Tuesday, December 15, 2009
marine science class
Past weekend was attack of the hives (sigh) so L was miserable. J caught the cold the kids had the past week. Luckily it was so rainy that we could not really have gone to get our tree as planned anyway. So it was a quiet day at home while I ran errands and went to the gym. Same on Sunday except e came to run errands with me. So Monday led to the clearing up of hives (thank goodness) and we were off to marine science class. SO fun! May I admit here that I learned a few nifty things. The teachers are awesome and the kids had a great time touching the animals and journaling about them. Then we all went out and each kid got to set something free. (The instructors scuba dive before class to collect .. we got to observe and touch sea urchin, scallop, spider crab, mussel, sea squirt (e got sprayed in the forehead :), slipper snail, periwinkle, rock crab, etc) e got to release a mussel and L a spider crab. Then we decided to head to the store for some vitamins and to take it easy since L is not back to normal. Passed a cove on the way out and a kingfisher was sitting right on the wall next to our car. I had to turn around so we could get a good look. It was a male (no red on chest .. kingfishers are one of the few where the female is more colorful than the male) and we saw tons of hooded mergansers in every cove we passed! We stopped at the gorgeous Mystic cemetery and took a quick walk. Cold but beautiful day.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
kids and the japanese maple
Kids have been sick .. yes, again. L was just getting over her pneumonia when they both caught a cold and e had an awful asthma attack that kept us up all night and almost sent us to the ER again. They are still pretty stuffy and miserable so we skipped science class, mystic nature center and bushy hill this week. Sigh. Since it was warmish, we decided to head to Harkness for a walk. The kids really wanted to see the butterfly garden which was interesting to see .. so different than the last time we were there that the kids did not think it was the same place at first. But they recognized their "bus" bench. They played under the gorgeous trees while I stalked the white-throated sparrows in the hedgerow. (I think I have always wanted a chance to use hedgerow and I am feeling very British now. :) I did not get a great shot of the sparrows but I did have one fly right next to my head. We had more luck on the march trail. We met another birder photographer. He was quite chatty and that was fun. We compared notes. He saw an American Oystercatcher over the summer. I told him about the Yellowlegs and Northern Harrier. We tried to get good shots of the Red-breasted Mergansers and Buffleheads. I also caught sight of a female Hooded Merganser but she took off around the corner. On our way home, we drove a little further down to see the huge great-blue heron and another bufflehead. Then we got a close up of a hawk right next to the road. I am still not sure if it is a red-tail or not. Whatever it was, it was very patient while I photographed it. Gorgeous.
hand print craft
December 1st calendar activity. We had a fun time making these. I always wanted to do these .. L's hand hardly fit .. we made it just in time. Today e had a dramatic haircut .. and we watched the neighbors storage pods being delivered. Very exciting. Lots of reading to do too. Everyone still feeling a little weak and tired so we took it easy.
december calendar
I made this calendar as an alternative to an advent calendar. Each day the kids lift the flap and it has a special activity for us. I am considering using it every month since the kids love it and seem really motivated when we open it up. But perhaps it would not be as special that way. All the activities are surprises .. more to come in blog posts as we uncover the activity of the day!
birthday party
This was our first outing in a while to go to b's 4th birthday party. Fun! Especially to see their new house and to play drums in the barn. :) I chose this picture of e because I just want to point out the excellent fashion choices of my children .. L helped e put together this fabulous striped outfit. Somehow our 7 year old is convinced that anything with stripes goes together. By the way, he picked out her outfit and it was nearly as awesome. So happy bday, B. (B wanted a surprise party but when it came right down to it .. he was not so impressed with the surprise. Cutie!)
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
hooded mergansers and black ducks
e and I took a walk at Harkness to get out and get some fresh air. We saw black ducks and a pair of Hooded Mergansers! Such cool birds. Then we went to Guthrie for a more sheltered walk on the beach. We saw a ferry boat being escorted in by 2 coast guard boats.
zuzu keeping L company while she is sick
OK then. We had friends over only to have L start feeling horrible right in the middle of a game. That night her fever shot up and she woke with chest pains. Off to the ER again. Only to find she has pneumonia! Yikes! I did not sleep well for a few nights just making sure she was breathing allright every so often and getting her medicine if she needed it. So we are back to taking it easy. We really had so indication that she was so ill still. Her cough was gone and that would have clued us in. Anyway, she is getting better now. Highlights were that e declared (after j picked him up at the ER and brought him home) that he wants to go back to the ER soon because it is exciting .. and he was convinced that mommy and L were having more fun at the hospital. L was excited to have an oxygen treatment and to see her x-rays. She was very ill and pretty lethargic but not so much that she neglected to ask all the nurses lots of questions about the equipment in the exam rooms. :)
old orchard
After church .. open mike at old orchard .. so much fun! and the delicious cider and apples of course. J was stocking up for his apple pie. I even got asked if we were homeschoolers by a teenager. She recognized us from something. There is something about chatting with a teenager who has been homeschooled that makes me want to homeschool for as long as possible. :)
