It's About Time!

Sometimes the last child can really get the shaft. When I saw the 4 year old neighbor girl riding around on her bike, sans training wheels, I told David we really needed to get our act together. Yes, it's true. Noah, at seven years old, still could not ride a bike. So finally, one stormy spring afternoon, David got out there with him and, within minutes, Noah was riding on his own!

Look at him go!

Now Noah absolutely LOVES to ride his bike and will spend hours out there just cruisin' around the neighborhood.

X's Field Trip

The time finally came for me to chaperone Xander's field trip to the Baltimore Museum of Industry. I was dreading it with every fiber of my being. But guess what? This ended up being the best field trip ever! The kids were so great, though admittedly the bus ride was a touch on the loud side, but what I had been warned was a very boring museum turned out to be quite interesting.

Xander's group started out in a room where they learned all about engineers and even had the opportunity to put their calculating skills to the test.
Preparing to be an engineer...Xander was pretty excited. Not sure about his classmate.

Each group of four was given the same materials to design and construct a roller coaster that would enable three marbles, of different sizes, to fall into a can placed at least 6 inches away. The first roller coaster was extremely basic in design though it still took the kids several minutes to get it to work properly. When they were ready, they called the instructor over to show him their results and received their next instructions.

The second roller coaster had to have a loop in it which definitely presented the kids with more challenges. Eventually they were successful!

The third roller coaster was really tough and the kids were still working on it when time ran out. I think if they had had 5 more minutes they would have worked out the kinks.

The beautiful Inner Harbor, much more clean now then it was 100 years ago; at least, that's what they told us. After our guide described what it looked like, and smelled like, in the late 19th/early 20th century, I'm glad we get to see it now rather than back then.

After lunch the kids stepped back in time for the afternoon as they took on the roles of people who had once worked in the oyster canning factory that was located where the museum now stands. I thought Xander was going to have a complete meltdown when he received his worker card and it was of a woman. Heaven forbid!! And it didn't matter that other boys had female cards as well; Xander was highly embarrassed! His job as this female was a labeler which he seemed to enjoy doing. Check out how he shoved the apron behind him.

He was extremely relieved when his next card was that of a man who had worked as a printer. This was a job that was more fun and, even better, earned Xander higher wages.

Receiving his tokens, just like those long ago employees. The man who had owned the factory had hired mostly immigrants who he then paid in tokens that could be used in a store right there at the factory. All their food, clothing, rent for the apartments they lived in (also owned by the factory owner), medicine, etc. could be paid for with these tokens. The kids were so excited when they learned that the tokens they received for their work that afternoon could be used to buy things at the store. Visions of candy or small toys filled their heads, I'm sure.

They quickly sobered up as they received a hard lesson about wants versus needs. There were never enough tokens left over for anything extra; needs such as food and clothing quickly ate up all their tokens earned.

I'm so grateful that I got a chance to spend such a fun and informative day with Xander and his friends.

Let's Go O's!

My boys weren't the only ones who started playing baseball in spring - so did the O's!

Once again we purchased the Dugout Club package for the kids and headed down for our first game at the end of April.

We love cheering on our O's at Camden Yards!

Always a great way to spend an evening together!

Opening Day!

With the arrival of spring comes baseball! This year Noah moved up to coach pitch, 7/8. Thank goodness no more t-ball! Another year as a Pirate though.

Team picture.

Always have to have a silly picture!

After team pictures the boys played in a scrimmage.

Get that ball, Noah!

Still trying out how it feels batting right-handed.

Xander lucked out this year...his coach was the last to pick in the draft so he was the first to pick which team he wanted. The O's, of course!

Hangin' out with his new team.

A little rusty at batting.

We are all looking forward to a fun baseball season!

Noah at Ladew Gardens

Call me a terrible mom but I really dislike going on field trips with my kids. If it was just me and my child, no problem. But being responsible for other peoples' children? Hate it!  A few years ago I was one of the chaperones for Xander's 1st grade field trip to the aquarium and it was such a nightmare that I came home with a massive headache, swearing that I would never do that again! Last year I got out of it but this year Xander begged and pleaded with me to sign up as a chaperone that I finally gave in, crossing my fingers  that I would not be chosen in the chaperone lottery drawing.  Well, no such luck. I was chosen for both Xander's and Noah's field trips. Lucky me! (said with sarcasm dripping) So, on a lovely spring day I met Noah's class at Ladew Gardens for an adventure in nature.

I have been to Ladew Gardens several times because the kids' preschool classes always had a field trip there. It is a beautiful place and they actually do a fabulous job teaching young kids about nature. The kids all received a check list - when they spotted something from their paper, like a bird or a spider or animal tracks, they could mark it off with a sticker. Cute idea and definitely kept the kids on the alert!

Learning about animal tracks.

Taking a sniff of some kind of flower.

Ah ha! We spotted some deer tracks!

There are lots of fun things to look for in the ponds and mud and muck...

as well as under logs.

We spotted this little salamander. The kids also saw turtles, a snake, and even the entire skeleton of a deer!

One of their favorite activities was pretending to be bees and spreading pollen from flower to flower.

Taking a little rest...the cute girl on the end is one of Noah's very best friends, Ava. She's such a little cutie!

Checking off some topiary. I loved all the topiary, especially the hound dogs chasing a fox.

One must always remember to take time to smell the flowers!

Noah and water! He can't seem to keep away from the stuff!

Ladew Gardens is definitely a beautiful place.

Checking out the carp.

And this was my nightmare spot...three little boys leaning quite close to the pond. I kept telling them to be careful and NOT fall in. One little boy from a different group had fallen in in this exact spot but my boys were able to stay on the shore, thank goodness.

After lunch the kids spent some time rolling down the hills.

Overall it was a wonderful field trip and I'm glad I got over my reticence and went with my No.