Quarantine Science and Nature

We went on a nature walk the other day around Huntington Lake. We saw a mama duck with her babies...

 And this tree filled with large bird nests.

 They are double crested cormorants...

 And they make the weirdest gutteral noises!

At home we spied on our baby hummingbirds. See their 2 beaks?

They're getting big!

We also did some indoor art with glue and food coloring.

Before...

And after! Sort of cool suncatchers!

Then we made lava lamps in Mom's wine glasses using water, oil, food coloring, and alka seltzer.

Very cool!

When the reaction was all over we mixed it up to see if it would separate again. I thought mine looked like a yummy frozen drink. 

I had to make a Rube Goldberg machine with 4 different mechanisms for school. I made one that dropped a straw into my cup. Tommy helped. 

Mother's Day

We didn't get a lot of pictures from Mother's Day, but we had a fun time and made sure Mom felt loved. We planted her an herb garden that she wanted with basil, cilantro, and cucumbers for pickling. We transplanted our tomato plant into the garden too. 

Then we gave each other pedicures. Here's Tommy soaking his toes. 

Then there were snuggles while we watched Back to the Future. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Another Virtual Camp-In

For the district Virtual Camp-In last weekend I got to work on the cooking requirements for my first class rank. I had to plan the menu and do all the shopping. 

We used our camping mess kits and had quesadillas for lunch...

which I grilled!

For dinner we had burgers. Dad helped me shape them and grill them correctly.

They were super yummy!

Even Tommy liked them!

Tommy's den was recognized at the Zoom meeting for the achievements they've been earning. Since they can't present awards in person, this is how they chose to acknowledge them. 

We roasted s'mores over the fire pit after the campfire skits and videos on FaceBook Live. 

Virtual camping: accomplished!

Squirrel Bench

For my Mammal Studies merit badge I had to do a project that would benefit a mammal. I decided to make a squirrel feeding bench. Dad helped me plan, and taught me how to use the miter saw. 

Measure twice, cut once!

Not bad!

It turned out pretty cute.

We stuck a stick in the middle and put some corn on it. Now we wait...

No squirrels seemed to want the corn, so after a week we traded it for some birdseed. Success! So cute seeing it perched on the little bench!

Nature is Pretty Cool

Although COVID-19 is currently our most hated part of nature, even with our styling new masks, the rest of it is pretty cool. 

Check out the hummingbird nest in our backyard. 

Hi mama bird!

And we were rebels and went down to the closed beach last night to watch the bioluminescent waves. 

When the waves crashed hard enough, the tops of them would be bright blue...

And sometimes it would spread across the whole wave. Pictures don't do it justice. It was really cool, worth breaking the law for. :)

Animals to the Zoo Skit

My Scoutmaster asked Tommy and me to do a skit for the upcoming camp-in event. This is what we came up with. 

May The Fourth Be With You

May 4th is unofficial Star Wars day, and we've been celebrating for quite a few years now. Mom gave me Princess Leia hair buns, and I made Baby Yoda sugar cookies. 

Tommy constructed a full Mandalorian suit out of cardboard. Pretty sweet! 

My Scout leader had an Instagram trivia contest, and we won a Lego Star Wars set! We also got our picture up on the troop Insta page. May the 4th Be With You!

Even More Quarantine Coooking

Our rolling pin and pasta maker have been getting a workout during quarantine! This time we attempted homemade gnocchi with gorgonzola and fontina cream sauce. 

It was a serious pain in the rump to make, but we think we learned from our mistakes, and it tasted pretty good, so we may attempt it again. We'll see...

For dessert Kat made boston cream pie cupcakes, all parts from scratch. 

Including the custard in the middle! The chocolate ganache frosting was soooo yummy!

Then last weekend we made homemade ravioli. 

It wasn't too tough, though we should have cooked them a little longer, and we did make them a bit too big. But the filling was super yummy. We'll definitely attempt this one again. 

Earth Day Hike

On Earth day we went on a hike through the local urban forest. 

The wildlife was out in full force! This little lizard was just catching some sun...

And this squirrel dropped the nut it was holding while it was staring at Kat. 

She tried to give it back, and they had some pretty silly interactions. 

The flowers were blooming...

And we almost stepped on this guy! Only a gopher snake, but still!

We also saw more lizards, hummingbirds, hawks bunnies, ducks, coots, and egrets. Check it out!

At home, we had a little more wild kingdom going on in a tree in our cul-de-sac. Apparently it's swarming season for the bees, and as they migrate the queen gets tired. She lands on a branch to rest, and all the bees cover her to protect her. It's a pretty crazy sight! They left after 48 hours, and left behind a small, white honeycomb. Pretty cool! You can see the bees buzzing and barely moving as they cover the tree branch in this video.