Memorial Day Weekend

   Daddy was away in China over Memorial Day weekend, so Anthony and I were on our own.  We spent Saturday at Happy Hollow with one of his daycare pals.  They had a great time and were WIPED out at the end of the day.

  Monday we joined the Donahues for a day of minor league baseball.  Anthony ate all sorts of great ball park food--the top picture is of Anthony shelling a peanut while clutching his beloved cotton candy.

Generosity

Sometimes I am stunned by Anthony's generosity.

He came home from Yesenia's First Communion with a huge back of pinata candy.

This morning he divided up the leftovers.
1.  All the lollipops were sent to my friends at work.  (Why he decided they need the lollipops is beyond me).
2. The intact roll of Smarties went to Maria at daycare.  Its because the kids always eat hers.  (Of course, she brings them FOR the kids, but that's okay.)
3.  The last two Smarties of the previous roll are for the toddlers at daycare.
4.  The last of the Starburst are for all his daycare friends. 

His goody-bag was empty and he was fine with that.  He was just happy to share his treats with his friends.

And I am proud.

Solar Eclipse

 Our next-door neighbors pulled out their telescope for an impromptu eclipse party yesterday.  The adults thought it was cool, the kids were content to play.

  The most amazing part was the discovery of how the eclipse affected shadows.  Everything was really fuzzy around the edges.

Yesenia's First Communion

   Anthony's birth-sister Yesenia had her First Communion today.  I was pretty apprehensive about how he'd do during the long Mass.  He generally goes to Sunday School while we're in "grown-up church".  He was amazingly well behaved.  Tatyanna took care of him the whole time.  When he started to act up I threatened him with having to go outside away from her and her straightened right up.

  The three of them were pretty much inseparable at the party afterwards, too.  It was really very sweet.

USGS Open House

   In an attempt to make my sister insanely jealous, we took Anthony to the US Geological Survey Open House.  Some of the demonstrations were incredibly cool.  We loved the flour volcanoes.  Bob finally understands that Crater Lake was NOT dug by the Civilian Conservation Core, but rather hollowed out by a bicycle pump.  The liquid nitrogen tricks were a great success and I learned a new trick, how to carbonate a grape.  If you look closely at the bottom picture you'll see the live-action of Anthony smashing a frozen leaf with all the bits falling to the ground.

  What wasn't a success.  The demo about a natural disaster in Africa where thousands died due to a carbon dioxide release and a poster describing a solution to keep it from happening again.  The poster was at child's eye level and included a picture of several dead bodies.  Anthony was pretty upset by it and spent the rest of the day asking questions.  I'm sending a thank you note to the USGS for putting on an amazing event with a thought that maybe the poster wasn't completely appropriate for all children.

Airplane Day

 While I was off having fun at One Hundred Fun Hundred, Bob and Anthony went off on an airplane excursion with Robert and his Daddy.

  It was a little less than successful.  Robert put it best, "Anthony erupted vomit."

  We're a little worried that Anthony won't ever fly again.  Obviously we'll give him dramamine, but he's a bit insistant on not wanting to fly.

Front Yard Friday

   Now that spring is here, we can start having our Front Yard Friday celebrations.  I did the paperwork with the city so that we could legally close off the street for May and June.  (I'll press my luck and try for July and August soon.)

  Anthony doesn't appreciate kick-ball, which was the game of the night for most of the kids.  He still shies away from some of the rough and tumble play.  He and H had a nice time playing taxi, though.

"I want to ride on the Ferris Wheel"

 One of the CDs we listen to in the car has a song about riding a Ferris Wheel.  Its Anthony's favorite song and he's been begging to ride a Ferris Wheel for a long time.  He didn't know what it was, but by golly he wanted to ride one.

  Last weekend St. Joseph's school had their annual carnival, so we invited the Donahues children to join us.  We biked over there as a group and then let them ride two rides and have one treat.

  Anthony was SO excited about the Ferris Wheel.  Bob and I were a bit worried, though.  The sign said you had to be 42" tall, which he isn't.  All I have to say is, "Hurrah for poorly trained under paid ride operators!"  Robert was on the step with the measuring thing, so the guy measured him.  He passed, barely.  The guy didn't even noticed Anthony who is CLEARLY shorter.  The kids enjoyed the ride, but honestly, it didn't meet expectations.  But then, how could it?

Claire didn't need to ride any more rides, so the boys rode both the roller coaster and one of those spinny cups things.  They LOVED it.

One Hundred, Fun Hundred



 Today was the big One Hundred, Fun Hundred celebration for the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting.  While I'm a member, I'm not an active volunteer anymore and a bit out of the loop.  I'm so thankful that my friend Kathryn bought two tickets to the celebration and invited me to go.

  It was an amazing event.  While waiting to enter the event we met a woman who has been a Scout for 72 years and was there with some of the women from the first troop she led as an adult.  We both really enjoyed the Girl Scout museum and talking to the docents there.  We learned about the nationwide Senior Jamborees that were held back in the 50's and '60's.  They had displays of uniforms throughout the years, I told Kathryn she could find mine instantly--my Cadette uniform would be the ugliest uniform in the room. 

  They had great activities for the girls--lot of science stuff, scuba in the pool, zip lines, fun camp activities...  I saw a little-visited booth and went over to see what it was all about.  They had signs for all the different Girl Scout camps and you could put your name sticker on the camps you attended.  Camp Mountain Meadows had a small presence, I wish I'd gone back at the end of the day to see if anyone more checked in.

Kathryn and I stayed until the fireworks at the end, it was a great day!

 (When I get the photos off the camera I'll write about Anthony's day with Daddy.)