Halloween Fun at the River

We had our 4th annual camping trip at the River the weekend before Halloween with AM and his family again.  It's always something that we look forward to each year.

There was lots of fun to be had....

exploring the river (which was at its lowest that we've ever seen...this made it easier to wade around and explore...but made it difficult to do any tubing!),

kayaking...Elina really enjoyed this one and she looked really good out there!

t-shirt decorating...this was the first year the kids focused on the t-shirts for so long...even Eulee was painting away...and all the shirts came out SO adorable!  We love this tradition!

Eulee even got to enjoy a nice nap on the river!

Unfortunately, there is a burn ban right now, so there was no real campfire to roast s'mores over.  We had to use a stove, which really made things feel different.  There's something to be said about huddling around a campfire at night.  BUT the s'mores were still yummy!

It was a day to remember.  But then Elina got stung by an insect right as I was about to leave with Eulee for the night!  I heard screaming and crying as I was getting into the car so I had to see what it was all about.  'Lo and behold, Elina had gotten stung by something.  She said it hurt so badly and was throbbing.  We cleaned it and put a bandage on, but after almost an hour she was still crying and complaining about it.  I would have been ok with making her stick it out, but no one had brought any children's Tylenol or Motrin..so I felt badly about leaving her there without anything for the pain if it was hurting that badly.  We talked to her about the whole thing...how if she left, then she would miss out on all the fun the next day...how I was only going to run errands the next day, so nothing exciting was planned at home.  After our discussion, she still chose to go home, so we finally left the river at 10:30pm!  Insanity!  

Needless to say, Eli and Evie had the time of their lives the next day with more kayaking, pumpkin painting, and exploring the river.  They didn't even get home until 4pm the following day!   They are definitely our little river rats!

Elina and I had an off day at home...you know, one of those days where you try to make it fun, but it's impossible because you have a list of boring things to do, but then you feel guilty you aren't doing anything fun, and your daughter makes you feel badly that you aren't doing anything with her, but then again the plan wasn't supposed to go this way so why should you feel badly??  See??  It was one of THOSE days.  Nothing went right.  I tried to do my boring things and I tried to at least play some games with Elina.  I tried to do too much and ended up doing everything poorly.  I definitely need a do-over here, folks.  *Sigh*

But whatever stung Elina must have been bad because the next morning, Elina said her finger still hurt a bit.  We still haven't figured out what it was.  She says it looked like a bee or a wasp.  I can understand wanting to be in your own bed after you get hurt, so I don't blame her for choosing to go home.  Well, hopefully next year she'll be able to enjoy the festivities again.  It was really unfortunate things turned out the way they did.  It can only be better next year!!

Dad's Night 2014--Round 6

B attended his 6th Dad's Night at Discovery School this year.  Hard to believe there have already been 6!  This year he got to visit Eli's class and Evie's class.

Elina also wanted to attend Dad's Night, but she went strictly as a helper.  I had to make sure that she understood she was only going to help, not to participate.  Sometimes it's hard for her to understand that these things have to be about the younger kids...that she's already had her time.  So she helped hand out glow toys and she helped in the 1st grade classroom, too.  What a trooper!

In Evie's class, B and Evie worked on a cute mug together.  They each had to put their thumbprints on the mug and the teachers drew them into a cute dad and kid.  Simple, but adorable!  Eli just hung around in the classroom and played with all the centers.

Then they went to Eli's class and dissected owl pellets.  B is familiar with this 1st grade activity and was even singing the famous owl pellet song when he walked into the classroom.  Ha!

After a pizza dinner, the kids got glow necklaces and bracelets and ran around the school in the dark.  It's definitely more fun to be at school at night!

The things I loved the best were the narratives about the dads.  Evie wrote:

"He is 14 years old.  My dad likes to go to HEB.  My dad likes to play tag and go swimming with me.  Dad goes to work.  At work he helps someone if they spill something.  I love my dad because he swims with me."

Wait!  He LIKES to go to the grocery store (HEB)?!?  This is definitely news to me!  And I like that B is a custodian at work.  Actually, she said that because when she went to eat lunch at his workplace, she spilled her drink and he wiped it up.  Funny what kids remember, right??

Then Eli drew B like this:

This is a great drawing, but honestly, kind of doesn't remind me of B.  I love all the details though...the unshaven face (which happens sometimes)...and the VERY VERY colorful shirt that he has on.  Wow!  I didn't realize he had a shirt like that!  

Then on the back, Eli wrote this: 

I didn't know B liked to eat carrots and drink Fanta so much.  Both those things aren't really true!  My favorite thing though is that Eli specifically tickles him in the armpits.  Eli thought that was so funny to put in!  Hahahaha!

These things are priceless, I tell ya.  I just don't know where these kids get these answers from!

Overall, another great night with B!  What a great dad!

A Pretty Awesome Party

Elina recently went to a pretty awesome birthday party.  It was so different than all the other ones I've ever been to...and I've been to A LOT!

This party was so different.  It was at a little performance center and the owner was just wonderful.  There were 15 girls and in the beginning they played a few funny games.  First they stood in a half circle and each girl had a line to say/act out in a scenario called "Girl Gets Mauled by a Panda at the Zoo."  Elina was the girl reacting with a scream.  First they did it regular, then they had to perform the lines as old people, then as teenagers, then in slow-motion, and so on.  It was hilarious!

The main part of the party was the girls acting out a script about time travel that the owner had written (as per the birthday girl's request).  First the girls ran through the script a few times while sitting on the floor.  

Then they did a dress rehearsal.  

Then at the end they performed it for the parents in costume.  It was SO great!

Here are a few excerpts from the play...

Initially Elina was nervous about even attending this party.  She kept saying, "I don't want to act...maybe I can do something behind the scenes."  But then she had a really fun time!  She came out of her shell and acted and laughed.  I'd never seen her like this in front of other people.  I loved it!

We really had such an awesome time at this party.  The girls all worked together well, helped each other, and then had an end product.  What a fun time!!

A Fun Fall Weekend with J

J came for a weekend visit 2 weeks ago and we went to a pumpkin patch and had lots of fun!  We were going to go to a bigger one farther away, but the kids decided against it because they wanted to be able to hang out with J more at the house.  So we ended up going to one in town....it was still lots of fun though.

1. The kids got to pick out lots of nice pumpkins.

2. The kids rode on a dusty barrel train ride and jumped in some bouncies.

3. We had the best Italian ices ever!  They had bits of real fruit in them and were so yummy!

4. The absolute highlight was the petting zoo.  Usually I'm not a fan of these things, but this one was so different.  The kids got to see and touch a porcupine, prairie dogs, a bearded dragon, and a wallaby!  The porcupine was raised by the owner and acted just like a puppy dog.  It was so cute!  The prairie dogs were adorable, but were rather jumpy.  When given the chance, they would just jump onto you!

The rest of the time, the kids just played and played and played with J.  (In the pic below Elina is totally covered in plastic insects and reptiles while she played with J.)

What a fun weekend together!

Learning About Volcanoes

Eli just finished a unit on volcanoes and it was fun for all of us!  Each child was assigned a volcano and Eli got Mt. Rainier.  He did a lot of research and created a poster for a class presentation.  He painted the poster board to look like lava, added diagrams and maps, and rehearsed the presentation a few times.  He worked hard so he did pretty well when he talked to the class about Mt. Rainier.

At the end of the presentation, Eli chose a class cheer that he wanted.  He picked the volcano cheer that they had invented...but he requested that the class say, "You're fire, Eli!"  It was SO cute!  Totally didn't make sense, but he loved it.  I love that the teachers just went along with it.  Ha!
We also made some apple volcanoes for his lifework (kind of like homework, but more fun).  I had enough apples for all 4 kids and they had a blast making a mess.  First they sprinkled cinnamon into their baking soda.  Then they dyed their vinegar either red or green.  Then they put the baking soda into the holes I carved out of the apples...then they made the apple volcanoes erupt!  It was lots of fun!

To end the unit, the class had their own Mt. Discovery erupt on the last day.  First they made it erupt with Elephant's Toothpaste (a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, yeast, and warm water).  This looked more foamy than the traditional baking soda/vinegar mixture, but still got screams, nonetheless.   Then they created an explosive eruption using Big Red and Mentos.  This one looked crazy and the kids LOVED it!  It was pretty awesome!
Yay for volcanoes!

Evie is Having So Much Fun!

Evie has been having a great time at school.  She's making new friends and learning new things.  She's been lucky enough to bring home the class guinea pig, Penny.  Evie made sure that we were the first people to sign up on the Penny sheet!  We had tons of fun with Penny, especially Eulee!

Evie also brought home Clifford twice already.  The kids take turns taking him home and then they document all the fun things they do together.  We took him all around town and had a blast....the Children's Museum, the Botanical Gardens, lunch, a bike ride...this dog is living the life!

Evie also got to bring in a special snack for the class.  Her choice was Chinese rolls (man tou) with dried shredded pork and a side of Asian pears.  I know it's SO Asian, but they're truly all her favorite things!  She loved telling her friends how to eat it.  And there was one friend who loved the dried pork so much he asked for seconds!  His mom even told me that he is usually such a picky eater too!

Evie has also brought home the Sharing Sack.  Each child gets to put something in the bag that is related to the current letter or theme.  Then she has to write down 3 clues to tell the class so that they can guess what's in the bag.  Evie decided to take her birthday photobook.  She was so proud to show her class the book!

Evie is becoming such a big girl now.  We always knew that she was kinda wild, but lately she's become more loud and funny.  Like REALLY funny.  She has these crazy faces and awesome dances and hilarious expressions.  We love it all!

This little dance of hers sums it all up... These videos also show what she can be like (thanks to J)... What a fun and funny girl! She's definitely growing up!