Elijah has mastered every Wii game we own but has been wary of Boxing. He has told me several times that he will try it when he is an adult. On this morning, he conned Mama into playing ‘with’ him which I found really meant that he wanted me to play the boxing to unlock the extra features so that he could see them. After watching me hit the bag for a few, both kids decided to take over the remote. The result was absolutely hysterical.
I had one of my ever-present days today. They feel great- the ones where my mind follows my heart and all actions follow my guiding principles for life and family. There was a spectacular tea party complete with storytelling. Polly Pockets were dressed to the hilt and drove out of the car dealership in style on dirt bikes and in monster and garbage trucks (it was Sunday in our play so all vehicles were declared FREE). Simply shaped blocks, both large and small, were used to create a mall and then a playground for tiny pets. Sadie hung a curtain in the hallway and the kids put on several plays in full costume. We made cookies. At some point in the afternoon the kids took off by themselves to play and I managed to vacuum the whole house in one day. It is confirmed to be true that if I follow my heart and their lead, everyone’s needs are met in the span of the day. So involved in participation was I that not many pictures were taken. Later in the afternoon, however, as Sadie played Clifford the Big Red Dog phonics games on the computer, Elijah asked if we could play store. I had no idea how serious he was…
Dry-erase boards were used to make ‘Sorry We’re Closed’ and ‘Yes, We’re Open’ signs. Yard sale stickers were used to price each cubby in the bookcase. Elijah filled his change purse with coins and a cash box was made for the store. I was the shop keeper and he, the shopper. Most of the game was the setup portion but he did purchase several items for $1.48 and worked through his change to provide me with exactly the appropriate amount. I had previously been confused as to why he didn’t think I would need a cash drawer…
This park holds a special place in the kids’ hearts. They proclaim it to be their favorite. With so many great parks in the area, we don’t get down to Chisholm Park (only 20 minutes or so away but we’re spoiled now in suburbia) very often.
Much to the children’s delight, Mema met us there for play and a picnic! Here Sadie whoops Mema in tic-tac-toe as Elijah peeks on.
“Mama, I love birds,” says Elijah. He especially likes coming to this park for the variety and numbers that we see here. The pigeons may be his favorite and we opted to feed these enthusiastic feathered friends over the more timid (and apparently less hungry) ducks.
We had put a call out to our friends to meet us here and the Quinns answered! They rounded up some new friends on the playground and had quite a game of tag/freeze tag going for quite a while. I was honored to be asked to join the girls team when they found themselves to have one fewer member than the boys team. But, boy oh boy, those boys can run!
What? Fun with the Quinns two days in a row? That’s right! We were ecstatic to have another fun-filled day with our friends. We met at Bear Creek Park and journeyed around the bike trail on wheels (bikes, scooters, rollerblades, and stroller). A stop at the Keller Town Hall was warranted to check out the Young Artists of Texas Public Art Show.
Sadie proclaimed these to be her two favorite pieces. Elijah held firmly that they were all his favorites, “now can we just go?!” (aka- my bike’s outside and I’m burnin’ to get on it!)
We rolled all over Keller Town Center stopping at the interesting spots like the crazy-wonderful-climbing-rocks…
… the ice cream store…
… and the playground!
Thanks Quinns for a couple of wondrous, adventure-filled days!
The other day as we walked from plaza to plaza doing errands, Elijah found a quarter that looked strange. It was one of the state quarters from New Mexico. Having this revelation that quarters had been made representing each state was rather exciting for him. The next day he took out the U.S. floor puzzle and (instructing Sadie as to which state went where) proceeded to put it together.
We all then went upstairs to the coin bank to try to find state quarters. So far we have found all but 10 and have placed them on the appropriate state on the map. Many of the states carry the same theme on both the map puzzle piece and the quarter and (the kids) noting this made for interesting conversation about the varying landscapes, cash crops, historical significance, animal inhabitants, etc. between the states.
It’s Sadie’s favorite day of the week! Time for acting class! There are 3 more classes left in the semester before the final production and she seems to have more fun every week- so much for worrying about whether she’d get bored as time went on. We got to Casa with a few minutes to spare. The kids love playing around on the steps/handrails/garders out in front of the building.
Take our picture!
The kids were excited to see bees going from flower to flower in the clover. We talked about why the do it and how important bees are to the continued existence of life as we know it on the planet. I just happened to bring a couple of library books to read with Elijah during Sadie’s class. One of them was The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds which has a good bit in it about pollination. Elijah and I read that and then proceeded to play some Scrabble, Jr. outside in the warm sunshine. He’s decided that the beginner side of the board is no good because he can’t build his own words. He’d like to kick it up a notch the next time we play.
We celebrated spring on a rainy morning with the thrill of a certain bunny’s pre-dawn surreptitious delivery of plastic eggs filled with candy, random toy treats, and (best of all) quarters! They loved hunting so much that the eggs were re-hidden by parents as children pretended to be sleeping on the tile in the hallway.
Treasures were emptied into a community bowl from which candy was periodically consumed for a few days and then left to taunt Mama. The quarters were immediately divided up evenly by the kids and taken to the coin bank upstairs. Why do they divide it then put it in the same bank?
Mema came over a little while later and we had a nice little family brunch. Then we all went out to the cheap movies ($1.25 per person!) to see Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. It was a great family movie- loved by all.
Along with some snorkels, diving masks, and water shoes, the bunny left a Star Wars themed egg decorating kit. The kids dove in the next day and have discovered the yumminess of a hard-boiled egg. They taste even better when dyed neon colors and covered in Star Wars stickers.
Back to Casa Manana for another wonderful children’s theatre production! This time was special for Sadie in that she got to see her acting instructor perform. Though we have seen Miss Grace in many other productions, we were not familiar with her at the time. It was very exciting to see Miss Grace in this capacity and has made the prospect of acting even more real and appealing to her. She said to me the other day (upon discovering that acting is a profession), “Broadway- yes! That’s what I want to do! What is that?” It was confirmed upon hearing a brief description that the Broadway stage is the one for Sadie (along with being a farmer and a princess).
Chris met us at Casa and we went to the Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens for a picnic and some walking in the gardens with friends. The rose gardens are in full bloom and we stopped to smell them- a lot of them!
We took a wander down the children’s educational boardwalk and the kids were excited to show it all to Daddy.
Forget Monopoly Jr. These kids want to dig right in to the adult version of Star Wars Monopoly. I wasn’t sure how this would go (esp. with Sadie’s affinity for bending the rules and bowing out early) but this game is a hit! It is exactly the same as regular Monopoly. The only difference is in that the properties are planets/areas/vehicles as seen in the Star Wars movies and the chance cards/games pieces are themed to the movies as well. This makes it extra-appealing to the children given their extraordinary knowledge of the films/story. I haven’t caught on to their gaming strategy yet but both kids are currently beating the pants off of me. We’re playing strictly by the rules- buying property, making correct change, staying on top of our own properties, charging rent to other players, and (the children at least) putting up apartments and towers to drive the rent sky high. Elijah recently had to mortgage a property so that led to an interesting discussion about banks and mortgages. The game stays set up and is taken down periodically to resume the fleecing of Mama.
We are excited about Texas State Parks! We purchased a state park pass in the fall and it’s not going to waste. So far we have been thrilled with our adventures and plan to continue to explore the state’s offerings by way of its parks.
On this day we met our friends the Ritchies at Cedar Hill State Park in Dallas for some hiking and a picnic!
Here (from left) Dylan, Sadie, Faith, Nikki, Elijah, and Tony examine some raccoon tracks that were spotted in some drying mud. There was lots of inspection, natural treasure hunting, hiking, pretend play, and general fun. It was a great time!
And I think we gave the Ritchies a touch of our State Parkitis. We went camping with them the following weekend in this same park. It’s right in our backyard and was novel to camp so close to home. It made the weekend feel so long to be able to have so much fun with friends and still have all afternoon on Sunday to do the random outdoor upkeep of the house that spring brings.
Thanks Leon! We highly recommend the National Weather Service Lightning Safety page! We’ve got quite a storm going on outside today and just huddled around the laptop (not plugged in!) to find out more about thunderstorms and lightning safety. Leon’s Lightning Safety Game was lots of fun and now we know all about how to protect ourselves from lightning whether we’re in the house or out and about. Go check it out!
Check out the new home of Humans Being for show archives and updates on Sarah's endeavors.
