Monster Truck Jam

Ethan and daddy enjoyed a "boys night out" with James and Henry recently. Here are some photos. Ethan thinks this was the coolest thing ever and can't stop talking about it.

Home Education

By the way...Ethan is already learning to sound out short words, can count to 100 by ones and tens, and do simple addition. He has quite an extensive vocabulary and is proficient with a mouse and a keyboard (for his age). At the Bell Museum, he was inferring which animal belonged to which skeleton by size and shape, and put the butterfly life cycle in the correct sequence with only one hint. And we aren't even trying yet! Even Noah was identifying frogs, birds, ducks, bears, and snakes. For him, the turtle was a "sssss" as well (that's a snake) and all the larger herbivores were "moooos" (deer, moose, caribou, etc.) Ah, well. I guess I can cut him some slack - he's not even 2 yet.

How's THAT for quality education? Our public school system teaches primary colors and letter recognition in kindergarten. My sons would be bored STIFF!!!

(can you tell I'm proud of them?) :)

Bell Museum of Natural History

The U of M has a very nice little daytrip museum...filled with dead things. Lots and lots of taxidermied animals displayed in their natural habitats. Here, Ethan and Noah try out the peat bog. Sorry about the flash spot.
The museum is pretty interactive - this is a bear den with "bear coats" that kids can wear. Noah wanted no part of it. I couldn't get Ethan to come back out.

Here they are in front of the bear display. I tried to learn from my earlier mistake and turned off the flash - that wasn't so hot, either. Maybe I should take a photography class.

Our public library system has partnered with Macy's to offer this museum adventure series - we go to the library and check out a pass that allows free admission for 4 and free parking to several spots around the cities. It's been a lot of fun to check out places we normally wouldn't spend the money to go check out. I've also discovered several internet groups in my area that organize or at least inform each other of free or cheap things to do around town. I'm gonna love homeschooling...I can tell!

Favorite Writing Utensil?

Do you have one? As much as I love felt tip blue pens (something about the bold stroke that can be seen from across the room - even though you can't write on the back of your paper without getting really confused), nothing beats a good, old fashioned #2 Dixon Ticonderoga with the green cuff. Partly nostalgia, partly just the fact that it is one quality pencil with an eraser that doesn't smudge like that cheap crap from China.

Ah....life's little luxuries....

Vikings

Rob was in Duluth on business recently. He got a few good photos - for Duluth - in winter. Rob says Duluth is best seen when it's cold and gray. I think these photos capture that well.

This is a freighter Rob spotted through the dense fog about a mile away on Lake Superior from Leif Ericson Park.
This is a photo of the East side of Duluth. The downtown area would be just out of sight to your right. The large structure in the center is the Aerial Lift Bridge.
These are 2 iron ore docks built in 1914 and 1918. They are still in operation. Those huge freighters (like in the photo above) are around 1000-1500 feet long and each dock can accomodate about 4 freighters at a time! Hard to believe the harbor is deep enough for those boats this close to shore.
And here is the first Minnesota Viking...Leif (I can't believe they give Columbus my credit) Ericson gazing southward looking for warmer climes. Why did he stop in Duluth?

Speaking of Vikings, we took a field trip this last week to the American Swedish Institute - a celebration of all things blonde and cold. It is a converted mansion once owned by a wealthy Swede. It was pretty - the entire house was decorated to celebrate Scandinavian traditions for Christmas - from decorations to dinner settings to dress (and I didn't see one thing in there from IKEA). I don't care how many pictures I see of young women wearing crowns of candles on their heads - I still dont' get how they do that without pulling a Michael Jackson and burning their hair off. The boys favorite part was the costume corner:They look all ready to burn and pillage, don't they?
I'm still a bit unclear as to the costume Noah is wearing. We did look at a book (written in Swedish) that had some little elfin creature that took care of animals - he wore a costume similar to this, so maybe he's some famous Swedish fairy tale creature. Didn't bode well for the poor guy...as civilzation pressed on and depleted the animals habitat, this little elf ended up living under someone's kitchen sink caring for their dog and cat (no, I'm not making this up).

Christmas Pictures

Sorry it took so long to get a few Christmas pictures up...been having trouble with Blogger.

So here are the boys pre-free-for-all. You probably can't tell it here, but Ethan was just dying to rip into his loot. We "skipped" breakfast because he just couldn't wait!
One of the smaller things I got for him turned out to be one of his favorites - I spent 49 cents at a thrift store for a knight's costume...complete with shield (he already had a couple of swords). I thought it would be a fun accessory to his "castle" bed. He wanted to sleep in it! So before we retired, we sneaked in and shot a few pics then gently removed the armor. He has wanted to play Knight and sword fight EVERY day since Christmas!


Ethan played one of the 3 kings in our children's program. The pictures of the actual performance didn't turn out well - not enough light and I was in the wrong spot. He liked the singing but absolutely hated the costume! I was lucky to get a photo before he had the thing off. Guess a future in theater will be limited to playing construction workers, dinosaurs or knights.