Covering Lots of Ground

OFF WITH THEM!: This weekend we finally got around to something long-past due. We took the training wheels off the kids' bikes.

We could have and should have done this months ago - I really think the kids were ready for it long ago. However, CJ was balking Big Time at the idea, so we didn't push.

But now that they'd worn the tread off their wheels, there was no way I was buying more. And so out came the wrench.

For their maiden 2-wheeled voyage, we took the kids up to the baseball field a block from our house. I figured that would be good training grounds because it's flat, pretty wide open and a bit more forgiving than pavement.

First, we practiced the use-your-leg-as-a-kickstand exercise, which is necessary when you come to a stop. But before long, it was off to the races. The ballfield was a great place to practice because it gave the kids targets - ride to first. Stop, and use your leg/kickstand. Ride to second, repeat. And then the next go round it was "Go for a double!" and then a triple and then a home run (all the way around, without stopping).

There was only one oops on the day - CJ went down hard rounding first. He got a strawberry on his knee and wanted to quit, but, of course, we made him hop back on. We wanted to end on a positive note, not a fall.

This morning, we took our first run/ride on pavement. We chose to go along the south side of the ship canal (between the Ballard Bridge and just east of the Aurora Bridge), because it's a pretty wide trail, it's flat, and it's not heavily trafficked. It was a good choice - though Annabelle found this sign in the parking lot very unfriendly. She thought it was directed at people named Christian, like her dad and brother. ;) I explained to her it was probably someone mad at students from Seattle Pacific University, a nearby Christan institution.

We practically had the trail to ourselves and the kids had no trouble with the terrain. CJ's ride was perfect! Annabelle laid her bike down once, but it was a very controlled fall, really.
We got to see the Fremont bridge lift twice (coming and going) and some pretty spectacular boats (is a yacht a boat) today. We raced the most enormous one to Lake Washington - and won! (I guess that means we can run in excess of 7 knots!)

Speaking of running, Christian and I did have to actually RUN today. Now that the kids' training wheels are off, they're about 30 percent faster. Kirby's wiped out. :)

TALL TALE: Last week while perusing the Queen Anne Library shelves, I decided I wanted to do a unit about Tall Tales with the kids.

This morning, as an introduction, I had the kids complete a worksheet from Scholastic about Tall Tales. It had a nice, simple explanation of what one is: "a story about a superhuman hero. The story is funny because everything is exaggerated. That means it is much bigger and better than real life."

The worksheet had a passage about Paul Bunyan, and I had the kids raise their hand every time they heard an exaggeration. (Their arms got a workout!)

Next, we turned to a picture book "John Henry," by Julius Lester with pictures by Jerry Pinkney. After reading along with the book's audio CD (which was wonderfully narrated and had great sound effects), we talked about some of the exaggerations we heard in the book.

Then, we hopped on YouTube, where I found a wonderful episode about John Henry from Disney's American Legends series. Introduced by James Earl Jones, who told us the story was based on a real man, "one of the earliest African American role models." Henry's laboring in the Allegheny Mountains in the late 1800s, where he supposedly pit his own flesh against a modern machine, is the stuff of legends.

Also on YouTube, we also found this awesome version of Johnny Cash performing John Henry (at his Folsom Prison concert), as well as a bizarre-o animated version of a decidedly more modern day John Henry, done by some 5th graders.

The Three Rivers Travel Council has a nice, short article about John Henry, "Steel Drivin' Man - Man or Myth?" The story goes that Henry was born into slavery in Missouri in the 1840s and that he worked on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in Talcott, West Virginia, where the man vs. machine battle supposedly took place. Since 1972, the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Big Bend Tunnel for the C&O Railroad, a statue and memorial plaque stand along a highway south of Talcott as it crosses over the tunnel in which the epic competition may have taken place.

OUTTA THIS WORLD FIELD TRIP: Late this afternoon I had itchy feet to go somewhere. I immediately struck upon the idea of the Experience Music Project (EMP)/Sci Fi Museum. A few weeks back I scored a Groupon coupon for a greatly discounted membership there.

So today we claimed our membership, and boy was I glad we did. That place is just phenomenal. It's definitely somewhere you could spend hours on end (especially if you didn't have kids with you - ha!). We checked out the guitar lab where all sorts of rare specimens are on display. Some are cherished for who once held them, like this one Jimi Hendrix smashed on stage. Others were noteworthy due to their and and/or design innovations.

We spent some time in the music lab, where the kids enjoyed playing this fantastic interactive percussion machine. And we went into a sound booth for 10 minutes where the kids each had a keyboard to mess around with. They spent lots of time adjusting the tempos and sounds their instruments could produce. At one point I actually recognized something CJ was playing - with dramatic flair might I add. I asked, "That's a video game theme, isn't it?" I was right.
He said, "It's Zero 2's theme from Kirby 64."

Next, we wandered over to the super groovy Supremes special exhibit. There was display after display of Diana Ross and the Supremes' extravagant outfits. They were simply stunning. The designs were so extravagant and you could tell each one was handmade, with exquisite workmanship. Here's Annabelle, in front of her personal fave:

We marveled at how tiny those three people are/were. Seriously, I don't know a lot of 12 year old girls who would fit into any of their dresses.

Eventually we wound our way down to the basement, where the Science Fiction Museum is. The kids dug the Ninja Turtle and ET the most. Christian and I loved all of it.

Before we left, we gave them a few minutes to dance in front of the wall of sound and vision. Bee's a blur in the lower lefthand corner. ;)

A few more photos of our EMP excursion can be found here.

WEEKEND REWIND: With hydroplane races and air shows, this weekend was the pinnacle of Seafair. We got some free passes from a friend (saving us $50) for Sunday's festivities. We got to the west shore of Lake Washington by about 10:30. We immediately set up "camp" - a waterproof blanket and three boat cushions in the front "row" along the lakefront. Then, I held down fort while Christian took the kids to see the exhibits and attractions.

At the Boeing booth the kids got toy replicas of 787s and they got to learn about other Boeing projects, including the ScanEagle. Also in the Boeing booth, the kids got to operate LEGO robots. They had pre-programmed courses and the kids got to have their robot navigate through a course and pick up hoops. Christian talked to a Boeing rep about the FIRST program. The postcard he brought me says "FIRST is the only school sport where every student can go pro."

FIRST is a nonprofit that encourages students to find a passion for science, math and technology through team-based robotics contests. The rep asked Christian if the kids' school has a FIRST team and Christian told him about MPA. The rep said there is funding available to homeschool groups. Sounds like something we need to look into.

There was also a big LEGO/Duplo booth. There, Annabelle built a river monster and CJ played Thomas (the Tank Engine) tug o' war.

The trio also took advantage of the pit passes we had and went and checked out the hyrdos up close. They were able to get a good view of the hydros being moved around by cranes and checked out some guys working on a jet engine. Then they came back to our spot and we watched the air show. There were a couple of crazy biplanes doing cartwheels and somersaults and stalls over the lake. (The kids like the biplanes the most, I think.)

I loved watching the F-18 thundering overhead (I couldn't help but start to sing the "Top Gun" soundtrack in my head). When he'd nearly break the speed of sound, a halo would form around the jet's tail. It was freakin' awesome.

We also saw Fat Albert (the Navy's C-130), which was remarkably agile for such a big plane. Of course, what we were all waiting for was the Blue Angels.

They didn't disappoint.

Of course, we watched some hydroplane heats, too. The Oh Boy! Oberto boat won the championship.
It was a lot of fun - we sure appreciated the passes.