Japanese Garden March 31, 2008

We spent the day at the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens. Meandering around the gardens was not floating the children’s boats at all. Luckily, I left my camera in the car for that part.

We all really enjoyed the Japanese Garden. Walkways, bridges, stones, sculptures, water and, well, gardens!

Sadie feeds the coi fish. Elijah (he who is very into exchanging money for goods right now) was the fish food supplier.

Elijah ponders.

Then we got the call… Our friend Marley lost her second tooth! We HAD to be there for the celebratory ice cream and then off to romp around at Bear Creek Park. It was quite a day.

The Coming of the Bunny- Happy Spring! March 31, 2008

On a decidedly non-springy day (low 60s and windy is chilly!), Elijah- after sleeping fitfully from excitement the night before- goes to his bedroom window and looks out only to be dismayed at the sight of our non-eggy yard. He immediately begins to try to quell his own anxiety that one of a few things may have happened:
1) The bunny may be running late (in which case maybe we should leave him a watch).
2) The bunny may have soooo many eggs to fill that it’s taking him longer than expected.
3) (and really hoping this isn’t the one) The bunny may have forgotten.
Actually, the bunny didn’t realize that the expectation was to have outdoor eggs and placed them inside instead. Silly bunny!

Hunting eggs! Elijah interpreted the bunny’s desire to do less candy as sign that the bunny must think he and Sadie are bigger kids now and worthy of books and trinkets in lieu of some of the candy. Brilliant bunny.

Then we met up with our friends for another egg hunt, some brunch, and a whole bunch of playing.

Ehlayna and Ethan’s daddy, Scott, helps Sadie on the pogo stick while she giggles non-stop.

Mr. “I’m not looking at the camera” does some serious egg-hunting.

Off to the Races March 28, 2008

Lately we’ve been partaking in ‘Texas sledding’ or ‘wiggle car races.’ Any long decline will do but this one right around the corner from our house is a popular one. This has Elijah talking about and experimenting with momentum, wind resistance and aerodynamics. He’s got the tuck down! He’s hoping for the winds to change, though, as the headwind is cramping his style.

Daddy takes a spill from the shear force of Elijah’s wind as he rushes past.

AEROS! March 28, 2008

With a group of over 88 unschooling families, we attended a show called AEROS at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. There are several YouTube clips of their performances. As amazing as the clips are, the gymnastic, acrobatic, dance, and creative skill that we witnessed cannot be captured in a few minutes. It was truly awe-inspiring. Elijah continues to talk about the fact that they practice at least 6 hours a day to keep their bodies strong and flexible (from the question and answer period after the show).

After the show, the kids played around the fountain in front of the SMU auditorium.

Sadie feels fancy in her ‘princess dress.’ She got so wet that she was dress-less on the way home.

Flooring is a 4 Letter Word March 27, 2008

Yes, everyone’s involved in this project. The kids liked the demolition part and were very active in rolling up and hauling out the carpet and pad. It’s proving to be much more of a challenge than we anticipated. Thank goodness for Chris’ mathematical brain. The odd angles, door jams and loooong rooms are making this simple measure and lock project anything but.

Sawyer LOVES this project! He watches Chris intently and loves to sit on the new boards. The kids are now just waiting patiently for more indoor surface to ride the wiggle cars.

Kite-flying Fun March 25, 2008

On a very windy day, we knew where to go. We gathered up kites and dogs and went to the park and boy did those kites go!

Elijah prefers the pocket kite that Sadie got him for Christmas. It twists and turns and stays low where he can control it a little better.

Sadie stuck with the high-flying octopus and, with the wind that day, I was surprised she was able to keep her feet on the ground.

March 14th- Pi Day March 25, 2008

Pi = 3.14159
It represents the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry.

And we celebrated! With circle foods (yes pie, circle cookies, brownies, circle cups with lemonade) and circle games (balls, parachutes, bicycles, etc.). You might say it’s a good excuse to be festive.

Sadie, Kadence, and Jaiden draw together.

Elijah and Brett play a ‘dice’ game at the park.

Sadie and Jaiden enjoy a Dora episode and a circle cookie.

Hippie Kids March 22, 2008

Inspired by Elijah’s tie-dye t-shirt, we decided to try our hand at making our own! It is fantastic how exploring with the kids brings us to attempting projects we would never have attempted for ourselves.

It really brings out the adventurer in all of us!

Maze Madness March 22, 2008

Elijah loves mazes. LOVES mazes. We found a a very complicated maze book at the library (much more complicated than the title indicated for sure- Maze Ways A to Z???). Daddy spent a LONG time doing each and every maze in this book with Elijah. The pages are Where’s Waldo- esque and the mazes are guided by clues. The deductive reasoning between the two of them (not to mention the stamina) was pretty cool.

Sailing! March 22, 2008

Fast forward 24 hours from the last post and here we are… ’sailing’! Actually, Elijah decided he wanted to try being a sailboat on the sidewalk and experimented with wind direction and his ’sail’.