Fantastic Friday

TAKE NOTE: More music and merriment this morning at Musikgarten. One of the big developments of the day was that the kids received cards (white, above) that have notes on a staff. (Past cards have just been notes of varying duration - without ascribing a specific tone to them.)

The blue staff/notes above are the back of the kids' notebooks and some black 'buttons' are pieces they placed to copy the notes on the white cards they were given.

So here we go - these are their first steps toward being able to read - and write - music!

BUILD 'EM UP: Project Bowser Pinata continues. The kids are still peppering me with questions, making sure we're making Bowser and NOT Barney, as I had threatened at one point. (I gotta admit, the thought of taking a bat to Barney puts a smile on my face. Does that make me a bad person?)

OOZE and AAHS: Today we started the first in a series of six science classes arranged by a parent in the Seattle Homeschool Group (SHG). They are put on by Pacific Science Center staff, but are offsite - three are in Ballard, and three will be down in Columbia City (about 35 minutes south). I have to admit, I felt a bit like a kid on a first day of school. ...

After winding our way around the facility in Ballard (which houses both a huge ballet school and a huge preschool), we finally found the gym where the one-hour class would be held. I got CJ & Annabelle in their seats and waited for events to unfold.
I wasn't sure what to expect, other than it would involve science. The first 15 minutes consisted of a whole lotta talk about science (matter, atoms, solid liquid gas and such), but mercifully there was also a lot of hands of activity, including an exercise dramatically transforming ice from solid to liquid to gas. And as the grand finale the kids got to transform two liquids (milk and vanilla) into a solid (vanilla ice cream) by taking a bag full of milk and vanilla and embedding it ice cubes and rock salt and shaking it like crazy for a couple of minutes. I didn't taste the fruits of their labor, but I can report they were thrilled!

LITTLE DID WE KNOW: The weather was wonderful today, and the kids were happy to learn their bro' Rick had the afternoon off. Where to go? Hmm - how about a destination Christian, the kids and I have driven by hundreds/thousands of times but have never stopped to look at - the Olympic Sculpture Park . And what a delightful surprise it was.

We've seen a few park highlights from nearby roads too many times to count, but until we parked the car and made this spot our destination - instead of just something we're whizzing by - I had no idea how amazing and interesting the park is.

For instance, so many times we've seen these eyeballs during drives-bys, but little did we know they're benches on the backside! I'm going to post many more photos tomorrow in a bonus blog. :)

SOME SUN SENSE: While looking for freebies on FreeStuffTimes (a Web site worth checking out if you've never heard of it), I saw notice of free educational materials from the EPA regarding sun safety. With the nicer weather (and climate change) upon us, I figured MPA should definitely have a sun safety unity.

So, I checked out the SunWise site. The EPA explains the SunWise program as "an environmental and health education program that aims to teach children and their caregivers how to protect themselves from overexposure to the sun through the use of classroom-, school-, and community-based components."

They had a page where I could order several publications, brochures, worksheets and posters, which I did. (Materials can also be ordered by calling 800-490-9198.

ATLANTIS ON THE MOVE!: "Our" shuttle, Atlantis - the one we'll hopefully see launch in May - is set to move to the launch pad on Monday. According to a NASA press release, "Atop a giant crawler-transporter, Atlantis' first motion on its rollout to the pad is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. The 3.4-mile journey is expected to take approximately six hours." You KNOW we'll be watching.