Wednesday, October 12, 2011

And she DID IT! Riding her bike (with video)

There she goes!








Not long after this she rode her own bike (we started her on Zane's little bike because the pedals come off and on easier).  My mom stopped by (to pick me up for an event) and got to see her maiden ride on HER bike.  We are all very proud of how hard she worked to ride. 





Zora

Suddenly she looks a lot older.  Too fast.


Zora, spelling it out

Zora now goes to the chalkboard and asks us to give her words to spell out.  Child-directed learning at it's best.  We are very proud of her.  It is fun to see her excited about figuring out how to spell, and is even starting to get it when we throw in a similar word, not in the same word family (like "cap", in this case) If you notice, at the top, she wanted to put her name on it so we would know she is the one who wrote it, but she ran into the word "hat", so she wound the letters of her name around the word.


I married a mechanic and didn't know it.

I knew that he knows how to do stuff like change oil and other basic car stuff, but despite knowing him for almost 22 years, I had no idea he knew how to fix bicycles.  Just added another thing to my list of "things I love about Zach".  

Zach fixing Zane's bike

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011

More Mantis

Praying Mantis vs. The Cricket

oh, HAI!

super sneaky sneaker mantis stalks his cricket prey

Zora's Turn, Coasting

We first focused on helping Zane figure out how to bike without training wheels, and Zora was ready to give it a try now too.  It was amazing the difference from the time she started to the time she finished.   By the time she packed it up to go home, she could coast about 30 seconds at a time.  She did take a couple of spills and wants her own pads and helmet, instead of using big brother's.



pedals off, running to gain some speed

pulling up her feet to try to coast along

Starting to get it




Serious work.

Homecoming Parade

The church the kids go to for Wednesday Night Church (not our regular church) invited the kids to ride on the float in the parade.  Zane wanted to watch the parade, but Zora wanted to be on the float.

On the way to the parade route, we dropped Zora off at her float.
getting ready

waving to the crowd as she passed by


I forgot that people throw candy at you when you watch a parade.  
Zane was happy about this development.
enjoying a sucker watching the parade

We actually ended up sitting to a group of people we knew.  Some through school, some through swim this summer.   I saw them sitting near each other and realized it probably wasn't going to get any better than that and parked it there.  It is a relief to be around people who know who Zane is and check to make sure he is included in the fun and got some candy too.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Dinosaurs and Mommies

Zora seems to have an enduring interest in dinosaurs, so it was time to finally show her some real bones.  When we told the kids we were going to the Museum of World Treasures and showed them the video (we can't just surprise Zane, he needs to have a bit of a heads up, even if it is something he will like) before going to church in the morning. So, after church and a quick drive through snack, we headed downtown with our coupon.  WooHoo!


love






A table of cool things to touch and talk about.  (those are eggs she is looking at)


Some fish fossils found locally, from when Kansas was ocean.


Zora apparently heard wrong when we were discussing the cool things in the museum, and as soon as she had seen the dinosaurs, her #1 priority, she wanted to go see the "Mommies".  She kept pushing a map at me asking where the mommies were, and it took me a few times to figure out she meant "Mummies".  They had two of them there, and they just intrigued her.  She actually hung out in the little Mummy room asking a lot of good questions about them.



Zane was really interested in looking over the big model of the Navy battleships.  I called mom to see if it was the same ship her Dad served on, but it wasn't.  It is likely very similar though.  (He was on SS Ticonderoga during WWII)


There was a whole floor of military related stuff that, other than the ship, we went through pretty quickly.  If you are into military history, it would probably be really awesome, but we aren't, so it was a little creepy, especially some of the Nazi stuff.  They did have some old propaganda posters that were interesting though. 


 Madame President and her reluctant Aide.  (not sure if it is the real thing or a replica, but it is the desk that JFK worked on, and you could see where the little door is in the front from that famous picture of John Jr playing under the desk.)


Zach explaining to Zora what a suit of armor is, how it works, and what it is used for.


 Later, when it is just Zora and I, Zora wants to show me the suit of armor and tell me about.  Here she is explaining, very matter of fact, that this is where they pee from.  My inner 3rd grader giggled.



One last look at the dinosaurs before we head out.


We had an interesting time, and it was well worth a visit.  It only took about two hours to go through the museum, but that was because we aren't really into the military stuff and we only have one kid who reads, and there is a limit to how much he feels like reading.  Zora loved hearing about stuff, but after two hours of stuffing her brain, you could tell she had hit her limit too.   

The gift shop was also pretty cool, and we will have to remember it during Christmas/Birthday time.  Lots of cool, nerdy things there.

Occupy NYC, AKA, when relatives make the news

Kaz headed up to the Occupy Wall Street event in NYC, and she made the news.

This is such an appropriate picture of her.  Iconic even.  (she is the one with the green sign, out front)




Occupying the nation, and the Web



What began as a small group of protesters expressing their grievances about economic inequities last month from a park in New York City has evolved into a national phenomenon — and an online conversation that is spreading across the country on social media platforms.

Inspired by the populist message of the group known as Occupy Wall Street, more than 200 Facebook pages and Twitter accounts have sprung up in dozens of cities during the past week, seeking volunteers for local protests and fostering discussion about the group’s concerns.

The overriding theme? People who see themselves as victims of not just a sagging economy but also economic injustice.
“I don’t want to be rich. I don’t want to live a lavish lifestyle,” a woman wrote on Tumblr, the social network, describing herself as a college student worried about the burden of student debt. “I’m worried. I’m scared, thinking about the future shakes me. I hope this works. I really hope this works.”
The online conversation has grown at the same time that massive street protests have taken place in cities nationwide — Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Portland. A website, Occupy Together, is trying to aggregate the online conversations and the off-line activities.
What the movement doesn’t have right now are the same concrete goals of some past social movements — a lack that many demonstrators seem to be embracing, at least for the moment. But organizers have been encouraging people to tell their stories on Tumblr, spotlighting people of different backgrounds, each tale of economic hardship ending with: “I am the 99 percent.”
— From wire reports

Edited to add new picture found on another website
Kaz marching

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Zane & His Robots

I love this robot.  Zane and Zach have so much fun working on projects together with it.  I can see it developing into so much more as the years go by too.

We are still in the phase where he wants to build already designed robots, but he finds the projects on his own, and does most of the building.  He does ask for help with pieces that he can't get together (some of them are really tough to get together, even for me).  Zach helps him troubleshoot when he runs into problems or wants to modify something.

These are no small projects either.  Zane started this particular robot in the early afternoon, and he was late to bed by the time he got it up and running.  It is worth it though.