Spots of Time

Our weekend hangout

If you are looking for a balmy warm winter destination that has plenty of water, beach chairs, and bathing suit clad people running around, let me know.  I've got some inside knowledge.

Preparing for Pompeii

In a few weeks KR, the girls, and I will be heading over to Europe for ten days.  Of all the things on our to-do list, the girls are the most excited about Pompeii.  We've done a lot of reading up on the topic, but I think Pompeii is one of those places that draws you in no matter how much or how little you know about its history.  I have been wanting to visit these ruins since I was ten-years-old.  You've got a volcano, roman ruins, detailed artifacts, and those really awesome/creepy body casts...could it get any better?  I don't think so.  Anyway, as I was doing some research online, I realized our local museum just happens to be housing the traveling Pompeii exhibit for the next couple of months.  Perfect timing!

The colors on some of the remaining frescoes are amazing.  This really got us excited to see the real deal up close.

Roman Gods.  Plenty of muscles, not a lot of clothes...

My main reason for wanting to check out this exhibit was to gauge Wonderkid's comfort level with the death and destruction that Pompeii represents.   When we went into the room with the recreated pyroclastic explosion that was accompanied by a video depicting fantastic fiery destruction, I thought for sure we were in trouble.  Fortunately this kid was nothing more than fascinated.  Both girls were a little creeped out by the body casts (I consider this a good thing) but not so much that they don't want to visit.

This exhibit came from a town near Pompeii.  You can see Wonderkid listening to the portable tour guide in the foreground.  Creepy, but still interesting.  I guess this means the Catacombs are okay.

Of course no study of Pompeii is complete without your own recreation of the famed Mt. Vesuvius eruption. 

Look out Pompeii!

After all of this talking, reading, learning and prepping, I think the girls are just as excited to see Pompeii as KR and I are.  Italy here we come!

a trip to the aquarium

Nana!

This past week my Mom came out to visit for a few days.  We all had so much fun catching up, and the girls loved being able to spend time with Nana.

We spent a day at the local aquarium,

and made yummy treats.

Nana even showed the girls how to look up african wildlife web-cams.  Sweet!

Most of Nana's time here was spent doing normal day to day activities.  Fortunately she seemed okay to accompany me on my normal route of after-school craziness.  One afternoon we had to go to three different swimming pools for three different lessons, then the next day we went to a different pool for a meet.  Seriously.  As usual Nana took it all in stride.  We did take her out to some awesome local restaurants, including my favorite Cambodian restaurant and a delicious Bolivian diner.  Nana also pulled out her scientist hat to help the girls with their homework.  This was very much appreciated (who knew fourth grade science tests could be so complicated?).   It makes me sad to think my girls don't get this quality time on a regular basis (the biggest pitfall of living so far from family) but we are so grateful she is willing to come out and visit.  We hope she comes back soon!

Weekend update

The past few days have been very laid back and relaxing.  I have gotten into the habit of staying up late and sleeping in, which is all good and well until Tuesday rolls around and I have to get up at 4:30am...  The girls have made the most out of their down time.  They have made dozens of necklaces and bracelets with their new bead sets, have baked many delicious (and messy) treats, and have spent a lot of time heaping attention on our cat. 

I have never been able to figure out how the cat feels about all of the "love" she gets when the girls are home.  She seems to follow them around the house, so she must enjoy their mauling at least a little bit.

On Monday the girls and I cheered for KR during his old-man-league soccer game.  The girls loved being able to cheer for their Dad.  It was a close game, but they ended up losing by one goal.  After the game was over Wonderkid gave KR a nice little talk about how it didn't matter that he lost because he played well and had fun playing.  It was almost exactly the same speech I have heard him give the girls many times.  You know what they say; imitation is the best form of flattery.

On Wednesday the girls and I ventured into Boston for a visit to the Science Musuem. 

As always, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The girls learned how gears and wheel diameter affects a car's ability to go up and down hills.  They really got into this exhibit.  It was quite entertaining to watch.   If you ask me, this certainly beats sitting around watching daytime tween-o-vision.

This weekend KR and I scored big at REI's garage sale.  This baby is much better than our old car camping tent (which leaked water like a sieve).  I'm seeing many fun adventures in our future.

On New Year's Eve we had some friends stop by for a visit.  The girls were smitten over this adorable little girl and her brother.  My two cannot wait until they are old enough to babysit.

 
At 12am this morning, we all went outside to celebrate the New Year in style.  With pots and pans.

Yes, our neighbors love us.

Happy New Year!