Half Moon Bay, California November 2012

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Science Camp Day 3 and 4

On day 3 I walked in a bit late to take lots of photos, so I grabbed what I could... but the following 2 photos cannot tell you a story.  This is MG just after she shot a cork up toward the ceiling and helping a fellow classmate pick up  his cork before looking for her own.
 They had fun but couldn't tell me what they made... something that shot up a cork to the ceiling and back.  AND a noisemaker too!  Yup - banned from the car! ;)
 Day 4 (today) I tried to arrive earlier... and this is what I found them doing...
Not sure what but they all had some small containers then they walked over to the instructor... and he gave them ice and yes... the good stuff!
 They experimented and made lots of observations...
 And discussed about nitrogen and how cool it was...
I love that they always wear goggles!   I love that these two always pick each other as partners!  I love that MG keeps an eye on MD. When they were called back to sit she looked around and he wasn't in the room.  So she quickly went to get him.  He was in the other room... trying to sneak over his cup of dry ice... but was informed he couldn't take it home anyway.  His sad face returned and sat next to his sister.

No worries - all was forgotten when we went to Becky's to swim and had pizza for dinner!  :)
Tomorrow is the end of their first session.  Tuesday begins their next session -- they are going to love it!  It's about magic!!!!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Science Camp Day 2

Crazy weather brought rain to our neck of the woods today... Yes, rain!!!!  Hello... It's almost the END of June?!  How is that possible?!  Regardless, they still continued with their class and experiments!  Today they were out launching straws... who knows what they were doing inside!  I was outside a few minutes after dropping them off trying to decide what to do.  A few minutes turned into an hour and guess, what? They came out and I was able to grab a few photos:




 I love that they were running around and launching their straws as far as they could get them -- and all they used were a balloon, a tube, and some straws!  Of course, when we came home, we set to make E one so he could launch his straws around the house.  Soooo fun!
While they were here... E and I visited my dear friend, Becky.  She lives about 5 minutes from their science class - so nice!  I hardly get the chance to see Becky during the school year because she teaches (we were teaching partners for years before I left to stay at home with my 3).  So this summer we promised to have more visits so we can get reacquainted and our children can be better friends.  MG and Emma are 2 days apart.  MD and Sydney are about 3 months apart. And E and Audrey are 1 month apart!  I know... crazy, huh??? Whenever we get together, we feel like we've never been apart.  I am comfortable at her house and always feel so relaxed.  Today was no different.  When I arrived, she had just agreed to bake cookies.  But there was just one minor problem...
She couldn't find the other mixer part...she dug through her drawer...
 And then went here:
 And here...
 And even here... hmmm, I asked her why she looked there.  She thought maybe one of the girls took it when she gave them batter to lick and never returned it.  Oh, okay... I guess... I laughed.  :)  Oh, she couldn't find it - but she found a bagel!  I laughed some more!  She laughed some more...
Then Emma came to the rescue!   (Now, may I tell you all that Becky and I looked in that drawer numerous times???  I don't know how we missed it!  We must be getting old!)
 "It was right there mom!"   (don't you just love it when they laugh at you?!)
That's why I love Becky - she is such a good sport about things.  She and I had a good laugh... and focused on another cup of coffee... It was what we needed today to get our brain cells working!
And this is what E and Audrey were doing... One day they are holding hands.  The next day they are cuddling in front of the television... Should I worry that they are starting out so young?! ;) 
Good friends are the best!  We enjoyed the Snickerdoodles she sent home with us... only, they didn't quite make their way home!  We ate them while driving home.  Does that count as almost making it home?!

Science Camp Day 1

The title threw them off and they asked me where they were going to sleep and if they needed to pack their own bags and pitch their own tents.  Can you imagine?!  I never thought about that.  I assumed they knew it was just a day camp!  So we had a talk and everything was straightened out before I dropped them off today for their first day of science "camp."  For 3 hours a day for the net 2 weeks they will be having a ton of fun doing lots of science stuff... what stuff will they do, I don't know!  I just know they will be having loads of fun...and E and I have to figure out what we can do to fill in the void.  We are rarely ever alone for 3 full hours!  We do so much together...  (sigh)  So guess what we did today while they were gone?  We went shopping at Costco!  (woohoo!!!)  Exciting, I know!  ;) And I couldn't buy anything perishable since I didn't want to drive all the way home and then back again to pick them up - the thought of the amount of gas I would be wasting!  (no thank you!  So we bought juice and paper goods instead.)

When we arrived to pick M&M up, this is what we saw:

 two of our favorite people having loads of fun! (as expected)
 They hardly noticed us... but they did eventually... and they waved.
They are excited for tomorrow's adventure (sans the scary idea of pitching tents, rolling out sleeping bags, and using the toilet in the middle of the night by themselves!).

A celebration of all sorts!

We began Sunday celebrating Allyson's 3rd birthday.  Ally and E are becoming such great friends.  He talks about her a lot and loves playing with her.  She is growing so quickly!


Then we headed to Jim and Clare's house for dinner.  We began with a yummy wurst meal with the works - real sauerkraut made by Clare... not like the kind I buy in a jar from the grocery store! ;)  The children were content with hot dogs.  But MD discovered my Louisiana Hot Links and I had to share!  (Dang it that boy, how comes he likes spicy food?!  Oh, right.. he's MY boy! ;))
 Never ask them to smile for the camera...  :0  (cheers, Rita!)
 Hello there Jim (back to the camera), Dave (in baseball cap - he's hubby to Corinna), Corinna (such a sweet sweet woman and daughter to sweet, sweet Clare), and Clare (my adopted mother, thanks for sharing her, Corinna):
 So the children were busy checking out these bees that are hactching out of their honeycombs!!!
 They helped pick them out of the honeycombs (or scooped them after they hatched out of the honeycombs) and placed them in that jar (in John's hand) and then Jim (John's dad, not pictured here), the bee whisperer, took them to put in their permanent home/hive in the backyard.
 After dinner we went for a quick walk (it was a wonderful but heavy meal!).  After the walk, the children wanted to scooter -- so the adults joined in!  Look at how comfortable Jim looks!
 And he was off and quick as ever trying to show off to everyone watching!
 There they go!
 Here's John next to E:
 Even Rita gave it a go!
 She did really well!  :)
 After the scooter excitement, we gathered for desserts:
 But Corinna and the children stepped in for a few presentations...
 of lovely gifts for everyone...
 There were so many celebrations to celebrate!
 Jim's birthday and Father's Day:
 Corinna for being a sweet, sweet, person who does an amazing job selecting personal gifts for everyone! In addition to being Jim and Clare's wedding anniversary this month.  It was also Rita's, John's, AND Jim's birthday this month!
Rita was happy with her gift from us:
A pendant with her grandchildren's names:
 Then the evening ended with coffee and tea...phew!
 And some fashion advice from E... apparently Daddy needs a face lift!
 Oh, Lucky John, he needed some help as well!  All face lifts apparently comes with a quick and free belly button show! :0
What a great day!!!!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Special Drinks

We went to Matt and Leo's last night.  They were showing a movie in the backyard... it was cold and the movie was not children friendly (but we knew that already).  So we stayed inside and Matt made the children very special drinks (since he made Vince and I one too!  wink, wink).  So I give you mango nectar fizzies:

Don't you love how Uncle Matt decorated the cups too?!
 Gotta love that Uncle Matt:
 I told you, it was cold last night!
 
A few hours later.... he was snoring:
 He was out like a light too!
 And although she was pretending here... 30 minutes later, she was totally out!
Thank you Uncle Matt for the special drinks!  (Vince and I enjoyed our mojitos and the other blue drink you made me... that I can't remember the name of but was very yummy!) Thanks Uncle Leo for having a get together so Vince and I could have adult time!  :)