Art As An Experience

Our group of homeschooled friends met up at a hip and trendy painting place for kids, downtown. On the journey there, I got lost just once and had one near accident. Par for the course.

The whole idea behind this art place is that the kids can simply come in and paint whatever they want, for as long as they want. There are "no rules," the lady in charge said. Well, no rules except no painting on the floor, and no running, and no throwing glitter, and no building forts out of the tubes and sheets of cardboard.

So in other words, it's a delight for little girls. *smile*

Speaking of little girls, the Suz was In Her Element, once again, with the paint. She has no reservations when handed a blank sheet of paper and some paint and some glitter. No. Reservations. Ask my trunk and floor full of glitter how I know.

The boys spent a leeeeetle bit of the time sitting and painting on paper, one piece each. The Suz knocked out at least three sheets in the same amount of time.

The rest of the time, the kids meandered around and painted whatever surface they were allowed to paint.

And when they got tired of that, they crawled around and through whatever surface they might or might not have been allowed to paint.

Thus the paint you see in Ziggy's hair, and the paint we carried home on our clothes. All in all, a good experience for the kids, and a great way for them to make a mess outside of my house.

Sheep Elk

We took a different route home from the coast that we took on the way there. I had no idea that Little Miss GPS was going to be taking us on Nehalem Highway, which I assume is the tribal word for "carsick."

Fortunately, I was in the driver's seat and was mostly immune to the hour of twists, turns, starts, and stops. Unfortunately, no one else was. Fortunately, the only thing spilling from the backseat was ANGER, and lots of it. Never were we all so glad to see a straight road back into town as we were on that day.

Shortly before the hills and the curves came to an end, I came across a yellow road sign that said, "ELK," and lo and behold, around the next (twist and turn) we saw this:

I remarked to another gal who had stopped by the road that we were quite lucky that the elk knew to rest just where the sign said to rest. And then she mumbled something about "wildlife preserve," or some such nonsense, and moved on. Huh.

Anyway, I stopped the van at the cries of mercy coming from everyone, thinking a little stillness and fresh air would help out. It did, sorta, but then of course we had to head out on the highway again. Poor Ziggy climbed out of his seat at the Elk Stop and laid down on the floor of the van, begging and begging to ride there for the rest of the way home. It was so pitiful but like a dutiful, law-abiding, safety-conscious mom, I made him sit back in his seat and endure.

Meanwhile, the Suz and Pa were having a rousing conversation about the elk. She insisted they were sheep; Pa insisted they were elk. Sheep, elk, sheep, elk, sheep, elk. Finally the Suz shouted out, "SHEEP ELK!" and we just left it at that.

I assure you, no one in our family ever wants to see that patch of Sheep Elk again.

Guess Who Found The Pencil Shavings

I've always wondered what the Suz would do should she ever decide to play on her own. And now I know.

Astoria Bridge

From Seaside, we headed north up the Oregon coast. On the way, we passed through the town of Astoria, which is right at the top of the state. In order to get into Washington, you have to cross the Columbia River via this:

That's the Astoria-Megler Bridge. Looks harmless enough, right? Well, how about looking at the FOUR-MILE BRIDGE like this (click to enlarge):

Or perhaps from the view out the front of the van (click to enlarge):

Or maybe out the left side of the van (please do not click to enlarge):

Someone sitting in the passenger seat of the van was having too good of a time with the bridge and heights and "did you feel something shake?!" and the driver was none too happy to reach the end of that bridge and let the adrenalin level get back to normal. Campers timed the drive across the bridge and it was over a full five minutes. FIVE MINUTES! And as my good fortune would have it, we got to cross it again on the way back through. Whoopee!

Swim Lessons, Spring Break Week

"Will you put my eyes up?"

That's what the Suz asked me the first day of her very first swim lessons. She has watched her brothers ("buth-urrs") head off to lessons many, many times and she was so. super. excited to get in the pool, on her own, in her very own class, with her very own teacher and her very own swimming suit and her very own towel and her very own goggles ("eyes") that she can wear on the top of her head if she wants to. 

Our local pool provides free swimming lessons each year during Spring Break, I believe in an attempt to train their new instructors for the summer season. I was able to get all three kids in their own classes, and all at the same time. *pats self on back*

Campers needed the week of practice, and it helped. He seemed much less scared of the deep end this time around, and rarely clung to the edge of the pool at all. Here he is jumping into nine feet of water:

He was pretty proud of that jump.

Ziggy moved up to the level of class where he learned how to side-breathe and do arm circles. Unfortunately, he ended up in a class of mostly "big kids" (not shown below) who tended to push the Zig out of the way and call him "little." That was pretty hard on my incredibly tender-hearted little boy, but it was a good lesson for him in how to make the best of a not-so-great situation. 

And to add to the saga (after all, see blog title, "SAGA"), Ziggy was not feeling well on the last day of class (the "fun" day), and after just five or so minutes in the water, I saw him huddling in the corner of the pool, shivering and looking 872% miserable. I finally put two and two together and asked if he was feeling sick and cold and wanted out of the pool--and yes, he did, so I spent the rest of that class with a soaking wet sick boy on my lap. Fortunately a couple of towels and my ever-present fleece got him warm, and he got the rest of the day off of school. So, a nice trade for having a miserable cold.

And now to the girl. Goodness sakes, I will never stop being amazed at who she is. I grew up being a mouse of a child, afraid of water and people but having a particular affinity for cheese. Anyway, each time I looked across the pool at her, she was smiling, participating, and in general, having the time of her life. She's getting old enough now that she can behave in a class and actually get something out of it, so I hope to find more things like this for her in the future.

All in all, it was a good experience and a nice break from the norm. I left the house four days in a row, in the morning NO LESS, and it didn't kill me (though I've not been this exhausted in quite a while). Yay, homebody, introverted me! Oops, I mean, yay for fun and free lessons!!!

Kee-Kees On Vacation

Here are the boys and their "kee-kees" (Webkinz kitties). They make up such funny dialogues between their cats and it's one of their favorite things to do.

That night at the hotel, we watched Toy Story 3, which the boys had seen but I had not. The main point of that movie, if you haven't seen it, is that the boy has grown up and out of playing with his childhood toys. And so now when I watch my boys with their cats--I realize that all too soon they'll be put on a shelf in place of more "grown-up" pursuits. Sob, sob, and make time stop, just this once, okay thank you very much.

Game At The Beach

It isn't often that all three of our kids are involved in the same game together. Generally it's the two boys hamming it up while the girl Velcros herself to my legs. But when they do conjure up something that includes all three, it does my Mama Heart good.

While at the beach in Seaside, both boys were carrying a big stick and using it for all sorts of boyish things. Somewhere along the line, Campers got the idea that Ziggy should run and make dots, Campers would follow and connect them, and the Suz would straddle the line and run. They kept this up for a long, long stretch of the sand.

Such funny, imaginative kids.

Seaside - The Beach

Surprisingly, the Oregon coast is a rather pleasant place to visit in mid-March. Sure, you've got your occasional rainfall, which might or might not happen every other thirty minutes. And you've got required winter attire, but still. The wind was calm when we were there and the sand was solid enough that we could walk on it with minimal effort. We are all about exerting the least amount of energy possible, you know.

There's not much to say about these pictures except, "Hey, here we are at the coast. See its many moods."

Enjoy.




You can see the full album (and bigger pictures) here.

Seaside - The Town

Pa and I felt the need to Get Out Of Dodge, and I felt the need to cram a little school in with the kids. Enter: a weekend trip to the Oregon coast.

The beach is always a soul-filling place to go, and as for school--we're ramping right up to Lewis and Clark, and goodness sakes, this region of Oregon is loaded with bits and pieces of history. So, last-minute plans were made and we shoved out the door.

Seaside is one of the more touristy towns on the Oregon coast, but that's not always a bad thing. Sometimes I crave peace and quiet; sometimes I like a little something to do. And in March, when it rains, having something to do besides play in the sand is a good thing.

Here's all the non-beach things we did while in Seaside for a day.

Got 75-cent Tillamook ice cream cones:

Played at the arcade:

And picked out some chocolates to eat while watching the sunset on the coast.

While we were buying the chocolates, a mom with a baby in a stroller stood in line behind us, and I thought, "How quickly my kids have grown." Truly. It seems like just yesterday we were packing cheerios and baby food and diapers and strollers and portable cribs and had to plan our whole schedule around feedings and naps. Now we have three kids who can walk up to a candy counter and place their orders. Huh. Whoda thought.

Youth Concert

Each spring, our city's symphony invites the grade schoolers to experience not just a full concert, but a setting that is lovely and large.

I look forward to it every year, as it is a low-cost way for me to drool at some cellos. Or school the kids, whatever. I took a couple of my boys' friends with them this year. They are no fun at all. AS YOU CAN SEE.

The Schnitz is the same building that Pa and I were just at for the dance gig. What a nice place. A nice place filled to the brim with kids.

And cellos musicians.

Good tah head tah town 'n' get us some kul-chur!

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

At the last minute, Pa and I were given a set of tickets to see a dance troupe perform downtown, with all the lights and glamor and ease of prepping for a night off from the kids. As you can see, an occasional break makes me smile:

And it turns Pa into a goofy recluse. Oh, wait. Maybe that had nothing to do with the night.

The program was two-and-a-half hours long. I haven't sat that still since...let's see...my oldest kid is nine... okay. Nine years.

Anyway, the show was all dancing, all enjoyable, and a fun way to spend a night out 'on the town.'

Thanks for the tickets, anonymous donor person! Clap clap!

Give Us Us Free Stuff

I promise. The kids did this to themselves, though some guy on the street asked if I'd put them in jail:

I gotta admit--it was a nice way to keep the kids contained until the (8 bazillion ton) train came speeding by. 

We're kind of in that "in-between season," where a coat can be optional. As seen by our differently-attired kids.

We headed out and about all afternoon -- first to a string quartet at the downtown library, and then to a one-woman puppet presentation of Tikki Tikki Tembo. Both very good, both free, and both unphotographed because I was too busy taking dumb pictures of us on the train and not paying attention to the battery life on my camera. So there you have it.

Haircuts

Took the kids on a walk to get the boys' hair cut... at a salon, you know how you do...

and then we walked on to Pizza Hut to pick up some pizza, compliments of their Book-It program. I do the nagging, they do the reading, and we all enjoy pizza. Win all around.

Spring Has Sprung

Best parts of the Pacific Northwest are the mild winters and early springs. I've seen a bush in our backyard budding for a few weeks now. And just today I noticed a few flowers randomly sprouting up in the yard.

Fortunately, it's been a sunnier winter this year compared to years in the past. I now have four winters (!) to compare to, and I've been super-glad it's not been a rainy rainy rainy rainy rainy gray gray gray gray dull dull cold winter as we had last year.

Winter Swim Lessons

It'd been a while since the boys had had swim lessons, so I figured it was time to sign them up for five weeks of crazy. Here they are waiting for their first class to begin:

By the way, that shot is one of my all-time favorites of those two. They are honestly the best buds, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, and that picture captures that fact. *love*

Campers was, to say the least, freaked out about taking his first class in the deep end. Don't tell him this, but nine feet of water would FREAK THE EVER-LOVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME, TOO. So, the ten-session class was a stretch for me while I watched him face his fear of deep water. Over time, he made progress and is at the point where he can swim on his front and on his back for at least ten feet. I believe he has to do that for 20 feet in order to move up to the next level of class. Baby steps. I sure was proud of him, though.

The Zig, being the "relaxed" child, takes to water like a fish, and was SO SUPER EXCITED to jump in the pool each time. The next class he'll take will be the one where he starts learning to swim on his front and on his back. Here he is learning to float:

What makes me so happy about my boys is that they were both a delight for their teachers to have in the class. I always worry about that sort of thing, being their full-time teacher and all, and seeing them as they are (!!!) day in and day out. Pa and I are quick to point out to our kids that their character towards the teacher and the other kids in the class is a bazillion times more important than their side-breathing and kicks. Every now and then I see a small glimmer of hope that our sermonizing just might be paying off. 

This was not the case up to age four, let me assure you.

For the most part, Pa and I took turns taking the kids to their evening lessons, but one night we made it a family affair:

The Suz is just chomping at the bit to get in the pool -- and she'll start her first lessons (free ones!) in a couple of weeks. That, my friends, is going to be a sight for us to see. 

Free Day At The Art Museum

Our local art museum had free admission today, and the way I figure it -- if you're going to drag three kids through an art museum, it might as well be CROWDED and it might as well be FREE. Bliss!

And even though I got some strange looks while taking this picture, you'd better believe I wasn't leaving that building without getting a shot of my China girl and Chairman Mao:

The kids were mostly well-behaved, and when they weren't, there was always a museum employee just three feet away ready to jump in (not exaggerating) and Save The Valuables From Sure And Certain Doom. One particular gal gave the boys a stern talking to about staying "at least eight to ten inches away" and Campers was sure to nod and then ask me later for a ruler. *chuckle chuckle*

Now while this next picture is not a member of our family (in case you forgot, I know, I know, bloggedy blog blog need to blog more), he was a very popular exhibit at the museum. I could have stared for seconds, no--minutes, at him just wondering if he was real. Truly. It was all very odd.

After a good hour or so of looking at the Dumb Stuff On The Wall (just quoting the kids!), we then went to the ballroom within the museum where there was a kids' concert going on. You'd never guess who found the energy to jump up and down for at least a half-hour:

Mmmm-hmmm. Sparkly Susie. And while she danced and spun and waved and bounced, Campers collected free supplies for an art project, and the Zig built a tower of coats and laid himself down. A study in personality if ever there was one.