Body Doubles

BODY LANGUAGE: I had to pull the roll of floor-protection paper out of the basement this morning for a home improvement project (the unending re-do of the shower upstairs), and while I had it out, I thought it would be a good time for the kids to do a little drawing. Specifically, I thought they'd have fun tracing around each other. And they did. :) After they traced themselves, they helped each other cut their own bodies out. Then they taped them up to the wall. It was Annabelle's idea to have them holding hands. :) I asked them each to grab a marker and write six words on their bodies describing themselves and six words on their sibling's body describing their sibling.
Here's what they came up with ...

SCREWY SCHEDULE: Instead of music this afternoon, we had an appointment to head to Shoreline for a curriculum check in. I was supposed to bring all of the materials I have checked out of the program's curriculum room. I had one whopping book - a Japanese for beginners manual. The checker-in-er was surprised - and a bit relieved, I think. There were multiple DOZENS on the floor next to her from the parent preceding me. I have to admit, in a way that made me feel like a slacker. ... Should I have more books from there for my kids? :/ On the other hand, I don't like stockpiling stuff. Our house is small, there are only so many hours in the day, and how many books can we possibly use at one time?

While I was checking books in, the kids were enjoying their first ever open gym time with their school mates. We've never been there on a Tuesday afternoon before, and that is one of the times the gym is open for Home Education Exchange students. CJ was absolutely THRILLED when some older boys suggested playing dodge ball. To date, he's only read about in books and seen it in cartoons or movies. The teams paired off and the balls started flying and it was a free for all. Of course, CJ and Annabelle were sketchy on the rules, and boy do they need some Dodge ball 101 lessons. CJ was throwing chest passes, not slinging the ball. :0 I think I need to get him and a rubber ball together with a brick wall sooner rather than later.

The kids also had a chance to clamber on the neat climbing wall for the first time.
THE JEFFERSONS: Miraculously, we practically flew down I-5 to Columbia City after our appointment in Shoreline this afternoon. I haven't seen traffic that light on I-5 through Seattle since the 1980s. Maybe it's the high gas prices?

Anywho, we had some time to kill before yoga and the sun was shining, so we made a quick stop at Christian's work to say 'hi.' Here's a picture of the kids in a section of an old wooden water line. ...

We also had time to stop at Jefferson Community Park. We hadn't been there is a couple of months, and though it's still a work in progress, man oh man, is it a gem.

The playground is enormous, with an abundance and variety of things to climb and slide and twirl on. CJ and Annabelle got this spinner going so fast, they were both 'flying.'
Today was the first chance we'd had to explore the expansive grassy areas beyond the playground. For months now, I've been wanting to see what the view from the cliff side there was. It was as great as I thought it would be. ...
There were several spots to stop and enjoy the view on the bluff, including a couple of rocky sculptures and concrete knee walls.
From various points you could see the Space Needle, the stadiums, the Sound, the Port of Seattle, and even good ol' Magnolia (the peninsula in the distance here):
This park tells a story. Seriously! Embedded amidst the green grass are swaths of concrete stamped with words that tell of the history and future of the grounds. For instance, one pad lets you know you're standing 326 feet above sea level...

The concrete tells the story of what's underfoot.

And what brings people to the park these days ...

and there's much, much more. We didn't have time to read the whole story today, but we'll certainly be back for more!

WINGS: Yoga was even more enjoyable than usual for the kids today because teacher Nicole designed a lesson around an idea CJ suggested last week. He wanted a theme of creatures who are feathered and/or fly, and that's what he got. They did special bird and ghost poses. They drew pictures of flying animals (real and imagined) and so on. In the funny coincidence file, right before we went in yoga, "Silly Love Songs" came on the radio, and I told the kids that it was a single by Sir Paul McCartney and Wings, from the "Wings at the Speed of Sound" album.

BOOKMARK IT: Borders stores (if there are any left by the end of the summer :( ) are offering a free book to kids for reading over the summer. Follow this link to a PDF.

Rose City Ramble

Image courtesy: NASA

UP, UP AND AWAY: I was up before the sun this morning, eagerly awaiting the launch of Endeavour. The dog woke me up at 3:30 and so I used that "opportunity" to check in with the shuttle, which was set to launch at 5:49 a.m. Pacific Coast time. Everything still looked good and the astronauts were being strapped into their seats. I went back to bed for an hour and got up at 5 to watch the last of launch preparations and the countdown.

Christian headed down the stairs about 5:30. Annabelle came out of her bedroom about 5:45 and CJ followed almost instantly. So, we were all in our places in plenty of time for the 5:56 launch.

After Endeavour took off, CJ said, "Wow, Mom, you sure do have a thing for space shuttles."
Why yes, yes I do!

Endeavour has a many important missions under her belt. Per NASA, "The STS-49 mission in 1992 sent Endeavour to retrieve a stranded communications satellite called Intelsat VI and attach a new engine to it. But when the satellite balked at being caught the way astronauts planned, the crew and ground controllers improvised a spacewalk calling for three astronauts positioned in the cargo bay and actually grabbing the bottom of the satellite with their gloved hands." I remember that dramatic mission. I also remember Endeavour's 1993 mission to repair and service the Hubble Space Telescope. And in 1998, Endeavour carried the first American section of the International Space Station into orbit and conducted the program’s first construction mission. That's a pretty big deal.

This, Endeavour's last mission, is scheduled to last 16 days. The astronauts will rendezvous and dock Endeavour with the International Space Station on Wednesday morning.

POINTS SOUTH: By 6:30 we were on the road, heading toward Portland. We had a rather ambitious to do list. First, swing by Grandma and Grandpa's for a quick (30 minute) howdy do. from there it was on to Portland, where Christian and the kids dropped me off to visit with a friend and her new (ADORABLE!) baby, while they headed toward the famous Voodoo Doughnut.

The inventive doughnut hotspot has been featured on everything from the Tonight Show to No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. Unfortunately their flagship store is under remodel right now, so the kids had to settle for their satellite location at 1501 N.E. Davis.

Though they had exotic menu options include the Bacon Maple Bar, the Voodoo Doll, Captain My Captain (a yeast doughnut topped with Captain Crunch), the Grape Ape, and much, much more, the kids settled for good ol' chocolate bar type doughnuts.

They came to pick me up from my friends, met the (ADORABLE) baby, and from there we were off to Ground Kontrol, a retro arcade in Portland. A two-story arcade with some 60 classic video games and 27 pinball machines, Ground Kontrol was founded in 1999 by two record store employees who loved classic video games. In 2003, five lifelong pinball and video game fans joined up and purchased the arcade, moving it to bigger and better digs in Portland’s historic Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood the following year.

CJ and Annabelle were happy to find some of their favorites there, like Double Dragon, Contra and The Simpsons, to name three.
CJ had a good day on Star Wars, blowing up the Death Star multiple times.

The four of us squared off in a modern day version of Pac-Man.Guess who won. (Yes, of course, CJ.)

We were fortunate, all of our Portland points were close to one another today. As a bonus, the kids even got to see the ornate gateway to Chinatown.

McMENAMINS TIMES TWO: Another stop on our P-Town tour was the newest McMenamins property - the Crystal Hotel.

The Hotel, on the National Register of Historic Places, is located across the street from the Crystal Ballroom (another McMenamins location, and a popular concert venue. The ballroom's music was the inspiration for the hotel's 51 guestrooms, each inspired by a song or performance from the Crystal Ballroom's past 100 years.

We went to Zeus Cafe. It was not your average McMenamins pub food, to be certain. For instance, instead of being heaped into a basket on grease-absorbing paper, the food was served on fancy schmancy plates, with points for presentation.
The restaurant had lots of beautiful woodwork, ornate trims and finishes and unique paintings. There is also lots of beautiful stained glass. Afterward, we beat feet for the border, wanting to get out of Stumptown before the horrid commute from Portland to Vancouver.

We decided to make one stop on the way home to break up the drive and give us and Kirby a chance to stretch our legs. We decided Olympia would be our break point. And as (no coincidence) would have it, one of our very favorite McMenamins is in Olympia - the historic Spar Cafe. So we had a light dinner there (they have pizza for $1.25 a slice on their happy hour menu - score!).

It was pretty amazing sitting in downtown/old town Olympia watching a parade of logging trucks rolling right through the city street with full loads. Guess there's a reason we're called The Evergreen State, eh?DRIVE TIME: We arrived home twelve hours after we left (right down to the minute). It was a long day, but a good day. Kirby was a trouper, just happy to be along for the ride.

Living Dangerously

OMG!: This was the look on the kids' faces this a.m. when I told them it was Friday the 13th.

It's so funny - they don't know why they are afraid of the day, they just know they should be. ... Yeah, well, I decided we'd turn that all on its head today!

I asked them if they knew why Friday the 13th is supposedly so big and bad. They both shrugged. So I asked them to sit down and use their imaginations and write a story about why Friday the 13th is to be feared. I played theme music from the "Friday the 13th" movie, which I knew they were both familiar with, and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition."

CJ came up with this: "Why Friday the 13th is bad luck: The first reason is that person that's named Jason will try to kill you every once in awhile. And the sun is so bright that you can't see where you are going. Also, you will always get papercuts whenever your useing paper."

Bee's take: "My theroy of Fri. 13th is a bad day first of all ... Jason. The kids no. 1 enemy. He's weak against fire ( just like grass leaf Pokemon, now we're not talking about Pokemon). No. 2, the crasy stuff you don't want to do (like walking under a ladder etc.)."

So there you have it, Friday the 13th as explained by 6 and 8 year olds. As explained by Wikipedia, the dubious date originates in The Norse mythology. Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility, and when Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. Supposedly every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with the devil and eleven other witches (a gathering of thirteen) and they plotted the upcoming week's bad deeds.

The other most popular origin bandied about for Friday the 13th dating back to October 13, 1307 when King Philip IV of France carried out a witch hunt of sorts, resulting in mass arrests of several thousand Templars — knights, sergeants, priests, and serving brethren. Hundreds of Templars were tortured and forced to confess (a recurring theme throughout history).

Did you know that in the Gregorian calendar, Friday the 13th occurs at least once, but at most three times a year, and that if the month starts on a Sunday, it will have a Friday the 13th?

All this said, I thought the bottom line I had to explain to the kids was that Friday the 13th is a superstition. And I rattled off all sorts of other superstitions that hold no water - and I told them we'd be flying in the face of them all today, just for fun! They were all over that! And so, we (gasp!) broke a mirror! And we spilled salt!!!
We walked under ladders ...
We even opened an umbrella in the house!
And after dinner, we FINALLY had a black cat cross our path! I can't tell you how much fun the kids had breaking all these rules - but just look at their faces in these photos and you can tell. :)

ADVENTUROUS: This morning was gloriously sunny. We simply HAD to get out in it. Feeling ambitious, we did something I'd never attempted with the kids on bikes and dog alone before: A run down to Terminal 91, Smith Cove Park.

Mercifully, we made it there ... Annabelle found a rock she thought would make a great TV remote for the Flintstones.
In the midst of their rock unit at school, the kids (on their own) took the time to check out the beach's rocks, and collected several (which I had to lug on the jog home).

The cruise ships are back in town. That means it's almost summer, right? Right?!?!?

Our biking/jogging efforts were rewarded by an offshore visit by a sea lion (crappy YouTube video here). It was watching us and we were watching it. Too cool!

Times like this I really appreciate where and how we live. While other kids are sitting in a traditional classroom following a traditional approach, we were out soaking up vitamin D, conducting a science class along the shoreline.

I was really proud of the kids on the way back. CJ rode his bike all the way to the top of a really long, steep hill and Annabelle, all by herself, pushed her bike up that same hill. Bravo!

Blogged Down

ED NOTE: This is being posted late because Blogger crashed in a big, ugly way on Thursday. They were down from hours and hours, and as of this writing, it obliterated my Wednesday post, too. I saw something in their technical update about trying to restore Wednesdays posts, but I will believe it when I see it. Looks like obviously they had to do some system restore that turned the clock back to Tuesday.

CONSUMER ADVOCATES: To fellow Americans, as you read this, you will glow inside, knowing that by our efforts alone today, the economy has been stimulated. That said, it would have been MUCH more stimulated if our finds weren't all from Goodwill, but hey, we're on a budget here. :)

One of the day's great finds at the Dearborn Goodwill store were comic books that are history text books in disguise. Score! Mixed in with old Oprah and Country Home magazines, we found five issues from the "The Cartoon History of the Universe" series. The ones we found (volumes 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8) are in pristine and protected condition. They are written and illustrated by mathemetician and professor Larry Gonick. From Wikipedia I learn from 1990 to 1997, Gonick penned a bimonthly "Science Classics" cartoon for Discover magazine. Gonick has published lots of other titles - it looks like we've just scratched the surface with him. What a great find - and only .49 cents apiece!

Annabelle curled up on the couch with "Volume 1, The Evolution of Everything Including Sex!!" (I know, scandalous!) this afternoon. When she opened to the first facing pages that read "BIG BANG!" it reminded me that yesterday, during sceince, while she and her age 5-8 classmates were mixing straw, dirt and clay to make bricks, she asked of her tablemates, "So, have you heard of the Big Bang theory?"

Yes, that's my kindergartener, making small talk. :)

Back in the toy section of the store I spotted what I know to be astronaut orange on a limb of a stuffed animal in a huge pile. Upon pulling it out, sure 'nuff, it was a astronaut teddy bear in a flight suit embroidered with Kennedy Space Center and NASA patches. We saw plenty of these on our trip back to KSC last year, but we're too cheap to pay $20 for one. But $1.99? Yes, please! Annabelle was QUITE happy with her "new" bear.
And as a funny footnote, when we were at Albertsons, getting our cheap on again by stocking up on 10 bags of Goldfish for $1 apiece, hanging right next to the Goldfish for some inexplicable reason, was a little space shuttle. The kids pointed it out, of course, and then Annabelle noticed it wasn't just any shuttle, it was *OUR* shuttle - the Atlantis, the one we watched launch in person. So that went into the cart - $3 I didn't plan on spending, but less than half the price they were at KSC, where we didn't buy one.

HAPPINESE: A few days back, we were the high bid on a lot of video intrigue from Seattle Goodwill's eBay store. The lot was three Super Famicom (Japanese Nindento system) games, and some mystery "Super Adaptor." Frankly, we had little to no interest in the games; We were hope Hope HOPING the adapter would allow CJ to play more Super Famicom games in his Super NES - including the prized/rather pricey Wrecking Crew '98 he bought with an eBay gift card he got for his b-day last month.

This afternoon, we picked up the booty. As soon as we got home, CJ started getting his Super NES lined out, ready to test the "new" games and adapter. First, we tried each game with the old Super Famicom adapter we have. Only one of the three (Chrono Trigger) worked. We were happy at that, though, as there was a chance we'd be 0-for-3 with that adapter. Next, we plugged in the "new" green, made-in-Korea "Super Adaptor" and tried our luck. One by one we plugged in the Japanese games and one by one, they worked. CJ retrieved his Wrecking Crew '98 game from its Spot of Privelge and carefully plugged it into the "Super Adaptor." We held our breath and ... IT WORKED!!! O Happy Day!!!
So CJ spent some time this afternoon getting to know his Wrecking Crew. Sweet! We had the added bonus of checking out the very Japanese games that came with the "Super Adaptor." One was Front Mission, which, according to Wikipedia, is "a tactical role-playing game developed by G-Craft and published by Square Co., Ltd., released in Japan in 1995 for the Super Famicom." The game is the first in what turned into the Front Mission series. It follows various characters and their battles against mecha known as wanzers. Turns out it's a pretty popular series in Japan, but we were happy to learn there is also an English version of its Web site.

Next up was Chrono Trigger. A role playing game, I've actually heard of that one (yes, I'm that nerdy). The Japanese version we now have is the first in a series that is apparently considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Nintendo Power praises Chrono Trigger as revolutionary for its multiple endings, sidequests, unique battle system and detailed graphics.

The third game we picked up not so on purposely was a bit harder to decode. There's absolutely no English on the label or any of the game play screens. We finally gleaned Yu Yu Hakisho from one of the intro screens and found out that it's one in a series based on a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. Mystery solved.

PIZZARIA: The kids got to have do-it-yourself dinners tonight. They really like making their meals. It reminds me, I need to get them more involved in the daily grind cooking instead of just the 'stunt' cooking (crazy cookies, cupcakes and such) we do from time to time.
STARRY, STARRY NIGHT: Christian wasn't home for 15 minutes tonight when he tore back out the door. When CJ asked him where he was going, Christian explained he was going to a lecture, which is a bit like a class, and sometimes people go to class just for FUN.

Tonight's fun is a lecture by rock star astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the University of Washington campus.

Thick as a Brick

SANDCASTLES: Today at science class the kids got to pick up the objects they molded last week. Annabelle had formed a pair of people (?) lunching at a picnic table out of sand and a cornstarch-and-stuff binder. There's a short fence in front of them. Can you see the scene?
CJ's sandy sculpture was shaped like a fat pancake and he did an impression of his fist in it. Out of clay (light gray above), Annabelle made a strawberry (or so she says). CJ made a happy face.
Today, the kids got to make their very own bricks. They used soil, water, straw and some sort of powdered clay. It was a messy proposition, to be sure.

For the second week in a row, Mr. Tactile Sensitive did not take to the project like a fish to water, but he soldiered through. After they'd mixed the muck, they pressed it into little aluminum foil pans. Hopefully a couple of weeks from now they will have solidified into bona fide bricks.

The science teacher told the class that she grew up in the Midwest and how sticky the clay in the soil is in the region and how it sets up so strongly, it was used underneath the space shuttles' launch pad a Cape Canaveral.

She also told a story about learning to Jet ski on the Mississippi River and how she learned the hard way about its muddy bottom.
FLOODWATCH: First thing this a.m. we turned on the TV, which is not our norm. However, we wanted to check out how the folks in the region of the Mississippi River were doing. I started with CNN, but they were discussing Bristol Palin's "TMJ" surgery.

Funny, I know people who have had TMJ surgery and none of them ever look like a different person post-op. Maybe Bristol's TMJ stands for "Totally Michael Jackson." ... I know, I know, catty of me, but you can't expect to have half your face drastically rearranged and not have people go, um, WTF? And if she thinks people are going to buy the "TMJ" line, I have a bridge to nowhere in Alaska I'd like to sell her. But I digress. ... We were talking about the Mississippi, right?

We tried finding coverage on other news channels with no luck. Apparently the region's largest flood since 1937 just isn't that big a deal to them. We wound up on the Weather Channel. Not surprisingly, they were covering the event in detail. Once story showed airboats shuttling people to and from casinos, and talked about how much the area's economy is going to be hurt by so many casinos having to shut their doors for awhile.

QUIET TIME: After school, the kids retired to their room. I assumed they were in there computing and went to check on them after a few minutes. What did I find? ...
NICE!

ROCKET MAN: First thing this a.m. the kids and I marveled over footage of Yves "Jetman" Rossy of Switzerland zooming over the Grand Canyon wearing his jet pack. Amazing!

PLAY TIME: This evening the kids knocked the dust off a game they haven't played in months - Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii. CJ was operating the main character, Luigi, and doing most of the heavy lifting. Annabelle was player 2, who is limited to being a Luma, or a floating 'helper' star that really can't do much other than collect random star bits here and there.

Most of the time their play was cooperative and complimentary (things like Annabelle saying, 'Nice jump!" and CJ saying, "Why thank you, Annabelle." But one exchange was a little bit frosty, and cracked me up.

At one point Annabelle counseled, "There's no need to go on that platform."

CJ quickly fired back, "Why do you judge me like that?"