Nilda's Easter Egg Hunt!

Yesterday, we went to a post Easter - Easter Egg hunt! It was originally supposed to happen before Easter, but it got rained out. This one was perfect:

Her backyard was amazing! Flat and full of grass. My favorite.

The kids had a great time playing in all the space and on all the toys.

Here's Michael helping Ms. Nilda distribute the eggs:
After the egg hunt, there was a bunny hop potato sack race:
And after that, water balloon time. Which then turned into: How many kids can you fit in a 10' diameter plastic pool:
Michael and I had a fantastic time and were thankful we were invited!

Still more posts - I guess we've been busy!

P

31 Days to Clean

For those who know me - I am not a "domestic diva." I hate to clean and can't say I am terribly good at it!

Well, here is a lady willing to help me.

Sarah Mae has written a book called: 31 Days to Clean

And she's giving a copy of her ebook for FREE if you post about it on your blog! So I am! I can't wait to see the tips she has to help people like me. Money Saving Mom posted about it and she's usually legit in her recommendations!

If you are interested in getting a free copy yourself, click on this link:

http://www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.com/home/2011/04/free-copy-of-31-days-to-clean/

You have until midnight!

P

Plumpton Park Zoo

On Monday, April 25, we met our friends (Tami - with Ashton/Ryan) at Plumpton Park Zoo to check it out. It was - different.

I think it was more of a farm than a zoo - however they had some of the big animals too. Here's a quick rundown:

• Black bear
• Tiger
• Various fast small cats.
• Giraffe
• Zebras.
• Donkeys
• Over half a dozen peacocks which roamed freely on top of cages and all over the "zoo"
• bison
• Cool chickens that look like they have wigs of hair. I didn't take a picture of it and can't even find a picture on google images! But they look like those chickens in cartoons/storybooks that have this huge mop of colored hair and you can't even see their eyes. SO funny!
• One smallish monkey
• An owl
• Lots of bamboo
• Some kind of small deer
• Cattle (somehow this made the zoo??)
• Llamas
• Camel
• Vocal turkeys

So seriously - it was built like a farm. With wire and wood and the paths were kind of muddy. But they had such a good variety of animals. I'm not sure they were in the best pens available and I'm sure PETA would have a field day at this zoo, but for how small it was, it sure did have a lot to look at and smell.

Some pictures from my phone:

Feeding the donkey with hay:

Michael has been dying to see a giraffe for months. Here he is with Ashton:

Ryan, Ashton's brother, gets in the picture too. Both Ryan and the giraffe did not cooperate:

It was hot. And by hot, I mean in the upper 70's and lower 80's! We packed a picnic and they had a great picnic area/park. The boys had a great time taking a bite of lunch and running to climb up something! Tami and I had a good time chatting it up!

It was a great way to spend a Monday out!

Ranger Baseball in Baltimore, MD

While I was away at my Christian Women's retreat, Brian planned us a vacation to Baltimore, MD! It was a fantastic idea. A great way to see the Bowmans (probably the last time before their move back to the big T-X) and also see a Rangers Ball game at Camden Yards against the Orioles!

Both families had sports activities in the AM on Sat 4/9 (Michael's first t-ball game) so we met in Baltimore in the afternoon. We started at the Maryland Science Center, which was great!

Charlie/Michael playing at the water display.

FACT: You are nothing as a children's museum in the USA if you don't have a water area:

Parents hanging out while children engage in independent play:
What Michael thinks of modern art, his playground:
After the Science center, we walked the Inner Harbor and our little guys made mischief of one kind and then another:
Dinner at Pizzeria Uno and then back to the hotel!

We had a pretty full day what with the t-ball, excitement about Baltimore leading to a non-nap, Science Center, eating out - Michael was a bit of a mess.

We checked into our hotel. I started arranging our stuff and turned around to find this:
Guess he was a little tired. Not too tired for pool time though! He went swimming with Charlie and the dads until 10pm. It is not a joke when you read that the vacation for kids is really the hotel pool.

We got adjoining hotel rooms, put the kids to bed in one room, and stayed up playing games in the other! I love AMERICA! It was a big slumber party and super fun!

Next day, breakfast at Caribou coffee after a "scenic" walk through downtown Baltimore. Then, off to see the Rangers play ball!
I love ball parks. So vintage americana - which I love for some reason:


Michael enjoyed his first foot long hotdog and foray into ball park food:
Best picture I could get of father and son after the game! Sorry!

And a picture of Michael's rug burn:
He was running too fast and lost control, fell, and skidded on his face. The "wound" in real life was a lot worse looking than in this picture! Poor kid. Only MY son would be the one to hurt himself while running in a hotel hallway.

We had a great time and were glad to spend some time with good friends from back home!

Can you tell which post had the most pictures to edit? Yea - the last post I am behind on! :)

Love,

P

YIPPEE!

So I've been staring at my baby grand piano wishing and hoping that one of two things would happen:

1) I'd get a spare moment when I could play and Michael wouldn't be banging on the keyboard next to me or yanking my arm down. This is rare as that would require Michael sleeping, at which point - I would not be practicing piano.

2) Michael would be interested in learning to play it.

He's had a passing interest and really only likes certain "lessons." I was feeling pretty dejected about the whole thing because I feel like the piano is wasting away.

Dramatic? Who? Me?

Today - Michael blew me away because he not only asked for a lesson - but he "played" a whole song. Not a real song. Like kid's memory of Mary had a little lamb.

But he flipped to a lesson that covered the value of a whole note. And he learned that in about 1/2 a second. Then, I covered a half note and a quarter note - and he learned that in about another half a second. Then I showed him a set of "measures," which in this preschool book - each measure is a section of a train. Each measure had different combinations of rhythms in it - quarter notes/half notes/whole notes.

And Michael played it. Right the first time. Values and everything. No melody though as it was always the same note, just at different values so kids could learn the values of each type of note.

We had the metronome going and while he wasn't exactly on the beat (Besancon in him coming through ) - he was pretty correct most of the time.

My son is sightreading!

I was so very impressed. He learned it so quickly and he was playing. And he got up and said, I'm going to practice that so I can show Daddy tonight!

Pretty happy for my little boy. When he wants to learn something - he's ON IT.

Now - reading - that's a different story. THAT has been like pulling teeth.

I'm not a mother to push things - when he's ready and interested - I'll be ready and waiting - because that's the best part about being a stay at home mom. I'm there. And I'll be ready to teach him/show him the next thing he wants to learn!

Until he starts asking me about moments diagrams in Civil engineering. THAT I have no idea about. I'll be refering him to his grandpa and his dad.

Yea - that's assuming he's going into a science or math field.

What? I'm asian aren't I?!?!