Mommathon

It was kind of rainy and chilly on Thursday so we decided to do something inside. I wasn’t sure what the World Forestry Center would have in store for us, but we did know they were having a chocolate exhibit so we figured we didn’t have anything to lose. 🙂

The chocolate exhibit was a bust. They didn’t even have any samples of chocolate. Why did they even bother? 🙂 (Project 365-3/25/10)

It’s hard to tell in this picture, but this a simulation where you pretend like you are a firefighter who jumps out of airplanes to put out forest fires. You are in your “parachute” and you have to land on the target that’s on the floor. The target moves because it simulates the wind blowing, etc. It was fun to do and it was VERY difficult!

Lots of stuff made out of wood and other tree/wood related products with a big map telling you where they all come from.

This actually turned out to be a pretty neat place. They had simulations for all kinds of things like the new machinery they use to cut down trees…not easy to do…to going up in the canopy of the rainforest to explore life up in the treetops.

Butch loves this spot. He lays there all afternoon sunning himself. Rough life.

The boys and I piled in the car this morning and drove to the beach. Our first stop was to stop at one of the special whale watching points. We looked and looked. The boys even got out their binoculars. I am sure there were whales out there somewhere but we didn’t see any. What we could see, however, was the beach down below calling our name.

So we piled back in the car and headed down to the beach. It was a little chilly in the morning. I think the beach is the only place where you can see people bundled up in coats, hats and scarves with no shoes on. No matter how cold it is, people still want to feel the sand between their toes. The boys played in the sand for quite a while with their buckets and shovels. They also had a good time finding parts of dead sea creatures that had washed up on the beach. Colm got way too wet for the temperature and they both had sand stuck to every inch of their skin, clothes…it was in their hair and in their ears.

(Project 365-3/23/10)

It was time for lunch, so the boys changed into cleaner drier clothes and we had a great little picnic.

Colm decided he wanted to get all bundled up after we’d had lunch.

We were thinking about heading home after having cookies and ice cream at one of the local shops when we saw some people walking around with these really cool beach bikes that you can rent. So off we trekked to go rent a couple of bikes. We had to wait quite a while to get the bikes, but the boys LOVED them. The beach we went to was huge and they could pedal as far and as fast as they wanted to. Good times!!!

Painting his face to look like Batman. Hmmm…I am not quite sure that’s what it turned out to look like, but he seemed pleased with his efforts.

Making a clay pot.

Creating something in “The Garage”… a special room for the five and up crowd.
(Project 365-3/22/10)

Waterworks

One of the perks of living here that we were so looking forward to when deciding to move here was being able to shop at Trader Joe’s. I can’t believe it took us seven weeks to finally get there. After church we stopped by and had some samples and picked up some goodies including some of the infamous Two Buck Chuck. I had heard all about it but hadn’t yet had the “honor” of tasting it. We had some with our dinner that night. The verdict? I thought it was fine. Sean poured his out after about two sips. It only costs $2.99; I am not sure what he was expecting. 🙂

Saturday was a beautiful day and a great day for baseball practice.

Getting warmed up.

Waiting for a ball to come his way.
(Project 365-3/20/10)

Getting ready for his first time up to bat.

This is his first year doing coach pitch. He did a great job at his first time up to bat.

I am not sure I like how kids get signed up for baseball here. They don’t sign kids up by age or grade, but rather when they started T-ball. Since we did T-ball last year our choices were to have him do T-ball again, which would have been silly since he is definitely ready for something more, or to sign him up to be on a team where most of the kids are at least one year older than him. Most of the kids are first and second graders who did T-ball for the first time last year. So far Colm is holding his own, but we shall see how the rest of the season pans out.

These are both very cute, fun and easy games that don’t take too long. We were able to play both of them in under twenty minutes.

This is the gold medal that Liam’s tae kwon do teacher won at the Olympics in Barcelona. The boys think it is so cool that they know someone who has won a gold medal.

This little project got started when Liam came home complaining that EVERY second grade class but his had made leprechaun traps at school that day. Coupled with the “gold” that Colm had found at school that day when a leprechaun visited his classroom, Liam and Colm set out to make their traps.

Drawing lots of shamrocks that eventually ended up on Colm’s trap.

The shamrocks Colm drew and I believe the yellow part is gold or a pot of gold.

Colm’s trap…notice the shamrock path with the gold piece at the end as bait. 🙂
(Project 365-3/17/10)

Liam’s trap…complete with a ladder so the leprechauns could get in and then the note on the box says, “All leprechauns allowed”.

Unfortunately, they didn’t catch any leprechauns this year. Maybe next year. 🙂