Making shelves

I'm trying to put some shelves in Zachary's closet. But block city has occurred.

Sukkah in action

This is the first year we have managed to get a sukkah happening. Really, as you can see from the picture, Mark is the king of the sukkah.
Of course, this week we have rain predicted. We will hang our paper chain and gourds, and hope for the best. We need rain too badly for me to wish it away. Happy harvest!

New phone camera

playdate with kindergarten classmates

Zachary had a great time with Noah and Felix from his class. It was great to see he has made friends so quickly.

Assembly

(Taken by a friend Angela Yowel)

Kindergarten! The saga continues...

Week one, a success! Granted, it was only three days long, but the fact is everyone managed to mostly be where they were supposed to be, and back again. Zachary has concurred that a return on Monday is likely (and, he pointed out, required if he understood things correctly. Which he has).

PS? I want to go to kindergarten. It sounds kind of fantastic.

UT elementary has breakfast and lunch for the students. So far Zachary is only dabbling in lunch, although already I think figuring out the cafeteria is a bit brave. They've got a vegetarian option for the mains every day, which is beyond fantastic. And he's eating it. I will have to write Chef Mario a thank you note.

They also do two "specials" a day. They alternate - one day they have PE & multicultural arts, the next day they have STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) and Wellness.  This week in wellness they dug up the garden to start planting in their plot, and in STEAM they had building stations (Tinker toys, legos, etc.). Did I mention it sounds like fun?

Zachary asked me on the second day when they would start "Real Math".  I asked what he meant. He said he didn't want patterns, and matching, and counting, but doing math with pencils and like that.

Heh. Soon enough, I suspect.

After his first day, I asked him what his favorite part of school had been. He had just stumbled bleary eyed into the car (the day is long - 7:30am-3:30pm, and clearly working hard to figure out all the new things.). "Nap time. I was *so* tired."

*grin*

We'll see how long that lasts.

Kindergarten

DSC_0048, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

Z's first day went well. He was zonked after school, but had lots of stories to tell us.

Update

I put four chess apps, on the iPad, Z spent an entire afternoon* glued to playing either me or the 'puter.

* except for the three hours he spent running around and in the pool at Connors birthday.

Chess

At the end of a playdate, with a kindergarten classmate we know, they ended up playing checkers. It was cute the rules are simple enough to follow without much parental supervision.  After his friends family left, Z expressed a desire to play chess. And forty minutes later I am writing to say I lost, although I was mostly playing myself which is quite challenging. Z really understood, protecting pieces, threatening pieces, and check. So he managed to concentrate for almost an hour and was starting to think at least a move or so ahead. And he could see the moves I might choose, I think we need to this more often, it was super fun.

Bits and Bobs

I'm currently under threat to write a blog post or else.

I don't know what the or else is. Probably Mark will hide the ice cream, which frankly seems inhumane.

Zachary is barreling towards Kindergarten. He starts school in just under a month, which is completely mind boggling. But as I watch him it is clear he is incredibly ready. He's reading a smidgen, and writing (backwards) a lot. But he's also totally grown into his body, which is awesome. Swim lessons are hysterical. He might try the swim test tomorrow (which I think means he could be in the pool without getting yelled at? It is so hard to know...) but he's starting to get the hang of breathing, rather than gasping.

In other news, he is also exploiting language to the max. It is pretty fun to watch. He correctly segued in the middle of a conversation Monday. Especially funny because he was TOTALLY rude about wanting a snack. I called him on it, and we talked about other ways to handle it. And then he goes "Talking of rude, (my friend) did XX today in class."

Well, there you go. I guess he's paying attention some of the time.

It doesn't rain here very often! So here was a chance for Z to use his umbrella and enjoy the spectacle.

sparklers

July 4th 2013

IMAG0643, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

We went to a baseball game and afterwards enjoyed fireworks with a very patriotic mashup. And this weekend, we had sparklers before bed.

Texas Fight, #SB5

Our whole family was out in support of Wendy Davis, and the other hard working democrate Senators at the Capitol building.

Kiln night!

Eric (nextdoor) is a potter and has built a wood fired down draught kiln in their backyard. On Thursday morning he fired it. We visited in the morning, before dinner and again before bed. Here is Zachary all relaxed, watching the logs burn in his PJs. He (and I) were totally fascinated by the process.

 

With the glow of the kiln and the flames shooting out the chimney, and an almost full moon it was really quite spectacular.

 

One of the wonderful things was the kiln was so hot it actually made the Texas evening air feel less than the 90F it was.

 

Barton Springs

Zachary and I had a great Fathers day. We ran a bunch of errands and then cooled off at Barton Springs pool. A weird swimming pool, river hybrid, but it works out well. Z and I saw a couple of ten inch and one 16 inch fish down in the depths of the clear cool water. Completely changing the subject, after dinner tonight. Z said out of the blue "lets surprise Mum when she gets home. Lets tidy up the house really good and we'll be nice to each other. won't that be a great surprise" why yes, it would be amazing.

Best finds - rock pooling

DSC_0201, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

Crab, Prawn, two Fish, Sand Eel, Starfish, Hermit Crab

Lamorna harbor wall

DSC_0252, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

In the Pink forest

DSC_0557, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

We return after a successful trip to England.
So many stories and no way to upload photos from the ipad. But now all the pics are up, Aswell JMI and the springs, Helen and Ross, Tim and Lucia, Cousin Peter, Penzance with Granny and Grandpa, rock pooling ( a theme through out our trip), Lands End, Paradise Park, Lamorna (because he loves the song), and culminating in the Sims wedding. What fun.

Dalek for sale

Dalek for sale, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

Also note the prefect badge holding up a Victorian dress medal (Kabul 1842). Thank you uncle Simon. The crazy lump on his is to stop the three day old shrunken balloon from blowing off.