Wednesday: Marine World

Because of the awesome work Cris has done at West Edmonton Mall, he received some free passes for the mall attractions. We had 4 that I thought were expiring this month, so the boys I went and took one of their friends. I couldn't bear for a free pass to go to waste, and Cris was simply too busy to go. The boys picked Marine World to go to.

I was probably more upset than I should have been to discover that one of the passes had already expired, and ended up having to pay for the extra person I so badly wanted to come with us because I had this extra free pass, which I didn't actually have. Apparently I don't pay enough attention to detail.

Moving along....

We really enjoyed the touch tanks. We got to touch stingrays, sharks, and anemones. The stingrays actually like being touched, so they swim right up to you.

We also saw sharks and sea turtles and then some divers got in the tank to feed the shark. They do this once-a-week up-close-and-personal encounters to maintain relationship with the sharks and to ensure the sharks are healthy. The divers pet the sharks, check for anything unusual, that sort of thing.

The sea turtle was pretty funny. It kept swimming around getting its flippers stuck in the divers hoses and even briefly entangled itself in a shark.

We saw the sea lion show. Loved it. I think I missed my calling in life. I'd love to be an animal trainer and have that relationship of trust with a wild animal.

After that we saw a presentation on the African penguins.

And here's Elijah...petting a shark:

It was a fun-filled afternoon. The boys even got to play with their friend at our house for a bit.

In the evening Elijah started on the next book in the Percy Jackson series called "The Sea of Monsters". He did some math, mostly multiplication strategies and commutative properties. Toviel started reading "Flat Stanley", although I wish he had picked something more challenging. He also did some math. He is working on addition strategies and is currently learning the two-5's strategy when adding two numbers when they both are between 5 and 9.

He also used his geo-reflector to explore symmetry and reflections.

Thursday: Play Rangers

This morning we did a little math. Elijah continued with area and square inches.

Toviel did some geometry, creating pentagons and octagons, learning about vertices and connecting them to make diagonals.

Then we went to Argyll Park for a drop-in program put on by the City of Edmonton. It's called Play Rangers or Junior Park Rangers or something similar to that. Before it started we played at the playground. Elijah hopped on a swing and started pumping his legs and back and started swinging. It was his first time on a swing without assistance. And although it took him many years to figure it out, he did eventually get it - on his own terms in his own time.

The start of the 2-hour program involved some group games, none which Toviel participated in. Elijah enjoyed his time, even though we didn't know anybody else there.

After the games, each child was able to create their own kite.

And then the kids were let loose to go fly their kites. It was a pretty good day for it because it was fairly windy!

On our way home we stopped at the library.

The evening was spent playing Pokemon with Dad and watching a Pokemon video. I was set free to go for a long walk. It was just what I needed on a very beautiful evening.

Wednesday: A Quiet Day Mostly at Home

We did some math today. Elijah reviewed subtraction strategies, multiplication, and perimeter. Then he started learning about area.

Toviel reviewed some addition strategies - adding with 9's in higher decades and what makes 11. I taught him about congruency.

Here he is grouping rectangles and working with the geoboard.

He had fun picking out congruent rectangles in the house too.

Then the boys played Go To The Dump (Go Fish) with cards that total 11.

It was nice that they could play a math game together while I got caught up on laundry.

They both read. Elijah is on the last chapter of "The Lightning Thief" and is looking forward to the next book in the series.

We walked to the bank to get bank cards for the boys. After waiting for quite some time, we were told they couldn't have bank cards. Weird. A dozen other banks will give them cards, so soon we'll close and open accounts.

Our boring wait at the bank:

On our way home we stopped and visited our pond.

We talked about trees, sap, dead branches, and buds.

Back at home we started listening to The Odyssey audiobook by Mary Pope Osbourne. We've read The Iliad (children's version) and several other books about the Trojan War and such. These boys can't get enough of monsters and mythology and the ancient world.

They played some games together and went outside to jump on the trampoline at 9pm. I made them do some dynamic stretching first. Toviel has experienced some muscle strain and has been having discomfort for a couple of days, but it seems to be improving.

Soon we will snuggle into bed, and either read a story or continue with our audiobook.

These boys are my joy. Xo

Sunday: Mother's Day

We got a trampoline!!

Trampolines are awesome! When you land, each cell of your body experiences a G-Force which is two or three times stronger than normal. It is as if your weight would double or triple for a fraction of a second when you hit the deepest point. This exposure to a higher G-Force is what strengthens the body; and as it is only for a fraction of a second, this does not fatigue the body. During the movement up to the highest point of your bounce, you come to nearly weightlessness and your body can relax completely. It's the most fun acceleration training! It strengthens the back without causing strain, it strengthens the lymphatic system, increases balance and coordination, involves every part of the body, and according to NASA, it rebuilds bone tissue. I also recall as a child going out to our trampoline to jump when I felt angry. It sure helps release tension, and lets face it - it's hard to stay mad when you're on a trampoline.

And....I'm pretty sure my next years homeschool funding will cover the cost!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Saturday: Emergency Preparedness

Today we dragged the boys out to "Get Ready in the Park" at Hawrelak Park.

Emergency vehicles and personnel were gathering there for a large showcase of emergency preparedness and response.

I was surprised at the number of different types of vehicles and mobile command units that are available depending on the nature of the emergency. We toured through firetrucks, ambulances, decontamination units, buses converted to multi-person emergency treatment vehicles, police cars, a police boat, armoured units, and search and rescue mobile units. They also had a police helicopter and a news helicopter there, but no ambulatory helicopter. It surprised me, but the boys were adamant that they did NOT want to see in the helicopters, so we skipped them.

We were able to meet and pet two search-and-rescue dogs and we had a nice long chat with a search-and-rescue volunteer. It surprised me to learn that all search-and-rescue personnel are volunteers, requiring approximately 300 hours of volunteer time per year. I talked to her for a good long time before Cris excused himself and Toviel followed suit. Elijah and I remained and talked some more with her about the nature of her work, training, sleuthing, the processes and procedures they use, the other teams they work along side, and how heavily they rely on evidence. I was very interested and when we got home I was surprised to hear Elijah say how he was very interested in what she had to say. I just about fell off my chair as I'm fairly certain I have never heard those words come through his lips unless he was referring to something completely mythical or magical. I am afraid to pry much further to discover what interested him the most, or ask if he would like to find out more for fear of overwhelming him or seeming pushy. I'm just excited he was interested enough to stay in a hot stuffy bus, listening to a stranger go on and on about her volunteer work...and on and on and on. But, I agree with Elijah- it was totally interesting!

We spent a short time at the playground before heading home, after which we went to CanadianTire and purchased a 14' trampoline and safety enclosure. We will have to spend some time levelling the back yard before we set it up, but we are all pretty excited!

Before bed the boys played Minecraft and I went for a walk. Instead of me reading, we continued listening to the Ralph S. Mouse audiobook. I recently discovered how to borrow audiobooks from the library by download. It's nice to know that I can still learn things, including how to post blogs with a mobile app!

Friday: Lego, Friends, and More Friends

This morning Toviel attempted to dismantle our broken electric pencil sharpener. He stalled because some of the screws are so tight, and my wimpy fingers were useless at helping. He asked for a sledge hammer so he could smash it, but then we decided to wait until Daddy's big, strong hands were home to dig out the power drill and give us aid.

This afternoon we went to a friend's birthday party. It might just have been the best birthday party ever. It was at Bricks 4 Kidz and the boys had a blast!

For a short while the kids had free time to play with and build whatever they wanted.

Then the kids were given instruction booklets and all the pieces necessary to create a zip line contraption. They all built their own and added their own mini figures, raced their creations down the zip line string, modified their creations, making them crazier and crazier with each modification. I loved how the kids engaged with each other in such a cooperative, considerate, yet ridiculously silly manner.

Next the kids were each given more complicated instructions with all the necessary pieces to build their own amusement park ride. Some of the kids built carousels, spinning swings, merry-go-rounds, pirate-ship rides, Ferris wheels, etc. they each worked individually and when they were done they attached switches with battery packs onto their rides which powered them. At the end they put all the rides together on one table. Voila....they had built an amusement park!

It ended up that they had amusement park ride fights, to see which ride would break and which would stand up to the repeated beating of another contraption whizzing round and round, hitting each other with each spin.

The birthday boy's dad said it reminded him of Robot Wars. I had a sudden longing to participate in a crazy event that 10 years ago seemed absolutely pointless, ridiculous, and a waste of time and resources. It's funny how having boys can change you.

After the party we went to M's house. Shortly afterwards, M & M came over for just over an hour. Not long enough....we miss seeing them all the time.

Our evening ended with pizza and a movie. We watched a Lego Ninjago video, and finished off with Mary Poppins! This was my first time ever seeing the Mary Poppins movie! I have to be honest that throughout the movie I puttered around a bit, organizing some things for my in-laws upcoming anniversary party, looking at online flyers, things here and there like that. I have always found it difficult to do nothing but watch a movie.

I was surprised when the movie was finally over at 11:30pm how emphatic Toviel was about how much he loved Mary Poppins. He wants to watch it again tomorrow.

Saying Thanks

Elijah has been busy writing thank you cards to his friends who came to his birthday party and to relatives who mailed him cards and gifts. He is practicing casual letter-writing and addressing envelopes correctly to mail.

I have often found myself wondering how important it is to send out written thank you notes after thanking someone in person. What is the etiquette surrounding thank you notes? Why isn't a simple heart-felt thank you enough?

Elijah made a good point as he was writing these cards. "I've never received a thank you card from my friends." 

For some unknown reason, it feels important to me. Maybe someday I will figure out why, or someone will be able to verbalize my feelings that I just can't seem to identify.

Anyways, I am REALLY excited because I seemed to have figured out how to post on my blog from my iPad. If I can figure it out on my phone, I might just have to send a thank you note to the creator of the blogger app!