Shamrock Cookies

Sugar cookies are Camden's favorite.  Since we didn't make that kind of cookie for Valentine's Day, he requested them for St. Patrick's.  Ciera was excited to help make the dough and cut them out.  They both love to lick the beaters once I finish making the frosting.

St. Patrick's Day

We made Irish Soda Bread for the first time.  Everyone liked it except me.  I don't care for raisins in my baked goods.  When we were making it, Ciera really wanted to help.  I let her mix it a little.  She was trying to be so careful and not spill (didn't quite succeed).  It was cute.  I also loved how she cuddled right up to Camden and watched while he cut in the butter with a pastry blender.  We also set a trap for the leprechauns.   Using a box with the lid propped open with a stick, we placed a little gold pendant in it to lure them in.  Those sneaky leprechauns got away!  They did leave behind some gold (chocolate) trying to escape, though, and a messy trail of books around the house.

St. Patrick's Day Snacks

Here's some ideas for me to remember next year.  These were some of the snacks we've had over the past week.  Ciera didn't eat much of the vegetable rainbow.  I was, however, surprised by how much Camden like that one (except the cauliflower and the green peppers).  He asked to have it again for the next couple days.  There was a dill dip with it, which I'm sure helped.  They both loved the fruit one, especially the novelty of eating marshmallows with their fruit!

We also made shamrocks with yogurt-covered pretzels, melted white chocolate, and frosting with green sugar.  They both had a blast dipping the pretzels in the white chocolate.  Camden actually liked putting them together, but Ciera would just dip and eat!  We had to keep the plate with the green sugar away from Ciera too.  She just wanted to dip her fingers in it and lick them off.  These turned out very tasty and addicting!  It was more of a treat than a snack though.

Fizzy Rainbow Science

I found this idea at Play Create Explore and thought it would be fun for the kids.  Plus, it worked as a great St. Patrick's Day activity.  Camden has already asked to do it again.  He pretended it was a big volcano field with lots of erupting volcanoes.  The red was the hot lava and the gray (which was supposed to be more purple) was the ash.  They both had so much fun watching it bubble up and fizz.  Ciera also loved all the smells it created.  It really did have an intensely sweet smell.  She just kept sniffing it and pretending to gobble it up.  It is made with just several Kool-Aid flavors, baking soda, and vinegar.

Annual Shamrock Shin Dig

We went to the Museum of Ancient Life's Annual Shamrock Shin Dig.  Three sneaky leprechauns left a trail of tricks and jokes throughout the museum.  Camden thought some of them were funny, but he was more interested in the dinosaur activities.  Ciera's favorite thing was still the star tunnel.  We went through that at least 10 times.  Neither one of them cared about looking for the shamrocks hidden throughout the museum, which was fine with me.

Shamrock update

Now that they have perked up since transplanting them, I wanted to add some pictures in which you can actually tell they are shamrocks.  The green one's variety is called 'Charmed Jade' (for my records).

Shamrocks

We went and got some shamrock (Oxalis) plants to grow for St. Patrick's Day.  I let them choose which one they wanted to be responsible for taking care of.  Camden was ecstatic that one of the varieties was called 'Molten Lava,' so of course that was his pick.  Ciera chose the 'Zinfandel' variety, because she loved the purple leaves.  We will plant them outside once it is warm enough.