And They're Off!

THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN: Today marked the last day of the week long yoga camp.

CJ and Annabelle have enjoyed it thoroughly. They looked forward to going each day and had lots of positive things to say about it after each session.

Today's theme was the circus, and the kids were supposed to wear red. CJ wore his Heinz Ketchup shirt (an old favorite - that reminds me of his kindergarten year). Annabelle wore her cute "The Grouchy Ladybug" shirt. (Note to self - when looking for a link to that book, I found a great resource - on author Eric Carle's official Web site, there are all sorts of ideas for using that book in the classroom.)

While waiting for other students to arrive, yoga teacher Nicole came over to me to tell me that if she ever needs a substitute teacher, she would just call Annabelle. ;) I laughed and said, "Yeah, she likes to be the leader and doesn't have any self confidence issues!"

Nicole agreed and told me that earlier this week while she was leading the class in a move, Annabelle suggested, "Why don't we try it this way?"

At that, Nicole asked where Annabelle had seen her variation - perhaps on the Internet or TV? - and Annabelle told her, "No, from you!" :)

THE LION KINGS: Dozens of times the kids and I have driven by the Columbia City Sound Transit station. It has lots of great public art, most notably a number of lion statues. Each one has a distinct look, and it's fun thinking about the elements that influence the styles.

Today, I finally took the time to take pictures of some of our favorites.

There's a green one that almost looks as if it's made from jade (it's not). I love its expression - it definitely looks like it's staring off into the distance.

And then there's a grand granite one grasping what I always assumed from afar was globe in its paws. Today, upon closer examination, it looks very much like a soccer ball. Hmm. ...

Then there's this copper-patina colored one that's highly stylized.

I was able to find out a little bit about the sculptures on Sound Transit's Web site. Specifically, that "stone lions guard the entrance of the station's south plaza, ensuring and a safe, welcoming journey for patrons. Each lion is customized to reflect the diversity of the Rainier Valley and Columbia City, creating 'conversations' between the lions evocative of the conversations between various cultures."

Perhaps the most unique lion is the one carved from brick. It appears to have an orange in its mouth. Why? I don't know ... the answer must be out there somewhere.

What I do know, from Sound Transit, is that it is hand-carved, made in collaboration with master-carver Mara Smith. I found an article that says artist Norie Sato carved them all. If that's true, that's pretty damn impressive - the statue's styles are so different.

OH BOY!: Shortly after 6 a.m. through a low-fi "baby" monitor speaker, I hear a little rustling followed by the words, "Oh, boy!" followed by the sound of Annabelle beating feet up to our bedroom.

As she climbed into our bed she trumpeted, "Today's the day we go camping!"

Oh boy, indeed!

This weekend Christian is taking the kids to Baker Bay campground - a site his family has been camping at every summer for years and years and years. So the last couple of days we've been in Camp Readiness Mode (lists and trips to the store and packing and lists and trips to the store and packing). Christian got Mogwai (our 1978 VW camper van) in prime running shape, and we all worked together to clean it up and get its interior road ready.

Christian picked the kids up from yoga camp and from there they made the supposed-to-be-6-but-due-to-traffic actually-was-a-7-1/2-hour (UGH) drive down.

Meanwhile, I'm holding down the fort - limping around on a bum hip and getting things in better order around here. This afternoon/evening, I spent 8 hours in the basement sorting and cleaning (and have the allergy attack to prove it, darn it). The Honda's stuffed to the gills for a Goodwill run, and there's lots more where that came from, I'm afraid.

I found some real treasure troves during my sorting today. So many of Rick and Ken's keepsakes from their high school years. Not just photos but award after award after award. Music, sports, scholarship, citizenship ... Honestly, at the time it seemed just pretty normal. Isn't that what all teenage boys do - rack up accolades? ;)

But tonight, as I was looking back over all of it, it seemed pretty darn remarkable. :)

Chin Music

BEACH BOYS AND GIRLS: Today's theme at yoga/music camp was "The Beach."

Annabelle reports that she got to play a violin during music time, when the class was singing, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Starfish."

CJ says his favorite part of the class today was when they did "the airplane" (it's move where you lie on your stomach and hold your arms and legs up).

At the end of class they were back out to playing with the parachute (which kind of looks like a flat beach ball, now that I think about it).

CONSUMERISM: While CeeJ and Bee were in yoga today, I actually went shopping to (gasp) a mall. Factoria in Bellevue, to be specific, and boy was it deserted. I swear, I felt like I was helping my country/being patriotic by being there.

Of course, I don't know how much I stimulated the economy by buying Annabelle a $3 Woodsy the Owl t-shirt and CJ an Atari logo t-shirt (which he loved, of course) for $6. ...

Oh, and I also scored some cheap back to school supplies at Target (.30 cents for spiral notebooks) and $1 for a calculator, which the kids had fun playing with. ...

DUMP AND RUN: Today was library day, but not in the traditional sense. Usually library day means finding all sorts of awesome books and DVDs. But we already have stacks and stacks of awesome library stuff "in stock" at MPA. What we need to do is work our way through those piles before checking more out.

The kids were a little taken about that we weren't going to get more More MORE today, but I explained to them that taking more of something than you need/can use is actually selfish. They seemed to understand that, which is good.

REMEMBER WHEN: We took CJ's awful cheeseburger leftovers from the Crab Pot and put it in a Ziploc to try a mold growing experiment? Well today, Annabelle remembered our experiment and retrieved the bag.

Finally, the cheeseburger looked as bad as it tasted!

Needless to say, I told the kids not to open the bag under any circumstances. After we peered and prodded at it a bit, it went straight into the garbage (unfortunately, we dare not even open it for the purposes of composting it).

JAM SESSION: At some point this afternoon, I heard "music" coming from the kids' room. I walked in and discovered Bee on the recorder and CJ on the guitar. CJ said they were playing some boss battle theme music (video game related, of course).

Surprisingly, Kirby didn't seem to mind the noise too much.

TAKING ONE ON THE CHIN: Poor CeeJ. This afternoon he was spazzing around the house and somehow took a tumble and his face damn near went through the fish tank. That would have been really really bad.

I guess the better news is that he "only" took a nasty gash on the chin. I really thought he was going to need stitches, but because he's young and healthy and resilient, he quit bleeding after about a half hour. He is definitely going to have a scar, though. :(

Fun and Games

DINO DAY: It was Day 3 of Yoga/Music camp in Columbia City. Today's theme was dinosaurs.

When I asked them about dinosaur related activities, they both raved about a book the group read, "When Dinosaurs Came with Everything."

When I went to pick them up, they were all outside playing with a parachute, having a ball. They were taking turns being in the center of the parachute, and the classmates would walk toward the center, where one student was sitting on the parachute, and then they'd walk backward quickly, lifting the parachute sitter. In the photo below, it's Annabelle's shadow you see in the center.

Of course, CJ got a turn, too. But being the biggest (by far) in the class, he didn't catch as much air as the rest of 'em. (You can barely see a shoe of his in the photo below.)

WHERE THERE'S A (GOOD)WILL: While the kids did the yoga thing, I headed up Rainier to Dearborn, where a Really Big Goodwill store awaits. The kids love going "treasure hunting" at Goodwill with me, but about 20 minutes of it is enough for them. Today, I was able to spend darn near two HOURS in the place (and I could have spent more, and this is coming from someone who doesn't like to shop).

At one point I found myself standing in the electronics aisle - near stacks of old, used gaming equipment. There were no original Nintendo NES units to be had, but I did spy a first generation Sega Genesis. I picked it up and found one controller for it. I was deciding whether to take my chances and spend $15 to get it and the controller when I heard a male voice say, "Here's another controller for that." The voice belonged to a 20-something guy. It soon became apparent he is a huge game hardware geek. He pointed me toward a version 2.0 of the Sega system, but I told him my 7-year-old son is an old school purist and would want the first version. Then the guy found the appropriate RF cable for me and he began making suggestions about where I might find a power supply cord for the Sega. Oh, and he told me to go over and look in the aisle with the audio tapes, because for whatever reason, there are a few Sega games for sale there.

And so I did go over there and score, for $1, Madden '94. What a flashback those team rosters provide!

Christian took the unit apart when he got home and did some electrical testing, so the kids got to see its inner workings, which was a good learning experience for them. (It's not just a "magic box" - it's capacitors and connectors and chips and a processor and a motherboard and switches and plugs). Christian got the Sega working by MacGyvering a power cord (it involved reversing polarity or something). Then, he and the kids played some Madden. He and Annabelle went head to head for two full quarters and Annabelle beat his pants off!

STOP THE CAR!: On our way back to the MPA campus, we couldn't help but notice the sprinklers at our neighborhood park were going full blast. You know what that means!

Funny story - walking to and fro the sprinklers, Annabelle was going, "Eww ... eww ... eww!" all the way. Why? Well, she thought the park grounds were covered in dog poo.

I can see why she thought that - the ground had been heavily aerated and the resultant plugs looked, well, exactly like dog crap. I will admit that even though I knew exactly what it was (just good ol' dirt), I, too was thinking, "Ew, ew," as I walked over them and felt them smoosh beneath my feet.

CAMEO BY CJ: I got a nice note this morning from a woman who used a photo of CJ to accompany a blog post with tips about about submitting a synopsis to editors. You can see it here: http://www.susanuhlig.com/2010/07/the-synopsis-shrink.html

INSIDE INFORMATION: There's something CJ wants you to know. He asked me to write down what he says, exactly, so I did.

"In Super Mario 64 there's a Secret Room. Make sure you aim for the top castle window. Use the cannon when you have all stars. Get the wing cap and return to the cannon. Aim for the window - but don't get stuck at the 1 percent lower place or else you'll have to start over. It's how you get inside without using the door."

You're welcome. :)

Scenes of Summer

WATER WORKS: On the way home from yoga camp this afternoon, we swung by Christian's workplace. I think it's the first time we've been by since they turned the fountain on for the season.
The kids love the fountain. A shiny stainless figure-eight shape and really powerful, pumping hundreds of gallons per minute. The thing they love about it most it they can turn a wheel that controls a valve and so they can effect the waterflow.

Nearby is a big ol' section of the former Cedar River water line.

Incredibly, it's made out of wood. It's hard to fathom that a pipe made from pieces of would would be watertight enough to carry such an enormous waterload, but obviously its builders knew what they were doing! (And now that I think about it, pieces of wood have been lashed together into casks and barrels for eons to hold liquids like wine, whiskey and more.
This particular water line was buried in June of 1930 and removed in 1985. It has an outside diameter of 7 feet.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: Now, let's rewind to the day's first major activity - yoga camp at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center.
Today's theme was outer space - a subject CJ and Annabelle know a bit about!

Annabelle reports they sang a "Mister Spaceman song," and that they moonwalked when they were outside.

CJ recalls they played "Sunlight/Moonlight" a twist on the old "Red Light/Green Light" classic game.

QUICK STOP: On the way back to Magnolia, we swung by Safeco Field to exchange our Starbucks "We Love You Seattle" vouchers for real live free Mariners' tickets.

I swear, even just standing outside that building makes my Happiness Index rise a bit.

The stadium holds so many fond memories for me (and yes, a few bad ones, too!), and I just love the structure's architecture.

Tonight we sat in the cheap seats (but hey, we're not complaining - the tickets were free after all!). It was kind of nice for a change - it gave us a different perspective on the field and we saw the stadium from different angles and the kids were facing the scoreboard/big screen, which makes them happy.

When we got to the seats we had tickets for, of course there were already people sitting in them. (I swear, that happens to us EVERY damn time we go to a game. Why can't people sit in their own seats?)

And not only were they squatters, they were rude - one woman asking if its "a big deal" if they sit there. Rather than cause a scene or have to summon security, I just said 'forget it' and told Christian to keep climbing. We were already nosebleed, I figured we might as well go all the way up top, where you could see the game and have a great view of the Sound behind you. So that's what we did.

The view was really pretty come sunset.

Of course, sitting that high up, the players look a bit like ants scurrying around on the field, but since the Mariners didn't score any &$%%^#^@ runs, there wasn't much to see anyway. Sigh.
Of course, we still have lots of fun even when people steal our seats and the Mariners lose. :)

Happy Campers

CAMP SITE: Today marked the first morning of yoga camp for CeeJ and Bee. They both had fond memories of last year's yoga camp and were eager to participate in this year's incarnation.

Camp this year includes a musical element, which is something they were both looking forward to.
We got to the site (a neat-o old church converted into the Rainier Valley Cultural Center) a bit early. We checked out the mosaic sign in the parking lot as well as some artwork in the park adjacent to the building.

In the park there is a tall, slender sculpture. We noticed had definite Northwest Native style to it.

By reading the plaque on its base, we learned it is "Spirit of Washington" by artist Marvin Oliver.

Though both of its the sides appeared to be nearly identical, Annabelle noticed on the south side, the nose on the face sticks out a bit.

The kids raced to and from a huge tree in the park. It reminded me that when we came to the park last year, they were cutting down one of the enormous trees.

I asked CJ what they did in camp. He said, "We did some frogs. We went 'ribbit' all around on our mat. We sang songs - we had a long time at the music part and we sang a song about a frog."

Of course, if anyone mentions a song about a frog to me, my mind instantly goes to Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World." The kids had never heard that song until tonight. I have been remiss. Of course, through the magic of You Tube I was able to right that wrong!

I did see the group playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" - or so I thought - when I came to pick the kids up. I was later informed that it was "Monkey, Monkey, Anteater" in keeping with the day's rain forest theme.

While the kids were "camping," I went on a 2-hour walk around the Mt. Baker area of Seattle, where I gawked at hundreds of expensive lake view homes and checked out the lake shore.

AHOY MATEYS: When we got home from yoga, the kids discovered we have a "new" boat parked in our carport. They were pretty excited and played in it for awhile. They even had their lunch "onboard."

SO LONG, FAREWELL: This afternoon was a Big Bummer - the scope of which I think CJ and Annabelle (mercifully) don't quite understand. Their #1 play buddy from preschool to the present is moving to San Diego this week.

While I'm bummed about their moving, I did not transfer that to the kids at all. I spinned it that next time we see their pal it would likely be in sunny California and that I'm hoping via Facebook, Club Penguin and other means, we're able to keep in connection.