random babblings

Imperial Wok

2012-01-13T00:13:00.001-05:00

Imperial Wok
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

On the first, we drove from Knoxville to Cleveland. The plan was to spend the night there and then make our way home the following day. However, huge snowstorms were gathering along our path, most of which were expected to affect travel on the 2nd. So we decided just to do dinner with my family and then head all the way back to Rochester. We met up at the Imperial Wok. Henry and Kristen shared a Pu Pu Platter, which came with a flaming hibachi grill to cook some of the foods a little more.

(According to Wikipedia, pupu platters originated in Hawaii and were adopted by Chinese American restaurants.)

Sammy's Fancy Hat

2012-01-12T15:31:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Here's a better picture of Sammy's fancy hat. I happened to have scotch tape and a stapler in my purse to work with.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-12T15:29:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We got into Knoxville & walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. While waiting for a table, Henry & I walked to Big Lots to see if we could get some fancy hats & fizzy drinks to celebrate the New Year. No luck. They had closed maybe a half hour before we reached their door. We ended up improvising. Brooke used the towels from the bathroom to make some hats and I found one copy of the local paper still in the newspaper machine to make some more. Our fizzy drinks were courtesy of the vending machine. Sprite's a good drink to toast the new year, right?

In the picture, the guys are looking on their PDAs to see if they can find an actual 2012 countdown from an earlier time zone. (Yes, we rang in the new year at 10pm along with such places as Greenland and Brazil. But we used the London countdown to do it.)

I stayed up until midnight, waking Henry to take him downstairs and see the ball drop in Times Square. (Weird...my fingers typed "Times Quest". I think I've been thinking about MagiQuest too much lately...)

Florida Welcome Center

2012-01-12T10:43:00.001-05:00

Florida Welcome Center
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center on the way out of town. I wasn't going to miss out on my free juice! :)

Last Night in Florida

2012-01-11T01:12:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We went to Pier Point for dinner on Friday and wandered through the shops once again. I went with Sammy & our friends through the mirror maze there. It was better than I imagined it would be and they had fun dance music inside. Each time we came out, they told us to turn around and find our way back through the maze. We had to have gloves on and walk with our hands outstretched so we wouldn't walk into mirrors.

We got back in time to see the end of the light and music show one more time. (We saw the whole thing Thursday night...I'm not sure that I mentioned that. We were all dancing on the balcony to the music.)

Sunset

2012-01-10T11:27:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Here we are in front of the sunset the last night in Florida. It was nice to look out the window in the morning and see the sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico.

Hot Tub

2012-01-10T11:25:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We came back from the beach and went to the hot tub. Well...I dropped Sammy off at the apartment with Mike, then headed down to the hot tub. Someone was smoking a cigar in there (ugh!), so I waited on the side for him to be done. Henry then decided that he was done, so I spent maybe two minutes in there. The pool next to the hot tub is their "heated" pool. Notice the almost complete lack of people in that pool. I don't know that their heaters were working.

Mr. Sandman

2012-01-09T13:33:00.001-05:00

Mr. Sandman
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We made a sand snowman with a pinecone nose as well. :)

Sand Chair

2012-01-09T13:30:00.001-05:00

Sand Chair
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Sammy also watched our friend Matt make a chair out of sand and thought that was the coolest thing ever. Sammy made his own at the ledge where the sand level dropped off.

Sammy's Sand Castle

2012-01-09T13:27:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Sammy didn't really go in the water, either. He spent a lot of time building a sand castle with me. It's his favorite thing to do on the beach.

Beach Day

2012-01-08T20:54:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The last day that we were in Florida was finally in the 70s, so we put on swimsuits and headed to the beach. The water was still too cold for me to want to swim, but the boys could handle it.

Solving the Maze

2012-01-08T10:49:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

After minigolf, I joined the boys in the maze at Coconut Creek. The boys split into teams by family & I was left on my own. After a period of waving to each other from the various check-in towers, the boys found each other and formed a 4-person team to finish up the maze.

Minigolf

2012-01-07T21:38:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

In the morning, Brooke & Matt took the boys to Ripley's while Mike & I did a walk on the beach. Then after lunch, Mike & I took the kids to play minigolf at Coconut Creek. (Their website plays music. :P ) It's the same place Mike & Matt took them the previous day -- the tickets were good for unlimited golf and trips through the maze until 5pm the day after they were purchased.

The instant after the picture was taken, Sammy hit his head on one of the alligator's teeth while taking his head out of its mouth. That aside, you can see almost all of the places we went to during our week in Florida from this picture. The big building on the left in the distance has our apartment. Ripley's is the ship in front of the apartment. WonderWorks is the upside-down building.

Laser Tag

2012-01-07T12:38:00.001-05:00

Laser Tag
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

After the ropes course, the boys got suited up to go play laser tag. The place assigned the boys names. Henry was Rocky, Sammy was Hawk, Zane was Raven, and Will was Thorax. Raven beat everyone else playing, but the other boys didn't do so poorly, either. Henry and Sammy both enjoyed their first time playing. Brooke & I went back to the apartment and the dads took the boys to play minigolf.

Free ticket!

2012-01-06T13:17:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

This picture shows how high off the ground we were. Henry & Sammy stuck together in the arcade while I finished up the course while watching them. Henry didn't have any money to play games (because I'm mean), but he was able to find enough abandoned tickets to get a Starburst candy for him and his brother to share. (I think it usually cost 15 tickets, but the lady gave it to him for 10. "They're really nice here, Mom!")

Henry on the Ropes Course

2012-01-06T13:13:00.001-05:00

Henry on the Ropes Course
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

My brave Henry made it across four bridges of the ropes course before calling it quits. (I think part of that was the lure of the video games below us.)

Sammy on Ropes Course

2012-01-06T12:40:00.001-05:00

Sammy on Ropes Course
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

After all the hands-on activities at WonderWorks, we tried out their ropes course. I was so proud of Sammy for being able to cross the bridge in the picture. He made it back across the other way and decided that he was done. (I would have understood even if he decided that he would rather not cross any of the bridges. I think the only thing that allowed me to complete most of the course was the need to show my boys that I could accomplish it. Somehow that took away my fear.)

Mindball

2012-01-06T03:31:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

This was probably my favorite activity at WonderWorks -- Mindball. The person who is calmer wins. Henry lost every time. He's got too many things to think about at any given moment. (I lost as well. I'm not so good at being relaxed.)

Ben Franklin staircase

2012-01-05T00:58:00.001-05:00

Ben Franklin staircase
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Here are the boys at the top of the Ben Franklin staircase in WonderWorks. The museum was big on optical illusions, including several paintings on the wall mounted on three-dimensional surfaces so they looked like they moved as you did.

WonderWorks

2012-01-04T08:44:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

On the second day of our vacation, Brooke & I took the kids to WonderWorks. I was really impressed by the quality of activities inside. It's basically a hands-on science museum, albeit pricey.

Pier Point

2012-01-03T22:10:00.001-05:00

Christmas2011 064
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We were finally able to drag the boys away from the TV to go explore Pier Point, a cute strip mall in Panama City Beach. (There's a Target & JCPenney at the end of it, but we didn't go that far.) Plenty of nice shops. The Polka-dots store was my favorite -- lots of old toys.

The Box

2012-01-03T11:43:00.001-05:00

Christmas2011 062
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

This was the usual view of our room during the week. The boys were glued to SpongeBob. Brooke & I found a box in the hallway and brought it into the room for the boys. They loved playing with it. Sammy made it into a spaceship, and the other boys used it as an isolation chamber or to pretend it was a present. It's amazing how many things a box can become.

We had dinner the night we arrived at a Thai place called Ketana. The food was delicious, but one of the typical Florida downpours occurred just as we were getting ready to walk back to our hotel.

Beach Time

2012-01-03T02:20:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Do you notice that the boys here are all wearing jackets with their bare feet? I'm not completely convinced that the temperatures had reached into the 60s the first day we were in Florida, but the boys were determined to play in the sand.

Trip to Florida...Second Day on the Road

2012-01-02T12:06:00.001-05:00

Christmas2011 051
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We stopped at McDonalds for lunch on the way down and the boys got a chance to work off some steam in the playplace there. There was a little girl who kept on calling all the kids "elves" and telling them they had to get back to working on toys. Santa found a real taskmaster in her.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-02T09:48:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We went to Mark and Mariella's house for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which worked out well and hopefully didn't stress Mark and Mariella too much. Henry had a good time playing with Rose and her new tea set. He's pretty good with babies. Both boys got remote controlled cars, which they played with for a while.

We left for Knoxville, Tennessee at 4pm on Christmas Day. Fortunately for us, we had pretty mild weather for traveling. We met up with our friends in Knoxville & headed down to Panama City Beach the following day (Sammy's half birthday :) ).

Great Lakes Science Center

2012-01-02T02:45:00.001-05:00

Great Lakes Science Center
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Busy, busy, busy time lately. Our Christmas break started a few days early -- we pulled the kids from school on Thursday and Friday to visit with my family a few extra days before Christmas. On Friday, we took them to the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, then had latkes with Mike's aunt, uncle, and cousins. When we got back from that, my sisters, mom & I did a marathon pierogi-making session while watching old episodes of The Storyteller. I was happy not to have to make pierogies by myself this year.

The Great Lakes Science Center was featuring an exhibit about fears. We discovered that we still had quite a ways to go before facing them.

Lucas the fish

2011-12-21T10:57:00.001-05:00

Sammy was begging and begging for a pet. For months, he showed us how responsible he could be -- always quick to pick things up and doing chores before being asked. Mike got him a fish, which he named Lucas. (It was going to be named Goldeen, but somehow the name changed on the way home.) Sammy was excited and bubbly about the whole thing. Lucas the fish lasted five days at our house, poor fish. Sammy's going to be pretty sad about it. Fare thee well, fish.

Teacher gifts

2011-12-20T23:07:00.001-05:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Also done...teacher gifts. I made two of the banners pictured here, two sets of the ornaments pictured, and another two sets of the nativity ornaments that I usually make this time of year. I've been very, very tired lately. Sammy also decided that his star student week had to be this week, since his half birthday is the day after Christmas. I'm glad the sewing portion of the holidays is over for now.

Cookies...done!

2011-12-20T23:05:00.001-05:00

DSC08509
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Christmas cookies are done and frosted. Sammy's been begging to make gingerbread since this summer. I think it's mostly because he loves being able to decorate them.

The Redcoats

2011-12-04T21:07:00.001-05:00

Sammy's obsession with the Revolutionary War has now become an obsession with England. He did a whole PowerPoint presentation on it and is demanding that we exchange some of his money for English pounds. He also wants a red coat that looks like the one from the British soldier in the Revolutionary War that he can wear in the winter.

(He loved using PowerPoint so much that he's now making another report about Israel.)

Henry's Space Derby Rocket

2011-12-01T01:22:00.001-05:00

Henry's Space Derby Rocket
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Henry went with the more traditional patriotic colors. (Reminiscent of France's flag, but that's not what he intended.)

Rocket Derby -- Sammy's Rocket

2011-12-01T01:13:00.001-05:00

DSC08477
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Here's Sammy's rocket for this year's cub scout Rocket Derby. He's had a slight obsession with money lately. That, and the Redcoats and the Revolutionary War in general.

2011-11-13T20:48:00.001-05:00

It's now been over ten years since I've started my blog. My life is definitely much different than when I started this blog (right after my honeymoon), especially since having kids and retiring from Kodak. There has been a bit of sadness, but a lot more joy to balance everything out. I am fortunate to have a wonderful family and a great set of friends that are like family to me.

I'm having surgery to remove my gallbladder on Tuesday. I'm a little nervous about it, but it's such a routine procedure that it shouldn't really be a problem. The number of people that have offered to help us out while I recover is overwhelming. It's nice to feel loved. :) (And it will be nice to feel healthier than I have been lately.) The tough part will be having to sit around and recover. I'm not so good at that.

Remembering

2011-11-10T20:27:00.001-05:00

When Dad died, I wrote lots of little phrases in a notebook of stories and times that I wanted to remember. I just found that notebook again. Some of the things I've already blogged about, but I figured I'd just put everything up here all at once.

the cars he had
his love of vacations
how he couldn't resist getting toys for his grandkids, especially if they played music
LKK & GPJ (license plates from our cars. We said them like they were the names of the cars. Mom remembered the second one because it was the first initials of her brothers.)
going to the Fatima Shrine
visiting mints and federal reserve banks
trips to D.C.
visiting Fr. Kissel in Atlanta
many family vacations in Salt Fork -- the holes in the screened-in porches, dealing with gophers, bats & skunks, Dad always bringing his golf clubs
ducking down in the car so that hotel staff wouldn't see how many kids we had in the car (and sneaking up to the room with our sleeping bags after we got the key)
how he waved (bending his hand at the wrist)
his warm blue eyes
going to get pizza with him after the regional spelling bee
many trips to Chuck E. Cheese's, where he show off his mad Skee Ball skills
going to Indians games, sitting in the nosebleed seats, getting there in time for the free giveaways (we had a lot of wooden baseball bats from the games), thinking we were special whenever we got to sit in the loge seats
Dad's version of "roughing it" -- the cabins at state parks. I didn't go tent camping until college.
going to see MSU, learning the fight song and getting Sparky's autograph
visiting Coshocton -- the Mosser glass factory and the canal boat ride pulled by horses
shoveling the driveway with him
working the concession stand at Bingo. We used to pretend that everything outside the windows of the concession stand was a movie. We also loved to make "mixed drinks" (adding all the flavors of pop together).
working Saturday rentals at Chanel. Mark & I would work the coat check for weddings, reverse raffles and reunions. (I'm still not sure why they chose a pink linoleum for the floors of their cafeteria.)
using the copy machine to copy a leaf in Dad's office. The leaf was from a plant his secretary owned and Dad made me apologize to her. He was pretty mad.
getting excited about having enough money to buy Chanel sweatshirts in the bookstore.
building the clubhouse behind our house. Dad & Grandpa Szczepanik worked on it together & I would take my wagon down to the new houses and pick up pieces of scrap wood to use for the pathway.
seeing people that knew Dad in Florida. We always felt like he was so famous. He was good at keeping in touch with old alumni from the high school.
having season passes to Sea World. I think we had all the shows memorized, but we still loved to go. We were impressed whenever we noticed them changing their scripts up a bit as they acted. We also thought the laser show at the end of the night was one of the best things ever.
sparklers and Morning Glories on summer holiday nights. Dad loved sparklers.
softball -- both watching him play (which I remember only vaguely) and having him help me learn how to play. He was always willing to play a game of catch with me.
having him be a fan at my softball and volleyball games.
seeing how he took care of everybody.
going on shopping trips with Grandma Szczepanik and Auntie Sally every week.
heading to Pennsylvania every year before the school year started just to buy shoes at the outlet store.
back-to-school shopping in general. That man loved his notebook paper.
trips to Sams Club.
getting letters in college that he typed
laughing because he could fall asleep anywhere
going on college tours with him
trips to Put-in-Bay
choosing a fresh cut Christmas tree every year that we cut ourselves
seeing him clean the chandeliers as a priority before every party
looking through the Oriental Trading Company catalog, wondering what he would order for giveaways for Bingo or prizes for the Carnival
the wind-up alarm clock he always used
his love of Easter lamb cakes
sharing a love of musicals
looking through his Advertising Age magazines or watching TV shows about commercials
lots of fruit in the house, especially bananas
the old-fashioned washer/dryer at grandma's house
grandma's attic and all the old toys that used to belong to Dad and his brothers
the Beethoven's 2nd movie about the slobbery dogs
his bumblebee shirts
golfing, bowling and playing putt-putt
lilies at Easter
flowers for Mother's Day
poinsettias for Christmas
reseeding the lawn at Grandma & Auntie Sally's houses
the Gameshow Network
Wheel of Fortune
The Price Is Right
family portraits at Olan Mills
having him help us be big sellers during the magazine drives
trips to Marc's
haggling in Mexico
"It doesn't hurt to ask."
his voice when he answered the phone
driving along the freeway, looking for our missing hubcap
whitewall tires
the fake ferns that we put out to make the cafeteria look nicer during rentals. We had to put the fronds in and take them out every time. (Fake plants have progressed a lot since then. I wonder if they even sell plants that have separate fronds anymore.)
the Christmas store on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk
the t-shirt store in Virginia Beach that would iron your design onto whatever color shirt you chose.

That's all of the ones I wrote down. I reserve the right to tell the stories again and again. Some of them are my favorite ones to tell. :)

Sammy Plays Angry Birds

2011-11-07T21:06:00.001-05:00

Sammy Plays Angry Birds
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Saturday, Mike took Henry to a cub scout "Pin University", while Sammy & I met up with my brother-in-law, his wife & my nephew at the Strong Museum. Before they got there, Sammy had a chance to test out the Angry Birds game (and loved it). He also had a good time going around with Graham, playing with whatever Graham was interested in.

Costumes 2011

2011-11-07T12:12:00.001-05:00

Costumes 2011
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Here are the costumes of the year. Sammy was Iron Man & Henry was Thor. Mike was Wolverine and I was an owl (brown hooded sweatshirt, lots of felt feathers). The boys were disappointed that I wasn't a superhero as well, but I needed a costume that could be worn to school and they don't exactly have women's superhero costumes that fit that criteria. (There aren't many costumes in general for women that fit that criteria. What happened to selling costumes that go past mid-thigh?)

Henry carves his pumpkin

2011-11-07T09:11:00.001-05:00

Henry carves his pumpkin
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Having the boys carve outside definitely cut down on the mess inside. :) I'm glad that things warmed up & that it didn't rain (or snow!)

Sammy carves his pumpkin

2011-11-07T09:05:00.001-05:00

Sammy carves his pumpkin
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

I'm finally getting toward my Halloween pictures. The weather on Halloween weekend (and since, really) was gorgeous, so the boys took their pumpkins outside to carve them. I let them carve their own pumpkin faces for the first time this year (after scooping out the pumpkin guts myself -- they were less thrilled about doing that part of the job.)

George Washington

2011-11-04T21:49:00.001-04:00

Sammy is absolutely obsessed with George Washington today. He was insisting that I make him a George Washington costume for next year's Halloween and suggested that I go and buy a wig for him today. When I went into school, his teacher told me that he was part of a group of kids that were playing Patriots versus Redcoats on the playground. He's also drawn a series of pictures with George Washington as the hero and bad things happening to King George III.

Annivesary Cake

2011-10-25T12:39:00.001-04:00

DSC08348
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

I wanted to make a cake with a sort of timeline of our marriage for Mike as part of his present. As soon as I started putting icing on it, the hecklers started. Every couple words, Henry would interrupt me with a comment. I thought he was complimenting me when he asked if he could take a picture of the cake. Then he followed up with asking if he could put the cake on Cake Wrecks. (And, yes, he asked the question before I misspelled "Anniversary".)

Pumpkin Day!

2011-10-25T12:34:00.001-04:00

DSC08346
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The boys & I went to Wickham Farms to get our pumpkins and get out of the house. Don't be fooled by Henry's winter coat -- the weather was quite nice.

Glasses for Sammy

2011-10-25T11:28:00.001-04:00

DSC08340
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Sammy now has glasses. The frames he picked out are pretty similar to the ones that Mike has.

Happy 10th Anniversary!

2011-10-25T10:25:00.001-04:00

DSC08331
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Last Thursday was Mike's and my tenth wedding anniversary. Mike took the day off & we had a nice day. We ate breakfast at Bagel Bin, where we've spent many a meal (especially after the boys came along), wandered around Lamberton Conservatory (a great place to go on a gloomy, rainy day) and walked some of the paths in Highland Park, ate lunch at Richardson's Canal House (where Mike proposed 11 years ago, on the same date that our wedding fell), then had dinner with the boys at Sak's Thai. It was a very good day. :)

Popcorn Sale

2011-10-16T16:39:00.001-04:00

Popcorn Sale
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The annual cub scout popcorn sale is going on this month. Some local stores were nice enough to let the boys set up a table to try and get people to buy from them. It helps cut down on the door-to-door stuff the boys need to do. Unfortunately, it was pretty chilly today for them to stand in one place for four hours. I brought them hot chocolate when I was done with my Wilton demo of the day.

Wavelengths

2011-10-15T21:23:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

This exhibit on wavelengths was Henry's favorite. I'm not sure how much he really understood it, but he liked making the patterns with the plastic pebbles.

Canal boat

2011-10-15T21:22:00.001-04:00

DSC08320
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The boys had a half day of school on Friday, so I took them to the Rochester Museum and Science Center that afternoon. We went with our neighbors across the street and Greta & her kids.

Baby chick

2011-10-15T19:02:00.001-04:00

Picture
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Henry's always happy to get to hold baby animals. The first time we went through this barn, there was no one on duty, so we made sure that we went through when we saw an attendant.

Stokoe Farms

2011-10-15T19:01:00.001-04:00

Stokoe Farms
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

On Monday, the boys and I headed to Stokoe Farms, the best pumpkin place in the Rochester area (at least for the big kids). The only event that we skipped was the zip line with the 45-minute wait. Once again, the weather was summer-y.

Clambake

2011-10-15T18:19:00.001-04:00

October 028
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The weekend we had the bear was the weekend we headed down to Cleveland for the annual family clambake. It's always nice to see so many relatives at once. :) It also helped that we had *gorgeous* weather for it. Sammy & I were wearing sweaters when we arrived -- thank goodness we brought short-sleeved shirts as well! The boys enjoyed playing with Rose and my cousins' children. Sammy & Rose were crawling around, pretending to be snakes. (Rose was trying to catch Sammy.) Henry played bowling with Jake and Collin. That night, we sat around and watched the fire for a bit. It was also a great night for stargazing! Henry had brought a couple of our books and was happy to find some constellations out of them.

Sammy & Ella at bowling

2011-10-15T18:13:00.001-04:00

Sammy & Ella at bowling
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Last Friday, Sammy came home with the "class mascot," Ella the Bear. We were instructed to take her everywhere with us. Even though there have only been a few weeks of school so far, this bear has many accessories from the girls in the class that keep taking her to Build-a-Bear. It's pretty crazy. It also made it so that Sammy was a little less eager to take her places since her accessories seemed so excessively girly. Even so, he enjoyed having her at bowling. I was commanded to brush her fur while he bowled.

2011-10-05T20:36:00.002-04:00

I've been posting a lot about Sammy lately, but Henry's making his own news too -- he was elected to Student Council for his class. His teacher said that the kids overwhelmingly wanted him to represent them. (He was a little disappointed that he didn't get the Treasurer position he wanted, though.)

Sammy and his Greg Heffley Pumpkin

2011-10-04T15:23:00.001-04:00

Sammy and His Greg Heffley Pumpkin
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The finished pumpkin for school.

Fixing Greg's Ear

2011-10-04T15:16:00.001-04:00

Fixing Greg's Ear
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Sammy concentrates hard on getting Greg's ear the right shape. As you can see, we painted the circle on the (fake) pumpkin, then glued on a paper nose & ear. We used pipe cleaners for his hair. (Strangely enough, I couldn't find any black pipe cleaners in the house, so I had to use a black Sharpie on some tiger-striped ones.)

Starting the Wimpy Kid Pumpkin

2011-10-04T14:59:00.001-04:00

Starting the Wimpy Kid Pumpkin
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Sammy's class was given the assignment to decorate a pumpkin to look like a book character. As you can tell from his shirt, he's a big fan of the Wimpy Kid books.

Pumpkin cupcake

2011-10-04T00:38:00.001-04:00

Pumpkin cupcake
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Another cupcake from the demo. I think I do a variation of this one every year. :) The Halloween demo is always my favorite one since I really dig Halloween cupcakes. :)

Halloween Monster Cupcakes

2011-10-04T00:35:00.001-04:00

Halloween Monster Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The weekend after the conference, I was doing Wilton stuff once again, this time demoing Halloween cupcakes. I had a lot of young fans helping me out -- I would let them decorate their own mini monster cupcake using pull-out stars, fondant & candy eyes. (Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to let them take or eat the cupcakes they decorated, but they seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless.)

Stargazer Lily

2011-10-04T00:32:00.001-04:00

Stargazer Lily
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Close-up of the stargazer lily

Gum Paste Flowers

2011-10-04T00:31:00.001-04:00

Gum Paste Flowers
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

These are the flowers we made during a Wilton Instructor conference introducing us to the newest class -- Advanced Gum Paste Flowers. I'm pretty thrilled with how they turned out. :)

Glasses for Sammy

2011-09-29T00:57:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure why I was surprised by it, but it turns out that Sammy needs glasses. I was hoping that he would luck out and have his father's genes rather than mine for eyesight and wait until he was in 7th grade or so. Expect a new look for him around the middle of October!

Couch in the hallway

2011-09-27T22:01:00.001-04:00

Picture 004
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We got new couches for our family room. In order to make space for the new couches, we needed to find somewhere to put the old ones. We had big plans to put them both upstairs, so we started with the bigger couch. Despite carrying it upstairs twice and trying every which angle, it just wouldn't fit past the top step into the upstairs. I think it was just a way to get me to want to let go of it...I was pretty happy when it left our house after all that craziness. Sammy will miss the pillows, though.

School bus

2011-09-21T11:38:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

See? They got on the bus and everything.

After they got on the bus, I did my traditional stop at a coffee shop. I was pleasantly surprised to see my friends already there, even though I didn't get a chance to email them an invite before the year started.

First Day of School

2011-09-21T11:36:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

And look! I did send my kids to school this year. I'm just late with posting the picture of them.

Donut!

2011-09-21T11:35:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

I've now got to pull out the apple recipes I've got lying around somewhere so that we can go through all our apples. We've also got a lot of cherry tomatoes that I need to figure out how to use.

Apple Picking

2011-09-21T11:33:00.001-04:00

Picture 004
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Life has finally calmed down enough (for now) that I can post on what we've been doing for the past week.

The day before school started, we went to pick apples. (Strangely enough, this is exactly what we did last year the day before school started.)

2011-09-17T22:49:00.000-04:00

I went to see the Green Lantern movie today. It was one of those movies that tried my suspension of disbelief past its limits. The movie began with a long description of who the bad guy was and how he was imprisoned. It reminded me of the movie Cave Dwellers (which I saw in MST3K form), which features a long summary of all the previous movies starring the hero.

I also couldn't get past the oath that the main character had to say to become a Green Lantern, which, after doing some research, is the one they use in the comic book:

In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!

It's really difficult to say a poem like that and not have it sound like it's made up by a fourth grader. I kept on thinking of lines that could have been used in it:

Gosh, these undies are really tight!
That "Good Times" show is dyno-mite!
Your toothpaste makes your teeth so white!
We must address our urban blight!
Hand me another pizza bite!
That rabid dog put up a fight!
Boy, that was a bumpy flight!

Even more minigolf

2011-09-12T09:57:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

On the last day of vacation, Henry was upset because we didn't play enough minigolf over the summer. (I think it was mostly panic over realizing how soon the school year was starting. I understand the feeling.) We made sure that we'd be able to head to the Solon Golf Dome during our stop in Cleveland on the way home.

Garden Quest

2011-09-11T22:14:00.001-04:00

Garden Quest
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

After Crabby Mike's, we departed to visit Broadway at the Beach one last time. MagiQuest had an outdoor hunt set up for statues that would react to the wands, so we went around, visiting stores and waving our wands at things.

After Broadway at the Beach, we headed back to the resort to pack for our northward journey the following day.

Crabby Mike's

2011-09-10T20:52:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

After the beach, we got cleaned up & headed to dinner at Crabby Mike's Seafood Buffet. 120 food items on their buffet, including pizza & hot dogs for the kids. Henry thought it was the best food of the entire vacation. (Considering that we ate mostly peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, it may have been. :) ) He loved that they had clams to eat. I liked the interior decorations -- they made it look like a seaside town, complete with gulls "flying" overhead.

Sand Castle

2011-09-10T01:46:00.001-04:00

sandcastle
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Thursday, we returned to MagiQuest. You will be happy to know that I completed enough quests to be called a Master Magi. I also found enough gold coins in treasure chests to be able to earn a personal pan pizza.

After MagiQuest, Mike & I met up with Mike's friend Patrick, who moved down to SC a couple months ago. We went back to Broadway at the Beach, had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, then wandered in & out of the stores there. There was a neat candy store called It'Sugar, an 80s store called Retro Active, and a neat t-shirt store called The Stupid Factory.

Friday was our day to take in the sites one last time. We started out at the beach, where Sammy & I made this sand castle and sand dragon. It actually became more elaborate as we added shells to the roof of the castle, as well as a sand turtle and a sand SpongeBob.

2011-09-09T20:58:00.001-04:00

I found my Mt. Atlanticus scorecard. It reads:

Welcome to Mt. Atlanticus

At 2:37 p.m., July 2, 1998, a land mass suddenly appeared some two miles out to sea from the old Myrtle Beach Pavilion site.

Two days later, the mass had settled itself atop the old Chapin Company department store, two blocks from the ocean. You will see unimpeachable evidence that the mass was a miniature-golf island resort, some 50,000 years old, which had broken away from the sunken continent of Atlantis and inched its way to the United States over thousands of years.

With your own eyes you'll see the electrifying evidence that is completely revising the history of ancient civilizations. This evidence incontrovertibly proves many ancient legends to be true and certain modern mysteries - UFOs and the abominable snowman, etc. - are well-founded and probably real.

You will also find two miniature golf courses, each more exciting, sophisticated, and fun than any other on the planet.

Levee

2011-09-09T17:01:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Later that Wednesday, Sammy & I went with our friends to the flea market and then to the beach. Sammy was determined to build a sand castle a little too close to the ocean. He decided the best way to handle it was to build a wall around his castle.

While Sammy fought the ocean, I flew one of the kites that I brought out to the end of its string. It was the perfect weather for kite flying. :)

Outdoor Pool

2011-09-09T09:30:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We spent Wednesday relaxing in the outdoor pool. Sammy made great strides in his swimming confidence over the week, so much so that he really enjoyed participating in the resort's "Diving for Treasure" activity (diving for pennies). He may have only gotten two pennies, but they were hard-earned ones. :)

2011-09-08T20:50:00.001-04:00

And, for the record, minigolf courses often have blue water because the blue dye reduces the number of unwanted plants that grow in that water.

Mt. Atlanticus

2011-09-08T20:45:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Tuesday was minigolf day. After cheering our ducks on in a race around the lazy river, we headed out to Mt. Atlanticus Minotaur Goff, possibly the coolest minigolf course that I've seen. I love the way they describe it on the back of their scorecards. (Can't find it right now, but maybe when it shows up...) The paintings and sculptures on the course show things like aliens frolicking with Bigfoot and the concrete trail from one hole to the next had lots of differently-sized footprints from mythic beasts.

Wizard Bob

2011-09-08T09:46:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Sammy's wizard name was Bob, and Henry's was Glomsh.

MagiQuest

2011-09-08T09:44:00.001-04:00

MagiQuest
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The following day, we headed toward Broadway at the Beach to take in a little Magiquest. (Warning...the website looks like it's one that makes noise.) Broadway at the Beach is a more upscale tourist area than the boardwalk was. They have the usual restaurants you'd expect from touristy cities -- Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe, and places like that, several frozen yogurt places, minigolf, and other stores. It reminds me a lot of Downtown Disney without any of the Disney stores. (Which surprises me. You'd figure they'd want in on the tourist action.)

I really enjoyed MagiQuest. Sure it was silly, goofy, and overpriced. Yes, they really needed to dust off their fake trees. I liked having a magic wand that would make things sparkle and talk to me. I liked the thrill of finishing a "quest" by running around and finding all the things they wanted me to find. The collaboration between players was also nice to see. Lots of people would see you walking around, looking lost, and point you in the right direction. All the characters where you had to finish your quest were on big television screens and would react when you turned in the things that you needed for your quest.

The boys enjoyed the Magi duels after we got out of there. I thought they were a little too tough to understand how they worked. But I made Sammy's day by having him beat me. :)

Skee Ball

2011-09-08T08:44:00.001-04:00

Skee Ball
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Sunday night, we headed for the Myrtle Beach boardwalk, a collection of shops that sell shells and beach towels and whatnot to tourists. I love places like that. :) Mike tolerates those shops for my sake. :) He took the boys to the arcade while I explored a couple. There's nothing like the traditional Skee Ball game to make Henry happy. :)

Surfside Beach

2011-09-07T21:49:00.001-04:00

Surfside Beach
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We headed into Hurricane Irene...sort of. We woke up early, headed for Richmond, then jogged west a bit more for our route. The worst of the storm that we saw was in Richmond -- the trees were being blown around like crazy & there were sheets of rain coming down. After that, things weren't so bad. Somehow the route that we used had us going ten miles in one direction on very country roads, turning, then going ten miles perpendicular to that route on more very country roads. We were glared at by people running a gas station/store when we went in to use their bathrooms. That place was probably the most colorful of our stops. I had never seen an entire jawbone for sale before.

When we got to the resort, our first destination was the (world's smallest) lazy river. Somehow the boys got way ahead of me, even with me trying to paddle the little tube faster toward them. :)

The following day, we packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and headed for the beach. Despite both my boys having to face some of their greatest fears (Sammy with hurricanes and Henry with jellyfish (no, we didn't see any)), they really enjoyed themselves at the beach. Henry discovered that he really loves going boogie boarding.

And all kids with us watched many, many hours of SpongeBob while we were there. The adults, on the other hand, were dedicated to House Hunters, where wealthy people have to choose between three houses hundred thousands of dollars more expensive than any price we'd spend on a home.

One Million Dollars

2011-09-07T03:32:00.001-04:00

One Million Dollars
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

At the Bureau of Engraving & Printing -- Henry with one million dollars (in ten dollar bills, I think...)

After seeing the money being printed, we walked to the International Spy Museum, discovered that they charge admission (they're not run by the Smithsonian), and decided to see the National Archives. Sammy has an obsession with the founding fathers, so he appreciated seeing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

We met up with our friends at the National Museum of Natural History, where we visited with the dinosaur bones once again, as well as viewing the geology exhibit (they even had a case containing Herkimer diamonds from New York).

We took in a bit of the Jazz in the Garden show in the Sculpture Garden while we ate dinner (hot dogs from a street vendor), then boarded the Metro to the hotel so we'd be rested up for our drive to South Carolina the following day, especially considering that we'd be driving into the hurricane.

Truck Farm

2011-09-06T23:11:00.001-04:00

Truck Farm
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We got off the Metro on Friday at the Department of Agriculture and discovered that they have a farmers market on Fridays. It made for a relatively inexpensive breakfast. :) They also had tents set up with activities for kids -- making seed strips with flour glue, strips of newspaper, and seeds; a garden scavenger hunt; and the Truck Farm, a truck with a garden in the back that goes to urban schools to teach kids about healthy eating.

After the unexpected stop at the Department of Agriculture, we went to the Bureau of Engraving to go on the money-printing tour. (I had remembered going on that one when I was young and wanted to relive it.) We had about an hour and a half before we were able to get in. It's free, but you need tickets to enter since they only let a few people on the tour at a time.

National Mall

2011-09-06T17:02:00.001-04:00

National Mall
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We found our way to the Mall and walked around. The Washington Monument was closed because of damage that occurred during the earthquake earlier in the week. There were fences all around it and the park rangers said it would take up to a year to fix all the problems. (There's an interesting website here that describes the monument -- it's the world's largest freestanding stone structure, and was the world's tallest building when it was constructed.)

We walked from the Washington Monument to the World War II Memorial and then on to the Lincoln Memorial. The boys kept on talking about how the statue would make a really cool robot if it started walking around. (When they weren't discussing Mario Brothers, that is.)

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was opened the weekend before we arrived, but we didn't get to see it. The ceremony for it was postponed due to the hurricane, though. The articles in the paper showed it to be huge.

On the way back, we walked past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was neat to see at night. (Actually, all the monuments at night are pretty cool.)

On the Metro

2011-09-06T12:46:00.001-04:00

Metro map
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We arrived in D.C. around 3 p.m., checked into our hotel and then headed out to catch the Metro train (a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel). We stopped in Chinatown and had Pho for dinner before beginning our trek around town.

Vacation!

2011-09-06T01:28:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We just got back from a trip to South Carolina. We woke up *really* early on Thursday to make the drive to our first stop, Washington, D.C. The drive was one of the easier trips that I remember, maybe because we were traveling with another car containing our friends and maybe because we started out with a relaxed attitude toward the trip. Well...almost relaxed. It didn't help that Hurricane Irene was baring down on our vacation destination. But we had hotel rooms booked in D.C. for a couple nights & we figured that we'd stay those nights and see how the weather held.

Grimes Glen

2011-08-25T02:23:00.001-04:00

grimes glen
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

My friend Sheryl gave me a call on Monday asking if I wanted to go on an adventure with her and her kids that afternoon. When she came to pick us up, we were told that we should bring swimsuits and water shoes. We traveled to Grimes Glen in Naples, near Canandaigua Lake. Unfortunately, my choice of flip flops as my water shoes proved a poor choice -- one of them tore and I was forced to follow everyone wearing one shoe. I'm glad we continued on, though. The falls were beautiful and the kids had such a good time. :)

Megaman cake

2011-08-24T19:48:00.001-04:00

Megaman cake
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Here's the Megaman cake. The enemies took the longest to make, but I like how they turned out. I cut out a 3x3" square of white fondant, marked off centimeters and did five tip 1 royal icing dots per centimeter. Then I trimmed around them and placed them on the cake.

9!

2011-08-24T19:46:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We also celebrated Henry's birthday this past weekend. Henry was eager to help out with decorating cupcakes. Since we were doing a video game playing party, I did Pac-Man cupcakes and a Megaman cake.

Swimming!

2011-08-24T11:05:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Mike took this picture of Sammy swimming at Philip's house with his fancy waterproof phone. We've certainly enjoyed having friends with pools. :)

More minigolf!

2011-08-24T11:01:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Mom, Mary & Grandma came up to visit for Henry's birthday and we took them and my in-laws to Sportworks to play minigolf. I would consider that minigolf course to be one that best represents my picture of a minigolf course -- cheesy obstacles and a very loose estimate of what "par" is on each course. Sammy liked the hole that had the kid's ride-on motorcycle as one of the obstacles.

Long Acre Farms

2011-08-24T02:58:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

It's amazing how much my boys have grown. We've gone to Long Acre for years and it's funny to think of how big this train used to seem compared to them.

More science!

2011-08-23T08:57:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

In Sammy's quest to do more experiments, we picked up a chemistry set and did litmus strip testing for many kitchen chemicals. I think the goggles that came with the set look vaguely like a superhero mask.

turtle

2011-08-23T08:54:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We followed up our Strong Museum visit with a visit to the zoo the next day. (For the record, people with passes to other zoos with reciprocal admission have to wait an hour later to enter than people with passes to the Seneca Park Zoo.) The sea lions were "talking" to Henry. They would swim around and bark whenever they got near him. Sammy thought it was pretty cool that they made the sea lions do handstands (flipperstands?) and things like that to get treats. The trainer explained that was so they could have an easier time when seeing the vet.

video games

2011-08-22T16:37:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

This was the boys' favorite part of the Strong Museum -- playing video games. (And when it's tied in with the Avengers, it's even more appealing to them.)

Strong Museum

2011-08-22T02:39:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

My brother, sister-in-law, and niece came up to visit. Since my niece just turned one, we thought it might be fun for her to see the Strong Museum. I'm pretty sure that we'll be making another visit there next time she comes to visit. :) (The picture is of Mark interrupting Henry's cooking show with a weather report.)

Minigolf!

2011-08-21T22:49:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

No summer would be complete without several rounds of minigolf. :) Wickham Farms tends to be our course of choice, and they've updated some of the holes (as well as added pitching machines so Henry can improve his batting). (And in case you're made curious by the question on the milk carton in the picture, the bushy tip of a cow's tail is called a switch.)

Niagara Falls

2011-08-19T11:58:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

We were close enough to the falls while at the dam that it seemed silly to head back home without at least visiting the American side.

Lewiston Powerplant

2011-08-19T11:46:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

The boys & I headed toward Buffalo to meet up with Mike's parents and visit the Lewiston Powerplant. They have a nice (free!) museum with lots of hands on activities about generating and saving electricity. They also have a bit about the history of the area. 550 acres of land used for the power plant was seized from the Turscarora tribe's reservation. Small wonder why they have the "preserve Indian treaties" signs near the Thruway.

Turkey Leg

2011-08-19T11:26:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

Horse ride notwithstanding, the highlight of any visit to the Renaissance Festival for the boys is the chance to eat a turkey leg. Sammy wasn't too sure about trying it to begin with, but after a bite wanted a whole leg to himself.

Riding

2011-08-19T11:14:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

After riding the hobby horse through the course, Henry was offered a chance to ride one of the knights' horses into the jousting field for the actual "knighting".

Renaissance Festival

2011-08-19T11:04:00.001-04:00

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Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

I took the boys to the Renaissance Festival. It ended up being Highlander Weekend, so there were quite a few bagpipes and kilts there. Henry was practicing his "Renaissance accent" the whole time. :) He also took part in the "knighting" they had for kids. The picture is of Sir Henry and his trusty steed, Bob.

Science!

2011-08-12T03:22:00.001-04:00

Picture 141
Originally uploaded by zedthezonk

I mentioned in my last post about Sammy's Wizard's Magic camp at the science museum. We were pretty excited about it because Henry really enjoyed it when he went through it. Sammy enjoyed it, but wasn't as thrilled with the prospect of having to be unavailable to his friends and brother for a full week. It also wasn't really so much about teaching the kids how to do magic tricks as discussing parts of Harry Potter. Henry finished his week with a magic show, but Sammy came home with a "magic broomstick" (named the Broom 2000) and herbs taped to a piece of cardboard. He told me some story about each herb having magical powers, like being able to shrink heads.

One of the positive things to come out of the week was that Sammy has rekindled his love of science. The bottle of blue foamy stuff in the picture is the result of the old-fashioned vinegar & baking soda reaction. We've also pulled out the microscopes to look at lots of things. Sammy keeps requesting that we "do more science," so we're going to find more experiments to play with.