April Happenings

April brought a slew of activities for our family.

EULEE STAYS WITH HER COUSIN A
Eulee went to stay with my sister, AY, for a week down in McAllen.  She had a blast spending time with her 2 year old cousin.  My sis took them everywhere--Chuck E. Cheese, the zoo, the pool, Pump It Up.  Eulee loved it all!

It was saddest when Eulee had to go...look at these two saying bye to each other!

We all missed having Eulee around.  It was quiet and peaceful...a little TOO peaceful.  But we also used this opportunity to do things with the older kids that are usually more difficult to do when Eulee is around.  So we went to Fiesta Texas...this way we didn't have to worry about anyone being too small to go on certain rides.

We went roller skating...this was really really nice because I got to skate with all the kids for once!  Normally, I get all the skates on after 20 minutes...I get onto the rink with Eulee and after 15 minutes she says "I need a snack" or "I tired,"  Seriously??  It took me longer to get everyone laced up!  After that it's usually sporadic skating with lots of convincing.  But this time, I had so much fun skating fast with the kids...and they really enjoyed holding my hand and skating with me.  Evie also got to try out the new skates she got for her birthday.  And Eli even won the limbo!  Fun!
The kids had a Chopped competition.  Whenever I let the older kids cook, Eulee always wants to participate...of course.  But things really slow down when a 3 year old is in a kitchen...more supervision is required, there is a bigger mess.  So I had the older kids plan a Saturday for us while Eulee was away and they just wanted a PJ day that included a cooking competition!  So I made up a Chopped challenge.  They HAD to use eggs (not hard boiled) and the mystery ingredients--tofu and Rice Krispy cereal.  Then they had to include 3 ingredients out of a bunch of other ingredients I put out--broccoli, tomatoes, cheese, avocado, carrots, pepperoni.  The kids actually put out some pretty decent food.  Evie and Elina made scrambles and Eli made an omelette.  Eli and Evie used the Rice Krispy cereal as crushed sprinkles on top of their eggs.  Elina actually made the cereal as a coating on the tofu.  I thought that was so clever!  Everything ended up tasting pretty good.  When we critiqued them, we mentioned that they just needed to season the dishes with more salt.  Other than that, it was a yummy meal!

B'S BIRTHDAY
We celebrated B's birthday while my parents were in town.  It was a work day, so we went out for dinner and then came home for a lemon chiffon raspberry cake that I had made.  It was my first time making it and it was yummy, but I think I've made better lemon cakes.  For his gifts, we got him a 6 pack of different sodas, some yummy snacks, and a homemade coupon book.  The valuable coupons in the book are definitely "Week Off From Garbage Duty," "3 Days Off Dishes Duty," and "One Free 1 Hour Afternoon Nap."  B thought the nap one was the best.

EVIE'S ART SHOW and FIESTA FLOAT PARADE
Evie had an art show the next day.  The kindergartners study a different artist every month and then produce a piece of artwork inspired by the artist.  The art show is one of my favorite Discovery School events because you get to see all the artwork the kids have made all year!

My favorite piece was her "Pretty Flower" inspired by Henri Matisse.  I could tell she spent a lot of time choosing colors and cutting everything out.

After the art show, Evie had her Fiesta float parade.  It was indoors though because it started pouring outside.  Every kindergartner made their own float and Evie wanted one that had bunnies on it because she loves bunnies.  So we made and glued Fiesta paper flowers all over and also glued on some Calico Critter bunnies on the top.  It was very festive and colorful!

  Then they ended with some Fiesta dancing...and the chicken dance, which Evie loves to do! Viva Fiesta!

Best Field Day Ever

Elina and Eli's school just had their first Field Day and it was unlike any other Field Day we've ever attended.  This event was beyond fun!

The theme was Olympics in Ancient Greece, so each class was assigned a color and Greek city-state.  Eli's class was orange Macedonia and Elina's was green Corinth.  Each class needed to come up with a team shirt, which could be as simple or as elaborate as we wanted.  Since I'm the room parent in both classes, I had to figure out what the teachers wanted on the shirts.

Eli's teacher was easy because I designed it and she approved it right away.  Elina's teacher, on the other hand, had many many many elaborate ideas.  She's young and doesn't have kids yet so she threw out about 5 ideas that she wanted incorporated on the shirt.  Don't get me wrong--I LOVE Elina's teacher...mainly because of her energy and enthusiasm, but sometimes that's what makes things complicated...like a simple t-shirt design.  In the end, I incorporated as much as I could and she liked the design, so we were good to go!

Unfortunately, the t-shirt design company I worked with was a nightmare to deal with.  There was a lot of reiterating exactly what the designs were...confusion with multiple orders being placed by different room parents from our one school...delay in production...  You name an excuse and I've pretty much heard it before.  It was a slow and painful death for me.  BUT in the end, we got everything we needed and the shirts looked great so that's that.  Now I know to go to another shirt design company next time.

Here were Eli and Elina's shirts.  They both say GHNO Field Day 2016 on the bottom in Greek.  The top is just their team names in Greek, too.  (Note: Elina's class nickname is Hydra Potato because the teacher jokes around that they are like a hydra because every time she asks a question, hands keep popping up everywhere to answer...and they added the word potato because they all love the Spalding phonics way of saying "potato."  These kids all sound like cool nerds, right??)

You would have never guessed there was drama behind-the-scenes!

Each team also had to come up with a team chant to perform during the Opening Ceremony.  Eli's class did a take on the "Boom Chicka Boom" song...instead of "I said a-boom chicka boom!" they did "I said a-Macedonia!"  It was cute, but unfortunately, B didn't catch it in time on video.  =(

Elina's class, did a crazy, amazing cheer.  This is how you know she has the best teachers ever...they are just committed and when you see this video you will know what I mean.  They created a chant that is similar to New Zealand's Haka, which is the Maori war dance.  During the chant, Mr. E (their teacher assistant) shouts in Latin, "Who are we?" and certain students yell out "We are Corinth!"  It was such a thrilling spectacle!  I definitely got goose bumps!

Then each class went from station to station playing games and earning points.  Kindergarten through 2nd grade had their field day in the morning, so they had their own Closing and Awards Ceremony. Then  3rd through 5th had theirs in the afternoon.  So the classes that had the highest points total would win 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place laurel wreaths.  There was basketball shooting in a certain amount of time, filling a bucket with water using only a sponge, pulling huge tires, hula hooping, long jumps, etc.  B and I took turns running the parachute pop game.  We put inflatable balls on top of a huge parachute and the kids had to shake all the balls off as quickly as possible.  Each class got 3 tries to get the fastest time.  They all had to figure out on their own that all they needed to do was lift one side of the parachute to slide all the balls off quickly.  This took some classes really long to figure out.  Amazingly, a 2nd grade class (NOT Eli's) did it in under 3 seconds.  I don't even know how that's possible!  Eli's class' first try took them 1 minute and 30 seconds!  I don't know what those kids were doing!  But then they trimmed down the time to 8 seconds by the 3rd try.  Phew!

This was a fun game to run and B even got to use the megaphone because it was really loud in the gym.  He kind of loved using that thing a little TOO much....and he became quite the comic while talking into it, too!  Hahaha!

The final event was a relay race.  16 of the fastest kids from each class ran a relay around the school parking lot.  Elina wasn't in her relay because when they had the initial race to get the 16 fastest from the class, Elina hadn't heard the teacher yell "Go!" so she started the race too late.  She wasn't too bummed about it though.  Ha!  Eli was in his class relay and he did well!  That boy is a pretty good runner.

Unfortunately, Eli's class didn't win 1st place, but they won the Roar and Soar Award which was the sportsmanship award.  I was so proud of them because they always encouraged each other and they were good sports about everything.

Elina's class ended up winning 1st place for their field day.  If you watch the video, it looks like they won the lottery!  It's the best!  But Elina didn't cheer as energetically because her popsicle had broken and she didn't want it to land on the floor...so she's doing a semi-cheer while protecting her treat.  That's Elina for ya!

It was such a fun-filled day!  I had the most fun I've ever had at a field day.  It was healthy competition and the team camaraderie was palpable.  

I loved this field day so much!  I wish they would do things like this more often....not the t-shirt making part, but the games and fun!  We can't wait for field day next year!

Another Bug Off??

Elina participated in her second 4H Entomology Contest recently.  She was bumped up to the Intermediate level this year since she won first place as a Junior last year.  She's not within the Intermediate age range, so she was really nervous about it.  (Being an Intermediate means you just need to know more insects.)  Kids must identify insects by common name and order.  Then they have to take a general knowledge test.

Last year's contest was riveting because Elina had to do a "bug off" and she beat out the other contestant because she misspelled one insect order and the other boy misspelled TWO!  Well, in terms of excitement, this year did not disappoint!

Elina tied for first place with 3 other Intermediates....so they had a "bug off" where the 4 students went into a room to identify more insects.  Then all 4 of them tied AGAIN!  So in order to prevent another tie, the judges threw some Senior level insects into the the mix.  This time Elina placed 2nd.  We were so proud of her!  I mean, Senior level insects are hard!  Elina was thrilled to get 2nd because she really wanted a ribbon.  When you get 1st place, you get a wooden plaque.  Wow.  The things that Elina finds important are intriguing....

In addition to placing second as an individual, she was part of an Intermediate team and they placed 2nd as well!  So she won 2 ribbons this year!  Yay!

We are so proud of our little entomologist!  Congrats, Elina!

First Trip with the Grandparents

Elina and Eli are such lucky kids!  My parents (Agong and Ama) decided to go to DC to see the cherry blossoms this year...and they asked if they could take Elina and Eli along with them.  What awesome grandparents, right??  Needless to say, the kids were ecstatic and went on and on for weeks telling all their friends and teachers about their upcoming trip.  It was so cute!

We totally prepped the kids for the trip by watching videos about DC.  We got the kids a Mission Washington DC book to use in the museums and at the memorials.  (It's an awesome book that provides scavenger hunts at each location to prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.)  Elina interviewed teachers at school to find out what was worth seeing in DC.  The cool thing is that Eli is studying American history this year.  He was John Hancock for his independent study project.  He just finished learning about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln.  It couldn't have been more perfect!

We did so much research that I wanted to join them on the trip.  But I know all this good stuff would be lost on Eulee, so we're going to wait to go as a family when Evie is in 2nd grade studying American history.  Then it'll be more worth it.

Here were the highlights--

1. PHILLY

The kids flew into Philadelphia on a late flight on Friday and then spent the weekend with my cousin ML and her husband and baby.  They visited Independence Hall (right up Eli's alley) and even took a horse-drawn carriage ride with my parents.  Man!  My parents never took ME on a carriage ride!  The kids thought it was the greatest thing.  (And yes, both the kids brought their own cameras, so they truly looked like Asian tourists wherever they went!  Ha!)

2. BALTIMORE
On Monday, they drove from Philly to DC, but they made a quick stop in Baltimore to check out the Inner Harbor.

3. DC: GARDENS
They finally made it to DC in the late afternoon, so they briefly visited the US Botanical Garden and saw the orchid exhibit.

4. DC: NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The next morning they went to the National Archives Museum to wait in line to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  Eli couldn't believe he saw the real Declaration of Independence after he learned all about John Hancock!

5. DC: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

This has Elina and Eli's name written all over it!  They had to visit this one twice because they didn't have an incredible amount of time the first day (since I had scheduled an afternoon bike tour for them).  They loved the insect zoo and the Hope diamond and the Dom Pedro Aquamarine.  Although they had to admit that the Hope Diamond was smaller than they had imagined.

6. DC: BIKE AND ROLL

So I had to find a way for both the young and the old to efficiently and fully enjoy the National Mall area.  I knew they couldn't walk the whole thing, so I found the perfect bike tour for them!  This Monuments Tour covered 4 miles on the western part of the Mall, including the Tidal Basin where a lot of the cherry blossoms would be.  My parents were a little worried about biking it, but I assured them that it would be memorable and awesome.  Well, it was definitely memorable!  It was about 42F that day when they started the tour!  My parents and kids were all bundled up for this adventure.  They even had to purchase gloves to keep their hands warm on the handlebars.  Even though it was shockingly cold (for Texans), they all thought it was the best part of the entire trip.  The tour guide was great...the stops were long enough to take pictures and enjoy the area...the guides provided water and snacks...and they covered all the main highlights.

They were blown away by the size of the Lincoln Memorial and the MLK Jr. Memorial.  They couldn't believe how big they were!

And they loved being able to see the Washington Monument from all different perspectives.

Eli is a strong bike rider, so he was up in front, 2nd to the tour guide.  He loved it!  

Elina and my parents brought up the rear with the 2nd tour guide at the end.  At the end, they had to ride up a slight hill to get back to the office and my mom said it was rough.  But I was really so very proud of my parents for agreeing to do the bike tour with the kids.  Seriously.  What troopers!

7. DC: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY

The kids loved seeing the big Star Spangled Banner, Lincoln's hat, Michelle Obama's dress from the Inaugural Ball, and Jefferson's portable desk.  It was a brief visit, but they enjoyed it.

8. DC: NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

The kids thought this museum had the "wow factor" but they found it too overwhelming because all the planes looked the same to them.  They are not huge plane fanatics, so everything sort of blurred together.  And I think since it was the last stop, their brains were probably shutting off by then.  They still thought it was neat place, but nothing totally stood out to them.

This was definitely a trip the kids will remember forever.  And they also learned a few things along the way...

1. Missing school is actually not a totally awesome idea because there is a lot of work and homework to do during the trip and when you return.  The kids were constantly doing work--on the flights, at my cousin's house, in the hotel room--and yet, they still didn't manage to complete everything when they got back.  It was painful for all of us, especially my mom because she was on homework duty while they traveled.  (Thanks, Ama!)

2. Ama snores a lot.  Elina shared a bed with her in the hotel room and Elina didn't sleep well at all.  I already warned her about this, but she didn't think she would need earplugs...boy, did she wish she had taken those earplugs with her!  But we still love this lady...snores and all!

3. It is hard to time a visit to see cherry blossoms.  The kids missed the peak of the blossoms by a week.  They had just gotten some warm weather and then some rain, so all the blossoms were virtually gone.  Agong said there were more blossoms at the Dallas Arboretum than in DC!  Ha!  They DID manage to find a few trees with leftover blossoms during their bike ride.  But my dad pointed out that these are the trees no one would ever look at if everything else were in bloom.  It's better than nothing, I guess! We still thought it was very pretty!!

4. All the coolest things can't be photographed...or can't have flash photography.  Elina was really bummed she couldn't take a pic of the Star Spangled Banner and the Declaration of Independence.

5. Cameras are very entertaining when you are on a road trip...here is just a mere sampling of what we found on their memory cards...

Can you tell that these kids had such a wonderful time!  We were all so thankful to Ama and Agong for wanting to share something like this with Elina and Eli.  What an amazing opportunity!  Ama and Agong said that the kids were really well-behaved and were good listeners.  I sure am thankful the kids made it a little easier on them.  We love Ama and Agong!