Fun with Sharp Objects and Dead Animals

Rowan somehow heard about dissecting a frog online, and we searched for it one night. She *loved* it, so when I looked online at dissection kits and found an affordable one, I decided that would be our summer science project! The kit we got came with a book on how to dissect a lot of different things, a tray, all the instruments needed (pins, scalpels, super sharp scissors) and best of all...a frog, a crayfish, a perch, an earthworm, a grasshopper, a sea sponge, and the super-cute and creepy fetal pig.
I thought the girls might be a little put off by the fetal pig, being a cuddly mammal and all, but not really. They named it Wilbur and are more than ready to cut it up!

We began with the earthworm, and had a whole lot of fun pulling its digestive system and heart out, and exploring the interior of a simple organism. Next up was the crayfish and its cool gills and exoskeleton- we went to a park and caught some live ones in a stream to compare our dead crayfish to. I don't know that we'll be memorizing the systems of these different animals or learning everything in the book, but we are certainly enjoying playing around with dissection this summer!

Memorial Day and the President

We went up to Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial day, in hopes of catching the President lay the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Unfortunately, you have to be there really early to get into that, but we did spend a nice day touring Robert E. Lee's house, visiting the historic graves, and in general remembering our fallen heroes of the past.

Here are the girls and I at the Women's Memorial.

AND- we got to see the President after all! He drove by in his limo with the First Lady on the way to the Tomb of the Unknowns. They waved at the girls, who were right next to the road and quite noticeable in their big Williamsburg sun hats. All this time in DC, but that was our first President sighting!

Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg had free admission for military families on Memorial Day weekend, so headed down there on Friday. Because we studied American history this year, it was on the "list" of must-do field trips we hadn't ever gotten to. The weather has been so cold and wet we haven't gone much of anywhere this spring, but Friday was lovely and in the 70's.
The girls got straw hats, and we started our tour at the Colonial Palace, home of the Royal Governor of Virginia. The gardens were beautiful! Gryphon was so much fun to watch all day- on every tour she went right to the front and asked questions and commented to the tour guide. She is your typical home school kid, alright!I just love her confidence and curiosity.
Here is Gryphon playing a colonial game with some interpreters on the steps of a building.
Here is Gryphon talking to a wigmaker about what they make wigs out of (yak, goat, dog and human hair, by the way).
Rowan enjoyed her slate and slate pencil, and the jail. Mark liked listening to the reading of the Declaration the best, while liked the slave cabin and interpreter most. It was little too "theme park" for me, not really any hands on of anything, but still an educational experience.

Sorry I've been so neglectful of the blog lately, with everything going on its tough to keep up with!

Finally spring!

Spring is finally here in Washington! We've had fabulous 70-80 degree weather all week, and decided to get out and enjoy it.Letterboxing is our favorite outdoor activity, and there were some new boxes to find near Pohick Bay. Even Cleo got to come, and do her favorite thing ever- swim. Ah, nothing says spring like the smell of a wet dog!

I've created a monster!!

I have been making an effort to teach the girls some bare bones domestic skills lately. They are 6 and 9, and well old enough to help with some of this stuff! The problem is...they LOVE it! They jump up and race each other to the laundry room when I announce it is time for "laundry lessons". They wax poetic about learning to do laundry to the pediatrician when asked about home schooling. (That's actually not so funny- could they not mention the ACADEMIC things we do??!!!) And they love, love, love to make meals.
Gryphon can make a few basic things- rice, frozen pizza, salads. So they opened up a restaurant (Restarante de Alaska) and made aprons out of towels. They rolled the napkins into fancy shapes, and laid out every salad dressing we own. They had a *blast*.

Now, of course, they want to cook every night, but...I am getting tired of rice and frozen pizza! I guess its time to teach them how to make something else!

More Regional's fun

After the meet last Sunday, we decided to see some of the sights of southern Virginia on the way home. The girls picked Natural Bridge, fro ma brochure in our hotel lobby.The Natural Bridge is neat, but...not if you've ever been to Utah or Arizona. ; ) Also in the area was a cave, with neat rock formations. We did Geology this year, so I was excited to see the cave with the girls. It had a cool underground lake, which Mark and the girls are standing over in the photo.

George Washington's initials are carved into the rock on the side of the Natural Bridge. You can't see them in this picture, though!

Rowan really, really, really, REALLY wanted to see the Monster Wax Museum also at this tourist trap...um..I mean scenic stop. It was unfortunately closed, and she was crushed. We may have to make a trip back to cheesyville to see it this summer.

Region 5 Championships

Rowan's hoop and rope routines from regionals!

We had the Region 5 USAG rhythmic gymnastics championships this weekend, in Princeton, WV. (Why there, I have no idea- sort of an odd choice, I think!) Rowan did GREAT! She got a trophy, and came in 4th for her level and age group. She got her best scores ever (by a lot!) on her hoop and rope routine.

For the first time, she was nervous. I almost told her to just sit it out- just watch this meet and cheer on her friends. I felt so bad that she was so nervous, because she is really little after all. But she did it, and did great.

Here are some photos taken at the gym a while ago. I waited to post them until I got prints mailed out. They went out today, so I am safe from harassment from relatives (cough cough mom and Ann cough cough).

A year and a month ago, Rowan started taking a rhythmic gymnastics class for 1 hour a week with a coach we knicknamed "Ivanka the Terrible". I was sure she'd never go back after that first class- the lady is TOUGH. All they did was an hour of painful stretching.

One year ago, the gym asked Rowan to join their pre-team for artistic gymnastics (regular gymnastics is artistic gymnastics- beam, bars, etc). Rowan asked if there was a rhythmic team, because she really wanted to do rhythmic. They said there was, but it was up to the coach. Rowan kept plugging away at her 1 hour a week class with "Ivanka", serious as all get out. In early summer, she was asked to join the Level 4 girls team- which would mean quitting rhythmic altogether.(I thought it was pretty dumb she couldn't do both- at the time she was 5, do you really have to plan out your athletic career at 5??!!) She promptly quit the team- to the immense surprise of the coach, her team mates, and her parents. Rowan just wanted to do rhythmic.

All summer long, she kept up her 1 hour a week class. Finally when her rhythmic coach (who we by now called by her name, Konstantza, and realized she isn't very terrible) opened her own gym in November, Rowan got her wish. She got to practice with the team.

At first she learned only the floor routine, with a possibility of doing 1 local meet. Then in January, she started learning hoop. And in mid February she learned rope. And now, one year later from that initial class I thought for sure she'd hate, she was competing all around at regionals!

Rowan made up her mind, and she did what she set out to do. One thing about Rowan- she is determined when she wants to be! Rhythmic gymnastics is obscure, there is no glory and fame. None of her friends even know what it is.The practices are long and intense, but she never goofs off and she never complains. We are so stinking proud of our determined little girl, and sad to see the season end.

Happy Birthday to Yobo!

Mark's birthday was today, so went to his favorite Japanese place and ate at the hibachi. They do a little routine where they throw the knives and light things on fire (if you've been to Benihana then you get the idea) and the kids love it. Then we all saw Spiderwick, which Gryphon said was not nearly as good as the books- I wouldn't know, myself. Happy Birthday to Yobo!

Surprise Field Trip Day!!

Friday I got the girls up and dressed, and just as Gryphon was resigning herself to math announced it was"surprise field trip day"! The Insect Zoo at the Natural History Museum has re-opened, so we headed down to DC to see it. Gryphon was less than thrilled by the giant spiders, so we watched tarantula feeding from a distance. Rowan did pet a horned caterpillar, though, and we discovered that the Insect Zoo is sponsored by Orkin, of all people.

Also new to the museum is a Butterfly Habitat, which we went through. It was a sticky 88 degrees inside, and the butterflies were just gorgeous.

Last we hit the National Archives to see the Constitution, which we have seen a few times but are studying right now. Gryphon bought herself a copy, because every 9 year old girl needs her own, you know!

A Gorgeous Smile!!!

Gryphon got her braces off today! Its wild to think that at 9, she's had them on and off already- its a big change from when I was a kid! We celebrated with some Butterfingers she has been saving in the freezer since Halloween. Next week she gets her retainer, she got to pick the colors so it is tiger striped.

A Trip to the Basement of Mt Vernon

Because of the new National Treasure movie, Mt. Vernon had the basement open, for just 10 days. Having seen the 3rd floor (a rare treat) we certainly wanted to see this! I'm sure its no surprise that there is no secret passage, though the cornerstone of the house is there.(The cornerstone is the thing he turns to get in to the tunnel when he kidnaps the President, for those who have seen the movie!) It isn't even the original, though- its a copy. The original is in the museum next door.

Because photos aren't allowed inside Mt. Vernon (even in the basement) all I have are these- a shot looking down the stairs from outside.

And the cutest kids and Dad ever outside it.

We've been reading a ton on George Washington (Gryphon really likes him) so we hit the museum and saw the exhibits on his time in the French and Indian war, the Revolution, and as our first President.

Here are the girls swearing themselves in as President of the United States- a glimpse of the future, maybe?

Sorry about the blog neglect lately, we've been super busy. I'm trying to make this a priority!

More Rhythmic gymnastics

Rowan had a meet this weekend in Maryland- our only local meet. RG is such a small sport here that that the meets are almost all quite far away, making it an expensive sport! Why our child couldn't pick soccer like every other kid in America, I do not know. ;)

For the awards, they all march in as teams holding a sign for the gym they represent. Of course they march "pretty", kind of a goose-step with pointy toes. This sport is so odd!

They did only all-around awards, not individual routines, so Rowan missed the podium. (Sheonly did one routine, disqualifying her for all around, as they do 3 normally). She still got a cute little rhythmic gymnastics medal and a goodie bag- apparently rhythmic gymnasts like all children LOVE candy! She did gain 2/10ths of a point over her last marks- way to go Rowan! (And the competition at this meet was much fiercer!)

Most exciting of all, we stayed to watch the Level 9/10 Juniors (ages 12-15) and seniors (16 and up- international level competitors) that evening. WOW...it was amazing. And we got to see gymnasts from Russia, the Ukraine and Hungary. And the girl who has been the top ranked rhythmic gymnast in the USA (though right now she's #2), Julie Zetlin! That was amazing- this meet was put on by her gym, so she had a lot of fans in the crowd. She was AMAZING. I have no photos or video, so here she is doing the rope routine we watched in Maryland, at a meet a few weeks ago on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UBNztCzju8 Seriously, go watch it. She is incredible.

So much fun!

I am taking an online class to learn digital scrabooking, and it is so much fun! These are my first 2 digital layouts ever, I'm very proud of them. Yay me!!!

New York, New York!

We took the Staten Island Ferry into the city Friday afternoon, and it was so fun (and free)! Mark had never been to NYC, so he got to see the Statue of Liberty and the amazing city views.

We had some Chinese food and headed back to our hotel early to get some good sleep.

After the meet on Saturday, we took a nap (well, Mark and I did anyway) and went back to the city. The plan was to ice skate at Rockefeller Center, but...Gryphon and I were freezing. Also, the line to get in starts an hour ahead of time, so standing out in the line, then skating, in the cold...not so fun. We're wimps. We settled for some New York pizza and a ride through Times Square in a pedi-cab. Our driver/peddler was an actor- I know, you are shocked! Imagine that. He did have the most perfect teeth I've ever seen though, and was pretty cute, so who knows, maybe he'll be famous someday. We should have got an autograph just in case!

The plan was to go in early today and go up the Empire State building, but we were wiped out and we just slept in and headed back to Virginia. Still, Mark enjoyed his first trip to the city!

First Meet for Rowan

We are in New Jersey, just across from New York, for a rhythmic gymnastics meet this weekend- Rowans first. These are so much FUN- I had no idea how fun they would be! The leotards are beautiful, the girls are amazing little athletes, and its just such a neat (obscure)sport. We had such a good time! Here is Rowan, her coach, and Nicole about to go onto the floor. Her coach said she was so nervous she was shaking- but she did GREAT! They compete 2 at a time at Level 4, so she competed with Nicole. They run out through the fancy arch, do this funky little ballet-like salute to the judges, and start their routine when the music starts.

Here is the floor during warm-ups. Some teams have all the girls in the same leotard, which looks cool. Some girls have a different leotard (and the matching ball, hoop, etc) for each routine. We only have one- those things are expensive!

Here is Rowan and Brianna, Becky and Nicole before awards.

And here are Rowans ribbons- 8th place in floor, 9th place over all. I was tickled by her scores, and I think her coach was happy, too. And now that she knows how fun meets are, Rowan is excited to do more. We are too!

I'll update with pictures of New York later- and answer all of Helena's tag questions, too! Hope you are all having a great weekend!