"Ice-cream Smile"
Wordless Wednesday is a meme. For me, it is the day when I present a photo of our lives without explanation (other than a title for the photo).
The blogroll of others who are participating can be found here. Spend a few minutes looking at some really great photos!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Titanic Exhibit
Today R and I went to see the Titanic exhibit at the Hartford Civic Center. His interest in the Titanic has not waned over the years, and he was thrilled when I asked if he wanted to go. They actually had a homeschool day where tickets were reduced for homeschoolers, and luckily B was able to take off today to keep E occupied. It was nice to have a day for just the two of us.
I couldn't find much online about the exhibit. The page on the Civic Center website is pretty "unappetizing" and I was concerned that it'd be a rip off. But once we went, we found it was well worth it.
When we got there, we were handed two "boarding passes" and were told that we should look at the wall at the end of the exhibit to see whether we survive or not. We went ahead and purchased two audio tours, and headed in.
The first "room" was set up to suggest the docking area. Here we saw artifacts having to do with the outside of the boat, including the only piece of rope they have been able to retrieve. They also had big murals depicting people planning and building it.
So we stepped up on board and entered a hall which was set up like the hall would have been in first class, with doors and beautiful carpeting leading the way down to the next area. They had great sound effects too, with what sounded like a crowd cheering the ship off. The hall led to an open area with dozens of artifacts depicting what traveling in first class would've been like. It was fun to read about Margaret Brown who we knew about from the movie The Unsinkable Molly Brown. And as students of "Titanicology", we really, really loved seeing all the genuine artifacts that they pulled out of the water.
Next was another hall which depicted third class. We saw a tiny room with two bunk beds in it, and got to hear what it would've sounded like down in the bowels of the ship, so near the motor. After that was one of the boiler rooms. They had a huge chunk of coal which they had retrieved from the site, and rows of furnaces where the coal was inserted (this was actually ingeniously presented with a short row elongated with mirrors). This is the room where the exhibit began to present information about the crash. On the end of it was a "wall of ice" which people were invited to touch, and thereby understand that most people died from hypothermia rather than drowning. (I had to swipe this photo off Google Images, since I actually adhered to the no picture-taking rule.)
The room we arrived in next started the focus on the retrieval efforts; a bunch of items in cases were in the middle of the room, and along the walls were those same items in photographs as they were found at the site of the wreckage. R especially liked this room. Finally we learned about the people on the ship. Along the walls were written the stories of various passengers, and below each story were artifacts connected to that person. It was really fascinating. They actually had vials of perfume from someone going to the U.S. to sell them, and holes in the exhibit so we could smell them!
Also in the last room were a couple of large panels telling stories of people specifically connected to Connecticut, and of course, the large wall where we could take out our "boarding passes" to find out if we survived. We were glad we both had.
It took us about two and a half hours to walk through, and we were really sad when it was over. Since they did not allow photographs, I was really disappointed not to find postcards in the gift shop. (Why doesn't anyone sell postcards anymore?) All they had was a book about the exhibit for 15 bucks. I just wanted a few photos so I passed and bought myself a pencil. R was thrilled when I treated him to a piece of coal from the ship, which even comes with a certificate of authenticity. It was 20 dollars for a piece the size of a marble, but totally worth my boy's excitement at owning something which was actually on the Titanic. (Heck, I still treasure my piece of the Berlin wall.)
I have to say that this exhibit was phenomenal. It was so well conceived and executed, and truly involved all the senses, which helped make it so memorable. It brought the story alive in a way that all the DVD's and books have only done in a way that we now realize was superficial.
After finishing up the exhibit we walked around "the city" a bit, looking for a place to eat. We decided on The Green Papaya Cafe, where we had some excellent Thai food. I enjoyed Drunken Noodles (spicy flat rice noodles stir-fried with chicken, tomatoes, onion, broccoli, bell peppers, snow peas and basil leaves), which almost blew my head off in a wonderful way, and R enjoyed Thai Traditional Fried Rice with Chicken (Jasmine rice stir-fried with egg, onions, peas, carrots and scallions).
We had such a wonderful afternoon together. It was so cool to spend time sharing my son's passion. How blessed I am to have been able to do so.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Using your brain is hard work
E: Hey Mom, I can count to 100 by 2's, wanna hear? 2, 4, 6, 8... 94, 96, 98, 100.
Me: Nice job E, I didn't know you could do that.
E: Wow, that really hurt my brain. There's a big hole in it now where I used it up.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
An Atypical Wednesday
This morning found us at 9:30 at the Palace Theater in Waterbury to see
Frankly Ben: The Science of Achievement.
From the Palace Theater website:
Meet Benjamin Franklin - not the elder statesman - but Ben, the 15 year old, who is inquisitive, mischievous, and of course, inventive. Ben's first great idea is to form a club called Junto. But while Ben thinks his club is about hanging out and having fun, his club mates have something else in mind. Visit a world of scientific invention and individual achievement in this contemporary musical about making history.
The website said it was "best for grades 4 - 8", but both of my boys loved it. R has always had a thing for Ben Franklin, and the whole thing was entertaining enough to keep E entranced also.
After the show we stopped at Barnes and Noble to pick up a book for my cousin's 40th birthday. And since we were near Hometown Buffet I let the boys talk me into lunch there.
After lunch we headed home to wrap our friends' birthday gifts; their mother was holding their "party" at the playground after playgroup.
So imagine our surprise when we arrived down in Hamden 30 minutes late and no one was there yet. I thought perhaps I missed an email saying the location had changed, but after about 10 minutes another family showed up. They had no idea about the party, but did see one email from a family saying they wouldn't make it. Since that family is younger than ours, my boys were pretty adamant about leaving, so after a 10 minute visit, we did.
Since we were in Hamden, we did a few things down there; Home Depot for dirt and flowers; returns to Kohls; Walmart for containers to keep Matchbox cars in; Good Will to get rid of some stuff.
On the way home we stopped at Cheshire Nursery to take a look around. Then we came home and dumped all the dirt and flowers from Home Depot, and headed out again to nurseries in Cheshire. I bought some flowers and tried to order some mulch, but that place was closed.
When we returned home I was glad to find the crockpot doing its thing. Also found a voicemail from someone in playgroup apologizing for not going due to a bad allergy headache. The email which had been sent out said that that family needed "down time". I have no idea what happened with the "birthday party".
It just worked out to be one of those days where people couldn't make it. It's just very frustrating because I don't feel that people appreciate what half an hour there and half an hour back really means. Plus it's a full gallon of gas. The boys were pissed: "this is not the first time we came all the way here and no one else showed up". I wish our group were bigger.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day
Mother's Day was wonderful. Everyone got up early to make their cards since Saturday had been such a busy day and they couldn't get to them. (I had spent several hours alone at the Scholastic book sale – ahhh.) They brought me my cards and presents in bed.Every year each of my children paint a ceramic tile for me. I look forward to the day I have enough to surround a mirror with.
I enjoyed a yummy breakfast of eggs, tater tots, bacon and english muffins, compliments of my loving spouse. They had even bought me my own 1/2 gallon of orange juice with lots of pulp, since I'm the only one who enjoys it that way.
After breakfast I dragged everyone back to our king-sized bed where we watched an episode of The Waltons. It was hard to keep B from doing anything around the house. The man needs to learn how to relax.
We all got dressed then and headed out. First stop: Sweet Claude's for ice-cream. Yum. Then we headed to Sleeping Giant State Park, where we walked the Tower Trail; a park maintained trail which leads up to a castle on the top of the mountain. B really likes the idea of hiking since he enjoyed it during our vacation, so I thought it would be fun since I had heard about the castle. I am pathetically out of shape. It took us 50 minutes to get to the top. From the top of the castle we could see all the way to Long Island Sound. Well worth it. Next time we'll do it when the park isn't so crowded though.
We took 30 minutes to get back down, practically running, since we had a dinner reservation in Southington I really wanted to make. And we did, exactly on time. We ate at Manor Inn, which is too expensive to eat at often. We were all bummed to find a special Mother's Day menu, since Chicken Parmesan wasn't on it, but the veal was just as good.
On the way home B and I got to talking and something he said reminded me of a movie I hadn't seen in a long time. So we stopped in at the video store and ended our day watching Dennis the Menace together. It was just as funny as I remembered it and the boys thought it was hilarious.
What a terrific day. I hope, if you are a mom, that your Mother's Day was as wonderful as mine.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
West Rock Nature Center
We had no classes at White Memorial or The Beardsley Zoo, but we were happy to fill our Thursday learning about nature anyway, this time with our friends from playgroup. We learned about Insects and Arachnids with Ranger Wray at West Rock Nature Center. Ranger Wray is a really funny guy; R especially loved his sense of humor. He did a terrific job showing off all the animals in the nature center, and the kids got to touch many of them. The highlight though, was definitely watching the salamander and the frog each eat the crickets Ranger Wray put in their tanks. Very cool stuff.
Hard to believe such a nice area exists within New Haven. I need to stop comparing cities here to New York.
R in charge
R was much less selfish with his budget when he was in charge. We enjoyed Hometown Buffet for dinner, and hitting a bucket of balls during the afternoon. The boys will both be taking golf lessons this summer, as well as attending a week long golf camp, and are very excited about it.
There was still lots of TV watching going on, and way too much junk food, but he did manage to get us vegetables, and to his soccer practice on time.
It was fun giving both of the boys the opportunity to be "in charge". I'm glad we did it.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
The last week in April / First Week in May
I've been spending time "journaling" about our vacation to the Smokies and expect to post that soon, but in the meantime I want to take a little time to catch up on this past week, since it involved some really good stuff.
Monday we went to Homeschool Days at Old Sturbridge Village. We have a membership to the place, but have never participated in their HS days, which they have run about every three months this past "school" year. Well, we all agreed that it was excellent, and look forward to returning to the next HS day.
They actually run little workshops which are about 50 minutes long, throughout the day.
Early in the day R took a Woodworking workshop where he made a boat, which he is thrilled has a string on it so he doesn't lose it, while E took a workshop about different games of the 19th century. He said it was ok, but didn't like being the only boy.
After that they both took "Print" where they got to work an old fashioned press and also made marbleized paper. They were happy that a friend from playgroup was in that with them too.
A break for lunch came next, where they got to run around in the lunch building, which is normally for school kids, with the several playgroup families who had also come for the day.
We took a break from workshops after that, and while session three was running, we headed down to the sawmill which we are thrilled is up and running again. Seems like it's been getting worked on forever. R said that it wasn't as great as he remember though. He did have an excellent time with the blacksmith, who actually permitted him to go behind the rope and pull the bellows. He also got to shape a nail, while E and I ran around in circles out in the rain. (Okay E ran, I watched.)
We didn't have time for much else (which was just as well, since it was raining) before our next session. The boys took a "Home" workshop together, wherein they got to make butter, and pancakes over the open fire. This was another class in which friends participated too.
I have to say the HS day at OSV was way better than I expected. Their Education Building is beautiful and open; really quite well conceived. Plus all the instructors were really terrific with the kids and didn't expect classroom rigidity. And they were all fine with the parents hovering about.
We really can't wait to do this again in the fall when they continue.
Tuesday I gave haircuts to the boys and Nagy Papa. After that we did a few errands and ended the day with R's soccer practice.
Wednesday we spent the afternoon at the playground with our playgroup friends.
Thursday we went to our classes at White Memorial. I'm so glad i found those classes; both boys really love them. R is disappointed though that the friend he made will be participating with the next age group up for the rest of the year, so was not in his class this time, and will not be for the next time either. He said it was still fun anyway.
E's class is from 9:30 till 12, and R's is from 1 till 3:30. Luckily it's broken up with time spent with friends though. E's best friend Q, and his sister C, take the morning class with him, and between that and the afternoon session we've spent the last few times at their family's restaurant having pizza for lunch.
It was a very long day. We had to go from White Memorial to our local library (which we have switched to Thursdays since so many preschool programs happen on Wednesdays and parking is impossible) and then to R's soccer practice. E and I dropped him off and came home. I had a quick snack and B walked in just in time for me to leave for my monthly womyn's circle.
Friday was a day like never before. Before we had gone on vacation, E was complaining about something or other, and said he wished he could be in charge. So I told him to pick a day sometime after we returned from vacation. Well, Friday was that day.
It was pretty funny, because B had actually decided to work at home on Friday, without having realized E was in charge. I spent quite a bit of time laughing at him Thursday evening, but E actually gave him a break and left him home get his work done.
We set a budget of $40, which is actually way more than I would spend on a given day, but since he was in charge he felt that responsibility should come with an endless supply of money. So yeah, a budget. I explained to him that the most I ever spend on myself (other than clothing) is an occasional CD for $13. So he could spend $15 on himself. Well of course, the whole rest of the day was planned around how to spend the rest.
Ready?
He made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast. I pretended to be him and first thing ran downstairs and started jumping on his trampoline, which really cracked him up. Then I watched TV all morning until he started yelling at me to get dressed because he wanted to "get on with" his day.
He did have a few things which needed to be fit into his schedule. So he wrote one out. First, we went down to Hamden to pick up our raw milk. Then we stopped at the library to pick up videos. Then to Stop and Shop for groceries.
After dropping all that off at home, we went to McDonald's for lunch, where he made us order off the dollar menu. Then we went to the mall so he could spend his money on a Webkinz.
We came home and watched lots of TV. When E is in charge they could watch as much as they wanted.
Dinner you ask? Well, I'd have thought he'd definitely want Chinese Food or Hometown Buffet. But he didn't have enough money left after his Webkinz, so we had Reese's Puffs. Yes, sugar coated cereal. For dinner.
He had soccer practice at 5:00 and when we got home he plopped himself in front of the TV for a good long time. He actually went to bed at 11:07 after I warned him that he'd probably be afraid to be the only one in the house awake, so he'd probably want to get to sleep before B and I turned in. He just did not want the day to end.
The next day when I got up I asked him what he was doing watching TV (they have to earn TV time now, by reading). He explained that "yesterday I gave myself some free TV time for today". That kid.
He asked when he could be in charge again, and I told him not for a long time. He did not make sure we had eaten any vegetables during the course of the day, and he did not do the laundry he needed to do; he is not so great at being in charge. He shook his head sadly, but understood; "being in charge is hard".
Tuesday is R's turn...
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