Today in School: Field Trip--Frank Buck Zoo

Today we went to the Frank Buck Zoo.  It was a surprise trip for the kids and we had an a.w.e.s.o.m.e. time.

This zoo is in Gainesville, Texas and is a smaller zoo.  Perfect for my runner Merritt.  He could go as far as he wanted and I didn't worry because the zoo was not crowded and did not have lots of byways and directions that he could scamper off to and get lost.  Evy enjoyed it as well.  My boys are a blast!

We were able to tour the zoo in about an hour and a half.  We had lunch at a park right by the zoo (the BEST park I have been to in a long time--I loved it there).  We almost went back to the zoo after that, but the boys needed a nap so they would be in good spirits for some evening fun.  (I think the zoo is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers because they won't get overtired or overwhelmed by the place.)

The main thrust was to go see this guy:

(cause we'll need a camel to ride on our desert trip tomorrow)

"This is the coolest place EVER!"  Evy

(zoos are always fun, but I was thrilled to see the additional purpose and meaning since we went to see unusual things, like a camel, because that was something that Dad saw that day)

Who doesn't love a giraffe?

The goats are hysterical.  Meet Mr. Insistent. He would headbutt the others out of the way, he would kick the fencing with his front legs, he would follow you cm. by cm. because he wanted FOOD.

That's him.

Mr. Insistent Meet Mr. Merritt, Your Match

HEY!  Where did you go?  If you won't stay with me, I'll come to you.

(crack me up!)

After eating lunch in the car, because bee-paralysis set in after being wooed by bees at the picnic table, we spent an hour an a half playing around at the park, which looks like a castle.  It is a pretty large structure.

While Everett was doing this, he was saying to himself, "Don't look down.  Don't look down."

 

One of my favorite parts.  A hidden tire swing.

Would like this in my backyard.

And this.

Came home happy and tired.  Perfect!

Pics from Dad

Burj Khalifa

"A mirage or is it real?"

wild camels that Erik spotted while lost in the desert

Chills and Thrills

We finished Italy and went to France . . . and then to Dubai.  This week we'll mainly focus on Dubai and then study a bit on Texas in preschool.

Erik got lost in the desert.  Saw a mirage and wild camels.

I'm a cracker-jack mom because I was able to watch much of conference and I didn't want to pawn my kids off on someone else during it.  They fought, played well, sat and watched part of it, cried, flooded the floor, were loud, were quiet, and made a royal mess.  But, I was able to listen and hear the messages I needed to understand while managing them.

Heavenly Father granted me courage and blessing of peace during these past couple of weeks.  I know I am doing as well as I am because He is looking out for me and grants me an immense amount of patience and tolerance.

Pics from Dad

(he knows what I like)

I Surprise Even Myself

This amazing shot is by Elena Kalis.  Go see her work.

Date:  September 30th, Friday

It was Friday, and I was in the water.  That morning, I was awake bright and early, like 5 a.m. early, thankyoumysecondbornsonmerritt.  Historically, if 8 weeks can be considered a long enough to be history, Friday is the worst swim of the week.  I don't know why, but my Friday swims are usually hard and disheartening. 

I wasn't set for anything but making sure I kept up the routine of going.  Oddly, the lanes weren't packed.  The Power Boys weren't splashing around as they powered through their set of laps, moving the water as if we were in the middle of an ocean, constantly swamping swimmers with waves.

As soon as I jumped in the water, I felt like it was going to be good.  My swim cap ripped as I was popping it over my thick hair.  Meant I'll get hair in my mouth as I swim, but I was excited about the damage as I was eager to buy a new cap. 

With newly adjusted goggles, I started my warm-up.  It was so *easy*--and I thought about how it was the last day of the month.  My goal for the month's end was to be able to swim 800 meters (m) freestyle, continuously, no breaking at the wall.  At the beginning of the month, I could barely swim 100 m freestyle without feeling like my lungs would burst and I would drown in 4 feet of water.

To date, the farthest I had made it using freestyle during my drills was 300 m.  I hadn't really tried to see how far I could go because I just changed my stroke pattern and breathing four weeks ago.  Still thinking about it, I started my workout ladder . . . 75 m . . . and I felt really good.  I decided to just see how far I could swim.

At 10 minutes into the workout, I started the long swim.  I made it to 400 m and thought that was a pretty decent improvement, and I kept on going.  I hit 600 m . . . then 800 m.  My pace was AWESOME.  The other swimmers and the water aerobic people, who started taking over the lap swim lanes kicking and bobbing to the Beach Boys, didn't bother me or interrupt my pace.  I kept on going . . . and going . . . and going . . . 60 minutes later, when I needed to de-mermaid and pick up my boys, I was at 2200 m.

People, a mile is about 1609 m.

I had swimmingly made my way to almost a mile and a half.

I am a rock star.  My goal when I started nine weeks ago was to swim a continuous mile, in freestyle, with awesome flipturns.  And.  I.  Did.  It.   wait a second, it should be . . . And!  I!  Did!  It! 

And, you should see my jaunty confident stroll when I walk to the pool now.  I am so proud of myself.

Now what?  Well, I'd like to get my mile swim to under 30 minutes.  I hope to take a couple of lessons to get going on the butterfly around Christmas.

If I ever get my ankle to feel okay with a slight jog, I'm gonna do a triathlon (you were right, Janet!).  Okay, I just heard Erik muttering his concern across the world about the whole running thing . . . I'll do a sprint distance first, and I'll most likely briskly walk.  (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run)  OR an aquabike . . . you swim and bike, no running.

Mystery Decorator

I usually have fall decorations up by now.  But, with the heat, it really hasn't felt like fall and it didn't even occur to me until I was scrounging in our "hat" box for, well, hats.  I found our pumpkins and laid them out on the table.  We went to the library, and when I passed the pumpkins, I "displayed" the "fall" books, like a big nerd, right by the pumpkins.  We bought a couple decorative squash, and I just put them on the table as I walked through the room to put away the rest of the purchases.  No real thought on it all.

And then, someone started artfully arranging the pumpkins.  Every time I pass through the room, the pumpkins are posed differently.

Here is what they look like right now:

I'm thinking I should just dump the rest of the autumnal decorations on the table and see how the mystery decorator decides to arrange it.

Today in School: Would the Real Dubai Please Stand Up?

RedVisitor

This is taking more time to research.  No, there is not a site for how to teach preschoolers about Dubai.  In fact, most of what is out there is about tourism.  Not what I want to teach.

So, we'll spend some time on the desert (including camel racing), religion of Islam, human rights, mosques, a little bit on the tourism, and we'll eat lots of food (my favorite being the shawarma).  I'm gonna have to create the lessons from scratch, but here are some websites that I found have some merit (resources are pretty limited on this topic and many I don't know if I can trust.  hopefully these are okay.)

Dubai
http://www.travel-earth.com/united-arab-emirates/
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam22/children.html
http://www.justlanded.com/english/Dubai/Dubai-Guide/Culture
http://www.dubai-livethedream.com/dubai-culture.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/615412/United-Arab-Emirates/257038/Plant-and-animal-life

Islam
http://www.islamfortoday.com/beliefs.htm
http://www.middleeasthub.com/dubai/culture/
http://www.destination360.com/middle-east/united-arab-emirates/jumeirah-mosque
http://www.sightsofdubai.com/jumeirah-mosque/

Food
http://www.thatsdubai.com/dubai-food.html
http://www.quickbooker.com/uae/dubai/travel-guide/dubai-food.html

Human Rights (should have started this earlier)
http://emiratesvoyage.com/uae-guide/human-rights-uae/
http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/visitors/shared/documents/pdfs/Pub_United%20Nations_ABC_human%20rights.pdf
http://www.hrusa.org/thisismyhome/project/toolkitlist.shtml

Desert
http://www.dubaivacationtrips.com/climate.php
http://yazmodo.com/?tag=animals-spot-in-uae-desert
http://www.indexuae.com/Top/Science/Environment/Wildlife

Jiggle with Giggles

Evy was taking care of business in the bathroom.  I hear the toilet flush and he BOUNDS out with energy.

Evy: MOM!!!!!
Mom:  What?
Evy: I just flushed the toilet with my TOES!!!

He then peppers me with questions about my own toe-ly skills in flushing the toilet.

------------------------------------------

Tonight, I needed to get a new swim cap.  The one I had finally died.  We went to a sporting goods store and was roaming the place.  Merritt was doing a decent job of listening.

Then I saw him run over to a boy mannequin.

Merritt:  Boy
Mom:  Yes, that is a boy mannequin.

Then there was some discussion about how it isn't a monster even though it has no eyes, etc.

Merritt:  Mom, boy, check ah penis.  (as he lifts the mannequin's shirt and starts to pull the pants down as well)

That child was going to verify that it was a boy mannequin and not a monster.  Very thorough.

Today in School: France Field Trip

We put on our hats and our mustaches and were READY for pastries at Tart Bakery.

insisted on a self-portrait

Chocolate eclair

Macaroons (chocolate, pistachio, passion fruit)

Mom, a picture NOW, really.

DELICIOUS!!!

He was intent on finishing that mammoth pastry.  I don't blame him!

A trip to a marvelous store with LOTS of food.  We settled on lunch:  a baguette ("Just like Dad has, Mom!"), cheese, marmalade from France, and apples.  Oh, and balloons of course.

Today in School: Paper Beret

I could not find instructions on how to make a beret out of paper.  My sewing machine is dead.  And, I wanted the field trip to have an added element of fun.

So, here is what I did:
glue
pompoms (if you want)
poster board
scissors
felt
stapler

I just printed off a picture of a beret as a template and cut around it to what I thought would be a good "size" for my boys.  I then, cut the felt according to the template.

Cut one strip of posterboard (per kid) and "fit" the length around the head to make sure it is the correct size, staple it.  I used an inch wide strip.  (look how much Evy's head is bigger than Merritt's, wow)

Cut a smaller template shape out of the posterboard to provide structure for the felt piece.  (You can cut the posterboard to match the felt exactly, but you don't need to for sufficient support.)

Staple the posterboard beret shapes to the headbands.

Glue the felt shaped beret pieces (Elmer's works just fine).

Glue pompoms (f you want) and make "tuft" lines on the felt to give it beret-like dimension.

Now, we are ready to go!

Pics from Dad

Erik:  So, I may have a chance to see the Eiffel Tower.
Evy:  Dad, you got to make sure to buy a ticket to see it.  So, make sure you check that out. 

(you know he was paying attention to the show we watched about Paris yesterday)

Erik:  (giggling)  Tell me more so I do it right.
Evy:  I'm just saying you have to have a ticket.
Erik:  Well, I know I have to buy a ticket to ride the train to Paris.
Merritt runs in the room upon hearing the word TRAIN.
Evy:  (jaw drops) Mom, Did you HEAR that?  Dad gets to ride a train.

Then there was an intense discussion of who gets the to keep Dad's train ticket.  Merritt was immediately in the fray saying,'All abooaard. Tickets please!' (in Merritt talk)

I'm sure Dad is scrambling to find the ticket from the train he took earlier in the trip.

We love you, Dad!

Today in School: Eiffel Tower

This was a blast to make.   Sugar wafers, icing, and no holding back!

Very serious about laying a strong foundation.

Took a break to eat some.

Merritt:  continuing his eating break.  Everett:  getting some building done.

A little building, and, yes, time for an eating break!

YUM!

Some more building.

Evy is really getting something in place.

YAY!  The Eiffel Tower!

Love the little blob of icing that got on his ear.

Evy's on the left.  Mom's on the right.

"Mom, I think your tower is a widdle bit crooked."

Now, time to eat!

We also watched a tour video for kids about Paris.  Evy and Merritt were so excited about it the ENTIRE time.  Like every 20 seconds,"Can we go there?"  The coolest:  the food and all the modes of transportation (especially the double-decker traveling).

Evy Talk

Evy is a pretty awesome four year old kid.  I mean, he can follow multi-step directions, AWESOME!  He is helpful, and I really enjoy our school-time together when Merritt is napping.

He says some of the funniest things.  Today, when I picked him up from his weekly preschool class:

Evy:  Mom, I made a boyfriend and a girlfriend today!
Mom:  I'm so glad you made two new friends today!

When working together on coloring a picture:
Evy:  We are SO good. This is going to look awesome when it is done.
Evy:  I can't WAIT to show Dad.  He'll LLOOVVEE IT!

When working on a particularly difficult task, he has self-positive talk that he chats with while he works independently (and he'll do this with some motor movement like a shake of his body, a wiggle of his head, or waving his arms):

Evy:  Fabulous . . . oh, yeah!  I got that one . . . I figured you out you pesky picture . . . oh, oh, oh, GOTCHA! . . . oooo, you were trying to be tricky!

He still categorizes characters into 'good' and 'bad' but is more and more often talking about people related to their actions instead of a good/bad character:

Evy:  He made a poor decision, huh?
Evy:  Is the bad guy trying to make good choices?

He is constantly adding objects and treasures to his "co-wwecktions"--his favorite thing to collect, as described by him to our neighbor this morning, . . . money.

When we were talking about his upcoming birthday this morning:

Evy:  Yeah, when I turn five, I'll be in charge and make my own decisions.
Mom:  Really?  Like what.
Evy:  Like I'll let myself rot my brain and eat junk ALL the time.  (watch tv, play angry birds, and eat french fries, etc)

When something negative happens in the day, he'll turn to watch my reaction and say,"That's okay, Mom, we'll get another one."  Or, "It will be okay, Mom."  OR, he'll just simply say,"I love you, Mom!"

And, when he was supposed to be in bed this evening, I was in the bathroom and could hear his hesitant step through my bedroom.  He peers around to corner to me:

Evy:  Mom, I hate to disturb you right now . . . . (he needed to have help getting his jewel and money collection all in ONE cool sock.)

And, just now, he jiggle walks into the room and gives me a sticker using his quiet, excited voice:

Evy:  I'm going to give you a widdle reward.  (little)