Wacky Wednesday

We all stayed up way, way too late last night due to the dual birthday celebration (the kids' Aunt Renee and big bro Kennedy). The kids weren't in bed until after 11 p.m. Christian and Jim were up past midnight, and Renee and I closed the place down around 3, I think. Yikes.

However, by 9:30 or so, we were up and at 'em. We decided to go out for breakfast, and you just know we had to go to iconic Beth's.

While we waited for our breakfast, most of us spent some time putting pen and/or crayon to paper. Annabelle had brought along the 18-pack of Mr. Sketch markers R&J gifted us, and I'd thought to bring some paper. CJ beat me (legitimately - I didn't let him win) in tic tac toe 3 or 4 times. He and Rick exchanged inflammatory notes about the superiority of Sega vs. Nintendo gaming systems and which character is best (Mario or Sonic).

Annabelle and Renee kept busy creating artwork (the walls at Beth's are covered in customers' creations). In Bee's drawing (pictured to the left) , "The sun is wide awake and the moon is going to sleep, because it's daytime," she explains.

We didn't have omelettes bigger than our freakin' heads, but all of our breakfasts were way too big. Annabelle's face in this photos tells it all. This meal has her beat.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes to the big boys and Renee and Jim and then headed just a couple blocks due east to lovely Green Lake.

PEDAL POWERED: Our bellies too full from Beth's, I was desperate to get some exercise. So Christian rented us a 4-person pedal boat (it was $15 for one hour).

It was a beautiful, sunny morning and there was a nice breeze on the lake. Christian and I really worked it - we powered all the way across the lake in about 15 minutes. We weren't quite as fast on the way back.

The kids did a bit of pedaling, too, though they were really too short to pedal very effectively. So mostly they kicked back, enjoyed the scenery, and told us to hurry up and get them back to shore.

They were eager to check out the play structures in the park, which we did. Even though we've been to Green Lake multiple times, today was the first time the kids had a chance to check out the playground.
Annabelle played in a canoe that was stuck in an expansive sandbox, and CJ was intrigued by the "log roller" feature on the play structure.

It was too hot (IMHO) at the playground in the blazing sun, so we moseyed over to the park's wading pool - another feature we'd never checked out before today.

The wading pool was packed, mostly with preschool aged kids and toddlers/diaper wearers. I immediately wondered how many of those kids had diapers full of something other than water.

We had only been at the wading pool for a few minutes when I noticed a parks worker to my left taking water samples. About two minutes later she blew a whistle and started yelling through a bullhorn, telling everyone to vacate the wading pool. I don't know what happened next (do they drain and re-fill it? give it a 'shock' treatment or ???). We headed for the car and home.

Once home, I sent Christian upstairs to take a nap. I tried to doze myself, but Annabelle was having none of it. You see, Auntie Renee and Uncle Jim had brought a whole bag of neat-o things for the kids, including you-paint-it dinosaur kit. She wanted to paint the triceratops. CJ wanted to paint "the biggest one" (an apotosaurus, I believe). I made sure to put drawings of what scientists think each of those dinosaurs looked like in front of them for inspiration. Yeah, well, the kids found their inspiration elsewhere. CJ's dino was red and black; Annabelle's was pink and purple.
DANCING MACHINE: Another Wednesday, another special dance camp for Annabelle.

Today's theme was "Flower Dance." To that end, "We did all kinds of flower dances," she explains. They also watched a couple of videos, including Amanda McKerrow dancing "Californian Poppy."

When I came to pick her up, Annabelle was dancing up a storm while wearing a very frilly and flouncy tutu. She was definitely enjoying herself.EYE POPPING: This evening, we enjoyed "Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs," another gift from Renee and Jim.

It is, without a doubt, the most amazing pop up book I've ever seen. The turn of each page reveals a large, intricate, amazing pop up element. But the book doesn't stop there. On each page are additional mini pop up pages to be opened. It's like finding a treasure box inside a treasure chest!
Photo from Candlewick Press

The book is full of facts about different types of dinosaurs, as one might expect. What I really appreciated was it includes info about the history of dino archaeology. (Early, major players when it comes to uncovering fossils.)

Tonight, on the publisher's Web site, I found some great resources related to the book, including an activity (PDF) where we can make our own pop up T-Rex and a teacher's guide (PDF) with a whole host of ideas and additional information. There's even a video interview with the author and illustrator. Cool!