We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

Okay, so maybe we don't live in one, but we like to sit in one when we visit the Oceans exhibit at Cosi!

My little submariners did a great job cooperating & sharing during their turn in the submarine!

Dinos Back in Black (& White)

Some of our dinosaur exhibit photos got what I like to call "metallic red eye." I don't know what causes this sort of red eye, but it is completely resistant to the red eye fix in our photo software. So, I tend to either ignore these photos or change them to black & white, which doesn't get rid of the metallic eyes, but at least lessens their appearance. I thought these pics were too cute not to share!

Dinosaur ROAR!

To help wrap up our dinosaur/reptile unit, we headed to Cosi to see the dinosaur exhibit before it went (wait for it...) extinct. This is a special, traveling exhibit that was at Cosi over the summer and it will be gone after Labor Day. I wanted to wait until we were in our dino-thematic unit and all the summer camps & vacationing families were back in school before we had our visit. And, boy, was I ever so glad that we waited because we practically had all of Cosi & the exhibit to ourselves! (I love this time of year!) 

 The exhibit consists primarily of animatronic dinosaur scenes. There are also several stations where you can "be the dinosaur" by maneuvering through a video simulation. You had to find food, water & friends for your dino-you while avoiding predators. Though only 2 & 5, both my kids actually did pretty well with this game (Kyrie more than Degen, but Degen was quite content to sit with me while I played). Kyrie was very proud that her triceratops survived, especially after I lost 2 triceratops in tragic T-Rex attacks.

The kids also had the chance to see what the animatronic dinosaurs were made of and how they moved by using a button board to control a robotic dinosaur.

There was also a jeep that the kids could drive through dinosaur country. I don't think that the steering wheels (there were 4 of them) actually had any sort of control of the scenery, but the kids didn't mind at all.

Kyrie giving vital instructions on our dino jeep tour.

 

The kids had the most fun going through an educational maze that had several stations with interactive activities. We learned some cool facts and then practiced some dino-stomping and flying. We put together our own dinosaurs, climbed a fossil-studded rock wall and tried our hand at uncovering fossils as junior paleontologists.

Before we left, we also got to touch & hold some real dinosaur fossils: an egg, a tooth and 2 kinds of dino-poop! We went through the entire exhibit and had so much fun that after lunch we went back and did the whole thing all over again! At dinner tonight, Kyrie was able to tell Darren several new facts that she had learned about dinosaurs (including how paleontologists can identify a fossil as dino-poop). This was an absolutely perfect way for us to end our thematic unit!

Kitchen Monkey

Degen showed off some of his monkey-skills by climbing up the drawer pulls so he could sit on the counter and snack on the bowl of popcorn that I had left there.

Should he be on the counter? No, but there he is and obviously proud of himself for being there. Well, with that grin I couldn't be too upset! I mean... he did get his own snack!

First Dance

Well, with school starting I saw at least a dozen pictures of super-cute kiddos heading off for their first days of school. This week, our fall session of dance class began. This was a very special day because it would be the first day of Degen's very first dance class, mini-movement, at DanceArts! I snapped a few pictures as my little dancers waited to go!

Big girl Kyrie heading into her Ballet-Tap combo class.

 Not only was this Degen's first dance class, but it would also be the very first activity that he would do all by himself (while Mommy watched excitedly behind the one-way glass). He was so sweet waiting with his classmates (all girls in pink leotards) in the hall for his teacher to open the door.

And then Ms. Julie was there and he was the first one through the door without even a glance back at me! I was relieved and happy in the bittersweet way that parents know. All the moms crowded at the door and snapped picture after picture of our little dancers until Ms. Julie closed the door. And then we crowded around the window to see how our kiddos would react to this brand new situation.

I am happy to report that there was not a single tear from any of the children. Some sat quietly and others were up and jumping or skipping or running around the room. Degen was one of the exuberant ones. More than once, Ms. Julie had to retrieve a too-excited Degen from across the room. She would walk him back to his circle to wait his turn. Still, he was well behaved and seemed to (mostly) listen to directions! My baby boy loves music and moving his little body to the beat, so I am very happy that he is in his own dance class!

My baby boy warming up with some stretches! His feet in those little black ballet slippers with that big grin on his face just melt my heart!

You+Bug+Me

While playing at the park, we found a very unusual bug to investigate. He was a friendly bug who didn't mind creeping & crawling from fingers to hand to arm. We were very gentle and took our turns before I put him high on a tree to find his respite. I love how excited the kids get with new experiences & discoveries!

Itsy-Bitsy, Teeny-Weeny Polka Dot Bikini

We have come to the end of another session of swim lessons! This was Degen's first session in the toddler-parent class and Kyrie's second session as a "tadpole." To celebrate a successful session completion, Kyrie got to wear her brand new "itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny polka dot bikini."

This session was a real breakthrough session for Kyrie who started to get over her fear of jumping into 'deep' water. She keeps improving on her movement in the water and can swim on her back nearly 3 body lengths. She is good at floating and going underwater and on the last day of class went down the big slide ALL BY HERSELF! She was really nervous about it as we climbed the steps, but I told her that I would go down first (with Degen) and that an instructor would be at the bottom to help her, too. She went down once and liked it so much that she went down again! We are very proud of our big girl swimmer!

Kitty Cushions

 You never know what you'll find on our dining room chairs (eg. crumbs, dried playdough, toys), but if you're lucky you'll find some snoozy cats! And if you're really lucky you may just find two snoozy cats! I found Franklin & Eleanor all curled up for an afternoon nap on Darren's chair!

Our kittens are almost 1 year old and still super-cute! Though litter mates, they have very different personalities and remain two of the sweetest kitties ever! They have been so much fun that I have to stop myself from getting two more every time we stop by a cat adoption center!

End of Summer Bash

 This past week was a big week for our playgroup friends because it was the first day of Kindergarten for Kyrie's best friends. We decided to celebrate the end of the summer and the start of school with all our friends at a Chuck E. Cheese party play date.

Since I didn't have to worry about all the back to school hooplah, I took the reins for organizing the party and made the cupcakes. We played all morning and had pizza, fruit salad, cupcakes & ice cream for lunch. Then it was back for more play and spending all our tokens. When the kids weren't eating, I barely saw them (except when they needed more tokens or wanted to hand me tickets) and spent the time visiting with my favorite mom friends!

 Chuck E. came out about 3 times while we were there and all the kids followed him on a parade around the game area before joining in for some singing, dancing and ticket drops. This Chuck E. Cheese location is awesome. I think our group has had at least 6 birthday parties there, plus we meet for play dates there about once a month. It is a super-clean facility and the staff is friendly & helpful! Many of the employees recognize us from our frequent visits. To help us celebrate our little friends starting Kindergarten, they let each girl take a turn in the Ticket Blaster. They each got 30 seconds to catch as many tickets as they could!

Kyrie just found out that they would get to do the Ticket Blaster.

 After the Ticket Blaster, we gathered the girls up for some pictures! How many times have these sweet girls posed for us?! Since they were toddling around in diapers! We are very grateful for our playgroup and the wonderful friendships we have grown these past three years (or more). We have shared ups & downs, emergencies, firsts, celebrations & sorrows. We wish all our friends the best of luck as they start Kindergarten! This was a great end to a super-fun party and a great summer! Everyone went home with goody bags, prizes and/or tickets for next time!

Degen fell asleep in the car while looking through his goody bag. He's covered with stickers & frosting, which is the definite sign of a good party!