On day one of our third year of homeschooling, we drove out to our friends’ house in (what we call) the country. The Alders expanded their chicken coop and have new baby chicks they are kind enough to share with their friends. We spent a good two hours at their house because it was so easy to stay and visit and laugh. Seth was incredibly excited about getting pooped on by a baby chicken. Boys and poop… I rest my case.

Seth was very excited to come home and write in his journal about his exciting day. He asked if we could go to their house every day or every week. Not sure our friends would go for that. After we had lunch and while Zoe was taking a nap, we got started on our science project–something I saw on Pinterest which was very cute and science worthy. Plus, it makes me cool that we made candy on our first day. (I am willing to admit that in the back of my mind I wanted to counteract any desires for him to go to public school like his siblings. I feel strongly that he should be home with me.) It has been really interesting to see how Zoe and Seth are reacting to having to wait a whole week before they get their chops on these rock candy sticks. Delayed gratification is good for building character, right?

Next, I introduced Seth to Gamma, the next MathUSee book for him. He is so glad to finally learn multiplication. It was good to sit with him and watch the lightbulbs going off. I love this curriculum. I think in the end, Seth will run circles around his older siblings in his grasp of mathematics. (That would be the perfect revenge for all their heckling. “What?! You don’t know how to multiply??” I could smack them both.)

We started Volume 2: The Middle Ages in The Story of the World. When we read the first chapter, it was nice to see that Seth remembered a lot about the Fall of Rome. He didn’t want to stop reading until we had read the whole chapter which was basically a review of the last chapter of Volume 1. Today we are going to review what we read and make a Roman Legion’s Signum. Then we will move on to The Early Days of Britain and the Celts. Should we watch Braveheart? No, you’re right… a little too brutal for his age.

I have a Charlotte Mason book called Simply Grammar that I decided to introduce to Seth. I’ve had it since last year, but could never bring myself to use it with everyone. It’s perfect for one-on-one instruction because it’s very gentle. You’ve seen the sterile grammar books that are cut and dry, but this one has a meandering-through-life-let’s-go-catch-bugs-outside-now feel to it. I feel like cozying up on the couch with him while we write sentences and make up stories about the old style pen and ink drawings in the book. It was funny when he first read the instructions and then looked at the picture of a girl with no shoes on and another girl, fully dressed holding a pair of shoes. He said, “But Mom, I don’t know this story.” I told him that he was supposed to make one up and to look at the clues. Immediately he rattled off a story about how the girl played at the park and then couldn’t find her shoes so she went home without them and that’s why the other girl was just coming in to return them.

Seth began reading The Indian in the Cupboard on his own. When he was done, he came and narrated back to me what he had read. He seems to really like the book and when I ask him questions about it, he has great answers. I started reading this book to them out loud, but I find that Seth retains information better when he sees it. He doesn’t do well with audio books at all.

For Citizenship, we will continue to work on his Cub Scout Bear Book. There’s always a chapter in the Scout books that has to do with Citizenship. He will also get to listen in on Zack’s Merit Badges (Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World). We will continue with learning the states and their Postal Abbreviations, the Declaration of Independence, and creating a notebook with details of each state. There’s also an educational program on the History Channel called, “How Did the States Get Their Shape?” which might be good to watch. I’ve recorded some, but haven’t viewed them yet.

For Spelling, he will continue with Spelling Power. I may go back to having him type his list online at Spelling City. This will give him some typing practice and allow him some game time that is educational. He will also get some computer time practicing typing skills online, as well as emailing letters to family. I’m going to stress the different parts of a letter even in email. We have already made it a rule that if they get on the computer they have to email a letter to someone. So far, Seth and Zack have only written to each other little sentences back and forth. We have to be very specific, it seems.

At least, Seth only has to fight with Zoe over computer time. Zoe can get online, install an app for a game, and then start playing it. Her favorite website is NickJr.com and she loves playing Dora Paint, Nehao something or other, and the Backyardigans. She does pretty well on the Plants vs. Zombies game, too. She has her own email address, but the emails she sends out are mostly gibberish with a few Zoe’s thrown in there. So if you have gotten one of these, just know that she told everyone in the household at least twice that she did her name.

Here’s another thing I found on Pinterest… Bugles + strawberry cream cheese = little ice cream cones.

Take a look at our science project… the crystals have formed on the sticks, but also on the bottom of the jars and in a crust at the top of the jar. I am thinking of pouring the rest onto pans to make the liquid evaporate faster. I think the rock candy sticks are enough to make the kids happy.

And that’s a wrap. Thanks for all of your support and prayers. We need it/them. Here’s to a good school year!

We decided during registration that Zack would benefit from going to public school full time. Playing cello in the Varsity Orchestra and participating in UIL competitions would be uncomplicated if he were fully enrolled. He expressed an interest in running track and I was pretty sure that all the sports competitions are UIL. The athletics class begins with football and track comes later, but he decided to try football also. We sent him to a four-day camp at the beginning of August and he got a brutal introduction to the world of sports in the heat of Texas. (He threw up on the first day and one of the coaches told him not to do that on the field, but to go “over there” and do it. He didn’t really want to return, but I had already told him not to judge his experience from the first day. He made it through the camp and ended up liking football.) When I asked the counselor what it would take to enroll Zack full-time, she said, “Let me go and find out.” We were sitting in the lobby for quite a while when she finally returned and said, “OK. He’s fully enrolled.” I was a little taken aback because I had not asked her to enroll him, but decided to just go with it because we were there to sign up for football and I couldn’t sign the forms and get a uniform for Zack unless he was a full-time student. Long story, short, Zack reports that he no longer feels sick and his helmet doesn’t hurt his head as much anymore (this after two weeks of school). His favorite classes are Orchestra, Math and Reading Strategies. I can tell you that we hit the ground running with this kid and we haven’t stopped… just as I suspected, he has not felt the stress of it in the least. He is well suited for this constant changing and running ragged.

The first week of public school, Sarah started her first year of Seminary–at 5:40 am (!!)–and continued with band at the high school as a part-time student. We began to consider whether or not she would benefit from attending full-time. It would be good for her to be able to compete in UIL competitions and get to display the skills she worked so hard for. The seriousness of the high school band, the commitment and dedication needed, first brought to my mind that I should consider a public high school experience for her. Plus, I could not see myself devoting much time for homeschooling the two youngest if I was driving her back and forth from seminary and back and forth from school and back and forth for after school practices. Wayyyy too much driving. Sarah didn’t want to at first, but wanted to wait until next year. I told her that if she had any desire to go to high school, she should start at the beginning of the high school curriculum. I emailed her counselor and the reply confirmed my thoughts. I gave Sarah and us (Josh and me) a week to pray, ponder, and pro/con list the idea of her returning. At the end of the week, we all felt good about it. Sarah was enrolled that Friday afternoon with a phone call from the counselor later that day asking us to come in for her full schedule on Monday morning.

Something I love about her schedule is that she is the only girl in her Architecture class. Her teacher seems really on the ball and his website is the most developed out of any I’ve seen so far. Sarah thoroughly enjoyed her first week doing something she actually shows some passion about. Architecture was a spur-of-the-moment choice while on the phone with her counselor. All the options for Sarah to choose just one more elective didn’t sound interesting to her. I was surprised when Sarah chose it. It’s moments like these that make me feel like we have discovered/uncovered a bit more of who she will become.

Another pleasant surprise is that she chose French. I had no idea she wanted to learn French and it has been fun busting out my limited knowledge from when I took French in high school. She also has English Pre-AP, Symphonic I Band (with the option to move up to Wind Symphonic if she works hard), Biology Pre-AP and World Geography Pre-AP. Her math class on the first day was Algebra I, but Sarah insisted that it was way too easy, so we asked for her to move to Geometry. The counselor asked for some paperwork and went ahead and changed her schedule on the second day, but Sarah had a doctor appointment and missed it that day. She would eventually have to take an exam and pass with a 70% or above in order to get credit for Algebra I, but it takes a while for the test request to be filled. Sarah has been to the Geometry class twice and has been lost both times. The class was taught by a substitute teacher who apparently did not give any instruction at all. The counselor asked us to talk about it over the weekend and then see how we feel on Tuesday. I think it would be best for her to go back to Algebra I even though most of it will be review. She has a lot of other Pre-AP classes and not a lot of time between band practice and bedtime.

With two in and two out, I have already noticed a difference in the household. Family scripture study is a lot easier to hold when everyone is present. Hopefully, the last two years will stick out in my children’s brains as a time of less stress and more abundance of the Spirit in the home. I’m hoping for Zack to rely on his new priesthood responsibilities as an extra layer of protection while out in the world. Things are so busy all the time, perhaps they will appreciate more the last two years. I miss them a lot and marvel at how little time I have with them now, but ultimately, I think this is a good thing for our family at this time.

As of now, I have no intention of returning Seth to public school or letting Zoe go. In the past, I entertained the idea that Kindergarten would be good for her, but I have since learned that my favorite teacher has retired, so I’m reluctant to let her enter the system. I am excited to devote more time to my younger ones at home. Seth is way more excited this year just from the first two days (which I will blog next with pictures). It seems that each new year of homeschool will be nothing like the last.

My days are still full. I have my day job. I have my church calling. I have my two younger ones to educate at home. I have driving to Seminary and football practices in the mornings and picking up from orchestra sectionals and band practices in the afternoon. There’s homework assignments and tests to make up (for Sarah since she technically missed the first week of school). So far, I have bus chaperoned for two Fridays at football games for the band with the promise of middle school games to start this week. I have to remember not to schedule anything on Thursday mornings because the two older ones have a late start on school. My brain cells have had to adjust to the new schooling demands.

Seth and Zack are fascinated by poop. I attribute their love of toilet humor to their being boys. It’s just funny to them.

After I decreed that Captain Underpants, Pokemon and other manga books were no longer acceptable forms of reading, Seth came home from the library with this book, Jurassic Poop. He thought it was hilarious and tried to explain to me about the dinosaur that made a huge poop in the water and– I had to stop him. I was fighting my gag reflex. I mean, I can’t handle poop. I’m the chick who will jump in her car and track down a runner with a dog to make sure that he will come back and pick up the dump the doggie did on my lawn (true story) because I can’t stand to look at it, and I’m even more fearful of stepping in it. UGH!

I came across the book again while cleaning and I kept a firm hold on my stomach contents to brave turning the pages to find out what exactly Jacob Berkowitz has to say about ancient poop. It’s filled with pictures, graphics (Illustrator Steve Mack must have had fun with this one), and interesting facts about coprolites, cololites and the people who study them. I learned some amazing things about all kinds of crap. Particularly noteworthy is how volcanic ash and water can transform poop into gemstones known as agates. They have beautiful streaks and swirls of color that when polished turn from “turd to treasure”. (Go Pele!) I was also grossed out by the eight thousand years worth of caribou poop in Yukon Territory–like I needed another reason to fear global warming–discovered when some of the patches of ice melted. I had to stop reading when we came to human poop and the wonderfully preserved finds that ancient outhouses are. That’s a little too close to home for me. Before I shut the book, I did chance to read that Romans had peach pits in their latrines which signifies someone sent them a care package because peaches weren’t grown in the region, but DANG. They ate the peach pits? What is up with that?

I must stop now. My will to keep from vomiting is wearing thin. Still, I see the value in the knowledge and wisdom my boys can gain from reading Jurassic Poop. I just don’t want to hear about it. If they must narrate their wisdom, I will direct them to their Daddy who has no problems with the potty talk. It must be because he’s a boy.

It’s our second year of homeschooling and the picture above is from our second day. The boys are getting a spelling test and Zoe is just happy to have her own pencil, paper and clipboard. Sarah is at band, so we have an hour to do a bit of spelling and then play at the park for some exercise. I’m finding that this fits our schedule nicely since Sarah is not doing Sequential Spelling with the boys, so she’s not missing a lesson. The park nearby the school keeps me from having to go all the way back home. It’s a nice way to get out of the house, get the baby tired, and burn some calories.

Not only are we hitting the park daily, we are taking walks in the morning. I’ve downloaded a pedometer to my phone to keep track of our progress. The first day, we walked for twenty minutes and almost a mile. The second day, we walked for a mile and it took twenty-two minutes. We’ll build up slowly as the weeks progress. Seth wants to get up to 3 miles and Zack is shooting for 5 miles. (I haven’t asked Sarah for her goal yet.) We’ll see how it goes. I don’t want to walk all day. We’ll have to cut it to 45 minutes, tops. I’ve found the perfect place to walk, but we have to jump in the car to get there. It’s worth it if we can walk in perpetual shade and keep out of the way of cars. We’re walking on a bridge. We have a friend who lives near there who has extended an open invitation for a glass of ice water after our walks. This does wonders for my motivation!

There’s more new stuff we’re doing this year that we didn’t do last year. Like writing to pen pals, a drawing class using the book, Drawing With Children, copy work, and notebooking. Seth is learning cursive. I’m still getting situated–the whole year isn’t planned out yet. I needed to see how our schedule would pan out with two kids in middle school part time for electives. I was grateful for the week and a half when public school started before homeschool to get a better handle on how to map out the day. Things are just falling into place as I tackle them.

Even Zoe has started formal reading lessons using the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I had not planned on starting her in formal lessons, but she seemed to wake up to books this past summer. She never wanted me to read books to her before, so I’m jumping on it. We are skipping the writing tasks given with each lesson because she’s not ready to write, but she does the sounds well so far. She pretty much knows her alphabet in sign language and we sign them together while singing the Alphabet Song, so we’ll see how this translates into reading. If she’s anything like her older sister, she’ll be reading by this time next year.

I’ll try to keep the blog updated as the year progresses, but I still have a day job and I’m trying to up my hours so that means less blog time. I’ll find a way. I could just give up sleep. That would work.

The last one we did was from an actual poem that Sarah wrote last year. None of us have ever heard it before. She has it memorized and with our encouragement, she recited the whole thing for us. One of her friends from 6th grade used to share her poems between friends and Sarah said they were kind of depressing and emo, but one day this poem just came to her. She said I could blog it.

Drops of rain fall to my face.
I wipe them off to leave no trace.
People drive by thinking I have no fears,
But they can’t see
That the rain’s really tears.

Another flash of pain strikes through my chest.
I stumble back inside, thought I know
I can’t rest.
In this house I turn away from everyone I know
I hurry to my room to pack up everything and go.

“I don’t know where to flee”
Thinks the voice inside of me.
Then I find
That I can’t.
‘Cause the hatred’s pointed at
Not him,
But only me.

We were pretty impressed, and I made a mental note to read more poetry to my children. Zack and Seth became inspired and started rhyming about poop and stuff. They thought they were hilarious. I asked Sarah to write her poem down with the date so that I could have a record of it. The boys decided that they would write theirs down, too. Here’s Seth’s:

Poo fell on my face. I Die.
Chicken’s Die, too.
(this dosn’t Make Sence)
Chickens poo on my face
From this day on…

After that, he wrote another nonsense poem, crumpled up the page to make it look old, and then gave it to Josh to read aloud. It went like, “Ugaa Ugaa tuagar par ma. are tee pee po pa.” Silly kid. We thought it was funny that he tried to make it look old, but then the date he had written at the top was 4-25-10.

I thought Zack’s was going to be just as silly, but it wasn’t bad. Josh said, “What’s it about?” and he answered, “It’s about a guy who comes in the house and shoots everybody.” Josh said, “Ok, now read it again.”

I heard footsteps on the floor.
Then I heard it on the door.
It was at a bad time.
And it was no friend of mine.
I tried it slow at first,
but it ended with a big burst.
I can not write any more.
I just lay here on the floor.

After hearing it in context, there was a little silence after he read it, and then all at once we said things like, “Whoa” or “Wow” or “Holy cow”, and then, “Good job, Zack!” It didn’t have a title when he read it to us, but after typing it up, I noticed that he put a title on it, “Just a Man”.

Now there is just one thing I would like to know… where is he getting his inspiration? He wrote it in ten minutes and then drew a cartoon picture on the back that had nothing to do with the subject of the poem. As Zoe would say, “What heck?”

We finished reading a chapter in our history book about Ancient Africa last week. Because Ancient Africans left few writings and artifacts, what we know of the time period is based mostly on oral history passed down. A favorite character in many stories is Anansi the Spider. We read a couple of stories, but the one that stood out is Anansi and the Make-Believe Food.

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Anansi’s village has no food, so Anansi decides to leave in hopes of finding food for the village. He walks a very long way until he sees a pillar of smoke. When he finally arrives in the far-off village, the cassava are there asking him how he would like to eat them (roasted, boiled or fried). He tells them he’ll eat them however he wants them to, so they all yell, “Roasted!” and jump into the fire. Before he can eat them, he sees another pillar of smoke from another far-off village. The cassavas tell him that it’s the village of the plantains. Anansi decides that he likes plantains better and heads off before eating the cassava. The plantains in the plantain village are all the eager for Anansi to make a meal of them and decide to be, “Fried!” but, yes, he spots another pillar of smoke from a fire and is soon leaving for the village of rice without eating a plantain. When he gets to the rice village, they yell, “Boiled!” but Anansi leaves for yet another pillar of smoke from a far-off village. When he gets there, he is dead with exhaustion and finds that he has returned to his own village. They boil up a stew of fish bones for him since that’s all they have. No one ever finds the three villages again and the moral of the story is “Don’t be greedy, eat what you’re given.”

My moral would be to eat a bit from each village before going to the next one, but I can see how no one would really learn anything from that. Also, could there be anything more gross to eat than fish bone soup? I think they called it right when they chose something so universally disgusting to compare with the other three foods.

While reading the story, the kids laughed about the food coming to life and asking to be eaten, choosing how they would be prepared, and then preparing themselves to be eaten. When I pulled out the plantains I bought from the grocery store to surprise them, Seth said, “Wait. Plantains are real?” We all laughed and Zack yelled, “Fried!” We tasted them before frying them and they all agreed that they were kind of like a hard banana. After frying them, they decided they tasted more like potatoes. That explains why Seth didn’t eat more than one. He can’t stand potatoes.

Sarah decided that if you could fry a plantain, then why not a banana? I thought they might turn to soup, so it was a good experiment to see how they held together pretty well. I’ve had cooked bananas before, but they are usually in some kind of batter and turn hot liquid-like on the inside. The bananas cooked faster and got a little burned, but Sarah liked them better than the plantains. I really like plantains, so I got to eat a fair amount today.

Everyone was feeling pretty good after this object lesson, so I decided to give them their tests on this chapter. They cheerfully took them with their plates of plantains beside them and I thought, ‘This doesn’t happen in public school.’

Wow, it’s really dusty here. Glad I just picked up some Pledge to take care of the mess that has accumulated in my absence. (No really, this stuff works great and smells really good, too.) I just took care of 71 spam comments. People find me whenever I post something to Friendfeed or Facebook and then my poor blog is attacked. I still haven’t figured out how to disable comments on some of the pictures I have saved as their own entry. I don’t know how I did that. I don’t know why I did that. I just write here from time to time. Hopefully, now that things are straightened out a little, I’ll get back into more regular posting.

When I started homeschooling this school year, my blog turned into a weekly update for how things have been going. Our education goals have dropped off a little. You know how life happens… first it was the visit from Nana Koko that wreaked havoc on the daily grind and we played a lot and did a lot of field trips, then it was Thanksgiving when we fried a turkey, and then Christmas break came and I only let the kids take one week off while we were at Grandma’s house. Since the new year began, we have gotten back to the daily grind. And it’s fun! I still take a few days to get my work done during deadline week, but for the most part, things have been back on track.

The most exciting change that has happened in homeschooling is that the HEART homeschooling group and Juergen’s Gymnastics have finally cut a deal and the boys will be doing gymnastics once-a-month. I know the sessions are few and far between, but I’m hoping to keep the boys doing their stretches daily so to keep them progressing forward between sessions as much as possible. And they have the Wii Fit. And they play outside on their bikes/razor scooters/ripstick on nice days, like today.

So… other than homeschooling, I’ve been reading books. Even though I have less time now, there is always time for reading. Like when the football game is on, I sit next to my husband in the living room and read. While he is bouncing up and down and yelling about Brett Favre throwing an interception, I’m in another world altogether. These are moments that I truly enjoy. Especially when the laundry’s done and the kitchen sink is clean and everyone is fed and watered or put to bed.

Other things have happened, like Seth turned eight in December and got baptized in January. It was such a peaceful and smooth-going baptism. Everything and everyone was nice. During “intermission” we asked everyone to write a note to him and it was great to read what people wrote. Many of them referenced Grandpa Randy’s talk on baptism (Randy and Niki were both able to attend which was an incredible blessing and miracle considering their unique circumstances). Seth has a nice collection of encouraging words from those who attended. I like that it is also a record of all who attended because I know from experience that when you’re the reason for an event it’s nice to go back and see who was there cheering you on. Seth is currently awaiting his very own set of scriptures which we forgot to order until about a week ago. His set is going to be green. He’s excited to be getting his own pocket hymn book, too, which will also be green. We somehow forgot to get one for Zack, so he’s getting a black one to match his scriptures. These are traditional gifts that we give to them when our children turn eight and are baptized.

As is the custom in our church, Seth also became a new Cub Scout. He could hardly wait to get his uniform. He wears it so proudly. And the Wolf Handbook was devoured in the first hour of it reaching his hands. He had the Bobcat Badge taken care of in his first week of scouts. He has slowed down a little since, but he is still very excited to be a Cub Scout. His enthusiasm has brushed off on his older brother who is a Webelos. Zack has quite a bit to do in the next five months in order to get his badge and Arrow of Light award. It is part of our homeschooling goals to give more time to these scout goals. I have given them a project of learning about the Food Pyramid and presenting it to the family while also taking inventory of our own eating habits from a week of recording everything we ate. I haven’t seen any more action on this, so I’m making a mental note to get out my whip. What? Indiana Jones has one. It’s for cracking, not whipping.

Speaking of whipping… I made another yummy dessert topped with homemade whipped cream tonight. Ever since Zoe’s 2nd birthday (just about two weeks ago), I’ve been craving another yellow cake topped with vanilla pudding, whipped cream, and blueberries. It is so good and so light. You could eat the whole pan in one sitting and not hurt a thing. I’m guessing. I didn’t really do that, but I have a feeling that I could. Everyone just had one piece for dessert/refreshments for Family Home Evening. We played Uno tonight. The first game lasted about 30 minutes. It was so long that we only played two games. The second one was quick. And we were able to dig into our desserts at a decent hour.

Come to think of it, we had dinner at a decent hour, too. All thanks to Josh – he reminded me to put it in the oven around 2pm and also gave me the idea on how to cook the pork I defrosted. I rubbed a pork tenderloin with minced garlic, poultry seasoning, and celery salt, threw it in a foil bag, and roasted it in the oven for about three hours. It was falling apart when I took it out. It was the easiest thing ever. I threw some potatoes on the rack to complement the pork. I got the loin half price, so dinner tonight was about 10 bucks for our family of six. Zoe held her own, too, she ate everything. I kept looking at the floor to see if she was throwing it down there, but no… the times, they are a-changing when the toddler gets more food in her mouth than everywhere else. She even ate the rosemary-salted carrots. The rosemary was grown by Randy and Niki’s neighbor down in Port A. The neighbor mixes it with sea salt and puts the mix in little jars to give as Christmas gifts to the neighbors. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time and scored our own little jar since Randy and Niki still haven’t used up the one they got last year.

Health-wise, we are taking turns with the sore throat and headache cold. I believe it was Zoe who started it. Then I got it last week and now Sarah is really starting to feel it. So at church yesterday we barely got through singing Aloha ‘Oe to a dear friend who is moving to Indonesia. While sitting in church the week before, I felt inspired to sing to her despite my lack of singing voice. I recruited Sarah to sing it with me in the Young Women room after their opening exercises. Since the YW President served her mission in Hawaii, she knows all about this custom of singing “Farewell to Thee” to members who move out of the ward. We sing and then bring lei to give and show our love. Everyone cries. You tell yourself that you’re not going to, but the beauty of the music (even when I’m singing it) creates a portal to your heart and allows all that feeling to come up and out. While practicing the song, I even told the girls not to cry, but everyone was crying by the time we were done with our singing. Arwen, our friend and former YW President, was crying before we began. Instead of flower lei, we gave cookie and candy leis. It was a very nice day at church yesterday. We came home very uplifted.

Aloha `Oe by Lili`uokalani

Ha`aheo e ka ua i nâ pali

Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele

E uhai ana paha i ka liko

Pua `âhihi lehua o uka

Hui:

Aloha `oe, aloha `oe

E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

One fond embrace, A ho`i a`e au

Until we meet again

Translation:

Proudly sweeps the rain cloud by the cliffs

As onward it glides through the trees

It seems to be following the liko

The `ahihi lehua of the vale.

Chorus:

Farewell to thee, farewell to thee

Thou charming one who dwells among the bowers

One fond embrace, before I now depart

Until we meet again.

We took a field trip to the Children’s Museum of Houston. We used to have season passes when we first moved here and it was one of our favorite places to go. We haven’t been there in a while and I thought that it would be more of the same stuff, but I was pleasantly surprised and amazed to find it renovated now with three floors. There was way too much to see before they closed and the five hours we were there went by very quickly.

We finally moved away from the puzzle area and found a lab room. Zack donned a lab coat and safety glasses to assemble different molecule models.

Seth assembled a few also, and this one is just so appropriate for him.

The lab coats didn’t fit Sarah, but she put it on anyway along with a silly pose.

I left the big kids with Nana and took Zoe to the second floor where the Tot Spot was located. It was my favorite spot in the whole place. It was toddler heaven. I think if we were there during the summer time then it would quickly change to more of a hell when crowded with kids, but the day we went it was wonderful. Zoe had plenty of room and space to explore.

Kids love to flip the switch! This little exhibit is dedicated to the simple act of turning on and off a light switch.

This one makes the real sound of a toilet flushing. It was my favorite. I got Zoe to do it more than once and tried it a few times myself. The little underpants sitting on the floor below the bear on the potty made me giggle.

Zoe really liked the flowers. I had no idea that they spun and it’s such a great little display since kids can and will touch everything. It was an excellent discovery.

Crawling through the tunnel merits a bit of tongue concentration.

This was Zoe’s favorite. She walked over this tactile walkway over and over again.

I can’t believe I got a picture of the two little boys (Zoe’s looking down on them in the plastic ball pit) that we played with. This was before the little one decided that I was trustworthy. He followed me around with his arms uplifted like he wanted me to pick him up. So I did. He kept doing it, so I did more than once. His dad was there and laughed about it. The big brother and I got into a war with the little plastic balls. He started it and then my Zack got into it. The big kids took a break to see Zoe in her element and were told they couldn’t play. So… the lady came to stand by us and frown disapprovingly at us just as the war was winding down. I thought we were going to get kicked out. We left shortly after that to give the poor lady some peace.

This is what the boys were doing while we were upstairs… they were in a giant climbing thing that was all three stories tall (Lower Level to First Floor to Second Floor). They had a blast. You have to be at least five years old to go in it.

Back to the Tot Spot… here’s another display that is pure fun. The door bell rings, the light switch turns the porch light on and off, and the doors swing open to reveal a mirror.

We went outside for a little tricycle and rocking fish play. It was a nice day, so not too hot. Plus, most of the outside area was in shade.

We had to let the boys paint their faces. Sarah didn’t, but I sat Zoe in front of the mirror to do simple flowers on her cheeks and nose. She cried because I wouldn’t let her take the bowls with sponges out. We calmed her down and Sarah ducked inside a little puppet theater. She put a bird out and Zoe was absolutely mesmerized. She thought it was all real until Sarah lifted the curtain.

They had stations set up throughout the museum for Trick or Treating. Even though we didn’t have costumes on, we got bags from the front and went throughout the museum collecting candy. After we had gone through the line at one station, a camera began shooting near us and a lady asked if we would go through the line again so that the camera could capture Zoe.  The Channel 2 News was there with the weather man, Frank Billingsley, doing live shots.  I took a picture of Zoe with him, but she was tired and wouldn’t stand by him or smile. He was great, though. Josh scoured the news later that evening, but he didn’t find any footage of her.

We discovered the craft/invention room on the Lower Level. Zoe’s eyes popped out of her head that there were so many Lego blocks and she was allowed to touch them.

The last thing the kids did was check out the changes that were made outside.

Well, there is actually one last thing you must do as you leave the museum… you have to put your sticker (the one they give you to wear and show that you paid) on the pole across the street. Sarah helped Zack to get it at the highest point they could.

Our first time visiting the Downtown Aquarium Houston was pretty fun. There is a lot to be said for going during the off season. We went through the inside exhibits almost completely on our own. There was an Asian guy there by himself and my mom kept having to take pictures of him with stuff, but once we got outside, we were able to ditch him. I was extremely curious why he was there on his own. We later sat behind him on the train ride and talked all through his video recording of the tour. I don’t think he spoke English too well, so it’s kind of funny that we’re rattling off in a foreign language.

The kids had to pick out a favorite creature while there and be able to tell us about it when we got home. They also had to write in their journals the things that they most liked about this day and the things they saw and learned.

There were a lot of built-in photo ops at the Aquarium. I liked the swamp one and Zoe’s face. She’s imitating the sound I make when I want to get her attention for a picture.

Blue Poison Dart Frog

What’s an Aquarium visit without the token silhouette shot?

Seth came face-to-face with a Tarantula!

Sarah demonstrating her ability to follow the rules – touch with one finger only!

I’m not sure how aware Zoe was of the creatures in the petting tank. She just got more and more upset that she couldn’t go in the water.

I took at least twenty pictures of this little tank trying to get a good shot of Dory and Nemo (or is it Marlin?). They just kept swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming… You can see the reflection of my mom’s camera next to mine. We both spent a good three minutes trying to get the perfect shot. This one will do.

Zoe climbed back under the petting tank and then the boys joined her one by one.

Zack and Seth took several pictures with this fake tiger. There was a button on the wall to take the picture, and then the picture was shown on the wall right below. The idea is to buy the picture as it is listed with a reference number. Of course, they milk you for all you’re worth by this exhibit exiting through a gift shop. It was very Disney, only without the crazy pictures of you screaming down Splash Mountain or other ride.

Zoe finally got to touch water at the outside fountain. In fact, we let her go all out ending with us stripping her and sitting her back in the stroller covered by her jeans. We booked it to the car to put her in a nice, dry diaper and her sweatshirt. We also probably broke some public indecency law by letting her naked self get into the fountain at the front entrance while on our way to the car. My mom took that picture, so I don’t have it. Probably best not to post them anyway. I will say that her face was completely lit up when I put her in the fountain and she cried bloody murder when I took her out.