Mmmmmmmm in Jefferson City

Or, "What's wrong with a banana split for lunch?"



Really, we did it. We don't do it often, so I'm OK with it. We had ice cream for lunch. We'd heard the serving sizes at Central Dairy are RIDICULOUS, so we arrived with an empty stomach! I mean look at the banana split monster on the table in front of me. Jason and I split it. We chose coffee, strawberry cheesecake and moose track ice cream scoops and traditional toppings. Amelia wanted a "strawberry shortcake" (i.e., cheesecake) sundae with chocolate sauce. Nate opted for a scoop of peppermint ice cream in a traditional cone. YUMMO!

It was a Jefferson City road trip today--our first trip down to the capital (about 45 minutes from Columbia) since moving to Missouri. We've been meaning to get down to the Runge Nature Center in Jeff City for a little over a year now. We met a few of the enthusiastic staff members and volunteers at one of Columbia's Family Fun Festivals our first week in Missouri. We finally made it to one of the hour-long Little Acorn children's events.

Amelia wanted to sit on the turtle and even posed for this photo on the way into the center. However, she got a painful surprise on the way out! After three hours in the August sun, the turtle was too hot to handle! Ouch! Painful lesson on heat conduction....CHECK.

Today's theme at the Runge was "Fish is Fish and That is That." Hmmmm, I don't know anyone in our family who would LOVE a lesson about fish! ;) There was an introduction to fish (what makes them special, habitat, what they eat, etc.); story time ("Fish is Fish" by Leo Leonni); and three centers--science exploration (minnows and nets at a water table), a craft (Japanese fish prints), and a game (a fishing pond and identification game). With the treasure hunt on the trail (we were looking for a 5-lined skink) and the Missouri wildlife habitat exhibit, we stayed for about 3 hours. We look forward to going back soon.



My friend Christi took a photo of this same sign hanging inside the Runge center. Her fb quote sums up what I feel when I read it, "I hope we can expose our children to many things so they can learn, understand, love, conserve and be good stewards of the earth God has given us." If there is one place where God's wonder is evident, it's nature.

Here are the kiddos, following the clues on the Nature Trail to find the skink and its keeper. This was a juvenile skink, so it had a brilliant blue tail!

The exploration stations:

"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in."
--Rachel Carson, naturalist, writer, environmentalist

And finally, as we drove out of town, we decided to explore swing by the capitol building to get a quick peek of the downtown area (it's not a giant metropolitan area after all). It looked liked a very popular main street. We'll plan to eat lunch downtown next time we come (unless we chose to eat ice cream again)! As we drove by the capitol, we noticed a koi pond in the park between the capitol and the governor's mansion. The kids heard koi pond and it was over. They wanted to go explore some more. We ran around the little park and splashed our feet in the pond for almost 30 minutes before packing up for the drive home.




We all managed to stay awake for the drive home, listening to the last part of "The Magic Tree House: Blizzard in a Blue Moon" on CD. However, the entire house took a long nap after we arrived home--including a certain six-year-old who repeatedly told us that he wasn't tired and didn't need naps.
(See below.)

"No Cavities!"

Back-to-school dental appointments for the kiddos today!

Nate was complimented several times on his brushing and flossing. I guess the Delta Dental Tooth Wizard that came to speak at Nate's school this spring had some impact! He's been very diligent in his plaque-fighting efforts ever since. ("Mom, I need more floss; I'm out!" "No, it's not time for my book yet, I haven't rinsed!" "Are my teeth shiny?")

As Dr. Scott was complimenting Nate on his teeth, he pipes up, "And I have big muscles, too. See!" Now imagine a lanky six-year-old reclined in the dentist's chair, wearing the too-big-for-his-face black plastic sunglasses to protect his eyes, very sincerely flexing his biceps for the female dentist and her female assistant. Then he continues in his matter-of-fact tone, "My muscles are even bigger than my Uncle Jeff''s." The whole office was cracking up!

Amelia had her very first visit today and did great. She had her teeth polished with a "tickle toothbrush" with birthday cake-flavored toothpaste and flossed with "silly string." She just couldn't get the second x-ray tab to sit in her little mouth without gagging. We'll try again next time. Ms. Meghan said Amelia had great teeth, too. Dr. Scott liked all the space between her teeth. ;)

They left with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss sticks and two tokens to the GIANT PRIZE MACHINE in the lobby...a big hit with the kiddos! "Keep up the good work!" was their parting report.

Today I hear shucking...

...at Dr. Chang's annual crawfish boil today! Jason and I overdid it on crawfish and Cajun potatoes. The kiddos enjoyed the brownies and chocolate chip cookies! We all enjoyed great company...and tolerated the heat and cicadas!

the entree.

the feast!

"Laissez bon temps rouler!"

If this post got your mouth watering just a little, you might be interested in ordering your own live crawfish and hosting your own crawfish boil!

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Mommy! I threw a few extra down for you!! :)

Today I hear rhymes...

...at the Poetry Jam, kinder-style!

Nate was selected as one of ten kindergarteners to read two of his poems at the Barnes & Noble Poetry Jam. He did great--he was confident, clear and even got a chuckle or two!

His poems on display

"Ocean"

The ocean is not a potion

It's motion.

It's not lotion.

It does not have a shin.

It is not thin.

--By Nate, Kindergarten, Ms. Thelen

"Sea" (yes, there's a theme!)

Fish are swimmy.

Jellyfish are jiggly.

Sharks are chompy.

Sea horses are hangy.

Whales are blowing.

Dolphins are jumpy.

--By Nate

Arghhh...Blurry!


Amelia waiting patiently

I'm Back!

Call it what you will--a resolution, a new focus or a basic desire--but after more than a sabbatical year I'm returning to this blogosphere. Yes, it's a new year. I'm back.

How did our l'il family celebrate the turning of the calendar you might ask? With hot cider, boggle, those noisy horn blowers that our 5YO son found oh-so-fascinating, some Fleetwood Mac mixed with They Might Be Giants on the playlist and DH's peppermint cheesecake. Nate was so excited about the New Year then surprised us at bedtime (8:30--we're mean parents...they're just both so worn out from the Holidays) when he started crying because he didn't want to say goodbye to 2010. "I really liked 2010," he sobbed. "I don't want to say goodbye!" So we reviewed our year month-by-month and said goodbye. We're ready for the adventures of 2011!

All was well in the morning when he jumped in bed to wish us a Happy New Year! Later, we went out to lunch to celebrate. Hah! Not too many places here in the ol' college town were open for lunch on NY day! Oops. We found one (after three other attempts, but one is all we needed, right?) and rang in the new year with portabello burgers. Then we hung shelves in the garage in 30 degrees. Organization...another resolution? How cliche!


- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress

My One-Year-Old Nearly Beat Me Bowling

Today was discount Family Fun Day as we tried to get rid of some of the promotional "free whatever" coupons we've gathered in a pile over the past few months. On our nature hike this morning at Friedrich Park, we finally took a right at the initial trail fork and made it up to the old windmill. Both the kids enjoyed watching the big blades spin and the little goldfish in the water well play hide and seek in the weeds. Our four-year-old enjoyed identifying the numbered plants on the trail with the corresponding names on the map. Our 16-month-old was content to eat rocks and walk across the plank-bridges over and over and over again! We returned home in time for PBJs and Amelia's nap (oh, how I wish Nate would've taken one today. After his 6:00 wake-up and a long day, he just couldn't make it until bedtime. He started what would be an impressive meltdown just as we were finishing dinner at EZ's...but I get ahead of myself.)

"I found number 12 again, Dad...mountain cedar!"

Yup, there's the bridge...again!

After everyone was refreshed (and Jason and I finished our pm shot of espresso!), we loaded up the Sebring for an afternoon of family bowling! This would be nearly impossible for me to do alone with the kids at this age, but a perfect filler with Jason's help on a hot Texas afternoon. They had shoes down to a children's size 6. Amelia's in a 5, so what the heck? We let her try too! Nate an Amelia used the bumpers and the ball ramp. Nate's very first ball had to be retrieved by the attendant because it didn't make it down to the end of the lane. His second ball was clocked at 1.3 mph, so for future attempts, we had him use the ramp. He thinks that's a pretty cool physics experiment in itself--sometimes he just taps the ball off the ramp, sometimes he shoves it with a heave-ho! The end-point of this story, glossing over the chaos of having two kids under four with exploring personalities in the lanes; is that Nate bowled a 101, I tied Amelia with a 102 and Jason got a "lucky" tenth frame to jump ahead and win with a 121. Basically, Amelia nearly beat everyone!

Aren't these just the cutest bowling shoes ever!

She had fun with the cause & effect of it all...and she loves balls; so she was happy!

Nate celebrating after a STRIKE!

Pick Up the Park, Please!

We made a morning of visiting Jason at the hospital today. We wanted Nathaniel to have a visual of where "Daddy" works, so I loaded up the kids and headed to the base. I needed to pick up one thing from GNC, so we stopped by the BXtra (and I bought Amelia her first baby doll--her eyes light up whenever she sees one of her babies, kitties, teddies or monkeys these days. At 16 months, I think we've officially entered the baby doll phase It's amazing. I've certainly never demonstrated how to "properly" play with dolls, and yet she took the baby bottle accessory that came with it and held it right up to her new baby's mouth. Then she laid baby on the couch and gave it kisses! These kids never cease to surprise me.) OK, but back to base. Jason was in a morning surgery, so we had another hour to kill before we could meet up with him. I took the kids to the awesome park behind the commissary--it's a giant, shaded (oh-so-important this summer) 3-part park. Nate and Amelia explored all the sections--the 0 to 3-year-old section with a play train, car and ramps; the 3 to-8-y-o section with bigger steps, a tower, a twisty slide and suspension bridges; and the 9 to 12-y-o section (or smtg like that) with just every little bell and whistle a playscape could have--tunnels, bridges, climbers, towers, slides, twists, hangers, etc. About 30 minutes into play time, Nate found a plastic shopping bag and shouts, "I found trash, Mom!" I thought I'd put the candy wrapper that Amelia was about to put in her mouth inside the bag and throw it away. But for those who know how task-focused my son can be, we proceeded to play "garbage man" around the park for the next 30 minutes. I was a little disgusted when he brought used band-aids to the pretend "garbage truck," but I had enough when he ran up to me holding...a used tampon. Arghh. Seriously. I have no idea. I'm guessing (or hoping) some stray animal hauled it out of the park restrooms and tried to bury it in the wood chips. Needless to say, I tried to keep my composure while simultaneously disinfecting my child and ending this altruistic game of make-believe.



Oh, lunch in the hospital cafeteria was uneventful (minus Nate spilling my full cup of lemonade onto my tray). And both Nate and Mia enjoyed running circles around Dr. Dad during our tour.