Parting Shots

SO LONG FOR SUMMER: Today, Annabelle's Bollywood and CJ's Scratch programming classes came to an end for this session. Bummer! Feels like we just got started and they were really enjoying them!

Annabelle and friends put on a little performance for the parents. It's so much fun to watch!

As I post the pics above, it occurs to me that I didn't get any photos of CJ sitting in front of a computer in programming class. You'll have to use your imagination. ;)

After the classes we enjoyed a potluck (our contribution was the citrus flavored and shaped cookies above), and then it was time for some fun and games. The kids had a great time completing a scavenger hunt, we fired up the bubble machine, there was face painting and sack races and eventually we broke out the pinatas the kids and I made.

That's Meowth with Annabelle and the unmistakable Death Star with CeeJ. They each took dozens and dozens of hits before giving up their cheap plastic Dollar Store treasures.

MOSHI, MOSHI!: From time to time, the kids and I have talked about trying to learn Japanese. Today, I learned about Irasshai, a Georgia Public Broadcasting program. According to the GPB's Irasshai Web site, it's "the nations’ number one Japanese language and culture distance learning course from 1996 through 2009."

Irasshai offers engaging, online video lessons and supplemental materials and activities and it's all free Free FREE!

Our schedule will be a bit less crazy this coming week. We're definitely going to check it out. Who knows, maybe soon I'll be blogging in Japanese. ;)

SCIENCE-FILLED SATURDAY: Can't wait until tomorrow. This is Seattle's first annual Science Week, and tomorrow is Science EXPO Day at Seattle Center. From robots to game programming to the aerospace industry and earth sciences, there will be dozens of interactive booths and cool displays.

You can expect a full report on Monday!

A Dragon and a Dream Chaser

SWIMMINGLY: A little after 5 a.m. I checked in on the whereabouts of Dragon. I knew that it was set to be de-berthed from the International Space Station just before 3 a.m. our time, and so I was wondering if a) that happened and b) if so, where Dragon was now.

After nine days away, Dragon was making its way back to the Big Blue Marble.

We listened and watched Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center monitor Dragon's actions. The spacecraft made a few maneuvers, including a series of de-orbit burns. It also jettisoned its "trunk" - a module that will be used to carry cargo back to Earth on subsequent missions.

And then, at 8:42 a.m. our time, the capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico. It landed two minutes ahead of the projected time, and extremely close to its target.

The live footage of the watery landing was primitive - pixelated and grainy, like a very early video game. Apparently the feed was from a NASA  jet in the vicinity. We did get to see its chutes deployed and we could track its movements.

Finally, this evening, some good footage of the event was made available. It was taken

ALWAYS AMUSING: We also had to hit Archie McPhee today, which is an errand we look FORWARD to running!

There's never a shortage of amusing items to check out or try on ... 

That said, you can probably tell by the look on his face, CJ wasn't too thrilled with how the umbrella hat fit. Guess it's practical, just not comfortable.


PINATA PROJECT: We've been working on a couple of pinatas for the past couple of days. This morning was the fun part - stuffing them with Dollar Store treasures!

We cut into the Death Star and Meowth (a bad guy, er, cat, in the Pokemon series) and then the kids filled them. Believe it or not, it turned into a good math exercise, because they had packets with X amount of party favors in them, and I asked them to split the items equally between the two pinatas, so there was a whole lot of dividing going on. Cool!

MEANWHILE, IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS: While SpaceX has been getting all the press lately, they're hardly alone in the commercial space game. In fact, SEVEN companies are working to develop commercial crew transportation capabilities to transport cargo and U.S. astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station.

Just two days ago, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems' Dream Chaser design passed one of its most complex tests to date.  An Erickson Air-Crane helicopter lifted SNC's full-scale orbital crew vehicle to verify proper aerodynamic flight performance. The captive-carry test was conducted near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Jefferson County, Colo.

The test was just one of many that Dream Chaser will go through to prove its wings will work. Naturally, in a future test, the flight vehicle will be released to evaluate the design's handling during the landing phase of a mission.

The Dream Chaser is designed to carry as many as seven astronauts to space, and is the only spacecraft currently under development by the commercial carrier competitors that incorporates wings and is designed to land on a conventional runway. NASA has video of the test flight here:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=145064741

WORKING ON THE CARWASH: Annabelle finished a big build in LEGO class today - a super cute car wash kit.

Naturally, that prompted me to have the "Carwash" theme song stuck in my head all afternoon.

THE DAY AFTER: This afternoon, we had an errand to run, taking us to the Ravenna neighborhood, just north of the U-District. There's a fair trade store, Ten Thousand Villages, there, and we thought it would be a great place to find an end of year gift for Bee's Bollywood teacher. We had planned on going there yesterday, but a terrible, tragic event kept us away and the area was cordoned off by the police.

Yesterday, a well armed madman shot five people at a neighborhood hub, Cafe Racer. Four of the cafe shooting victims (two men, two women) have died; the fifth is in critical condition.  It's been on the news nonstop here, so the kids were aware of what happened. After (a successful!) stop at the store, our route to the freeway took us right by Cafe Racer. We passed satellite trucks, a sprawling memorial of flowers and cards, and a throng of mourners gathered on its sidewalk.

Naturally, that sad sight led to a long, wide-ranging discussion about mental illness, gun control, the criminal mind, and suicide (the gunman wound up killing himself when confronted later in the day by police in West Seattle). In between Cafe Racer and West Seattle, he carjacked a woman on First Hill and murdered her in the process.

All in all, May 30 was an awful day in Seattle, and I can't, at the moment, think of any "good" explanations for the kids. Or myself.

Zombies, Insects and a Dragon

RETURN OF THE ZOMBIES: Yesterday was all about zombies, what with CJ's play. Not to be outdone, today in art class, Annabelle used a scrap of drywall to craft a zombie body for herself.

EATING INSECTS: Today in science class, the kids (and I!) learned lots about how insects eat. I can honestly say that before today, I'd never stopped to contemplate how mealworms partake of a meal.

The first experiment we participated in involved a demonstration of how insects like mosquitoes eat. They pierce something and then suck out the food. The kids were given grapes and a straw cut on an angle. We poked the grapes with the pointy end of the straw and sucked and sucked and sucked. Not a particularly convenient way for we humans to get sustenance, but interesting, for sure.  

Next up, we learned about insects who have mandible mouths, like ants and beetles and mealworms. Unlike our mouths, which chew up and down, their mouths work sideways. The kids were given scissors to use to cut Cheerios and then pick them up and eat them.

And here, we have history being made. As a demonstration of insects which suck or siphon their food, like butterflies, the teacher asked kids to suck up some apple juice. Now, if you know CJ, you know that if you ask him to drink anything other than water, he thinks you're trying to poison him.

I wondered how he'd handle the request, but didn't say anything. Lo and behold, he started siphoning away. Good for CJ - setting his lifelong aversion aside in the interest of science.

MOVE IT: I made sure the kids got some exercise in today. I would have loved to have joined them in their scampering and jumping, but that's going to have to wait. My right foot is sporting camouflage colors (ewwwww) and has a plum sized knot on the outside ankle bone. :/

They also did about an hour of "Let's Dance," and they seem to be getting a bit sharper in their moves, which is good to see.

SPLASHY LANDING: We'll be glued to NASA TV and the SpaceX Web site tomorrow morning. As we sleep tonight, Dragon is set to leave the ISS and make its way back toward Earth. (A timeline of activities is on the SpaceX Web site.) A little after 8:30-ish Pacific time, the Dragon capsule is supposed to come splashing down back to Earth. Per a press release I received today, it's set to splashdown "hundreds of miles off the west coast of California likely out of range of live television."

Boo! No live TV?!?!  

Maybe it will overshoot the "runway" and come into range. Either way, we'll be watching!

Show Time

ZOMBIE ATTACK!: Today, after many, many, many weeks of lead up, today it was finally time for CJ and his castmates to present their play, "Zombie Academy." CJ was leader of the zombies. It's a task he took very seriously.

We spared no expense on his zombie 'costume' - grabbing a cool zombie graphic off the Internets and turning it into a t-shirt transfer with our ink jet printer. Presto, change-o, instant stage wear! (In case you're wondering it says, "I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for BRAAAINS!!!!" And a zombie is holding an ice cream cone with a brain perched atop it.

CeeJ actually performed the play twice today. The first time was for a small private school with kids ranging in age from about 7 to teenagers. Christian was there for that and he said it went well and that CJ nailed all his lines. Practice makes perfect!

This evening was the performance for family and friends. Here, you can see Annabelle in the front row, enjoying CJ's performance. :)

It was a lot of fun, but a looooong day - 12:30 to 8:30.

Tonight, after it was all over, I asked CJ if he was nervous today at all. (I purposely did NOT ask him before. Why plant that seed?) Without hesitation he said, entirely convincingly, "Nah." 

Go CJ! :)

STICKY SITUATION: We're working on a couple of pinatas for an end of year party. One is a Death Star, because who doesn't want to beat the Death Star to a pulp? The other is Meowth - a bad guy, er, cat, from the Pokemon series, which is wildly popular with kids these days.

While CJ was at acting this afternoon, Annabelle helped me apply some of the slurry strips.

As you can tell by the look on her face, she wasn't too thrilled by the mooshy tactile nature of it, but she soldiered through. I think she'll like helping paint it a whole lot more. :)

All That Glitters

FOLKSY: Over the weekend, I posted videos of Annabelle and friend Bollywood dancing at Folklife Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

But let me tell you, there is MUCH more to Folklife than elementary-aged kiddos jumping around in costumes. We'd never been before, so I had no idea what a Big Honking Deal it was. Tens of thousands of people crowd the entire Seattle Center campus. It's wall to wall hippies, I tell you! ;)

Founded in 1972, according to their Web site, today, the four-day Festival attracts about 250,000 visitors and has over 6,000 volunteer performers and 800 volunteers.

While Bee was practicing for her flash mob in a rehearsal room in the Center House on Saturday, CJ and I "roamed" the grounds (I limped miserably through throngs of people), taking in some sights.

Just south of the Center House we encountered a golden alien/performance artist. CJ thought he was pretty cool.

After that, we wandered over to the Fisher Pavilion, where CJ did some square dancing. He never really did get the promenade thing down ...

Then, we limped on over to the International Fountain. There, on the north lawn, we found the Rhythm Tent, where there were dozens of big drums and chairs awaiting. CJ sidled up to one and partook of a percussion workshop until it was time to go see Bee's performance. 

ACTING UP: For the past two days we've been practicing and practicing and practicing CJ's play. He has his lines down pretty much, but he could still use some work on his projection. Hopefully it all comes together for him tomorrow, as that's when he's performing his play, twice. The first time is in the afternoon for a small, private school group. Tomorrow night is the performance for the families - at least that should be a pretty easy crowd.

MAKE UP: The kids did a TON of science homework this morning. All of the in class lab sheets and homework assignments they missed in the two weeks of class. One of their worksheets required them to go on a field trip looking for different kinds of insects. Since I'm hobbled, they were on their own. They roamed the alley, and found a few roly poly bugs,

EGYPTIAN EXHIBIT: This afternoon, it was our long-awaited chance to go see "Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs" at the Pacific Science Center.


Unfortunately, my visit to the exhibit would have to wait. No way did I want to struggle around priceless ancient artifacts with crutches and a walking cast. I could just picture myself stumbling into one of the displays and creating an international incident. So, Rick went in my stead. I'll go later with Kennedy.

Per Pacific Science Center's Web site, "The exhibition features more than 100 objects from King Tut's tomb and ancient sites representing some of the most important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history." The exhibition has twice as many artifacts and the original Tut exhibit that visited Seattle in 1978 - I remember it well!

Here are some photos Christian took.

Though it's hard to gauge scale here, this is the Colossal Statue of Amenhotep IV. Made of sandstone, it's from the East Temple of Gempaaten, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Akhenten (1372-1335 BCE). Christian said it was impressive - about 10 to 12 feet tall.

Here's a stunning shot of the golden mask of Psusennes I. The sign on the display explained that the mask was found over the head and part of the shoulders of Psusennes' mummy. Apparently the beard is an indication of his royalty and godly status and the use of gold, considered "the flesh of the gods," reaffirmed his divinity in the afterlife.

And here's a spectacular shot of the coffinette that held King Tut's stomach. We're going to have to read up on why they removed the organs and placed them in their own special burial vessels.

This artifact isn't entirely intact, but it is enormous! A 10-foot tall statue of Tut.

And we can't forget this relic. Can you guess what that this is? ...

That's right - it's an ancient toilet seat!

Bollywood

FOLK LIFE FESTIVAL: Here, as promised, are videos from the Bollywood troupe's performance at Folk Life. The first two are from Friday night, in the Exhibition Hall. There was a big crowd and they seemed to enjoy the performance


And this last video is from the Saturday 'flash mob' next to the International Fountain.