with stores and restaurants and even a burnt out building or two than I do about a gorgeous mountain vista. So, this year, I've been trying to learn what all these wildflowers are that I've been seeing for over thirty years now (yeah, about time, huh?). It has been very fun, but a lot harder than I thought it would be. Oh well, I like a challenge.

So I saw somewhere some craft making flower people and that was kinda fun.

This one looks like it belongs in the tropics somewhere, what with that fringy skirt and Carmen Miranda headpiece.

Nice face.

Then I found some idea about making fairy houses and this one was genius! I could make the wilderness look like a city of some sort and the kids could collect stuff and help me build them. I thought we would all have fun doing this one. However, a two year old doesn't have much of an attention span and I didn't exactly bring a diaper bag with me into the woods. I noticed some strange behavior from Isabella and immediately sensed that it was time for a poop. I asked her if I was right and she confirmed my suspicions.

(See our little fairy house on the right?)

So then, we had a true wilderness adventure...Isabella's first poop in the woods. I was especially proud about this because she isn't potty trained, but she cooperated really well. And it made my quarter mile walk back to the house much more pleasant.

Before we left, I got a picture of Bastien with our house and told him we would come back again without Isabella. I think he was secretly thrilled that it would just be us two, but I don't know ...he sure loves his sister. Witness...

This never fails to melt my heart. Funny side note, they have been trying to get me to let them sleep together. I tried it once and Isabella just kept screwing around and I had to put her in the Pack N Play eventually. A few nights later, they tried again, and it was so cute hearing Bastien try to talk Isabella into behaving so it would work out. Of course, she just can't stay still and she really is the troublemaker of the two - so it didn't work out again. But Bastien's disappointment was really endearing. He is such a sweetheart. On the other hand, she just thinks everything he does is the coolest. It's like having a little shadow for Bastien, she has to do everything he does. Luckily, he usually has a lot of patience for it. So I'm glad then he had me to himself later... Here's the fairy house we made...

In the directions I found online, you aren't supposed to use living things (flowers, etc), just already dead stuff. I'm sorry, but when you are in a place that is miles and miles of this stuff and you see that the flowers only last a few days, you feel it is your duty to give them a starring role in a fairy house. Not such a bad way to go. And I think the fairies will appreciate the added color.

I got asked a lot of questions about fairies today that I was not prepared to answer. Are there male fairies? Do fairies laugh? Can fairies swim? How big are they? Do bugs eat fairies? And the kicker...are they real? Well, I just had to wing it.

By the way, this fairy house had the added benefit of being seaside...

I don't know if you can see it on the right, but that's some pretty prime property. Bastien felt the need to take a dip in the "sea" so I told him to take off his pants so they wouldn't get wet. I guess he thought I meant underwear too, so it was a pretty funny sight. Wish I had taken a picture of that.