Speech Meet and Maker Faire

Connor's school did a family night in May that included a picnic, musical program, and a "Speech Meet" where the kids all recited poems or speeches they had memorized.  Connor did "Bedtime" by Eleanor Farjean, which is basically about a kid begging for more time to play - it suited him perfectly.  We've been really happy with the homeschool program there, and are planning to send Elise in the fall.
  

  
The weekend after Mothers Day we took a family trip to the Bay Area for Maker Faire.  We knew friends who had done it before, and Ryan was particularly excited to go see everything.  Maker Faire is basically a giant science fair put on by Make magazine that has displays on all manner of homemade gadgets and crafts.  It's totally nerdy and fun.  After I told my brother Kyle we were going, he decided to fly down and meet us, plus our good friends Justin and Tiffany and their kids (who already live in the area) tagged along.
  

Masking Tape Sculpture

R2D2 Builders' Club

This giant mechanical dragon spewed fire out of it's mouth (other end.)

Making the Tail Swing

Elise said she wanted a turn, then got scared and cried. (It's pretty high up.)

  
I have to say it was definitely cool, and mostly very fun, but not really for kids under six or so.  It was a little tricky trying to push a stroller through the crowds, and the little ones didn't have much to occupy them.  Connor had a great time, though.  He got to make a battery-powered toy car and a rocket, and could have done a ton more stuff if we'd had the time.
  

Waiting to Launch the Rocket

Version 2.0 (Repaired with Electrical Tape)

  
The next day we were able to have brunch with Ryan's sister Helena, which was really nice.  Afterwards we stopped by the Oakland temple before our drive home - probably the most beautiful temple grounds there are!
  

Elise Turns Five!

Evan was spending so much time throwing balls at random targets that I decided to get him his own basketball hoop.  He became completely obsessed (and still is, somewhat.)  He'd wake up from a nap saying "basset!", and entertain himself for almost an hour at a time.  When he misses, he says, "almose!", and runs after the ball to try again.  He's a pretty good little shot.
   

  
This year I gave Elise a choice between a birthday party or spending her birthday at Disneyland.  She made a good choice, I think (although she did have a mini-party with her best friend a week later.)  Our Disneyland experience was the best so far.  Since we went on a weekday in late spring, there were a lot fewer crowds, and we were able to walk right on to a lot of the rides.  She got a special "It's my birthday" button at the entrance, which we soon discovered was for more than just decoration.  Every Disneyland employee that walked past or saw her wished her a special day.  It was pretty cool.  She even got sung to at the restaurant where we had lunch.  Her wishlist included eating a giant lolly-pop and/or cotton candy (she got both), and getting her face painted like a butterfly.  
   

Happy birthday little girl!  I can't believe you're five already!

Stuff at Home, and a Sad Goodbye

In mid-April we went on a field trip to the Natural History Museum.  The kids fixated on the gem exhibit, so we spent almost the whole time there.  They (Connor and Elise) loved it.  They saw all kinds of crystals and gems, and learned about how hard it is to mine for Emeralds.  At the end, we were suckers and bought all kinds of rocks and a crystal-growing kit for "educational" reasons.  Evan, however, wasn't feeling it.  He had a meltdown around nap time, which ended our day a bit early.
  

  
Connor's class has been working on a butterfly garden at school.  They researched native plants and butterflies as a class, weeded and mulched the garden plot, and planted the seedlings.  Then, at the Earth Day celebration the kids got to do a booth to teach others about their garden. 
   

   
Elise made a play-doh "Mom" one day, and wanted to save it forever.  I got her to agree to take a picture that would last forever instead.  Also, she designed a flower princess outfit, and thought that should be documented, as well.  I totally agree.
   

Those are real petals and leaves taped in her crown.

  
Connor discovered my Star Walk app one night, which sparked a week-long obsession with learning about galaxies.  Too bad we live in L.A., and can't even see stars half the time!  Maybe I'll buy a telescope and keep it at my mom's house.
   

 
May 2 was the birthday of our sweet little Italian Greyhound, Portia.  She turned fifteen.  We'd been agonizing for almost a year about her, since she had been blind and deaf for some time, and it had only gotten worse in the last few months.  She wasn't in pain or anything, but she couldn't really find her way around, was constantly bumping into things, and spent all of her time sleeping on the couch.  I didn't know what to do, but it gradually became clear that she wasn't having fun anymore.  After I had made the decision to have her put to sleep, I stayed up late one night just petting her and praying and thinking of all the life events she'd been there for.  It left me with a sense of peace, and gratitude that I'd had such a great first dog.  
  
I was worried that the actual appointment would traumatize me, but it actually was much easier than making the decision had been.  The vet was super sweet and sympathetic, and after it was done, they told me there'd be no charge.  That was a nice gesture, I thought.  The kids were sad for a little while, but they'd been prepared that this would eventually happen, and got over it pretty quickly.
  

No, she's not dead here, just napping.  The heater was her best friend.

We'll miss you, Portia Brown!

Easter, and Connor's B-Day Party!

On April Fool's Day, we went outside to discover that our local bear had visited!  He got to be pretty famous, actually, and was in the news quite a bit.  All he managed to do this time was knock over our trash, and leave some incriminating footprints.
   

   
Evan likes to do school with the big kids, so I gave him these colors to sort -  he was pretty good at it, actually.
   

    
I tried to continue our Easter Season traditions from last year, and I think everything turned out pretty great.  We visited the cemetery, colored eggs, watched Easter videos, and did an egg hunt in our backyard.  We used a combination of candy eggs and "resurrection eggs" that we bought last year.  Those are one of my favorite new traditions.  You tell the Easter story, and the kids get to open an egg at various points to reveal a small toy/symbol.  We tried to do the story while they were eating the candy, but that resulted in some really sticky resurrection eggs.  I might have to rethink that for next year.

 

The kids' eggs were color-coded so we could have varying difficulty levels!

And, neglectful parents that we are, Connor finally got his birthday party in April.  He had been begging to have the Chuck E Cheese experience, so we sucked it up and agreed.  He invited his closest friends and had a ridiculously fun time.  He especially liked the "ticket blaster", where he got to stand in a wind tunnel grabbing for tickets.  (He thought "Chuck E" was kinda weird, and I would have to agree.)  Everybody went home with fabulous plastic prizes.  We love you, Connor!
   

  

Anniversary Cruise (Part 2)

One of the main reasons we picked the Western Caribbean was so we could see Mayan Ruins on the Yucatan Peninsula.  We ended up picking Chacchoben in Costa Maya, Mexico.  It's about an hour from the port, and has three really well restored Mayan temple pyramids.  This one was two levels - a staircase led to a plateau higher up, and a smaller pyramid sat on top of that.  It was crazy to think that people built all this without metal tools or wheels.
 

Strangler Fig

 
They say that any hill in this area is probably an overgrown ruin, since the land is naturally flat.  Originally, the pyramids were covered with plaster and painted bright colors - there was a little of the original paint left on this one.
 

 
That night was one of our "formal" nights at dinner.  Our table-mates throughout the cruise were from Canada, and like all Canadians I've ever known, they were super friendly.  They manufacture fancy fishing-lures up near Niagara Falls.  Pretty weird way to make a living, eh?
 

 
The next day was a sea-day, which I love.  Nothing to do but read, eat, go to shows, and hang out.
 

 
Our last day started pretty early, since cruise ships are always in a hurry to kick you off to get ready for the next batch of people.  We decided to do one last tour rather than sit in the airport for ten hours.  It was a fan-boat tour of the Everglades, and it was amazing.  We saw black vultures, alligators, and these birds called purple gallinules that are related to chickens.  They were pretty tame and came almost right up to my hand.  At the end there was an alligator show that really freaked Ryan out.  I thought the alligators looked too lazy to be very dangerous, but that was probably deceptive.
 

 
Afterwards, the shuttle took us to the airport, where we changed clothes and caught a cab to church.  That was really neat.  You forget, living in affluent communities where the Church is well-established, how much need there is in other areas.  This ward was located in a fairly poor neighborhood, where a large percentage of the members didn't have cars, and the majority were either new converts or student families at the nearby medical school.  After church we called a cab, but it was taking forever to show up, so a super nice church member offered to take us to the airport.
 
I've had our room key-cards sitting in our bathroom mirror for weeks now (I just put them away last week,) and every time I looked at them, it made me happy.  What a great trip.  Thanks again to my mom for holding everything together at home so we could go!