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We hurried the kids into their clothes and smoothies into the kids this morning.  We had 45 minutes to get ready to go drop the van off for repairs and pick up a rental.  They used 30 of these minutes to watch Madeline and the Toy Factory and the other 15 to begin a game of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

At the rental place there was a drink machine, a junk food machine and a candy machine.  Of course the kids decided that they wanted to spend their dollars.  I got them each the appropriate amount of change.  Cashel wanted candy so I pointed to the sign and said, “Oh, it’s 25 cents.  You need a quarter.”  I gave him a quarter and he got himself some jellybeans.  I asked Riesling what she wanted.  Much to my horror pointed to the Coca-Cola and timidly asked, “Could I get this?”  My soft reply was, “You can if you want, but I would rather you didn’t.”  She decided that she would get a water.  I asked her how much it costs and she read off “60″.  I asked her to get her dimes and count out enough 10s to make 60.  She counted 10, 20, 30….60, and then put them into the machine in the same manner.  She was delighted when her water clunked down and popped out the bottom.  Cashel decided that he wanted a water too.  I showed them that 2 quarters and a dime were also 60 cents and I picked him up so that he could put his change in the slot to send his water down to the chute at the bottom of the machine.  Riesling then got some jellybeans and then there was nothing to buy with 15 cents.

At home the kids played sword fighting and I read them The Philharmonic Get Dressed by Karla Kuskin and What’s in Oscar’s Trash Can and Other Good-Night Stories by Michaela Muntean.  They watched Madeline and the Toy Factory again.

After lunch they started The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe game again.  Riesling decided that I was to be The Wardrobe, Cashel would be The Witch and she would be The Lion.  She had everyone’s outfits picked out and put mine on first.  I had tulle wrapped around my torso and a small piece put onto my head.  On my right arm a purple bandanna was tied and a tiny pink pillow case was wrapped around my left arm.  I was told to stand very still while she practiced going in and out of the wardrobe (under my arms).  Cashel wouldn’t cooperate as The Witch, even though I had seen him wearing his outfit of a tiny yellow pillow case tightly fitting over his head for a very tall hat and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.  Riesling even tried to convince him to be The Lion and to put her hula skirt on his head under a helmet.  He refused.  I asked what I should do about my costume and she said that she would take it off, which she did.

I went and made their snack and then left them with Joe since I had a Dr appointment.

When I arrived home, things were a mess.  Cashel had just wet himself, Joe was frustrated that no one wanted to cooperate in helping salvage the last of our vegetables from the frost last night and Riesling was alternating between lethargy and hyperactivity with a few crying jags mixed in.  I sent Joe out to the garden alone and got out the sensory box for the kids. They played in it and made me lots of cakes and other creations.  Then they looked at books until dinner was ready.

At dinner Joe conducted a wine tasting class.  We had a tiny bit of a bottle of Chardonnay left from a couple days ago and had opened a new bottle of Sauvignon Blanc so we decided to compare their smells and tastes.  We and the kids smelled each one and then we each had a taste.  Now before you Google Child Protection Services and the police for our area…their “taste” consisted of Joe touching the wine and then touching the kid’s tongue.  Cashel proclaimed that both tasted like “lemon berry” and Riesling thought that they both tasted like blueberries.

I hurried dinner along to get to bath and bed to avoid more grumpy kids tomorrow.

We only had time for one story tonight.  The children chose The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke and it was off to dream land.

tags: air, art, Cashel, Riesling

We took the metro to the zoo because we thought it would be fun for the kids.  Not only did they enjoy the trains, they also enjoyed learning about momentum, air flow and mapping.

At first when Riesling would fall forward or backward when the train stopped or accelerated we asked her what ideas she had as to why that happened.  We talked about her standing still and the train accelerating and that she had to catch up to the train and that the train slowed down faster than she did.  We did some experiments.  Joe dropped his keys and they didn’t fall straight to the floor.  He held a bag by the strap and it swayed in the same direction we swayed (or fell if we weren’t holding on!)

Joe also talked about how the trains push the air out of the tunnel ahead of them and created a vacuum behind them.  We stood close to the entrance to experience it first hand.

We looked at the metro map to figure out where we were at and where we were going and how many stops we had to get there using the color coded lines.  Riesling matched the sign on the wall of each stop to the names next to the dots on the map which represented a station.

Of course there were lots and lots and lots of things to see and do at the zoo.  We visited many different animals.  We talked about mammals, reptiles and invertebrates and what makes them different from each other.  Cashel tried to say the name of each animal.  Riesling looked at where the animals lived in the world before they came to the zoo.  We discussed what the animals were doing and possible explanations as to why.  I learned the difference between a seal and a sea lion, which I had confused with each other. Riesling found the different types of turtles fascinating.  She told us all about what was similar and what wasn’t between the sea and land turtles.  Cashel loved the crocodiles with their big teeth!

As we navigated back to get to our train with a sleeping Cashel in one stroller and a tired (too big for the stoller she was in) Riesling we had to take the elevators.  Riesling looked out the windows and could see the cables outside.  Joe discussed with her what the cables were for and how the elevator worked.

When we got back to Beth’s, Riesling and Cashel played some more with Colleen and Joseph.  I sat on my hands and zipped my lip as I wanted to cheer or suggest while they negotiated toys and games with out killing each other.  I read Piglet’s (or maybe it was Pooh’s) Big Movie to all the kids.  Then we went outside where they rode and ran around until dinner.

tags: air, Cashel, dynamics, fluids, gases, momentum, navigation, physics, pressure, pulleys, Riesling, travel