Second Annual Train Trip to Seattle

Yay, our internet is working again, so I can tell you about our amazingly beautiful sunny and warm day in Seattle today. First we walked up to Pike Street Market and had lunch and checked out the beautiful flowers and other wares. The tulips were absolutely amazing. Them must have a tulip growing area nearby because they were in great abundance and in a multitude of colors and patterns.

Then we walked up to the sculpture garden, which was really cool except that you weren't allowed to touch anything, which was rather a bummer. Here the kids are taking a little rest, far from any actual sculptures they might accidentally bump up against.

I think they were allowed to touch these, which didn't seem to be technically IN the sculpture garden. How often do you get to sit on an eyeball?
The kids didn't know what this object was until I told them:
Right after I snapped this picture a voice boomed out over a loud speaker "PLEASE DON'T TOUCH THE ART IN THE SCULPTURE GARDEN." Yikes! Big Brother is watching us!

Then we walked up to the park around the Space Needle and listened to a lovely band from some Andean country and saw more great sculptures (and climbed on them!). The monorail took us halfway back to the train station, then a quick lemonade stop and back to the station.
We're all exhausted, but it was so much fun, we can't wait until next year's trip.

Plan #438

M: Remember when we used to read from a bunch of different books, instead of just one or two?

A: Yeah, and we actually used to do spelling and look places up on maps when we read about them?

M: And you used to leave little notes for us with stuff to do while you were at work?

Jeez, we've only been off the wagon for a few weeks, really! OK, we got a little busy with the birthday planning and festivities and schoolwork sort of devolved down to Rick Riordon's Percy Jackson series and a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, and some math a few times per week. But isn't it a good thing that my kids are wanting to get back into schoolwork, rather than me having to drag them along? Isn't it funny, the one thing I've been pretty consistent with is math, and that is the thing neither of them want to do now. How can you not like math?

Anyway, we're going to just do math games on the computer for a little while, and concentrate on some other things. Here is our new plan:

1. Pick back up _Our Island Story_ (history of England)

2. Pick back up _Augustus Caesar's World_ (alternate with 1.)

3. Find a D'aulaire picture book biography or something similar to work through a page or so at a time

4. Do regular stories from Fifty Stories Retold and similar books of tales.

5. Pick back up Sequential Spelling

6. Go through this drawing lesson book we have

7. Look up places in books we're reading on maps/globe/atlas

8. Get a steady stream of science online video sites set up.

9. Find a science book to start reading through, or finish the physics one we were reading if we didn't finish it.

10. Print some handwriting practice worksheets for M with science facts on them.

11. Go to the art museum.

M really wants to do more hands-on science, too, and we decided a little while that Singapore was just not right for us. We had the microscope out the other day and that was a big hit, so maybe I could look for some microbiology--grow some molds and get some pond water and stuff like that. We've done more chemistry and physics than biology (other than nature stuff), so that might be a good way to go. I bet I can find a low-tech growing medium on the internet.

A and I are doing another on-line writing class with Bravewriter and for some reason this one has been harder--not more work, but harder to figure out what to write. I think she's hit on an idea she can go with, now, though, so I'm hoping it will be better from here on out. 

Fat Tuesday

Ever since we went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras many years ago, we've been in love with the whole event and the town. New Orleans had so much soul, and so much celebration with such abandon. This was where we discovered that D has been practicing white voodoo all his life, filling our house with little gris-gris offerings. The music, the food, the feast for all of the senses. I think we've watched every documentary about New Orleans and Katrina that is out there, or at least that is available at our library and local video store. 

Here was our homage to New Orleans tonight. The King Cake is ready to decorate, "olive salad" for the muffaletta, with ham, mortadella, salami, mozzarella, and gruyere ready to go. 

Don't forget the hurricanes!

Colored sugar for the King Cake (the middle one is supposed to be purple--turned out kind of gray, unfortunately)
And finally, the feast! It looks a little underwhelming in the picture, but it was an incredibly delicious and very festive meal. Party on.

Cat Toys

We had another lovely day with our homeschool coop today. Just when I'm completely out of ideas, thankfully others come through with fun ideas like making cat toys for the Humane Society. Everyone had a really fun time, including our market research crew:

And finally, some of the gang retires to the front room for a rousing game of cars after a hard day's work with needle and thread:

The latest addition

Please welcome Radcrab, and his friend purple claw.

Girls, again

OK, I just have to brag one more time about the wonderful girls I get to spend every other Friday with. They are blossoming right in front of my eyes. Here are a few examples from today.

We are working on a play that has three big roles and five smaller roles, and one of the the girls with one of the big roles has never done a play before, but really wanted one of big roles. I worried that she didn't know what she was getting herself into. Maybe she didn't know what she was getting herself into, but she has totally come through. She has worked and worked on learning her lines. We went off script today and she pretty much had her lines.

And, there is another super sweet girl who kind of shrinks in a crowd--jabbers away in smaller groups and groups that she has a long history with, but has had hard time feeling totally comfortable with this bigger group of girls (who are mostly older than her). Today, however, first of all, the girls were reading tongue twisters one-at-a-time at one end of the driveway while the others stood at the other end and repeated back what they heard--an exercise designed to have the kids speak clearly and loudly. I thought this might be challenging for this girl and gave her kind of an easier one to start out, but she just sang it right out, loud and clear as could be, without any hesitation or nervousness. Then, later when the girls were figuring out what to play, she voiced what *she* wanted to do, perhaps for the first time ever with the whole group. It was amazingly cool.

And, we were doing some short improv scenarios, and one girl in particular was just blowing me away with her comedic acting. She has had plenty of great moments since we've been doing this, but I would have been cracking up if I had paid money to see her--by any objective standard, she was just hilarious.

Also, when we were talking about the roles today, one girl was clearly unhappy with her role--couldn't really see anything funny or interesting about her part, and every attempt to characterize the part in an interesting way seemed to clash with the lines. Everyone could see her unhappiness and wanted to help her figure out a way to make the part interesting. She didn't like any of the ideas she was hearing, but everyone stuck with her and tried to help her work it out. It would have been really easy for her to reject every idea and dig in with her position that this role was hopeless. But, in the end, she didn't. I don't know if she felt that the others were really listening and sympathizing with her, which freed her up to be open to changing her thinking, or if she herself made a conscious decision to be open to thinking about the role differently, of if someone's idea really did ignite some interest for her. But, it was a tough moment for the group and for her, but in the end I think we all felt some hope that she could find a way to make her character work.

And, when they were all standing around eating snacks, one of them made a disparaging comment about George Bush, which was greeted with hearty agreement by everyone but one girl, who didn't think George Bush was such a bad president, and wished McCain had won the election. There was a brief moment of surprise among the rest of the girls, whose households were all strongly in the Obama camp, but they went on with great tact and grace and didn't disparage George Bush or John McCain. Instead they eventually found common ground in their dislike of Sarah Palin :)

I just love the way they put their arms around each other and hold each others' hands and chase each other through the house like maniacs, and just generally feel free to laugh and unselfconsciously and confidently be themselves. On the other hand, they are also developing a really nice sense of awareness of others' feelings, and some real skills in reaching out to each other and finding common ground. A has been saying all week long that she couldn't wait until Friday to see the drama club gang, and I can see why!

Signs of Spring

What a glorious day. I don't care what the groundhog says--for today, at least, we could pretend that spring is here. My old heat-loving kitty could warm herself in the sun,

it was a perfect day to jump around outside,

and the Red-flowering Current is ready to burst open.

We have a tradition here that the blooming of the Daphne is the official beginning of spring for us, and we celebrate with milkshakes. I can taste them already...