Smile

HOLE IN THE HEAD: CJ has been a snaggletooth for a couple of days now. One of his top front teeth was FINALLY ready to come out and by gum (get it, get it? By gum!), today was going to be the day.

CJ wouldn't help it out himself, and was skittish about anyone else getting near, but around noon I told him, "This is ridiculous, it's coming out, now."

He steeled himself and it took me all of 5 seconds to gently pop it out.

Needless to say, CJ has spent a significant part of the afternoon and evening with his hand in his mouth, feeling that big ol' hole in his grin.

CJ was a little concerned about how his sudden lack of tooth would affect his diet.

"When it's lunch time, you just go with the flow and try to eat your food," assured Annabelle, a veteran of one tooth lost to date.

ALL THAT JAZZ: In my effort to keep a music focus on Friday mornings, today I pulled "The Jazz Fly" off the shelf. Written and performed (it came with an audio CD) by Matthew Gollub.

There's a quick video of Gollub on his Web site. It's, um, interesting. ... Mr. Rogers meets Liberace comes to mind. ...

That aside, his Web site has lots of smart goodies and the kids loved the singsong nature of the book. I see that there's a Jazz Fly 2 out now. No doubt we'll be hunting that down at the library.

RECORDING ARTISTS: Awhile back, I scored a kids' cassette tape recorder/player at Goodwill for a couple of bucks. It had two microphones, which I thought the kids would appreciate. I unearthed it this weekend while cleaning the basement, finally remembered to buy some C-cells for it and this morning we fired it up. It works like a charm.

Annabelle recorded herself playing the xylophone and singing and a harmonica solo. I had her practice each a couple of times first, telling her that's what professional musicians do before they record a tune.

CJ opted to record a game review. Rather than just let him start blathering into the microphone, I suggested to him that we script it a bit, because that's what professional reviewers would do - they'd have at the very least some kind of notes/crib sheet when they go in the studio to record their review. So he generated a bulleted list of highlights, which I wrote down for him. He did a good job of hitting the high points.

The little unit also works as a PA, much to Annabelle's delight (and our chagrin). This evening she carried it about the house, blathering incessantly and reveling in her amplified voice.

SEGA SCORE: We were at Value Village today looking for a couple of items for an 80's themed party we're going to this weekend. In the course of our scouring the store, we came across an old Sonic game for the antique Sega system I found last week. Score! CJ was very happy. A Nintendo aficionado, "I'm not a Sega fan," he made sure to tell me, "but I want to get this game!"

OK, CJ. It was under $5.

Interestingly, at home Annabelle played it for longer than CJ. She seemed to really like it.

HIDE AND SPEAK: This evening Annabelle asked Christian to play hide and seek with her. At one point she ran into the kids bedroom to hide. When Christian was done counting CJ popped his head out of the bedroom door and said, "Wherever she is, she's not in here."

That's a dead giveaway, of course.

ULTIMATE IN D-I-Y: I've roofed a house. I've framed in a window. I've installed bamboo and maple flooring, done acres of tile. I've painted whole homes (inside and out), as well as intricate murals. My list of DIY projects is looooooong. But there's one thing I haven't done - built a satellite. Wouldn't that make an excellent MPA science project? I think it would ...

I saw on Discovery News today there's a kit that people can order from Interorbital Systems for just $8,000, and it includes everything you need. Awesome.

BTW, Interorbital is also in the orbital tourism space flight business and they're presently selling orbital expedition tickets. They claim the "regular" price is $5 million, but if you drive it home today, you can get in on their "special advanced promotional fare tickets." For just $250,000 you get a "spaceline ticket" for a week in orbit. But here's the best part - you get a full rebate two years after your orbital mission. "That's the equivalent of a $5 million Ticket To Orbit For Free!" they note. But you better hurry - they are only selling ten "spaceline tickets" at this price.

A Day in the Life

HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU: While purging the basement this past weekend, I found several small items I thought the kids would be interested in, including a kazoo (can you believe they've never had one before?), a harmonica (which Annabelle has spent hours playing) and a pair of magnifying glasses.

Today as Annabelle was playing with the magnifying glasses, I thought back to my childhood and recalled using magnifying glasses to start a couple small fires on a sunny day. I have to admit, I'm vacillating between whether or not showing my kids how to start a fire with a magnifying glass is a good idea or not. ...

I'm thinking I'll probably do it. After all, what if they're stranded on a desert island someday and need to start a fire!

SIGN ME UP: This morning I finally got around to some paperwork for the upcoming school year. Specifically, filling out order forms for the Homeschool Day at the Woodland Park Zoo (Monday, Oct. 18), and special homeschool sessions of plays at Seattle Children's Theatre. (I got tickets for "Lyle the Crocodile," "Go, Dog, Go!," "The Man Who Planted Trees" and "Jackie and Me." Lots of good times ahead for MPA!

FANTASTIC "FIELD TRIP": The library wants some of their stuff back, so the pressure was on to watch a DVD that's been collecting dust at our house. Called "definitely a stellar find" by Parenting Magazine "My Fantastic Field Trip to the Planets" did hold CJ and Annabelle's attention for its entire duration.

Personally, I found the songs a bit too corny and the acting pretty bad. But afterward, I asked the kids what they thought and CJ said, "I liked it - I think."

Annabelle's praise was more effusive. "It was great!" she declared.

My favorite part, by far, were the "bonus features," all of which were videos produced by NASA. One was about the International Space Station, another was about the Constellation, there was a short about life in orbit and one of them was NASA: 50th Anniversary Video. Giving goosebumps from start to finish, it covers the triumph and tragedy spectrum, to be sure. It's about 5 minutes long and highly recommended viewing. Happily, as it turns out the video can be viewed on NASA's 50th anniversary Web site . Just click on the NASA: 50 Years icon on the lefthand side of the screen.

PUNCTUATION, PLEASE: The kids read along with a book called "Punctuation Takes a Vacation." The premise of the book is that on the hottest day of the year, an overwrought teacher declares that punctuation is on vacation. The class rejoices, but quickly comes to realize punctuation is pretty darn important.

WORK IT OUT: Late morning, CJ and Annabelle started (rather uncharacteristically) snipping at each other. There was an accusation on CJ's part that Annabelle gave him a raspberry. Bee vehemently denied it. Kirby was the only witness, but she wasn't talking.

Deciding it was time for a distraction, I set them down at the table and gave them each a workbook sheet. It feels like it has been weeks since we we've touched a workbook, but they both got right to it. As much as I'm a fan of spontaneous and student-led learning, it occurs to me that we need to be doing more worksheets to reinforce basic skills - including how to follow someone else's directions, even when those directions are poorly written. That happens a lot in life. ...

TO TOWN: We had errands to run in "The Village" today. We parked by Albertsons, got a couple of grocery items and stashed them in the car. Then we walked 4 blocks to the post office, mailed some stuff, and then walked back to the car, hitting the hardware store on the way. After stashing the hardware store stuff, we walked five blocks in the other direction to the library.

During our walk today, we had a couple of Boeing 787 Dreamliners fly overhead. It's cool to get to see those before they make their big debut for the rest of the world. They are huge and have a very distinctive sound. I know it's the Dreamliner when I hear it coming, now.

Once we were at the library, the kids checked out the DVDs first (of course) before moving on to the over-sized books.

CJ always wants to read "There Was an Old Lady ..." a book which Annabelle decidedly does NOT want to read due to its tragic ending.

After paging through it, CJ shook his head and said to no one in particular, "Why would someone want to write a book about an old lady dying?"

"Well, maybe they're trying to teach people a lesson. It's a cautionary tale," I suggested.

"They wrote it so that people know not to eat a horse?" he said, non plussed. Of course, that led to "What would happen if you ate a horse?"

"You'd be dead, of course. Like it says in the book," I replied.

"But what would really happen? Would your stomach explode?" Clearly CJ wanted the gory details about just how death-by-horse-consumption goes down. So, we talked about that for awhile.

He studied the pictures of all of the animals the foolish old lady swallowed and declared, "It's a food chain!"

FINAL CHAPTER: I was shocked to learn that Zane Goldmanis, the children's librarian at the Magnolia branch of Seattle Public Library, died suddenly a few days ago, at the age of 67.

If you were a child and in that library, she made it a point to make her way over to you and offer some suggestion or direction. One day a few months back, she beckoned for CJ, Bee and me to come over to where she was standing. There, she was putting the finishing touches on a display featuring books by a children's author whose birthday fell in the present month. She told us it was something she did every month. Tucked away in a corner, I'd never even noticed it before.
Today, when we were at the library, I just had to go check out her display for July. It would be her last.

The last time we saw the librarian (on the right in the photo) was a couple of weeks ago, at a special summer reading program.

She will be missed by many, many Magnolians.

Sightseeing

ROOM WITH A VIEW: This morning was low-key. We concentrated on putting our lives back in order post camping trip (lots of laundry and putting stuff away), and we made a run to Goodwill to drop off a Honda CRV load worth of stuff from the Great Basement Purge that took place this weekend.

At noon, it was time to pick Christian up at work and head to Chicago Title to sign our refinance papers. (We got a 4.875 rate, which is great - I guess it's one small "positive" by-product of a crappy economy.) We had to go to an office in a high rise on 5th Avenue downtown. It was a cool building with lots of great sculpture in the lobby areas. By far, the work that captured our collective fancies the most was by artist Dan Web. It was called "Heads Up" and it included dozens of amber colored bodies ascending ladders. And, intriguingly, instead of heads, the climbers had ladders rising up from their shoulders.

The artist's statement on the adjacent plaque said, the head/ladders "represent the act of the mind moving beyond the physical boundaries of the body. The combined effort, creativity and ambition of the men and women in this upward journey - propelled by individuals and sustained as a group - provide the steps for those who follow."

Nice.

When we got up to the 23rd floor, the kids were thrilled to find a well stocked snack bar awaited them in the Chicago Title lobby. (And who says you get nothing for the $2,900 plus in closing fees?) They enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies while we waited. Eventually we were ushered into a conference room with a stunning view to the southeast. We could see everything from the stadium district to the Issaquah highlands. (It was a good chance to check out the new paint job on Qwest Field's roof!) The kids checked out the view for awhile, but soon they found the stash of toys in the conference room. The toys were definitely more for the preschool set, but CeeJ and Bee found a way to adapt them to more mature play. ;)

Signing loan docs is a long and bo-ring process even when you're the one signing your life away. It's exponentially more boring if you're just watching. But the kids were really good and managed to amuse themselves, mostly with 8 or so plastic dinosaurs they found. They were having some prehistoric gladiator type tournament.

Before long, the 60-plus woman directing Christian and me where to sign noted, "They have really good vocabularies."

I had to laugh and said, "That probably because they talk SO MUCH." They're always honing their craft. ;)

Later during the signing she said how nice it was that the kids clearly have an imagination. She said usually when parents bring kids in, they bring electronic devices with them (laptops, games, etc.) to keep the kids amused. We're certainly not above that, but it never occurred to me to do that today. I knew it would take around 30 minutes and certainly the kids could amuse themselves for that amount of time.

The woman went on at length about the perils of a generation (or two) of children who don't use their imaginations and who are used to having a narrative fed to them all the time. As a result, these kids can't construct their own narrative. Interesting to think about. ...

Though the books on site were for younger folk, CJ managed to find an old school video game tie in (Cookie Monster in a Pac-Man style game), which made him very happy.

HOMEWARD BOUND: It was a gorgeous afternoon, and driving back to Magnolia from downtown, I couldn't help but revel in it. Driving on the Viaduct, the views were stunning. (Yes, I know using a cell phone while driving is against the law, but I haven't seen anything about taking photos while driving ...)

And once we were down on Western, I couldn't help but think how lucky we are that we get to drive through a museum (specifically, Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park) a few times a week. (See the silver tree in the foreground and the typewriter eraser in the background?)

ACCIDENTAL TOURISTS: This evening we were going to use a half off coupon we had for El Puerco Lloron (the crying pig) to have dinner out.

The restaurant is off the staircase leading from waterfront Alaskan Way to Pike Place Market.

We walked in and were studying the menu (on a white board near the door) when a woman told us, in broken English, that the restaurant was closing at 7. Wow. Seems kind of stupid for a place smack dab in the tourist district smack dab in the middle of summer. But what do I know? ...

So suddenly we found ourselves accidental tourists - plodding along the streets around Pike Place Market, wondering where we could get dinner. For whatever reason, every place we seemed to come across was very French (not what the kids were interested in) and/or very expensive (not what the parents were interested in).

We were circling back toward the car when we noticed the Hard Rock Cafe across the street. Not in a million billion years would I have pictured us setting out for that place, but that's where we wound up.

Right inside the door there was a wicked awesome interactive display that CJ took to like a moth to a light. It was a highly sensitive touch screen featuring photos of all sorts of rock memorabilia on display in the restaurant. You could move the snapshots around, expand them or discard them as you chose.

At our table was a smaller version of the screen.

While we did not set out for the place, I have to admit, once inside it felt very right. Being surrounded by high tech gadgets and iconic musical memorabilia coupled with a steady stream of Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix blaring through the sound system made for a memorable experience indeed. I also have to give them props for having the best kids' menu I've ever seen (not in regards to the food items on it, but in regards to its educational content). We did crosswords, decoding puzzles, discerned differences in pictures, solved mazes and talked about different types of rock formations, all thanks to the kids' menu.
All in all, I'm glad the taco stand closed early. ;)
GOING OLD SCHOOL: After dinner, I suggested the kids watch one of the many library videos that we need to return tomorrow. CJ suggested they watch "old school Mickey Mouse" (yes, his words).

He was referencing a "Vintage Mickey" DVD featuring "Steamboat Willie" (1928) and other classics.

It was all black and white, of course, and though Steamboat Willie is from 1928 - more than eighty years old! - Bee and CJ LOVED it and the other cartoons on the disc. There were many belly laughs and they were talking back to the TV, offering the characters advice as though they could hear it.

When the show was over, I told the kids that Walt Disney once said, "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." I told them that they had just seen that very mouse that started it all and without it, there would have been no Disney World which we all enjoyed oh-so-much this past May.

Berry Busy Day

BERRY GOOD: Our streak of several sunny 80-degree plus days has pushed berries to the point of ripening.

I love that we can grab a bowl, wander down to the alley and pick a strawberry (or maybe even two!) and lots of blackberries, all organic and definitely locally grown.

I'm also glad that the kids consider a bowl of blackberries and strawberries as tasty a dessert as ice cream.

PIRATES AT THE PORT: This morning, while still horizontal and before I had even one eye open, I was being peppered with questions by Mr. CeeJ.

"What's 'a pirate'?" he asked.

I moan something along the lines of "you know what a pirate is." Peg leg, eye patch, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum - and all that pirate-y crap.

"No, a pirate - like a game you copy and do something to," he clarified. "Oh, software piracy," I say, now semi-awake. So CJ and I had a conversation about stealing other programmers' work and infringing on copyrights before 7 this morning.

We came downstairs and as he's awaiting a Pop Tart for breakfast (yes, I know, I know, they're bad, but they're oh-so-good) CJ asked me about "porting."

I was immediately back on the high seas, thinking about pirate ships porting at a dock in a place they were going to pillage. CJ said, "No, porting. With computers."

Silly me. I should have known it would be about computers. At first I thought it was connecting one computer to another via a cord plugged into the computers' ports. Seems reasonable, right? But I wanted to make sure I had a correct definition for CJ, so I hopped online. Good thing I did. Thanks to the All-Knowing Wikipedia, I learned that porting "is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed. ... The term is also used in a general way to refer to the changing of software/hardware to make them usable in different environments."

Ah, no wonder CJ wanted to talk about 'porting.' He spends some time online every day studying videos of how people have "ported" games, adapting them to work on different gaming systems.

Fascinating stuff.

MORNING MALLETS: When she rolled out of the rack around 7:30, Annabelle staggered straight to the couch and upon sitting down she immediately began hammering out some songs using her glockenspeil mallets and a "Xylo-fun" book.

The neat-o book has a built in xylophone and "sheet" music - its notes are on a staff, but they're also color coded, corresponding to the correct note on the xylophone. We got it at Goodwill for $2.99 awhile back. Damn good deal.

Bee plunked out "Happy Birthday," "Old MacDonald" and several more songs throughout the day.

I'll be glad when their Musikgarten classes start back up come September.

SCRIBES: I wanted to make sure the kids did some writing today. It had been way too long. ... We turned to a sure-fire winner - Scholastic's story starter "machine."

CJ spun the wheels and was tasked with writing a newspaper story about going camping with a lion who liked to play in water.

Interestingly, when Annabelle spun the wheels, she, too, was supposed to write to about a water loving lion. She chose to accompany her writing with a picture - I'm told it's a heart/Valentine with comic effects.

DYEING TO CRAFT: As I mowed our cliffside - er, yard - today, I contemplated a craft project I could do with the kids this afternoon.

My mind drifted to coffee filters (naturally), and I began to think about things we could do with that. Making flowers seemed like an easy, obvious choice.

So, when I came in, I got out the coffee filters, some bottlecaps, some rubber bands and some bowls filled with water. I let the kids choose two colors each they wanted to use as dye (we used my hardcore cake and cookie food coloring).

We put two coffee filters together, one atop the other. Then we put a bottlecap in the middle, and cinched that with a rubber band. At that point, our "flowers" looked a bit like ghosts.

We did two dyeing sessions - first the flowers' centers. After those dried, the kids dipped them again.Here's what they looked like after the second color bath. The colors kind of flowed together, but that was an expected and good thing.

Tomorrow, we'll fluff 'em a little bit and add stems. Annabelle was very pleased with the project so far.

GO-TA YOGA: After 5 days of 3-hour long yoga classes last week, the kids both thought today's 45-minute yoga class seemed very short!

Their teacher will be going away on a month-long trip to New York, so the kids will have a sub for the next few weeks. That should be interesting. ...

BIRTHDAY WISHES: Today we (virtually) signed a birthday card for President Barack Obama. In doing so, we were also reminded that Obama's b-day is on Aug. 4, the same day as Grampa R.

The Long Road Home

ROUGHING IT: This morning about 8:30 Christian called to tell me he and the kids were going to have breakfast and then hit I-5 northbound for the long (6 hour or so) drive north.

The three of them had spent the last three nights camping at Baker Bay Campground on Dorena Lake in Lane County, Oregon (Google Earth photo below).

Christian took a few photos of their adventures. From all accounts, it sounds like they spent a fair amount of time in and around the water.

Annabelle rode an orca, and one day they all took turns being pulled on an innertube behind a boat.

In typical CJ fashion, CJ spent a lot of his time contemplating things (no doubt having to do with bits and bytes). And once in awhile he snuck away to get a fix (via his Nintendo DS).
Annabelle even spent a little time "babysitting" Christian's cousin's little twins. I'll bet she was good at it. As our trio headed north in the good ol' '78 VW camper van, we kept in contact via text message and a couple of phone calls as they made their way. Finally, around 5:30 this evening they arrived. It was very good to see them. :)

So tomorrow we'll do some more unpacking and then it's back to business as usual.

"OUR" ASTRONAUTS IN THE OVAL OFFICE: Today, the crew of STS-132 Atlantis (the guys we watched blast off into space!) met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House.

I sure hope the astronauts urged the president to do everything in his power to keep the Space Shuttle program going until NASA has a proven substitute in place.

From left, STS-132 Commander Ken Ham; Expedition 22/23 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer; STS-132 Mission Specialists Piers Sellers, Garret Reisman, and Steve Bowen; President Obama; STS-132 Mission Specialist Michael Good; and STS-132 Pilot Tony Antonelli. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza