farm tour!
quinn got to wield the allen wrench and build his bed once again… this time at dragon house 2.0, age 9. flashback to dragon house 1.0, age 5!
some fun foods of the month; bird face pizzas and rainbow fruit!
returning salmon fry to the stream with quinn’s third grade class.
quinn got to attend his second karate seminar with mr. sepulveda, and go to dinner at the laughing planet cafe afterwards. it seems to be becoming tradition. he had a girl a head shorter than him enthusiastically choose him for a sparring partner, and they took turns flipping each other over for the whole hour. i think he had fun and learned a lot, and once again absorbed awesomeness from an esteemed kenpo teacher who actually studied directly under ed parker, the founder of this form of martial arts.
in between karate and dinner, we got to go on a brief farm tour #2 for the month (this was more of a sister friend visit, but… baby goats!)
climbing up ladders into haylofts, swinging on rope swings, meeting a sheep named artemis, having a baby goat suck on his fingers, and generally farming around. mama even got in on the baby goat holding and one took a nap in my arms.
come home on a friday after a week of school and work on division worksheets, why don’t you? sometimes an activity, like treasure map division problem puzzles, sits on a shelf for 6 months and then all of a sudden must urgently be completed in one sitting.
karate – second black tip earned on his purple belt!
spring concert fun, with the interjections song from schoolhouse rocks. i think he was pretty pumped to be one of the sign holder uppers. they also sang a ladybug song, and the 5th grade sang this land is your land with all of the best verses included – love that music teacher. then the whole school joined in on i’ve gotta be me. so much gratitude for teachers who plant the right subliminal messages…
Whether I’m right or whether I’m wrong
Whether I find a place in this world or never belong
I gotta be me, I’ve gotta be me
What else can I be but what I am
I want to live, not merely survive
And I won’t give up this dream
Of life that keeps me alive
I gotta be me, I gotta be me
The dream that I see makes me what I am
That far away prize, a world of success
Is waiting for me if I heed the call
I won’t settle down, won’t settle for less
As long as there’s a chance that I can have it all
I’ll go it alone, that’s how it must be
I can’t be right for somebody else
If I’m not right for me
I gotta be free, I’ve gotta be free
Daring to try, to do it or die
I’ve gotta be me
we geeked out about the number 9 this month; i still sing “that crazy number nine” from the 80s show square one when i show a kid the nine trick. so i showed him the real song on you tube (some things are better left to the mama’s remembered rendition?), which launched a session of schoolhouse rocks math videos. i just recently bought the book go figure for him, because i think he really digs knowing all the fancy math secrets.
his room is getting set up piece by piece at the new house, slowly coming together. he said he likes that the changes are gradual so he can get used to them.
we managed to get to the pool for one open swim this month, and quinn spent the entire hour and a half doing laps back and forth with two noodles tucked under his arms, practicing his swimming and even getting his face wet and working on blowing out bubbles. major progress. he was wearing his new goggles and squishy ear plugs to keep water out of his ears. if only i had thought of getting some of those years ago! it made such a visible difference for him.
coming back from an evening walk, mamarazzi caught red-handed.
bunny watching out the vacation house kitchen window.
backpack archaeological dig finds
quinn got to go on a weekend camping trip with his dad out to eastern oregon desert country. when he told me about it, he told me he found a really cool piece of fire obsidian that he described in great detail; that he got to buy a barn owl stuffie at the high desert museum; and that he got to smash a penny. i found out later he also saw a porcupine up close, and got to see a great horned owl even closer; saw a baby owl in the wild and then found one of its feathers after it left; saw another owl flying; and spent his free time reading tom brown books.
reading and listening our way through percy jackson and the olympians, i found quinn another book written by rick riordan, percy jackson’s greek gods, which gives more background on the mythology behind the books. he is fully engrossed in that book, as well as calvin and hobbes, and the spirit animals series.
all of which leads me to ask… what if the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about?
SO great that they included the best parts of that song! i absolutely love that he appreciates the gradual changes… what a great kid.
jenny recently posted..… and suddenly it’s june