On the Move

HE'S BA-ACK: As I'm clearing the dishes out of the kitchen sink this morning, I had an eight legged surprise. I swear the thing popped up out of the drain. Which, of course, immediately made me think it was THE FACE EATING MONSTER SPIDER that I flushed down the bathtub drain day before yesterday.

Though it's clear this was the same type of spider, this one was about half the size of that first one. Needless to say, it went to a watery grave, too.

BOOK LOVERS: We started the day with a pair of great picture books. "Older Than the Stars" by Karen C. Fox, illustrations by Nancy Davis, does a nice job of explaining the Big Bang in a way people of any age could understand. The book explains that the iron in our blood may have once been part of a volcano, calcium in our bones may have been part of an ancient oyster shell, the oxygen we breathe may have also passed through a dinosaur's lungs and every particle in our bodies was once part of a star. Super cool stuff. The book has a nice Web site: www.olderthanthestars.com

At the end of the book there's a timeline of the universe from 0 seconds (the instant of the Big Bang) through the first three minutes to 13.75 billion years later (now-ish). (A PDF version of the timeline can be viewed here: http://www.charlesbridge.com/client/client_pdfs/downloadables/Older_than_Stars_Timeline_large.pdf)/. The book also has a glossary, with vocab like atom, carbon, electron, minerals, neutron particle, proton, solar system and such. We spent several minutes going over (and over!) what each term meant, and then I had the kids stand up and I quizzed them about the words. Below, they discuss carbon ...To follow up on the talk of atoms, we went to BrainPOP and watched a video about atoms. They also took a review quiz and did respectably.

We also read the charming "Wheedle on the Needle." First published in 1974 (I remember it well!), it's a cute story about a creature named Wheedle who had lived in the Pacific Northwest since before the Westward expansion. When a lot of people came, Wheedle got annoyed by all the noise and was driven out of his stomping grounds. He chose to live atop Mt. Rainier. It worked for awhile, but before too long, the noise became bothersome there, as well. He decided to travel to where all the noise was coming from - Seattle - and wound up trying to get some sleep atop the Space Needle. He had brought clouds along with him, and Seattle-ites grew tired of all the rain. Finally a deal was struck and the Wheedle was able to sleep atop the Space Needle. His nose glows when he's asleep, which explains the red light atop the Needle. The kids liked the story and the character. Wheedle went on to fame outside of the book's pages, serving as the Seattle Supersonics' mascot from 1978 through 1985.

In reading the Wikipedia article , I learned that a bit of a war was waged over the Wheedle, and that a second edition published in 2002 scarcely resembled the original book. Fortunately, author Stephen Cosgrove won the right to his book back from the publisher in 2009, and the third edition (2010, which is the one we read), retains the essence of the original.

MOVING DAY: We spent a significant amount of time today helping Kennedy move. We met him at his new apartment (about two blocks away, at the bottom of our hill!) We also went to his old place once to help him load some larger items. There, Annabelle amused herself with some Pee-Wee Herman Colorforms. Meanwhile, CJ actually helped pack some of Ken's clothes. DO UNTO OTHERS: From the backseat of the car today I hear CJ proclaim, "If I ran a church I would tell everyone that they should be nice to everyone, because you never know, god could look like anyone. He could be in disguise, so you should be nice to everyone because they might be god." No idea where he got that idea or what made him think of it at that moment.

Shortly thereafter, Annabelle started talking about Noah's ark. She had the "facts" down. Not sure where she gleaned them, as we haven't discussed the ark at all, either.

Splish Splash

ARMED TO THE TEETH: Before 8 this a.m. I hear the 'clink' of the silverware drawer opening. A familiar sound, but usually it's me opening it.

However, today the sound was produced by Annabelle. I watched her walk from the kitchen to a cardboard box she was working on for a craft project. I must have clearly been aghast at what I saw because Bee said, "You said I could use knives now!!"

Yikes.

STAIRWAY TO NOWHERE: For a while now I've been wishing I had a stair stepper instead of a Health Rider for exercise. It occurred to me yesterday that I climb three sets of stairs to reach the car when we go somewhere. I announced my plans to the kids this a.m. that I'd be going up and down our steps for a bit. I thought 10x sounded like a nice number, but when I told CJ he replied, "I'm going to do it 300 times."

Oh, OK. ;)

He actually did pretty well, lasting 10 trips up and down before he said his legs felt funny. I did 13 and only stopped 'cause we had to head out.

WATER WONDERS: Today we had a noontime date with CJ's BFF from kindergarten. We'd arranged to meet at the big fountain at Seattle Center. We parked in our usual (free!) spot about 3 blocks away, and took a bit of a different route over, as I wanted to check out a fountain we'd noted before but never gotten a close look at. It was in the courtyard of the (now defunct) Intiman Theater. This is "Fountain of the Northwest," dedicated on April 21, 1962. The artist who created it is Jamed Fitzgerald. How excellent that it still looks so amazing 48 years later.

We happened to catch it at a time when a rainbow was evident. Between the Intiman fountain and the big show, Annabelle discovered another low-slung, circular fountain. "Look! It's a whirlpool!" she declared. And she was right. The bowl filled up, drained and then filled again.
Cool! We all agreed it would be fun to play with some toy boats in this fountain.

Of course, we also visited the big fountain in the center of it all. CeeJ and Bee are in the foreground.

Come evening, we met an out-of-town visitor at the Pike Brewery/Pub for dinner. Afterward, we walked down to the waterfront and wandered around like tourists for awhile. CJ and Annabelle talked us into buying some dessert for them at one tourist trap.

Ballard Bound

BIG HAIRY DEAL: A little before 8 this morning, I told CJ to hit the showers. He marched into the bathroom and just as quickly came back out.

"There's a Daddy Longlegs in the shower," he reported.

I assured him that Daddy Longlegs are harmless, and told him we could scoop the spider out and take it outside, no problem. I fetched a paper plate from the kitchen to help with the task and went and peered into the tub.

Heart jumps to throat. "Um, that's no Daddy Longlegs!" I practically screeched, for in the tub was a big, brown, hairy legged spider the size of my hand. Eep!

Normally, I'm a live and let live, all god's creatures kind of person when it comes to bugs, but this thing looked like it could eat my face. So guess who got the day's first shower?

Bugger didn't go down without a fight, and once I finally got it to fit down the drain tube, I pushed the stopper down (due to visions of it returning/seeking revenge, like in the movies).

The kids showered upstairs today, and the stopper is still down.

REALLY GOOD SHOW: Here it is, mid-August, and we FINALLY made it to our very first Seattle Public Libraries Summer Children's Reading Program event. I am mad at myself that we've missed out on so much entertainment already this summer, but sure am happy we made it today.

The show, at the Ballard branch of the library, was a one-hour performance by The Harmonica Pocket, which today was a band of two, Keeth Monta Apgar and Nala Walla. It was entertaining from the first second, when they entered the performance space pretending to play instruments and talk, though they made not a sound. The kids (SRO crowd) found this HILARIOUS, let me tell you.

Sorry no pictures or video, but the performers prohibited it. You can get a good sense of them and what they are about on their Web site (http://www.harmonicapocket.com/). They're on Facebook and MySpace too, of course.

The audience was rapt for the entire 60 minutes, and the big people enjoyed it too. There were songs about ladybugs and big trees. There was a highly entertaining musical story about Diaper Man and his sidekick Nincompoop. I think a high point for parents in the crowd was when the band segued from a song about a little baby into a sweet cover of GnR's "Sweet Child o' Mine."

After the show, we walked kitty corner to a park in Ballard that features small fountains. The kids got good and wet. We ventured to the skate/bike bowl on the west end of the park. There, the kids were truly impressed by the two-wheeled gymnastics guys were executing on their bikes. Some of them were catching some pretty big air.ALWAYS A CRITIC: Another day, another movie. This afternoon's show was "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Not sure how he came to know of its existence, but a couple of months ago, CJ asked if he could see the movie. So, we ordered it from the library and yesterday it was finally our turn to check out the DVD.

I have to tell you, I am not a fan of that movie. I just couldn't get down with the cartoon animated characters interacting with gritty "real" world characters. But CJ and Annabelle both seemed to enjoy it. In fact, afterward CJ said, "That was a GREAT movie!" That was quite the contrast to his review of "Cowboys & Aliens," which he saw in the theater yesterday. He declared that flick "the worst movie I've ever seen, with the only upside being the actor who plays Indiana Jones is in it."

CARDBOARD HEAVEN: We got a couple of big cardboard boxes thanks to some early Christmas shopping I did (I swear, I could take care of my whole Xmas list on Thinkgeek.com). Annabelle was thrilled to see the boxes and pondered what, exactly, to do with them. "This would make a MUCH better coffin than the last box I used," she observed.
She started taking on the bigger-than-her box with kiddie scissors and soon needed help. She knew a knife was necessary, and figured that meant she'd have to turn her creation over to me. I told her that I thought she was ready to wield her own knife, if she promised to be careful.

She was excited but a bit trepidatious, which I appreciated. We went over safety rules and off she went - and it went well.MR. FIX IT: CJ came in from an outdoor play session today and said he needed scissors to fix a problem. He grabbed them and I followed him - to the screen door. Turns out he'd noticed a pokey-outy wire he thought looked dangerous and needed trimming.I really appreciated that a) he noticed the problem and b) that he took it upon himself to fix it.

GOODBYE, KITTY: Here yesterday, gone today - such was the fate of the Nyan Cats the kids made.

Home Ec

SEW WHAT? Finally, today was the day. I've had some fabric a neighbor gifted us for over a year now - a swath of a tube topped insta-dress that just needed a seam, a hem and some ribbon for straps. It was the ribbon that has been holding us up. I kept forgetting to buy it. Today, that finally changed. We made a special trip to the fabric store the morning, where Annabelle chose some bright Hello Kitty ribbon.

So, while CJ was watching "Cowboys vs. Aliens" with Rick, Bee and I knocked out the dress.

First, we fit it, and decided how much of the width to cut off. Next, Bee learned how to pin it right sides together so we could do the side seam.
She was a bit fearful of the machine at first (and rightfully so - you can royally screw things up with a sewing machine if you're not careful), but she managed to get the seam sewn.

She also had to do some ironing, as we had to turn up and press the skirt's hemline.
In the end, it all turned out nicely and she was quite pleased with herself and her dress. :)
FREEZING: Knowing it was going to be a warm day, the kids prepared themselves a chilly treat this morning so that it would be ready in time for an afternoon snack.

It was fast and fun to fill the Rocket Pop molds with yogurt (Bee used strawberry pomegranate, CJ opted for vanilla), with some mini chocolate chips mixed in for good measure. ICED ICON: Anyone who regularly reads this blog knows the kids spend a fair amount of time on the Internet, and a fair amount of that fair amount of time is on YouTube, watching viral videos. That's how they came to know and love Nyan Cat (you can see its original version on the Nyan Cat Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyan_Cat .

For those of you who haven't managed to happen upon the 8-bit animated gif yet, I can tell you it's a gray cat with a cherry Pop-Tart body who leaves a rainbow trail. Nyan Cat has its own theme song, which I cannot describe. There are now several versions/remixes of Nyan Cat and he/she/it has appeared in an Annoying Orange video (which had over 30 million hits as of yesterday).

All this said, I thought the kids would enjoy making their very own Nyan Cat. So, we bought some cherry Pop-Tarts, made some gray and white fondant, and put edible ink markers to use.

The kids are looking forward to eating their creations tomorrow.

Going Up!

SOCK IT TO ME: As I trudged up the stairs with some clean laundry from the basement, it occurred to me that the weight I was hefting was all the kids' clean clothes. And it occurred to me that while I made sure it got washed and dried, there is no reason on earth why they shouldn't help fold it and put it away.

So this morning we engaged in a "life skills" session. :)

Bee learned how to do a sock ball awhile back. Today, CeeJ got a lesson. Mercifully, he caught on rather quickly.

LAUNCH IT: A Kennedy Space Center Facebook post this morning let us know about a fun feature on NASA's Web site called "Launch It." It lets the user pick their type of space vehicle, their pilot, their cargo and then through the magic of the Intertubes, you get to see your mission carried out. Annabelle was so pleased with her result, she did a print screen and modified the "successful mission" notice to include her name. In pink.

GOLDEN AFTERNOON: Once Christian got back from the building dept. this morning (we're closing in on getting a permit for the addition), I told him we all needed to get out and enjoy what had become a sunny day.

We opted to go to Golden Gardens. The last couple times we've been there it was on the weekend for an event, and the place is packed like sardines and not a lot of fun. A Monday afternoon is a lot more leisurely there, to be sure.

The kids enjoyed splashing in the (small) waves, and digging in the sand.
However, the A#1 activity at this park for kids is playing in this small stream that leads to the Sound. Kids work (mostly together) trying to dam it up to prevent it from reaching the Sound, or digging channels, so that it can reach the Sound.

I was really appreciating how a dozen plus kids were all working (mostly) together, talking engineering (Dig there! Dam here!) Everything was super until a 9-ish year old boy arrived on the scene. From the get go, he seemed to be sans parent.

The first words out of this new kid's mouth were a nasty shout, and it only got worse. The poor kid was completely incapable of working in/with/around a group of other kids. :( And even though he was COMPLETELY belligerent, I immediately felt sorry for him. This poor kid was just so lacking in self control and social skills, and he had no one (um, hello! parent anywhere?) to help him navigate. The newcomer became increasingly belligerent, frazzled and soon thereafter, threatening. I heard him scream, "My dad will KILL you, capice?!" at a 5-year-old at one point. (Guess mob movies are big in their household?)

The kid spiraled more out of control/louder and in your face, bumping up against kids and throwing sand at them. Finally, after nearly an hour of it, a young, military haircut man appeared from the parking lot, calling to him. The kid ignored the man's calls and continued terrorizing other kids (throwing sand, posturing, threatening, etc.). As we packed up to leave the beach, the terrorist kid's dad(?) send his friend (also a military haircut) to the beach to retrieve the boy. As the kid leaves he turns back toward the group of 20 some kids from toddlers to 10 year olds, shakes his fists at them, puffs out his chest, sticks out his tongue and I hear him mutter, "SICK!"

Meanwhile, back on the beach, a spontaneous, loud CHEER goes up that the kid is leaving. :(

The whole thing was just so sad. I have no doubt that poor kid will be in jail before he's 18 without some SERIOUS intervention by someone, somewhere. Whoever that person is apparently isn't in his life at this point, however. The whole scene really put a damper on the sunny beach outing.

WEEKEND REWIND: When I got up Saturday morning, I had no idea how we'd be spending our day. Christian was headed I-5 southbound, to his 30th class reunion. But the kids and I had no plans.

I poked around on the Internet for awhile, and eventually wound up on the (Seattle) Museum of Flight's Facebook page. There, I saw a wall post of theirs noting they'd be at the Space Elevator Conference on Saturday, on the Microsoft campus. Um, HELLO, a SPACE ELEVATOR CONFERENCE, free and open to the public just a half hour from home? Yes, please!

So we struck out for Redmond. Traffic was a friggin' nightmare but it was worth it. There was a huge room there with hands on displays from Pacific Science Center, all space-related.

(Above), CJ loved playing with these atom-like toys.

The kids both spent about a half hour building robots which they wired to electric controllers and operated remotely.
They also both loved the display with different weighted softballs that illustrated the different gravitational pulls of three planets in our solar system.
At the door, we were greeted by a life(?) sized, fully operational R2-D2. It had spot on Star Wars sound effects, and even rolled around to the Cantina song. (I did not, however, see it project any Princess Leia holograms).
The kids loved the challenge of trying to pick up blocks with a robotic arm. They could control its shoulder, elbow and wrist. It was harder than you might think.
There were several floor puzzles, including a shuttle themed one they just had to work.
And they got to see a real live meteorite!
The kids also used rubber bands to try to replicate constellations.
There were also informative displays about various educational science programs and, of course, info about the Space Elevator!

We're in love with the idea of riding along a ribbon constructed of carbon nanotubes!

JUST SO YOU KNOW: "If I had a butler, I would treat him kindly," says CJ. "I would only ask him for things I really needed."

Blanket

END OF THE ROAD: This morning I threw a piece of history (and myself?) into the garbage. This piece of history is know as "The City Blanket."

It is/was a quilt (in the loosest sense of the word) I made for Rick and Kennedy when they were babies (in the mid to late 80s, OMG). I saw the roads and community panel at a fabric store and thought, "Oh wow, my boys might like driving their toy cars on this."

But a funny thing happened (or, rather, didn't happen). Rick and Kennedy never were into Hot Wheels type cars, so they never used the blanket as a plaything, though it might have kept them warm once in awhile. And I saved the blanket (for R&K's kids -ha ha) but it ended up being for their sibs. Go figure. And while CeeJ and Bee play with cars more than R&K ever did (thanks to the "Cars" movie franchise), they never played *with* the blanket. However, they did use the blanket nightly and, finally, after 20 years, its bottomside has shredded in several parts, revealing holes.

And so, this morning, 'round 6:10 a.m., when Annabelle complained of her foot getting caught in one of the blanket's (many) holes for not the first time, I figured enough is enough. While I'm sentimental and all, I'm also a pragmatist. This blanket had run its course. So, right now it's in our stinky garbage can. End of story.

SHUTTLE BY THE SYLLABLE: We did some math this morning (adding dollars and cents), and afterward I wanted to work a little writing and free thinking into our day. So, I asked the kids to write a haiku (5-7-5) about the space shuttle program.

Annabelle took about two minutes to come up with this -
Shuttle launch to space
Bird soaring with rocket fire
Coming back to home

CJ took about 15 minutes to come up with this -

I saw Atlantis
Shuttle had our Face in Space
It is over now

I have to tell you, his haiku bummed me out. Poor boy thinks the closest he'll ever get to space was uploading a digital mug shot. :( I reminded him that when we saw Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut predicted the 'barnstorming' days of spaceflight are just around the corner. Here's hoping that Aldrin is right.

Of course, I figured if my kids can write shuttle haiku, I should give it a go, too. Love it how their 6- and 8-year-old brains can spit one out in minutes. It took me about 5 hrs to come up with ...

More than cargo ships
Shuttles carried hopes and dreams
To the starry skies

LEGOMANIACS: As you have read here, CeeJ and Bee like their LEGOS. So it's no wonder that they have been pretty keen on the art car building that's going on to our south. Our neighbor's son is heading to Burning Man and he and a bunch of friends have pooled their resources to create this ...
The picture above is of the vehicle not 100 percent done, but as you can tell, it's a whole lot of fun looking. I told them I thought it would be fun to make a LEGO man pinata to go with their party on wheels. Stay tuned for further developments.

There and Back

SCARY STUFF: The kids have been asking for weeks (months?) to go see the "Goosebumps: The Science of Fear" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Today, we finally did just that.

On our way into the Science Center, we saw there was no line to ride the summertime-only bicycle that's on a track high above the fountains (usually*), so we made our way over there. The kids wanted to ride too, of course, but you have to be at least 100 pounds and they're nowhere near that.

BTW, the reason for the * with "usually" above is because the fountains and reflecting pools were all drained today (boo!) and workers were there, cutting through the concrete. Looks like a huge repair project underway.The kids also paused to pose with the Space Needle on their way in.
Inside the exhibit it was pretty dark - no doubt to advance the "Goosebumps" ambiance. First up were four displays about fears of various things, like insects.

Annabelle absolutely would NOT stick her hand into these boxes, where creepy crawly things may or not be waiting.Another booth featured a seat in front of a screen. You were to sit there, some soft music plays and then suddenly, "BAM!" - something sounding like a gunshot goes off. There is a camera recording your reaction to the noise and it replays in slow-mo. Pretty funny. Here's a before picture. Sadly, I didn't get a good one of the fright shot. :(There was one cool interactive display where the kids stood in a chamber and their shadows were on a screen in front of them. There was also the shadow of some big cat on the screen. If the cat spotted you, your shadow would turn pale. You were supposed to freeze then. If you didn't your shadow turned (blood) red and he came and ate you. Nice kitty.

We also stopped at a table where there was a display involving fear and brain signals, represented by dominoes on different paths. It was fun and our domino demo worked on the first try.

We enjoyed the exhibit and it was worth visiting, but overall I'd characterize it as too heavy on "watch this video" type of displays.

LEGOMANIA: The kids spent a couple hours playing LEGOs today. Here's one of CJ's constructs. He called it a battleship.
STORM TROOPERS: Tonight we went to Seattle Center for the second time today, this time for a WNBA game - Seattle Storm v. Tulsa Shock. It was good fun. We got to see some fundamentally sound basketball, which is entertaining, of course.And the Storm games have a ton of fun built in, from Doppler the mascot to the music/crowd rallying cries they plan during the whole game.The halftime entertainment was Vicci Martinez, who was a finalist on NBC's "The Voice." She's from Tacoma and MAN can she sing!In the fourth quarter, the Storm had their traditional conga line led by Doppler. CeeJ and Bee both ran down to the court to join in.Though we'd coached them ahead of time how to find the seats afterward, they both kinda panicked - Annabelle to the point of tears. :/ I think they'd do much better next time. ...

But all in all it was a great time. They have Fremont IPA on tap, a bottomless tub of popcorn for $6 and the Storm won handily.

I SEE CJ: I got a note this morning from a writer who used a mug shot of a very young CJ for an article she wrote about newborns' vision