Bringing back out the wooden blocks

I might have thought we were well past the stage of using wooden blocks around here, now that there are legos and robotics kits and so forth ... but I would have been wrong!  With a choice to do a unit study on architecture this month, the need for "blocks that don't defy gravity" was expressed and we went back to the old wooden block bin (which had been donated to church but luckily could be borrowed back for a couple days mid-week without any problem).

Classic toys really will never go out of style.

Road Trip Part 3: The Midwest, a Study in Contrasts

We've been in the Midwest for the last five days, and it has been a study in contrasts.  We found snow, in April.  There have also been many hours and miles of farmland, with neat and tidy looking farm complexes with nice barns and silos.

A google search of what was coming on the road ahead revealed that Wisconsin Dells is "The Water Park Capital of the World", and as we had not found any swimming opportunities on this trip yet I booked us into an indoor water park resort.  We were amazed driving through Wisconsin Dells - it must be a crazy place in the summer time when all the outdoor parks are open and there isn't snow on the ground.



Next we went to Chicago, which we had read was known for "museums and architecture".



We also wanted to have some pizza there, even though we are gluten free.  We went ahead and ate the deep dish pizza (and didn't get too sick).  It was pretty good, but we don't have much to compare it to.



The Field Museum started off thrilling, but before we had even done one wing my daughter was in tears.  "It's just too much - I can't see it all!" she cried and had to be comforted.  We did three exhibits (Animals, Ancient Egypt, and Evolving Planet) and were wiped. out.  In hindsight, I should have planned a whole day in the Field.



The Willis Tower (tallest structure in the world if you count radio towers on top of the building - which I'm not sure I do) was a hit.  When the elevator speeds up 103 floors and your ears pop, it's pretty exciting.  And they have put glass boxes out the side of the building, called "The Ledge".  Standing on glass and looking down was very exciting!

The Art Institute of Chicago, which is an amazing art museum, was probably too much for me to tack onto the end of a long day of sightseeing.  The kids liked the ancient art, but were unimpressed by American Modern.



I have to thank the security guard who saw the us trudging out of the Christopher Wool exhibit and asked me if I had taken them to see "the dollhouse".  She told me to go down to the lower level, to the miniature room.  What we found there was a whole series of magical miniature interiors, which rallied and delighted my children.



The Indiana Sand Dunes were our next stop, for something completely different.  The State Park has a really nice little Nature Center that was friendly and fun, and some good fun trails.



The beach was also a nice treat.  Looking at the lovely beach and then seeing the heavy industry on the horizon in each direction I gave thanks to the people who fought to preserve this natural gem.



And then the kids had asked to stop at a "really good zoo", and I looked up the top 10 zoos in the US and two of them were in Ohio, sort of on our way.  So we went to the Columbus Zoo today, which we were impressed with.  It's huge, and I thought they did a good job of balancing crowd and traffic control, educational elements, the needs of the animals, and fun for kids.



Tomorrow we will drive through Cuyahoga Valley National Park on our way to Buffalo, New York.  At some point in there I expect we will say goodbye to the Midwest.  It has been a fun study in contrasts for us.

The Lego Movie and Creative Non-Scripted Play

We got to see The Lego Movie, and wow - it's Awesome.  It is not just another cheesy Clutch Powers, but is instead a truly creative and fun movie with something for all ages to enjoy.  My husband and I especially appreciated the loving nod to the old 80's Legos sets, the ones we had when we were kids.

And The Lego Movie is anti-consumerist!  The bad guy is "President Business", who hates the messiness of everyone doing whatever they like and being whatever they like and changing things, and finds the solution to all that change in crazy glue, which he plans to use to freeze all of the Lego Universe into pleasing formations that will never change again!

The heroes are a rag tag bunch and one out-of-place "nobody special" generic construction worker mini-fig.  Creative building from whatever is on hand, rather than obtaining some new cool set, is what is held up by the movie.

It's perfect for all the kids who have big buckets of mixed up Legos to play with, with no script to guide how those pieces "have" to be used.

Of course, they still came out with new movie themed sets that are on the store shelves now.  My kids saw those and thought they were weird.  "That's against the whole point of the movie!" my son said.

I love it.

A Willy Wonka themed Birthday Party

This week my daughter turned 8, and we celebrated by doing a Willy Wonka themed birthday party.  Although it was a lot of work, this theme was tons of fun:

• It was a co-ed party and this is a great theme to appeal to both boys and girls
• There are movies and soundtracks that make great background for a party
• It is obviously going to be a ton of sugar

First, we made Golden Ticket invitations.  I found some fancy templates out there on the nets, but we opted for the easier solution of just printing the invitation information on white paper, and glueing that to a rectangle of shiny gold cardstock from the craft store.

When guests arrived they were asked to sign a contract, just like the kids had to do before they went on the tour of the factory.  It was all birthday jargon, like "by signing this contract you agree to wish H. a very happy birthday from now until blah, blah, blah it went on and on.  All the guests signed it, and that makes a nice memento for the birthday child to keep.

Then they could enter the "chocolate room", which was just a spot I had set up with a chocolate fondue and stuff for dipping.  This was a lot of fun, until the kids dropped so many mini- marshmallows in there that the fondue got gross.  But by then we were moving on to the next activity, anyway. :)

We had the older Gene Wilder version of the movie on for background, and the kids watched it off and on - they seemed to know which scenes were their favorites, and of course we turned up the volume for each of the Oompa Loompa songs.

I had a game ready for each of the four characters other than Charlie:

1. For Augustus Gloop we did a eating game, with donuts tied on strings from a broom handle, and the kids had to try and eat them without using their hands.
2. For Violet Beauregard we had a "juicing" game for when she turns into a giant blueberry, and the kids were blindfolded and given stick pins to try and pop balloons.  The balloons had candy inside them, so when they popped they got to eat the candy that fell out.
3. For Verucca Salt we had a "sorting room" game, and I had a bunch of plastic easter eggs with either real peanuts in the shell or those circus peanut candies in them.  This was a bit post-modern, because no one could agree which was actually the "good egg/nut" and which was the "bad egg/nut".  
4. For Mike Teevee, we had a cardboard box made to look like a TV with holes for targets, and they shot a nerf pistol at it.

After the games were all done and the movie was over, we had cake and ice cream, and then we had a "candy shop" as kids exited and so more candy served as the party favors.  Sugar overload was a serious issue.

The cake could have been really fancy, but I opted for a simpler cake and just decorated it with big candy and a chocolate "river" down the middle.

Plunging in to 2014

Today we repeated our New Year's plunge into the Sound.  (Well, I don't jump in myself, but the kids and their dad did it).



Brrr!



She gives it a (reluctant) two thumbs up.  A bracing way to begin a new year.

Our Summer Bucket List

On Monday we got a chance to do one of the things on our Summer Bucket List, when we went to the Seattle Museum of Flight.   This year I'm determined to actually follow through on the Fun stuff on the List, and not let it slide to the bottom of the priority list like I did last year.

What else do the kids want to do this summer?

1.  A local wildlife park
2.  A local amusement park
3.  A Dance Party
4.  Star Gazing
5.  Cloud Gazing
6.  Hiking
7.  Camping
8.  Explore new Parks
9.  Take the Train to Portland
10.  Visit the fun little town of Port Townsend
11.  The Science Museum

We will have fun this summer!  It slips past so fast, but it's worth making the time to really enjoy it.

Our Weekend in a Parade

Our community does a really cool parade each year for Earth Day, with real grassroots community involvement and a theme of "Procession of the Species".  This year my daughter wanted to participate, and chose Pink Flamingoes as our species to be.  I bought the supplies, but they each put together their own costumes and I made myself a flamingo head staff that I was pretty proud of.  My husband was a good sport and along for the walk in the pink shirt, visor, and boa I bought for him.  It was a very fun project, and although the route was a bit long and tiring, we all had a good time.

Other cool things from the Procession:

Peep, Peep!

We left our bantams sitting on their eggs, because we really didn't need all the eggs we're getting, and the hen was broody, and we thought, why not?

Peep!  Peep!  Five of the eggs hatched, and even after one little chick died we have four little adorable fluff balls running around in the tractor with their parents.  The adults are being very protective, so I actually didn't want to open the wire door up to take the picture - the rooster tried to peck the camera lens the first time I tried that.



The kids are in love with the little chicks, and go out to check on them and watch them a couple times a day.  We've decided not to take them away from their mom, so they have a lower chance of survival, but the family all together sure is sweet.

And it's the time of year for those other little Peeps:


It's Peep Diorama Time!



This is Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Carbon.




And this is Fantastic Mr. Fox by Hypatia.

For my kids

Today after class, I walked this little gnome around Chicago taking pictures.  The kids sent him along with me, and I sent all the pictures home for them to see.  I hope that was fun for them!

An Ancient Egypt Birthday Party

When they ask for their birthday theme, I have to come through as the birthday magician:




"Happy Birthday" in heiroglyphics banner.



Pyramid Cake



Mummy Wrap Game





Treasure Hunt



Happy Birthday to my sweet girl

Meet "Rocky"

This is the kids' new "adopted" penguin, "Rocky".  He's decked out to go ziplining, on a set-up they ran across the room on a string.

He arrived in the mail last night, and is a hit!  They had decided to adopt a penguin when they got the WWF gift catalog in the mail, pooling all the money in their two piggy banks (tooth fairy money and money earned doing chores).  Adding it all together, they only had $25 between the two of them - enough to adopt a penguin and get a certificate but not enough to receive a stuffed animal.  That was OK with them - they just really wanted to adopt a penguin.

Well, without telling them I went ahead and provided a Mom's-matching-grant (a time honored program you've probably heard of before, I'm sure), and upped them to the $50 level that would bring the stuffed animal.

Today has been all about this penguin.  They had to work out a custody-sharing agreement in which he will sleep with each of them alternating nights, and they've been making clothing and ziplines and cutting out paper fish for him to eat.  We read up on Rockhopper Penguins online, and looked on the world map to see where he probably came from.

In my experience, children love to donate to animal causes.  If you have an animal-loving child, consider a symbolic adoption as a gift - I bet it will be a hit!

Day 30 of Gratitude: Back from Vacation

I'm just back from vacation today, after being with the family in Mexico for a 10 day vacation over Thanksgiving.  As it's the final day of my 30 Days of Gratitude blog series, it's fitting to say today that I am grateful to be able to travel and take a lovely vacation in the sunshine.



And now on to the Christmas season!

Random Things Making Me Happy

With the way pants are sitting so low, below the waist, this is pure genius!  I love them!



This arrived in the mail - seriously the best book recommendations by age!  I know what we'll be reading (and yes, I'll also order something from the catalog, because I have to support the business, not just take the book recommendations to the library and check out all the books.  I do that too.)



My family has figured out how to be totally quiet when I need to do a virtual meeting at home!  I managed to do a whole hour long meeting at my desk (which is housed in the living room, and previously I've had to go hide in an uncomfortable corner of the house to get some quiet).



In a similar vein of independent off-spring, I didn't decorate for Halloween this year.  I just got the boxes down from the attic, and then the kids are in charge of what they want to do with it all.  Or not.  I really don't care.



Apple peelers.  The right tool for the job makes it so much easier.  Last year I hand peeled all the apples I made into sauce - this year my MIL gave me this beauty.


And we got Modern Family from Netflix, and had a marathon.  I know I'm terribly behind on this, but that's life without TV.

The Things We Carry With Us

How long do you think we are going to be gone for?  Have I packed for a week away?  A weekend? An overnight at least?

No!  This is just what the kids and I need to carry with us for one "normal" day our of the house!  Gym bags, swim bags, lunch bags, computer bags, camera bags, purses, backpacks, and musical instrument cases ...

This is part of why I gave up taking public transportation or bicycling (well, that and the kids not pulling their own weight, and the uphill to work, and then later when we moved out to the country and now there's no bus line anymore).  At least I'm practicing the art of grouping my errands and reducing my trips.  Hey, that might be part of why I have to pack so much for each trip, actually.

So, is this normal or am I carrying around too much stuff?

A Doll's Birthday Party

On Sunday, Hypatia announced that the next day was her American Girl doll's birthday.  And that we had to have a party.



Since the next day was my day off, I obliged.  The kids baked and decorated the cake (Home Ec, yes?), and decorated the table.  The guests arrived, we lit the candles, sang "Happy Birthday", and then all the guests got a little bit of cake (which was all consumed by the kids, until they felt sick from too much cake).



Happy Birthday, Marie Grace. :)

I am a Ninja

Or at least, that's the way my son drew me on the birthday card he made me!  Today is my birthday, and yes, he gave me a knife - a paring knife - for my birthday.  Chop, Chop, Chop!  I will destroy all carrot missiles!

(The strange bit on my chest are handprints, because he drew me wearing an apron I own that has their baby handprints on it in fabric paint.)



A lovely dinner out (to an Italian place with a gluten-free menu!) capped off the day.

Now - what should I use my ninja powers to accomplish next?