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Well, my rugrats are back home and back in routine. Aside from being a little tired and very cuddly, they seemed to have fared very well at Gramma and Grandpa’s house!

But on a totally different note: a little insight into what makes Sugar and Spice tick.

If there is one thing my kids are crazy about… it’s animals. The are avid naturalists, and love nothing more than to draw, read, watch or play out animal behaviors. Now, this mostly comes from Jrock and I (the whole nature / nurture thing takes another layer of meaning here.) We both are nature nuts – he is interested in animal behaviors and groups, as well as zoology. I’m more into ecology and interactions, as well as connecting with nature. He really likes mammals – I really like birds and other small beasties. It’s obvious we have passed these passions onto the girls. Jrock’s family were cattle farmers; whereas my family is the outdoorsy side. My dad’s a biologist and we all grew up hunting, fishing and exploring the great outdoors.

The fascinating thing is how the girls’ have got involved in our family interest but made it their own. spice is very creative and dramatic. So she loves playing out big elaborate stories and animal family scenes with her stuffies or small animal figurines. Spice is quite the little artist, and loves drawing pictures of animals and nature. She’s also very happy going for walks to watch ducks, or putter about in nature and the garden. Currently, she is growing some of her own pea plants in my kitchen.

Spice likes to examine bugs and other twigs and things in her microscope, always careful not to harm them. She also likes to call Grandpa on the phone and ask a specific question about something she’s been pondering… like why bighorn sheep’s horns keep growing.

Sugar, our ball of energy, is quite different. She acts out scenes directed by her sister, but her real passion is reading and learning about animals. She memorizes infinite details about different species, their interactions and habitats. Definitely, she’s the academic amateur zoologist, along with the same kind of detachment of many researchers. It doesn’t trouble her much to swish a bug to look at it.

But forget bugs – Sugar is interested mainly in cute animals (puppies) and large flashy species like zebras. Just like her sister, she loves it when Daddy finds her a video online that shows an animal doing something (hunting, reproducing, whatever,) and enjoys not only understanding but being able to explain her findings to other people. If you want to know how climate change works, just ask Sugar. She’ll ‘splain it!

Anyway, here are some of our girl’s favorite animal / nature toys and resources:

Schleich figurines.. boy they LOVE these, especially when they have a family or group of them.  Favorites are horses, tigers/lions and the new zebra and giraffes they got for Christmas.

The girls are absolutely gaga for Calico critters – all those infinitely tiny parts and the super cute animals! It’s just so right for their age!

Their matching Falkmanis otter puppets (they also have a skunk and an owl)

Some of their favorite reading books:

And their favorite books overall:

 And their favorite tools:

Favorite Netflix movie:

Favorite Netflix TV show (Tales of the Riverbank):

Once Upon a Hamster!