The One Where We Went to Plymouth

This past week, we visited Plimoth Plantation for the first time. It was a lot of fun! It was the first time Brie and Kiff had ever been there. We visited the Plantation on the first day - it was great - and we even met two Pilgrim ladies that talked about life in Plymouth. We visited the Wampanoag site and went into a home. We stayed overnight, and visited the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock the next day. We capped off our adventure by eating at Nicole's Cafe on the Plymouth waterfront...it was great.

Here's what we thought.

Kiff
Favorite Part: Stopping at McDonalds
What question I still have: How the Native Americans go the bathroom?
Interesting to see: How they dressed up.

Brie
Favorite Part: Mayflower
What question I still have:  How did the animals survive the trip?
Interesting to see: In Native American homesite, I liked how they made the food and made the canoes.

Dad
Favorite Part: Seeing Brie and Kiff see it for the first time.
What question I still have: Was it really as cold as it felt on the Mayflower? It was chilly.
Interesting to see: The Native American homesite seemed bigger; the new construction of a Pilgrim house.

Mom
Favorite Part: Exploring the Mayflower and the historical sites
What question I still have:  The Native American and colonial kids games.
Interesting to see:

The One Where We Go to School Every Night

Phew!

What a busy week. This was the week of "Night School."  Each day in the middle of the week had a different event related to Bri or Kiff's school.

Tuesday night was Bri's art show. It was a lot of fun. The students put on a choral performance in the gym, which was fun to see. Then, scattered throughout the building were pieces of art they had made. Bri's included a spring scene and owl art.

Wednesday night brought us to the high school. There, it was time of Kiff's parent orientation for kindergarten. Wow. That was wild! It was hard to believe that he is going to kindergarten. It was funny being "second-timers" at that orientation...you could hear some interesting questions from "first-timers," including questions about school security. At the end, we ran into a few people we knew.

Finally, the wild week was capped of by Open House Thursday at Bri's school. There, she participated in a performance about weather. Her class did reader's theater and she was the Sun. At the end, she actually said, "See you later...I'm off to the beach" which got a laugh. After, we visited her classroom.

It was a busy week...with a lot of school connections. But, it was a lot of fun!

The One With The Tooth Fairy

This week, the Tooth Fairy visited on more time.

On Tuesday, Bri lost her third tooth and first one on the bottom of her mouth. Excited - she has lost it at school - she could not wait to tell me when she got home.

At night, we read "It's Tough Being The Tooth Fairy" - a funny book - then put the tooth beneath the pillow.

Lo and behold, a generous tooth fairy came to visit...complete with $5 and a Kit Kat candy bar (that Tooth Fairy must be encouraging the loss of more teeth).

The Tooth Fairy even left a candy bar for Kiff, too.

Wow!

I can't even remember what I used to get from the Tooth Fairy. But, with those prices...

The One With the Chinese Food

Yesterday we had an ideal family day.

It started with a quiet morning at home. Those are always nice...filled with cartoons, books, and pancakes.

Then, we continued along with a nice spring walk before the weather turned. We were able to even enjoy the playground.

We went to the library where we checked out some books. The kids really love to go through the books. Bri has an intense interest in the human body and medicine. Kiff found a great Caillou book.

After, we came home to watch a video from the library about the real Pocahontas (one of Bri's favorite characters).

We then went to get Chinese food at Jades. We loved that.

Finally, we topped off the relaxing day with a night ride...where the kids fell asleep.

All in all...a great day!

The One With the Art Show

This week was Kiff's art show. It was a hint that his pre-school year is coming to a close, and with that his pre-school career.

So, there was a touch of sadness as we went to the art show. But, it was also a touch of fun as well. Because, once we were there, we saw all of his glorious pictures.

And he did quite a great job.

There was his penguin picture - cute with googly eyes.
There was the vegetable picture - it look like a vegetarian army.
There was the giraffe picture - a homage to Mr. G.
There was his leprechaun - very clever and cheery
There was also his pottery - simply colorful

The collection was a wonderful assortment of his best work...and a collection of a year long memories commemorating his last year in pre-school which is slowly - and sadly - coming to an end.

The One With the First Day of Spring

At last,

It arrived

Two days ago

The first day of spring....

It came with no fan fare

Just hope and fun.

We celebrated by going outside, playing in the driveway, and blowing bubbles.
We felt the warm sun on our faces
And the cool breeze in the air

It was glorious to feel that spring has arrived.

The one with the long week

This has been one long week.

Tech week for the play at our school.

Now, I love doing the play. This has been something that I have enjoyed the past 18 years. It is a blast. Working with the students and seeing how that play comes out is phenomenal.

And it is fun to get a chance to hang out at the homestead.

But I always forget how tiring it can be. In fact, it is even more tiring for the students. Seeing so many of the most energetic students quiet and subdued by week's end is always funny.

I also forget how weird it is not being home, playing with the kids, hanging with Em, watching Curious George with them (as I am doing while writing this).

Good times - yes. Just tiring ones, too. A great way to usher in the spring season!