A Day at the Museum

 The day after Thanksgiving we went to the LA Science museum to see the Endeavor exhibit.  It was pretty darn neat.  Anthony and Erik loved the space potty exhibit.  (That's a shocker.)  They also enjoyed the 3-D Imax movie on the Hubble Space telescope.  It was a little long for Anthony, but it kept his attention for a long time.  Bob had to put his arm out a few times to catch Anthony--he was reaching so far out to touch the images that he was in danger of toppling over into the row in front of us.

Happy Thanksgiving

R.I.P. Tigger 7/4/1996 - 11/19/2012

   Who would have thought that the crazy wild cat who would go "wokka wokka" (Janet's words) as she ran about the house would become the sedate animal who would let Anthony love her as much as he wanted?  Yet somehow she did.  She tolerated handstands (once), being carried around like a baby (repeatedly) and even being draped over Anthony's shoulder and twirled.  She was an amazing pet.

  Time caught up with her and her time finally came.  When I tried to explain it to Anthony I wasn't sure exactly how.  I knew the starting point, kitty old and sick.  I knew the ending point, Heaven.  The path I wasn't sure about.  I started off with a reminder that she was old and sick, and that I was going to take her to the doctor to get medicine.  At that point Anthony interrupted me and said, "So she won't die?"  Ooh, so backwards.  He misses her a lot at this point.  We're planning on getting a new cat in January.  Anthony, of course, wants a new cat NOW.  "But I need a cat to play with!"

The Beloved Witch Puppet

Anthony made a witch puppet at daycare on Halloween and was SO proud of it.  Its almost three weeks later and he is still sleeping with it!

Setting the Table

 Anthony has helped set the table for awhile now.  Usually he is more focused on who gets each fork, rather than where it goes on the place setting.  Today at preschool they made diagrams showing how to set the table and he came home with a full place setting.  He was very excited to show me how to do it.  (We're saving his Thanksgiving placemat for the actual day.)

Balloons

A party favor and he can blow it up himself.

Vote Early and Often

This morning I explained to Anthony how we were going to go vote for President.  (The President, of course, is the person who runs the country.)  I told him who Mommy was voting for and who Daddy is voting for.  His predictable response, "What about me?"

  I explained that he had to be 18 to vote.  His response, "But Mommy, you're not 18, you are 41!  Remember??"

  Anthony also learned about voting at preschool.  His classroom had a voting booth and each child got to vote for which book they were going to read during circle time.

A Glorious Day at the Beach

 

It was a perfect day at the beach.  The sun was out, the water was warm-ish...  Anthony spent most of the time playing in the surf.  He took a few breaks to build sand castles and throw tennis balls for a patient labrador.  A perfect Sunday afternoon!

Happy Halloween!

   As expected, the trick-or-treat was the highlight of the day.  Anthony was out for almost TWO hours!  Ciaran came over and we also joined forces with Claire and Robert.  Let's just say a lot of candy was consumed over the course of the evening.

  Instead of preschool's annual Halloween program, they had a Halloween party.  Each room had a different theme.  Anthony's favorite was the sensory area--witch brains (peeled tomatoes), skeleton fingers (pickles) as well as just buckets of jelly to play in.  There were also some neat activities in the pumpkin room, he particularly enjoyed using a hammer to pound golf tees into a pumpkin.

  I handed out books again this year.  They were generally quite popular!  It makes sense, most families I know require the kid to surrender most of the candy.  This way the kid gets a treat they get to keep.