Decomposing Swedish Fish

Yesterday, a couple of girls i work with and i got to work early so we could make the blue jello and swedish fish snacks. we had never done it before, so none of us were really sure how they were going to come out. we had made 2 batches of blue jello (to be the ocean), but ran out and so we had to use red jello (which we were going to try and pass off as the Red Sea...or the red tide). after mixing it, we poured it into clear plastic cups and let it sit for an hour so that we could come back and put the fish in before it totally solidified. but we didnt realize that because the jello was in smaller portions it would get jello-y faster. so we ended up just laying them on top....or having them diving into the water. it wasnt exactly what we were hoping for, but i'm sure the kids wouldve eaten it anyways.
so today, we went into the kitchen to get the jello for todays snack. ...but the fish didnt make it. we werent really sure what happened, but the fish has become discolored and slimy and had split open down the middle as if they had been gutted. GROSS. the jello was still ok...but i guess swedish fish are also prone to swine disease. we ended up just having trail mix.

katie the spider is still MIA, but the girls found another little unsuspecting spider to play with. this one was gray and a little larger that katie, but it hopped which the girls thought was just the coolest thing they had ever seen. this spider was also a little smarter than katie (no offense to her), because it stayed high up a monkey bar where they couldnt reach and would hop around on its perch watching them try to coax it down. the girls eventually got bored and moved on to "painting" each others faces and apendages with big pieces of mulch. they had taken a giant plastic lego block, turned it upside down, and filled the holes with little pieces of mulch and sand to be the various paint colors.
these are outdoor lego blocks they play with. theyre huge. we often have problems with the boys throwing them at each other and pretending like theyre bombs or canon balls....or just actual blocks. lucky for everyone else theyre hollow. they also make excellent sleds for sliding down slides - which result in the kids flying off the end, cupcake pans, ice cream holders, stones to walk on when crossing alligator infested water, dog dishes, blasters, skateboards, ramps, and when put together can form a stage for singing (shouting) whatever song they can think of.

as soon as we had gotten out onto the playground today, two of the girls came running up to me.
"ms lauren! i'm going to be at church tonight so i'm going to see you! but shes not." she pointed at her friend who looked very upset.
"what! yes i am...."
"no, my mom told me you have swim lessons because she talked to patricia! so you wont be there!"(i changed the name)
"well im going! and please stop youre going to make me cry!"
"ok fine youre going."
her friend had already stomped off in tears to the jungle gym, so she ran up to her and gave her a hug. cuuuuute!

anyways, now i'm sitting at the front desk away from the action...like every afternoon at this time. there are more blue jello plans for tomorrow, but the fish will not be thrown in until the end! and we're going to try and stay away from the red tide as well. although i have to admit, the fish laying on top of the red jello was a little funny :)


and that was wednesday.