Play Day

LET'S PUT ON A SHOW!!: I don't know what you were doing at 7 this morning, but we here at MPA were delving into the dramatic arts.

Weeks ago, I'd checked out a library book called "Small Plays for Special Days." It is a collection of holiday-themed skits. Even though Feb. 14 has past, Annabelle wanted to tackle, "Good Day Giant - a Play for Valentine's Day."

So she (with some help from me) set about making some props. We had to make two signs, two valentines, a giant ogre eye headband, and a sash with the name "Giant" on it. Then we had to make copies of the lines so they each had a script.

Tonight, the kids did the play for their dad. It had several stutters and stops, but they powered through. After they finished and the applause died down, CJ said to me, "You need to give me two sheets of blank paper so we can give Daddy our autographs." : )

COWPOKES: Things are moving right along at Musikgarten. I'm impressed with how quickly the kids are picking up and replicating rhythms, and I don't just mean 4/4 timing - some of the stuff is pretty darn sophisticated.

Before we parents were let in on the action, apparently the kids did some line dancing today. I would have liked to have seen that!

BIG SKY COUNTRY: The weather was gorgeous today and it's supposed to be even nicer tomorrow, so I thought it would be a great time to take a field trip out to Sky Nursery - a place in Shoreline that I've been meaning to visit for about two years now. So, we made the 30 minute drive out there and I'm glad we did. It was a gardener's paradise. :)

We hadn't been there long when Annabelle spied Jr. Gardeners Headquarters. There were a couple of activities there, as well as a place to sign up for the junior gardeners' newsletter (which we did). CJ found a current copy of the newsletter and discovered a coupon for a free packet of seeds in it. Excellent! Of course we couldn't just get one pack. We walked out with carrots, a few kinds of sunflowers, and peppers. We also bought an artichoke start. And a couple of blueberry bushes. And a lemon tree ... (OK, so I went a little cRaZy. At least I wasn't blowing the $ at one of Shoreline's many, many casinos.)

In addition to thousands of kinds of plants (CJ was especially fond of the cacti), the place had lots of cool statuary and other garden art. At the back of the grounds the kids found a bridge over a koi pond, so we hung out there for awhile.

GAMER GEM: CJ would like to share some important information with MPA blog readers regarding Kirby Super Star Ultra for Nintendo DS. "First in the final four is Masked Dedede. Second in the final four: Wham Bam Jewel. Third in the final four: Galacta Knight. Last but not least in the final four - Marx Soul."

I would love to tell you all what this means, exactly, but I'm really not sure.

EXCUSE ME? I was just telling Christian something and Annabelle turned to me and said, "Shh! It's starting!" - 'it' being the Oscar-nominated "Food, Inc." She's keenly interested in watching it. We're about 15 minutes into it and it's riveting.