Vet Hospital Tour

Dot arranged for us to take a tour at the Dale City Animal Hospital this morning. We learned about how veterinarians take care of animals just like doctors take care of people.

Dr. Mayo showed us some of the different instruments that vets use to look in animals' ears and eyes, and to listen to their hearts, lungs & bellies. The kids also got to examine some models of cat and dog teeth.

We saw where animals have surgery and got to look at some x-rays. We saw x-rays of a dog with a broken leg, a bird with a broken wing, and a pregnant dog with puppies inside.

We also learned about how to be safe around dogs. Rule #1: Always ask permission before approaching a dog. Rule #2: Never run away from a dog. If you're scared, stand still like a tree, or curl up on the ground like a turtle, to protect your face, and a grown-up will come help you. Rule #3: Always wash your hands after you're finished playing with a dog (or other animal).

And then we got to play with an adorable 5-week old puppy. I think this was probably everyone's favorite part!

Even the junior members of the group enjoyed themselves.

Outing to the U.S. Botanic Garden

Megan organized our first field trip of the year. We made our way, on a very chilly morning, to the U.S. Botanic Garden. We talked about how different plants grow in different climates (jungle, tropical, desert), explored plants' characteristics (Are the leaves shiny? Soft? Big/small? Rough/smooth? Are there flowers? Fruits? Needles or thorns?), and learned how some plants are used to make medicine or for things we can eat and drink.

Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos, and the only one I did snap of the kids came out very blurry. But here it is anyhow.

Jan 14, All about the Weather

Alexander, Arwen, and Soren met at Megan's house and enjoyed some fun activities centered around weather. First we played instruments and listened to music, I think the drums were the biggest hit. We also made paper plate weather dials, and snowmen with cotton balls. We drew pictures of rainbows and wrote our names on the white board. We read a bunch of books about the weather, and then played dress up with the kids deciding what clothes they'd wear in different types of weather. The kids ate fruit, grilled cheese sandwiches, and pretzels.