Meet the Teachers

School starts next week, and today we got to tour the kids' school and meet their teachers:

Ms. Parsons

Ms. Kessler

Ms. Dvorak

Anna's teacher even let her draw a picture on the white board.  Anna drew herself and me in princess clothes outside our house.

After the tour we explored a paved trail behind the school.  The trail let past a pond (with a big snapping turtle who didn't stick around for a photo op) . . .

. . . and a playground.  We stopped to play, eat a snack, and climb a tree (in Joy's case), then we headed for home.  Five days till school starts, and we're all excited!

Sprinkle Cake for Anna

Anna is six years old today!  She's been telling me for weeks that she wanted a sprinkle cake from the store for her birthday.

Wish granted!  I also threw in some fun surprises like a birthday balloon (which she's been playing with all day) and some candles that burn with different colored flames (there are four left in the package for someone else's birthday in November ;).

Joy loves to give gifts, but she often forgets to make or buy something until the last minute.  Tonight as I got Anna's presents and dessert ready, Joy rushed to prepare a card with a coupon for Anna to play Minecraft with her, plus a Sacajawea dollar taped on for good measure. 

The sprinkle cake was OK, but I liked the Breyers vanilla ice cream better.  Mmm . . . good to the last drop!

Happy birthday, Anna!!!

Roughing It with Marshmallows

Last night we drove to a local state park . . .

. . . for the annual ward camp out.  See the guy in the red shirt?  It's rare to find someone who has more height or a deeper voice than Phillip.  That guy has both.

We set up our tent quickly because the Sun was going down, then we roasted hot dogs for dinner and lots of s'mores for dessert.  I also brought along a bunch of apples and carrots so we could pretend we were eating a balanced meal.

I like many things about camping, but sleeping in a tent isn't one of them.  It's hard to get to sleep on the hard ground, and it's hard to stay asleep once you get there, especially when you're surrounded by fidgety kids and talkative neighbors.  I can see why lots of people go "camping" with RVs.

The girls rose early this morning and went in search of wood to feed the bonfire.  I assured them that one of our fellow campers had brought plenty of firewood, but Joy felt driven to feed the fire, so I let them continue on their quest.

After we ate breakfast and packed up, Daniel requested that we explore a trail near the campsite.  I had no clue where it led, and wondered if we should take lots of water, and perhaps a compass.

It turned out to be part of a Frisbee golf course.  High adventure, indeed.

Swimming, Sort Of

Next item on the summer vacation bucket list: Go swimming!  Or wading.  Or sitting.

I recently joined the local YMCA, mainly because I need the exercise endorphins, but also because a family membership allows us to go swimming and gets us a big discount on swim lessons.  When I proposed swim lessons for Anna and Daniel, Anna eagerly accepted the offer but Daniel wasn't interested until we actually got in the pool this afternoon.  That's pretty typical for Daniel--he usually doesn't want to try new things or shake up his status quo, but if you can get him out and involved in the activity he usually has a good time.

Our kids currently run the whole gamut of swimming skill and confidence:

Joy is a capable swimmer who can swim laps unassisted.  

Daniel is comfortable in the water, but that's just because he knows his limits.  He always stays in areas where he can touch the bottom.  

Anna is pretty nervous about the water; she likes to be in it and often wants me to carry her around in the pool, but she clung to me nearly every second her feet weren't on the steps today, even though she was wearing a life vest.  It probably doesn't help that she's only been in a pool once in the last year.  She felt a little more comfortable in the water by the end of our outing today, and I'm hopeful that she'll make lots of progress in her swim class next month.  

Todd was content to sit on the top step  the whole time watching the other kids or playing with a pool noodle.  Since Anna wanted my attention a lot, I was happy to just let him chill this time.

Potty Party 2

Our potty training goal for the past few days has been for Todd to stay clean all day and take the lead in letting me know when he needs go.

He did a great job and filled his latest chart up in just three days, so we he had another Potty Party to celebrate.

Joy suggested that we have the party on a picnic blanket outside and invite our friend Leila, so that's exactly what we did.

Well done, my son!

Our Solar Eclipse Adventure

Next item on our summer bucket list: WATCH A SOLAR ECLIPSE!!!

Joy wanted to to take a nine-hour road trip south to see the total eclipse, but her practical parents vetoed that plan.  I still wanted the kids to see the partial eclipse in a fun and memorable way, though, and my first order of business was to make sure we could view it safely.  The Sun would be about 80% eclipsed in our area, which is still too bright to look at with the naked eye, but I learned that the National Air and Space Museum was giving away free eclipse-viewing glasses, so the kids and I set a course for it this morning.

Hundreds of other people apparently had the same idea, because before we even exited the freeway we found ourselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic.  As we slowly approached the museum's front gate I worried we wouldn't even be able to find parking, so when Joy pointed out that some people were parking by the side of the road and walking I decided to do likewise and hike the last half mile . . .

. . . to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy branch of the National Air and Space Museum.  We obtained our eclipse glasses (good thing we arrived early--the supply was exhausted an hour later), then spent a little time viewing the museum's planes.

The historic planes were cool and all . . .

. . . but we were really blown away by the natural wonder of the solar eclipse.  The weather was partly cloudy, and every time the crescent Sun would emerge form behind a cloud, the growing crowd would ooh and aah over it.  No matter how many times we looked at it, the sight always felt like a treat.

It took over an hour for the eclipse to progress from beginning to maximum coverage, so we ate our lunch in the shade and occasionally stopped to catch a glimpse of the incredible shrinking Sun.  At 2:41 the eclipse reached maximum coverage for our area.  We savored the moment, then at 2:42 I started shepherding the kids back to our van so we wouldn't get caught in traffic again.

When we reached our van, the mostly-eclipsed Sun ducked behind a thin layer of cloud and I was able to get a photograph of it.  Then we drove home, right through a rainstorm.  I was so grateful that we had the chance to view the eclipse in an area with just a few little clouds overhead.  Joy is already looking forward to the next eclipse in 2024.

Magic Rocks and Real Ones

Summer vacation is almost over, and between the move and potty training I feel like I haven't gotten out and done very many fun activities with the kids.  While there's certainly something to be said for making your own fun around the house, I want to fill our last couple weeks of summer vacation with some more memorable activities.

I started today by getting out some little science projects the kids received as gifts a while back.

We grew some "magic rocks" (they actually grow really fast!) . . .

. . . then the kids took turns excavating semiprecious stones from a block of sandstone (or some artificial equivalent thereof).

At first all they unearthed were these little pebbles.  Was this quartz and jasper in the rough?  Should we check the box for a little rock tumbler?

Then Joy chipped away a bit more of the block and found what looked like a shiny little jelly bean.  Apparently the semiprecious stones come pre-tumbled. :)

Here's the aftermath of the excavation.  I suppose this was meant to be more of an outdoor project, but the mosquitoes in our neighborhood have been biting a lot and biting hard lately.  I'd rather spend a few minutes cleaning up a dusty mess than have my kids get bitten ten times looking for a little piece of sodalite.

What Do You Do in the Summertime?

We spent today indoors . . .

. . . because it was raining outside.  After spending decades in dry Southern California, where you can go months without seeing a single raindrop, I'm still getting used to the fact that it rains every week in Maryland during the summertime.  I don't mind the rain; it's just weird to see it so often, especially in August.

Anna decided this was a nice day to curl up with a good book . . .

. . . while Joy pitched a tent for her little Minecraft toys.

Donuts and Tennis

After chores today . . .

. . . we hit up a local donut shop to see if their offerings were any good.

Alas, they were just OK.  Sigh . . . too bad our old favorite Monterey Donut is on the other side of the continent.

After finishing our snack, the girls and I swatted tennis balls around with Daddy . . .

. . . while Todd enjoyed the shade on the playground . . .

. . . and Daniel made friends with some of our fellow Columbians.

Peter and the Frog

Yesterday the little kids and I paid a visit to a local library.

Before going inside, we spent a few minutes exploring the library's garden.

One portion was a rain garden designed to collect runoff for some water-loving plants.

There was also a little Peter Rabbit garden (the coat was cute but the plants look rather sparse--perhaps Peter has nibbled too many of them) . . .

. . . and whimsical sculptures like this very well-read frog.

The garden was fun, but after a while it was nice to come inside, check out our books, and enjoy the air conditioning next to this cool fountain.

Potty Party

The Trainee . . .

. . . has filled up a second potty training chart.  He's doing really well . . .

. . . so we decided to have a little potty training party to celebrate his progress.  We all enjoyed the Gatorade and the cookies I've been using as bribes rewards for bathroom success.

The kids' favorite part of the party was biting pieces off of the letter cookies, then inviting their siblings to guess which letter the remaining part originally belonged to.  Hmm . . . was this little nub part of a T or a J?

Caterpillars Are Self-Reliant

This afternoon, Joy and Leila called me outside . . .

. . . to see something they had found.

It turned out to be a caterpillar with some cool-looking antennae.  The concerned girls wanted to know what they could do to help feed and shelter the little caterpillar.  They relaxed a bit when I reminded them that the caterpillar and thousands of its ancestors have been surviving in the outdoors just fine for centuries.

The Fasting Baker

Today was Fast Sunday, when we skip two meals (or one, in the big kids' case--Todd hasn't tried it yet) as a sacrifice to ask for God's help with a specific challenge (our own or someone else's).  We also donate the money we would have spent on that food to help others in need.

It can be hard to remember all of that great stuff, though, when you wake up hungry in the morning, so I've taken to putting this sign on our dining table the night before Fast Sunday to remind us not to eat breakfast.  Actually, since it's such a special day, maybe I should print a nicer sign.

Hungry tummy notwithstanding, this afternoon Daddy decided to make his favorite cookies to take to some friends this evening.  Baking delicious cookies you can't even sample until a few hours later--now that's a sacrifice.