Furloughcation

A couple days early, this Valentine-y sunrise was the first thing we saw this morning (with a Pop Tart being a close second)

TICKET TAKERS: This morning we got an email notifying us that our tickets to a Disney Resort were ready to be claimed. Yee haw! We earned them last Saturday during our Earth Corps work crew gig at Golden Gardens park.

I printed up the passes and presented them to CeeJ and Bee who were thrilled! You would have thought it was the golden ticket inside a Wonka bar!

MORE MUSIC: Since it is a furlough Friday in our home, Christian was able to go to Musikgarten with the kids. I'm told the kids demonstrated their budding glockenspiel talent during the parent participation part, and it is reported they played some percussion instrument that sounds like a frog. That's all I know. ...

MIXED BAG: Second grade workbook "Math Made Easy from Dorling Kindersley. Doubling, counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s, ordering, dimensions, fractions and some neat sheets on symmetry.

Before they started the symmetry sheets, we reviewed the concept. I used their faces as examples, noting that if we drew a line from their chin to their hair, the left and right sides of their faces are (mostly) symmetrical. However, if we drew our line from ear to ear, the top and bottom parts of their faces are nowhere near symmetrical - imagine, you'd need eyes on your chin and a mouth on your forehead! That made them laugh.

As they were trying to figure out if an object was symmetrical or trying to draw the second half of a symmetrical object, they were definitely helped by a reflective rectangle I had on hand just for that purpose.

DYNAMIC DUO: This afternoon, a new pair of superheroes debuted on the MPA campus, a CJ creation. They were Measure Man (wielding a steel tape) and Alien Girl (wearing jaunty baseball antennae). The two weren't very adventurous superheroes. Mostly they sat on the couch.

Later this afternoon CJ started laughing hysterically. I asked him what was so funny. He said, "Measure Man is a crappy superhero. All he does is count and measure things."

GAME TIME: Around noonish, Annabelle was reading The Magic School Bus Adventures in the Food Chain Coloring & Activity book. She came across a two-page spread titled "Scurry!" and asked if we could play a game. Of course!

In the game, you were supposed to be a mouse headed for home whilst trying not to get eaten by predators. Annabelle had the great idea to use the little plastic mice from Mouse Trap as our tokens. She beat me fair and square.

UP, UP & AWAY: Another nice surprise in my morning email was an enticing offer from LivingSocialDeals, a Web site/email list that offers one 50 percent-off promotion every day. Today's deal: Half off a helicopter tour of Seattle. Just $135 for three people. Oh hell yes, we're in. The flight starts at Boeing field and its path is over Elliott Bay, the Ballard Locks and Golden Gardens - all of our on-ground haunts! The kids were so excited when I told them about it.

So we'll be booking that soon - probably on a sunny Monday in the not-too-distant future.

SAY AHH: This afternoon the kids both had dentist appointments. Happily, we have found a wonderful place to go - Lakeview Kids Dentistry. A great office with excellent staff.
Because there is something really, really wrong with me, I thought it would be a great idea to show the kids the dentist scene from Little Shop of Horrors before their appointments.

Actually, it wasn't a bad thing to do at all (I swear!). The kids have both been to the dentist before and know their dentist is NOT like that. CJ was still singing the song 8 hours later. :)

MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE UP IN SPACE: Backdropped by the blackness of space, Endeavour approached the International Space Station during STS-130 rendezvous and docking operations on its current mission. The Tranquility node can be seen in the shuttle's payload bay. Image Credit: NASA, photographed by the Expedition 22 crew