Tech Museum

The boy's class had a field trip to a local tech museum. The museum isn't super large, but they had a lot of cool interactive exhibits for the kids. Right here, the boy is making a binary keychain that spells out his initials. Once the boy was done making his keychain, it promptly went on his backpack. Along with the other 20 keychains on his backpack. The girl's backpack is the same, full of keychains. If I ever feel in need of a keychain, I know where to get one.

Binary rain. The kids could play a game to try to read the code raining down.

Here, one of the boy's friends is putting on a "bunny suit" to show what it is like to suit up for a clean room. The poor kid was hot by the time they finished suiting him up.

Geology

The kids at the Annual Geology and Gem show. They were each earning a patch for their respective scouting troops. It was quite an interesting day. They had a flint knapping demonstration and the kids each picked a geode with a beautiful crystal in it for their rock collections.

First Communion

The boy (second from the right) and his friends getting ready for church. They all behaved so well. It was a very nice service, geared towards the kids making Communion.

Receiving his First Communion.

Father Brendan and the boy.

The boy, his Godfather and his girlfriend T after mass.

After mass family and friends came over to the house to celebrate. It was a great day and the kids got to play with their cousins.

Muir and Cookies

The boy is in the midst of heritage month in his class. Each student picks a country from their ethnic background to study and write about. The boy picked Scotland. He wrote a report and did a "bust" drawing on John Muir. He picked John Muir because of his love of nature and his saving of Yosemite. He then had to read his report to the class and make a dish from Scotland to share. He did his report on Hubby's day off, so we could go and see him do it. I took a video, but the sound quality is so low that it is hard to hear. So, instead you get a picture of the shortbread cookies the boy and I made for the kids in his class. He wanted them cut out into ice cream cone shapes. We dipped them in chocolate for the ice cream part. We left a few plain for the kids that didn't like chocolate.

The other nice part of this project is the kids being exposed to new foods through the ethnic dishes. The boy now wants me to make lumpia (Filipino egg rolls)and Japchae (Korean noodles). Each student is given the recipe for the dishes that are served. Since he brought me home the recipes, I have no excuse. I told him he will have to make them with me.

Your Own Personal Jesus

Ok, so I am showing my age in referring to a Depeche Mode song. I just thought this was a cute picture. This statue of Jesus sits in the church courtyard. Inevitably, it is where the children congregate after mass and school. It is "base" in hide and seek and has been climbed upon by every child in the parish. Some people might find this sacrilegious, but I'm not one of those. The boy was the first one to claim the statue as his seat after mass last night. There was a celebration after church to congratulate the RCIA members who finished their conversion at mass.

Last night was the last time the boy will have to cross his arms during communion. Next week, he makes his First Holy Communion.

What A Nickel Will Buy

Since it was gray and overcast out, the kids and I decided to visit a local arcade where all the games are a nickel, or a few nickels. We had a fun afternoon. The boy beat me at air hockey and then challenged his sister. It was a close game, but the girl squeaked out a one point lead at the end.

The boy...on a motorcycle, what a shock! Last time he asked me how old he has to be to get a motorcycle, I told him 50. He said "ok". Hopefully, that will hold true.

The next Magic Johnson...only cuter! The girl played the basketball game for awhile. She can't wait until next year when she is eligible to play for her school's team

After the arcade, we took the dog for a long walk and then met Aunt J for dinner. Another nice day.

Mission Accomplished!

The kids are on spring break this week. Since the fourth grade social studies curriculum is based around the history of California, we decided to go see a Mission. I took the kids to a Mission back in February, when the girl's class started studying them. She had to pick a Mission to write a report, do a power point presentation and write journal entries on. In the past, they have also had to build a replica of the Mission they chose. At the kids school building the Mission is now extra credit. Evidently, the parents were getting to involved and the creative process and building of the Mission wasn't actually done by the kids. I remember building the Mission with my Dad, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. So, the girl, her friend C and her Mom and the boy and I went on a field trip. We went to a Mission that still has an active church. I hadn't been to this Mission since I was the girl's age on a class field trip. It was a lot of fun. They have self guided tours. Here's a view of the Mission from the fields below it.

In the beautiful courtyard garden. It was so lovely and peaceful. They still have horse troughs and rain reservoirs from the 1800's in it.

The kids in front of the altar.

This baptismal fount is also original to the church. It is made out of stone and is still in use today.

This is adobe brick on the floor of the Mission. some have paw prints on them. When the adobe bricks are left to cure in the sun, sometimes animals walk on them and leave a print. Once we found this one on the floor, the kids wandered around the church looking for additional paw prints. We found quite a few. Since these bricks have been here since the early 1800's, we enjoyed seeing prints that are over 200 years old.

After touring the Mission, we went through the charming little town and stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. Once we got home, the girl went off to her friend C's house and the boy and I had an appt. with his orthopedic surgeon. The boy's legs are doing good and he doesn't have to go back for six more months. All and all, a great day!