Alice the rock climber

On Sunday, Zac took the kids to Jack Smith park, where apparently Alice attempted the rock climbing.

Just give her fifteen more years of practice...

Reptile Day

I took the kids downtown for the science museum's annual reptile day.  We parked at the very top of the 9-story parking deck, just for fun.

The kids loved being able to see the whole city from up high.

Once we made it inside, they spent most of the time doing the crafts.

And a bit of time touching the animals.

But of course, they spent the most time and had the most fun just playing outside under the globe.

Hardscaping = Fun Playing

We're getting some hardscaping done in our yard, mainly to help with drainage, usability of the driveway, and increased aesthetic appeal.

The workers came on Tuesday, and our kids had fun all week.

Dillard Drive International Fair

On Thursday evening we went to Alice's elementary school's second annual international fair.  It was fantastic. I mean, it wasn't actually enjoyable, as nothing with kids ever is, but it was a fantastic concept.  Each class made a poster about a country and parent volunteers from those countries brought in food and other items to contribute to the display.  What a wonderful way to celebrate our country's (and her school's) diversity!

Alice's class did Palestine, and Alice's particular research topic appeared to be on the Jordan River. 

We didn't get to go around much because kids, but we stayed in the cafeteria where Alice could run around with her friends and Simon could do crafts. When the kids are a bit older, it will be more fun and we'll get to walk around and read the posters. But at least we got to eat some good food!

Alice's talent

Alice did this dance for me one night at story time. Then I had her do it again so I could make a video (the first version was better of course).  

I asked her where she learned the dance. She said she made it up. I asked again, like, well, did you see someone do it, or did you do it in your after school program?  Finally, she said, exasperated, "Mom, I have talents you know."

Now I know.

Maker

Simon's phase right now could best be described as making or building things.

He figured out how to make a crown.

How to make a bag balloon

Simon cracking eggs for breakfast

Simon loves to help us cook breakfast.

Stair steps

A sight to behold

Bevin Memorial Weekend

Bevin's memorial was going to be in Burlington on Saturday.  Cam and Don came on Thursday night, then on Friday night we met Bevin's son (Lucas) and his adoptive parents. On Saturday morning we went to the funeral, and on Saturday evening Pete, Donna, Nathan and Ella came over. Sunday morning Cam and Don left. It was a whirwind of emotions -- joy at celebrating the life of Bevin, sadness at her passing, comfort in sharing grief with friends and family, and happiness in getting to know another family member.

Cam gets a docent tour of the art wall upon arriving Thursday night.

Pizza supper with Bevin's son, Lucas.

Family portrait

Ready to go to the memorial.

A beautiful room to celebrate Bevin's life

  

The visiting after the funeral was nice. I mostly watched the kids run around so Zac could visit.

Back at home, we had supper with Pete's family.  Ella was great with the kids and Alice absolutely loves her!

Family portrait

A sad goodbye Sunday morning

Rest in peace, Bevin.

Simon reads: There's a Walrus in My Bed

Simon can and will make a fort anywhere

Clip chart collection

I was cleaning up the giant paper mess in the study, and these were all the clip charts I found, from Simon's clip-chart making phase. (I'm sure there were more that got thrown out in an earlier raid.) The one on the bottom left is the one Alice originally made, and it served as a prototype for the rest.

The Cidolin

After supper, Simon will often take a flashlight (if he can't get an adult, who can reach all the light switches, to come with him) and go on a Cidolin hunt.  Cidolin is a word Simon made up that is a combination of Cat, Cuddle, and Pangolin (he loves to randomly switch vowels in words, so that's why it is not Cadolin or Cudolin).  

Simon loves to cuddle with the cat when she's curled up sleeping like a pangolin.  

Simon knows about Pangolins from this book:


He took another word from this book, too.  For a long time he would tell me he  was playing in the "rumpty-bumpty" at school. I finally realized the phrase was from this book, where the Pangolin is running away from a scary noise, trips, and goes "rumpty bumpty" down the hill.

Finally, one day when I picked Simon up, I asked him to show me the rumpty bumpty.  It turns out it was a round blue tub that he would turn on its side, curl up in, and roll down the hill in.

Alice at The Little Mermaid

My school's drama department does two plays every year--one of which is usually a musical. I've gone to these off and on over the years, but this was the first time I thought Alice would be capable of sitting through a production with good behavior. It helped that the show was The Little Mermaid musical, something Alice would be interested in. We went to the Sunday afternoon matinee, and I had arranged to meet my friend and coworker Becky and her daughter, Sophia, there.

Before the show started, we found seats in the front row with Becky and Sophia.  Then a bunch of my students (dressed as mermaids and seagulls) came over to talk to Alice, in character. Alice loved it it, but went into "shy mode" immediately.

We weren't allowed to take any pictures during the show, but it was great and Alice enjoyed it. Every time the audience clapped, Alice would whisper, "Is it over?"  Not because she wanted it to be over, but because she was worried it would end too soon.

One funny thing was the sea king (a student I know well not from class but because I run detentions at my school and he often had detentions) was wearing a vest, but no shirt under it. Alice kept freaking out and whispering to me, "I can see his nipple!"  Male public partial nudity is something that still baffles Alice.

Anyway, the play was good and Alice did great, so I can bring her every year (and Simon too in a couple of years).

Museum of Life and Science

Saturday was sunny but a bit chilly. We hadn't been to the Durham Museum of Life and Science in a while, so I took the kids there to play. It really is a great place with no end of fun things to do.

I'm trying to make more videos of the Simon because it just dawned on me that he *might* not be this adorable little kid forever.

Simon doing stapler work

Simon really loves the stapler, perhaps even more than his tape machine.