To The Beach!

Our kiddos are true Oregonians. They do not care if it is cold or even threatening to rain. If they see the ocean, they want to play in it. The forecast called for a chance of rain the next day, so as soon as we got to the hotel, the kids were on the beach.

The boys spent most of their time kicking the surf and collecting rocks and shells. We could walk out to the beach from our room, so they brought shell pieces up by the handful and turned the table outside into a mosaic.

Sea Lion Caves

Our Spring Break adventure started witha  visit to the Sea Lion Caves in Florence. The kids loved it! Even though I made the boys read the information signs posted, they still had a great time. In fact, the boys decided that if ever there was a tsunami in Florence, the safest place to be would be the sea lion cave. Okay.

As we entered the gift shop, they offered the kids popcorn, which is the way to get on their good side. They climbed on the sea lion statues, which I turned into a photo op (of course) then we headed over to the lookout where they could see the cave from the outside and the animals drifing in.

Then it was down the elevator to the viewing room. The kids could have stood there and stared at the sea lions as they roamed about for hours.

They even stayed and listed to the video about the history of the cave. It was the perfect first stop for our trip.

Science Fair

To Melt Or Not To Melt

That was his question...or rather the title of his science project this year. Bayley wanted to know what brand of crayons melted the fastest. And here I thought that Crayola crayon maker they got for Hanukkah was for recycling crayon bits.

He did almost everything on his own this year - except for hot glueing the crayons to the display board. I burn myself with it, so wasn't ready to hand it over. And melting the crayons on the display board for 'decoration' was a team effort. Both of us spent ages in the garage with blow dryers melting the dollar store crayons.

It turns out, we should have done the 'decoration' after his experiment, which found the dollar store brand takes the longest to melt - three times as long as Crayola! Would have been good to know.

OMSI brought all kinds of fun to the science fair this year. Grace loved that they brought the floating balls, Hayden was all about the reptiles, and Bayley really got into showing everyone how to solve the puzzles.

People really thought he was something...and he is...just not about those puzzles. When you take the kid to OMSI a dozen times a year for nearly his whole life...he's going to have enough time to work it out.

They had a great time, and Hayden picked up a few ideas for next year - he might do a taste test of brands of bacon...or if people can tell the difference between brands of soda. I vote for bacon.

Star Wars!

Aunt Christina heard there would be Star Wars characters at the Children's Museum, and knew Bayley would want to be there. Not sure of the tie in with CM2 and their current How Children Learn exhibit, but whatever!


There was a bit of excitement before we even got in the door. Daddy thought they should take a shortcut across the grass. Mommy declined because she had on heels... You see where this is going. He was carrying Grace and slid, dropping her into the mud while he hit the concrete. Good times.

Once inside, we found the characters milling about, patiently posing for pictures with the kids. The hilarious part were the people who came in dressed up, ready to do battle with their light sabers. For a couple of them, I don't think they even had kids with them!


Bayley did a critique of most the costumes, and didn't want his picture with Boba Fett or the storm troppers because they are evil. But he had to get a picture with Darth Vader and Darth Bane. Apparently if you are lethal enough, he doesn't mind as much.

Grace wanted to see Darth Vader, but not touch him. She tried to hug R2-D2 and wanted to pet Chewbacca...but not too much. She was excited to see them, but not enough to risk being captured by the dark side.

The kids spent their time in the water room and the grocery store. It's fun to see how things have changed and stayed the same in the decade I've been taking my kiddos there.

Awkward Family Moments

Hayden burst into my office and screamed, "Mom, stop what you're doing and get your camera right now!"

I scrambled for the camera, then remembered the SD card was in the computer and the battery charging. I put the thing back together in record time and raced to the living room to find this ::

It reminded me of Awkward Family Photos, but the rest of my family found the predicment hilarious. So much so, that Hayden wanted a turn!

Gracie At The Zoo

Grace has been asking to go to the zoo for a while, but always on rainy days. I know how to zoo in the rain, but I save that knowledge for when I am caught by showers. I wait for the sun - and today it came out!

Gram-Mo & Pop Pop were still here, so we talked them into coming with us. I let Grace run the show, since she usually has to compromise with her brothers or girlfriends. Before we left, she wanted the stroller and a snack - so we packed the Joovy and some Goldfish and were on our way.

I have a tried and true path for zoo-ing, but Grace set the order of the animals. Sea lions, otters, fish, polar bears, penguins, pigs, monkeys, elephants, lions, zebras (she refused to stop at the hippos & only barely paused at the giraffes) & tigers.

Thank goodness the zoo thinks to pack in the less popular animals - we got to see how a leatherback turtle can bend its shell.

The highlight photography-wise was when Pop Pop woke up the cheetahs so I could get a better picture of him and Grace. They were NOT amused.

Opening Night

After a trip to Urgent Care yesterday that saw us leaving with an antibiotic and inhaler, we weren't sure if Bayley was going to be up to performing today. But after a day of rest, he had just enough energy. After all, the show must go on.

He had to be at the school early, so I thought  we had a while before we'd have to make our way there. But an hour before the perfomance parents were already staking out the prime seats. Who knew? Luckily, Miss Tina had Grace for the evening. I don't think she could have handled a night that long.

The play, Jack & The Sillies, was put together by the school music teacher. It's light and funny. I think the younger kids enjoyed it most from the best seats in the house - on the floor in front of the stage.

Bayley did his part perfectly. I was excited for him to do so well. He had such a great time with it, hopefully he'll do it next year. But, he says he wants to be stage crew since it is hard to get a non-singing part. Singing is not his thing, apparently. We'll see how he feels about it in 12 months.

He was thrilled that Gram-Mo & Pop Pop came up to see the play, and that Grandma & Grandpa came, and Uncle Tim too. The Burke clan skedaddled too quick for me to get a picture.

Theatrical Debut

Bayley decided to join the school play this year - Jack and the Sillies. His music teacher put it together herself, and it really suits the kids. It's based on a book about Jack, a man who doesn't like silliness, but is absolutley silly himself.

Bayley is a pig tosser. Yes, he actually throws a pig. In his group, they're trying to feed their pig apples by tossing it into an apple tree.

The pig, Stewie, is the star of all backstage events. After every rehearsal Bayley has a story about something that has happened to the stuffed pig. It will be a miracle if he makes it to opening night in one piece.

We're just so proud of Bayley for opening himself up to the experience. He's usually not much of a joiner, but he has had such a great time with it. I think having so many of his friends in the cast really helped.

The Arrow Of Light

It is hard to believe Bayley isn't a cub scout anymore. Tonight his den did their last cub scout flag ceremony. It's wonderful to see how confident they are in it now. Hayden's Bear den is still unsure about what to do.

Bayley earned his Arrow of Light -- an actual arrow on a plaque for his wall. He got the award because of all the achievements he earned as a scout. It's one of the few things the boys carry forward in scouting, so he's very proud.

The ceremony to celebrate the boys crossing over from cub scouts to boy scouts was much more dramatic than I expected. There was a Native American ceremony where the boys literally crossed a bridge and were welcomed by their new troop.

The principal and two of our teachers came to watch the boys cross over. It really meant a lot to them to see the support they got from the school.

I don't get to do much with scouts since Grace is not event-friendly, so it was a real treat for me to be a part of it. Right up until the time where Grace ran up on stage thinking she could cross the bridge too. The boys think how I dance to the radio in the car is embarrassing...and yet they were not nearly as mortified by this as Jeff & I were!

 

Dinner Dance

Every year the boys' school has a Dinner Dance...which is really just a fun party for the kids. Dinner is pizza and concession candy. This year there was more dancing than usual. I like to think it will help out when the kids hit 7th grade and attend those awkward junior high dances. Maybe our kids will actually...move it-move it. HA!

My boys requested they have even more tickets for the basket raffles this year to up their chances of winning. We didn't get a basket. So of course they decided this means even MORE tickets next year. I think it would be cheaper to just make them a basket of their own!

The silent auction did well this year - I tried for a movie date with the 3rd grade teachers, front row tickets to Bayley's play, and PE camp. Managed to get PE camp...for the same price I'd have paid for it. But I'd have paid for it anyway, and now the money goes to the school.

My highlight of the night is always the hula hoop contest. I think they've been practicing in PE, because this year the 2nd graders were hooping it up, and that doesn't usually happen until 3rd grade. The teachers had a big bucket of shy and only 2 of them did the hula hoops...I think next year we should turn that into a money dance like at weddings. The kids can 'bid' money to get their teacher to hula. I'm big on the ideas, not so much on the follow through.

Grace had a great time running around and dancing. Once Jeff got there, the other kids running around her made him nervous she'd escape into oblivion, so he took her home. A good thing, since the boys insist on staying until the very end.

It's such a great tradition for the kids...even if the name is deceiving.