boost!

Finally, our membership to the Science Museum of VA has paid off.  Each year we debate about joining.  It's a nice place to go when it's too hot, or when there's a new IMAX you can afford, or when there was a new temporary exhibit....but other than that, the kids knew all the exhibits and it seemed that half of them were always broken.

But Friday, they unveiled their newest permanent exhibit...stating it had been 10 years since their last one.  Well, about time!

We went to the members only preview. (Note to self: if you're not doing the members only stuff, then there's really no point to being a member.)

The first thing you see when you walk in...a tight rope!



The kids must have done this one hundred times.  See that green glowing light behind Diego?  To me, that's one of the coolest parts...you are given a chip when you enter that you have to scan each time you do an activity.  When it's green, you can start.  The chip collects data about how fast you can do the challenges, and then you can better your score, or compare yourself to others.



The kids did this singing station briefly, but I don't think we really got it the first time around.  You can make your own music video and then watch it.  I took this photo because these two have been getting along AMAZINGLY.  Much less fighting than I expected so far this summer.



Juggling scarves, who knew?  It's so much fun and even I can do it!



Check that out, Mom!



Loved this quote on the wall.



This musical section is so cool....you can make your own beats using the screens, and the instruments mounted in front of you and up high will play according to what you've programmed.  Loud and fun.



Don't do it, Joaquin!  I thought they should have some alarm or shock or something if you push it, don't you?




Healthy eating is also a part of the exhibit.  Here, Diego is trying to make trays of food on a conveyor belt...it spits out the pieces at the end.



Carmen hung out in her stroller and even managed to fall asleep for part of it.



There's lots of visual games, too.  The boys hogged this one where you had to memorize which tiles were lit up on a grid.



How small can you make your body?  Joaquin could fit into a surfboard case.



There's even a yoga challenge.  The best part is how active each exhibit is.  Each time you do it, it will be different for you.





We left happy after two hours in only this one part of the museum.  That's a first for us!  I'd say the new Boost! exhibit is worth it!

father's day 2013

Happy Father's Day, Juan Pablo!



Love,
Us

escape to atherston hall

Blue skies were calling us.

And so was a weekend getaway.

Our 11th anniversary is this week.  And JP gave up a soccer game and a golf weekend with the fellas for this trip...so he must really love me.

My cousin and her husband  bravely said yes to watching the kids while we went somewhere, anywhere.  They have no kids yet, and we figured we may have ruined them for life, but that's worth it for a weekend getaway, right?




And this one got to go with...hence the cute as ever smile.  She was an angel for the entire trip...and by angel, I mean she didn't shed one little tear the whole time.  Angel.



The innkeeper was from England.  I felt quite English in these chairs.  Like the king and queen.



Her husband was a landscape architect and they had a BEAUTIFUL, relaxing garden out back.  I'm tempted to build this gate tomorrow to start my own english garden.



I don't think I'd put the obelisk in it, but sleeping baby? yes.



Ha!  I think I've made that same expression many-a-time to JP.



Atherston hall (the GPS pronounced it a-THER-ston hall, much better than my own A-therston hall) is in Urbanna, which is also fun to say.  It's on the water, but it's not for swimming.  Didn't need our bathing suits after all.  It's for boating.  We wondered how such big boats got from here to the water.  And then discussed how time consuming boats were.  People are always working on their boats.  Definitely not for us.





Never saw a sign like this before.



We watched the birds playing near the boats for awhile.  The only thing to do in Urbanna is relax.  Even JP's iphone had no reception.  Score one for me!



The innkeeper couldn't get enough of Carmen.  She had quite a conversation with her every time she saw her.  I bet they don't get many babies at a B&B...I even emailed ahead of time to ask if they were allowed.



The only thing that was open were the restaurants.



I had the best meal of my life at Ostra.  You know it's good when you eat the zucchini first.




I'll take one of these, please.



Carmen slept with us on the queen bed.  I even had to wake her up in the morning...



...she was just sleeping the day away.  Or, sleeping like a baby.  (I always think that's funny because babies don't really sleep for long periods of time.)



What a relaxing weekend...just in time for summer with the kids.



Thank you to Kate and Dan!!  Come again anytime!

it's coming!

Summer is almost here!  I get butterflies in my stomach already!


I think we're poised to cross off at least three things on  our bucket list this coming weekend.



Have you tasted the honey suckle yet?



The first time... ever... in your life... is always the best.



We're ready to try new things, have new adventures.  I've told the kids no playdates with friends all summer.  We're going to reconnect as a family, take our time, be outside, read books, explore.  How long do you think that will last?



In my mind, it's lasting all summer...and we come out on the other side happier, rested, and full of memories.



Let the lazy days begin!

how to have fun

It's hard to believe we have to make a list of 'how to have fun' during summer.

I never did this when I was a kid.  We had one week of vacation at the beach and the rest of the days were spent at the pool, riding bikes in the neighborhood with my best friend who lived up the street, or playing in the creek behind my house....oh, yeah, plus all the ballet classes that I took.

But without a list, I think we'd be hearing a lot of "I'm bored" and "we didn't do anything this summer".  I found this quote about being bored on pinterest and thought it was inspiring:



So we made our list.  And we're definitely excited.  So many possibilities!  The hard part will be trying not to do them ALL IN ONE DAY.

The idea is to use this chart like a bingo board....we'll put a sticker on every thing we do, and when we complete a row, we'll do something else special...(like completing the row isn't enough).

And I've really gotten quite cheap...instead of buying a piece of poster board, I just cut open a brown grocery bag to make the 'NOT bummer summer' chart.



Some of the things are free, some cost, some will take all day, some just a few minutes.  And we didn't put them in any certain order, so I have no idea how hard it will be to complete these rows.  Most of the things on this list came from someone else's list....because it's hard for us to think of how to have fun on  our own???   Here's the link to that list.

And let's not forget summer reading.  (I feel busy already.)  If the kids read one chapter book a week, I'll be happy.   I plan on bribing them with a dollar a book, then letting them write a review of it on Amazon.  I hope it works!

I signed up with the Happy Family Movement for their summer bucket list challenge.  I think it's just a way to make sure our busy life doesn't find us at the end of summer wishing we'd done this or that.  You can sign up HERE if you are interested.

Hopefully, by the end of summer, we'll  (*still*) be one happy family.

stories from the weekend

*  I'm not good at work parties.  Very rusty on my 'small talk with people I don't know' ability.  I never really had that ability anyway.  Thank God for a cute baby with lots of hair.  "Look at the hair on that baby."  Plus I'm not a gambler, so casino night doesn't rank high on my list.

*  Diego was running around with a nerf gun and I asked what he was doing.  He looks at me as if it weren't completely obvious and motions his hand to Carmen, saying, "I'm keepin' that baby safe,"  in some sweet southern accent I've never heard.  I had him repeat it all weekend.

*  I have the ability to lose it real good: example, Saturday night.  No need to go into the details, but it will be a blessing if the kids can one day forget it.  I guess that's my cue that I might be in need of some 'me' time.

*  Joaquin was kicking a ball near the pictures on the wall for the 2 millionth time and I sat there reading.  I'm pretty sure I've repeated this rule daily since the first frame was ever broken.  Finally, I said, "Don't think that just because I'm not saying anything, I'm okay with what you're doing."  And he said, "Then how am I supposed to know not to do it?"   WHAT?

*  The one that protests the loudest, always has the most fun.  We hit the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts after the soccer game on Sunday for their free kids craft.  Joaquin insisted it would be horribly boring.  He was also the one begging to make a second African bracelet after we'd already left the craft room, took a quick scavenger hunt through some of the gallery, and all the rest of us were ready to leave.  He came home with two bracelets.

*  FYI.... you cannot go into the World of Mirth toy store in Carytown without buying something.  Diego was walking around with one of those wooden fly eyes that make you see a hundred of everything.  I asked, "Why are you holding that?"  He replied matter-of-factly,  as he fingered through the toys hanging on the shelf, "Oh..... this is what I'm buying."

*  Babies don't need to see The Croods.  As we stood in line at the Byrd Theater,  I decided that Carmen wasn't in the mood.  Instead, I rescued her from her carseat, and we had a good long chat over a McDonald's caramel sundae (all for me!).  Score one for mom under the good decision category.

*  Games at the dinner table make dinner so much better.  Last night we simply did 'things in categories'.  Pull a number from a deck of cards and name that many types of fish, or countries in Africa, or famous soccer players, or animals at the zoo.  Kids must love categories because they didn't want to stop, even after dinner was over.  Another fun one is to have one person close their eyes, and each other person removes something from the table.  The person with their eyes closed has to figure out what's missing.

Some good links I found over the weekend:

good books for tween girls 

be a better drawer 

a great daily literacy site for young kids 

a summer bucket list

And a cute little Carmen to start the week off: