Life's a Beach

The kids are on spring break and it was a beautiful and windy day. So, we went to their Grandfather's favorite place...the beach. Evidently, in addition to getting the wanderlust gene from their Grandfather (through their Father), they inherited the water gene. The water temperature was a balmy 54 degrees. After 5 minutes I wasn't able to feel my feet. Did the kids let a little thing like that slow them down? I think we all know the answer to that question. So that you know I am not a completely ineffective parent, I did make them get out of the water periodically to warm up.

The boy in his element. I don't know what it is about big holes and kids, but they love them. He was joined by two other boys. They took turns finding "trick ways" to jump into the pit. Needless to say, he was covered head to toe in sand and got a good scrubbing at home.

My little wave catcher.

The kids dug for sand crabs. At first, they were catching them with their hands when a wave broke. After awhile, they decided their shovels would be more efficient.

The white thing on the shovel is a sand crab. They were all over the sand. Once the kids unearthed them with their shovels, they would watch them burrow back into the sand. They are fast little critters.

A nap during the ride home at the end of a long day of play. The brown area around his mouth is left over ice cream. Anyone who knows the boy will not be surprised to see the chocolate. He got chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and fudge. His philosophy is you can never have to much chocolate.

Walk-a-thon

The girl and boy participated in the school walk-a-thon. Luckily, the rain and hail cleared up before the end of school. The kids started out walking with their individual classes. By the time they passed my post (I was a volunteer) they were holding hands and walking together. The girl had gone to find her brother to walk with him.

The girl walked six miles and the boy walked five. Thank you Grandfather and Mad, Grandma and Grandpa. I bet your glad you didn't sponsor them per mile!

Needless to say, they went to bed early that night and slept like only the young can.

Hail!

That white stuff on the slide is hail. It came down hard for about 10 minutes. Of course, it was the day the girl and boy did a walk-a-thon at their school.

Glass Egg

On Sunday, the girl and I took a class to make a glass egg. It was put on by the local glass institute. We had a great time. Since I had never worked with molten material before, I didn't know what to expect (I know, what kind of Mother allows her 7 year old to play with molten glass). The instructor asked us who was going to go first. The girl's hand pops up and she said "I will". The instructor and his assistant told her she was very brave, to go first without seeing what was involved.

In the picture, the girl is picking out her glass colors. She went with pink, purple and turquoise.

The post is kind of long. Since the pictures were taken on my phone, I have to download them as separate posts.

The girl getting ready to play with hot glass.

The man is adding the colored glass the girl chose. After he added the glass and put it in the fire, the girl used a giant pair of tweezers to mold and twist the glass. This is how the colors are incorporated into the glass shape. It was really interesting to see. I always wondered how they were able to get patterns of color into glass.

Heating the glass in the fire. I am glad it wasn't a hot day. There were three other furnaces going. It was very warm. After he took it out of the fire, the girl used an egg shaped bowl that had been dipped into water to shape and smooth it.

The girl is shaping the egg with a tweezer type tool, while the man twirls it.

The final stage in the process. The man is twirling the egg as the girl slowly clamps down on the end with increasing pressure. She was able to apply enough pressure (with a little help) to cut and shape the egg.

Is it an egg in the hand is worth two in the bush?

The finished product. I picked the eggs up today. They had to cure for 48 hours. The girl's egg was really cool. It looked great when we held it up to the light. I am so proud of her!

Soccer league

The boy and girl are in the spring soccer league.  Coincidentally, each of their teams got red jerseys, and again coincidentally they both are number two.

April Fools!

Evidently, there is no fool like an old fool. I guess I am the old fool, as I tried to play tricks on the kids and they didn't fall for them!. In the morning I called them to breakfast and told them they got lemonade with their pancakes. I guess they were suspicious, as they don't get juice to drink (I know I am a mean Mom). I had made yellow jello the night before, poured it into glasses and stuck a straw in it. When they tried to drink the "lemonade" they wouldn't be able to suck it up easily. That was the idea anyway. They boy looks into the glass and said "Hey, that looks like jello in the glass." He then got a spoon and started eating it. The picture below is after he started eating the jello. At least they thought I was mildly amusing.

Their Auntie was nice enough to babysit them that night. I told her I would have dinner ready for them. Before we left I pulled out the "hamburgers" I had made. My Aunt looks at them and said "Aren't those a little small". The boy looked at them and said "Are these dessert hamburgers". Darn it, foiled again! They are in fact two vanilla wafers with a peppermint patty inside and vanilla frosting that was suppose to look like mayonnaise. I am glad I didn't go to the trouble of tinting coconut green for lettuce. On the up side, they liked the burger dessert.

Now a reasonable parent after two failed attempts might say to herself, "Well, I guess my April fools days are over". However, I think we all know that isn't my style. I say "I need to serious up my game for next year". I am starting the April fools planning process today! Wish me luck.

Another view of the "burgers".

Lemonade.