Silver Lake Park

To keep things interesting for our daily walks we will try and go to different parks. Luckily, Bucks County has so many that I don't think we will ever get bored! Today Shayna, Skyler, and I went to Silver Lake Park. We walked through a scenic path in the woods leading through a marsh and then to the lake. Shayna had her binoculars. Yesterday (sat.) we went to Neshaminy Park again and had Shayna practice riding her bike. We had her practice as we walked and we did 2 full times around the park, by the end she was getting better but also had a very minor finger injury. Skyler even got out and walked. To make it more interesting, there happened to be a Civil War reneactment/camp out there and we got to see all the people dressed up and both the North and South sides. The pics below are from Silver Lake.
Shayna checking out the brook. I thought it was cool that there was a "boardwalk."
The observation deck. Shayna saw a bird that she will look up in the vintage bird watching book (ie the actual book that my grandmother Freda got me as a child).

In fact, as we walked through the woods today, it really reminded me of my grandparents and how much they loved going on walks through the woods and would take us when my brother and I were kids.

Tunnel Slide

There was a really nice playground at the Neshaminy park. It had a LOT of monkey bars, the most I have ever seen at any playground and lots of those bars you can flip on. It had this cool tunnel slide:

River Walk

We went to Neshaminy State Park today to walk. Manny and I are trying to get in shape/lose weight so we are eating healthier and exercising more, including trying to walk every day. Neshaminy State Park has a walking trail that goes down to the Delaware River (after maybe a 10-15 minute walk through the woods you get to the river). When we got to the river Shayna exclaimed "there's a BEACH!" and then proceeded to run down to it. We took Skyler out of the stroller and checked out the beach a little. When we looked south down the river we could clearly see the skyscrapers of center city Philadelphia. After we resumed our walking (on Delaware Dr. towards Playground Rd.) we saw Shayna had a big rock in her hands. She said it was a "memento." We left the rock in the park.
Skyler wanted to explore the beach too.

River view looking north and east- thats New Jersey on the other side

Audition Tomorrow!

Shayna has her first audition tomorrow from the Reinhard Agency.

She will audition for a commercial for the Philadelphia Zoo! They are promoting thier new Cat Encounter. if she gets it, it films May 8th and pays $300.

Please wish her LUCK!!! She really wants this one because its for the zoo and will be a LOT of fun.

Ask Uncle Mike #4 (?)

I know its been a while since I have had any of these, but Shayna has not had any questions for Uncle Mike until today.

This is very specific to Mike's recollections of recess at Valley Elementary School.

The question is:

What are the rules of wall ball?

Did the balls get "roofed" i.e. get stuck on the roof?

Shayna was talking about a game that the kids play at recess called "Suey" where they hit a ball against the wall. I told her when I was there it was called "wall ball" and that Uncle Mike played it (I never did).

Skyler's Latest Accomplishments

Some of Skyler's latest accomplishments:

1. Can point correctly when asked to identify nose and ears. Can also point to asker's nose!

2. Builds using legos (and small ones too) and blocks.

3. Colors on paper with crayons. Also added to the wall art started by Shayna when she was a toddler.

4. Helped decorate the clubhouse with Shayna using markers. See bottom 2 photos below.

5. Wrote what appears to be about 3 letters and one number on the clubhouse below where Shayna wrote the alphabet and numbers. He wrote A, U, D, W, C and the number 2.

6. He can do his own sign language for "feed me" or "I want" which is him pounding his chest like a gorilla (and he uses force). He waves bye bye.

8. He claps when you say "good job!" or "good boy." If he does something he knows is good, like exit the bathroom after going in there (he isn't allowed in there), he claps for himself. He claps when happy/pleased with something you are doing, like when you are getting him food he really wants or milk/juice.

9. Can do simple puzzles. (will try and get a photo for that later).

We're in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Shayna and I were in the article of the Philadelphia Inquirer today, featured on the very front and top of thier home page! I haven't checked out the hard copy of the paper yet.

as we feared jokily ala Reeta Skeeter, the way she wrote the article it appeared as if we were entering the exhibit at 2am, but we were actually there at 12:30am. also, the lady on the phone told me it was sold out until midnight, not 2am as quoted.

If you have not yet read the 2 posts about our visit, skip this and read them (below) before going to read this article.

Here is the now corrected link:

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/14413415.htm

Franklin Institute/Body Worlds Adventure

Shayna and I went to the Franklin Institute last night to see the Body Worlds exhibit and to see the IMAX film, Human Body, that goes with it. This is the last weekend to see the exhibit. We really had quite a lucky and fun night.

We planned to go at night, because its much cheaper. So around 6:30pm, on the way down, I called the Info. number. I found out that the museum was open 24 hours because of the exhibit ending on the 23rd. It recommended buying tickets ahead of time, so I called the number to purchase tickets. The woman on the phone said that it was sold out until midnight and she recommended not going. I decided to go anyway and just see what happens. I was also told it may be hard to get into the museums parking lot (which I like because its under the museum and you don't have to go outside-safe-plus it was pouring rain).

LUCKY THING #1: We got into the museum parking lot and got a great spot, 1st floor near the elevator (someone was leaving). Note:there was a man in a raincoat standing at the entrance waving cars away before we pulled up. and there were orange cones. as I pulled up the man had walked inside and I drove through the cones- figured I would try.

We went into the museum atrium area where the ticket counter is, the Body Worlds exhibit area, IMAX, cafe, etc. It was packed with people of all ages, kind of a festival/concert type feel in the air. WE got in line for tickets and were told only the 12;30am time was left for the Body Worlds. There were 9pm tickets for the IMAX movie.

LUCKY THING #2: The museum was open all night.

LUCKY THING #3: the museum was free.

LUCKY THING #4: the ticket line was fairly short, after we left it was very long.

It was already 7pm- and since we had the movie at 9 and the entire museum was free, we decided to stay and got the 12:30am Body Worlds tix (in retrospect now, most likely they would have let us in earlier but we were having fun anyway).

So we put our coats in a locker and went and enjoyed some of the museum until time for the 9pm movie.

LUCKY THING #5: The museum had a LOT of new exhibits since the last time we were there, so much that we didn't even get to see it all. I honestly can say that the Franklin Institute is one of the most interesting and fun museums I have ever been to. It has lots of very creative and fun interactive exhibits, even tons of things Skyler would love.

We went to the Kid Science and Space areas, and then went to the IMAX movie.

LUCKY THING #6: I didn't realize this when I purchased the tickets, but they were having a special just that night. All tickets for movies 9pm and later were only .75! Normally, when purchased with Body Worlds, it is $5. They only charged us for one ticket so Shayna's was free.

LUCKY THING #7: they made a new Philadelphia movie. At the beginning of every IMAX movie, they show a short film about Philadelphia. Over the years, I had seen the same film about 5 times. So I was dreading seeing it yet again. But - SURPRISE- they finally made an updated new Philadelphia movie!

The Human Body IMAX movie is one of the best IMAX movies I have ever seen. It was extremely good. if it comes to an IMAX near you or is showing, you must see it.

After the movie, we had about 2 hours to roam around. They were having a special Quizzo event in the Planetarium. We spent a little time listening but left because the museum itself was more interesting and the questions were ridiculously hard (this was at the end so no idea what they were earlier). Maybe aimed at all the smart PhD types who go to a place like the Franklin Institute on a Saturday night. Sorry I did not write them down to post here...but they were something like: this swiss scientist ____ was known as the father of _____; how many years does it take saturn to go around the sun; what speed is the earth moving in MPH; what 2 lawyers argued the case of ____& ____ (case I never heard of).

We went to the air, train, and new Heart area (that was a really nice hige exhibit area with lots of interactive things to do & see). There is also an interactive exhibit all about Ben Franklin but we didn't see the whole thing; also didn't have time to see the Isaac Newtown new section (it looked really cool).

Then at 12:30am we went to the Body Worlds- it was still full with people and Shayna was NOT the only child- but there were still mostly adults. While we were fully awake our feet did hurt and Shayna was slightly bored because it was crowded and hard to see plus not as fun/interactive as the rest of the museum.

LUCKY THING #8: We were interviewed by a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer! The article will be in this Monday's paper. She asked us questions and took our full names and ages.

The exhibit was fascinating. I liked the section about human embryos and pregnancy the best. Hopefully by showing how early the fetus looks like a baby, it will prevent some women from getting abortions. they showed actual fetus/embryos, as early as 4-5 weeks, and you could clearly see it starting to look like a baby. It showed just about every major illness- what it really looks like and obesity. Maybe this will get some people to quit smoking.

After the Body Worlds, we stopped in the Sports exhibit/area before going home and Shayna had fun racing a race car and climbing a wall...also they have a webcam set up.

So that was our fun and adventurous night!

To check out the Franklin Institute (this is a GREAT website!):

www.fi.edu

Bloodmobile video with music by "They Might Be Giants"-this is the video shown in the heart exhibit area. Very cute educational video, both Shayna & Skyler liked watching (as did I!). when you go to this link, there will be links to watch the video:

www.fi.edu/bloodmobile.html

To check out Body Worlds and to see if it will be near you (St. Louis is next):

www.bodyworlds.com

Highlights of Franklin Institute

Here are some of the highlights of the cool stuff we saw/did at the Franklin Institute. I didn't take any photos in the heart or Ben Franklin sections (but those were both all new; great and actually my favorites in the museum. The heart you walk through is improved and some new effects added inside).

1. The Seismic Rock: when you touch, kick, hit this big rock it shows the vibrations on a seismeter (?-what is that thing called?)
2. Oldest thing you will ever touch: this meteorite is 5.5 Billion years old. Older then the earth and sun.

3. Kid Science section: This was like the Please Touch and zoo's treehouse. Sections about water, air and earth. Neat section with mirrors. There was a tunnel with lasers. If you touched the laser "lord Chaos" would laugh a loud evil laugh. My favorite was the mirror that made me look tall and thin. ha ha ha. Skyler would have a blast here! Oh and a really cool cave to explore. In the second pic there are boats in water and you pile rocks in them until they sink (I know Skyler would love that).

4. Space section with Space Academy: lots of interactives and computer technology, computerized consoles.


5. Train section: has a giant old fashioned real train you can board and "ride". here is an exhibit that Skyler would have liked- you press the blue button to "ignite" and the red button to "explode." Full sound effects. Lots of new exhibits in this section.
6. Air section: this is in the same place as the airplane section has always been but there are a LOT of new exhibits and lots of interactives. Here is the one where you try and "fly" the airplane. Neither Shayna or I could do it!
7. Sports section: We did this after the Body Worlds and it was very late so only spent maybe 5 minutes or so. Something to look forward to next visit- it looked like a LOT of fun in here! It covers just about every sport and is 100% interactive.

The Clubhouse

Manny brought in the box from the garage- the one that used to be in our old office and was part of Shayna's playhouse. We added it onto the castle* so now it is a 2 room playhouse. Shayna named it the "Clubhouse." Skyler really loves the Clubhouse!!

*the castle was created for Shayna's 3rd birthday party (a castle carnival theme) and now houses most of Shayna's dress up gear. Note, the clubhouse is just the new addition, the castle is still the castle.

Water Toy

Since it has been so nice and warm lately, I took out Skyler's water toy he got for his birthday last August. He really enjoyed playing with it, and I got to sunbathe and relax!

Holiday Meals

Manny made us a delicious Easter dinner yesterday. We had salad, ham with apple cider, honey and brown sugar glaze/sauce, and parmesean potatoes. I also made my first Passover Seder Thursday night. We had all the traditional foods like matzoh, gefelte fish, and matzoh ball soup. I made the charoses out of apple hot cereal. I will need to get a better haggadah and seder plate for next year (maybe use the one I made in hebrew school as a child). No photos of Passover.

Egg Hunt

We held the 1st Annual Egg Hunt today. It was a lot of fun! Skyler was more into checking out what was in the egg then looking for more eggs. We decided to hide more eggs next year (only 12 were hidden in the front & side yards).

On a side note, this is now my favorite outfit (spring/summer) of Skyler's. How can you not LOVE those shorts?!! Also, I went shopping with Shayna yesterday and got Skyler the CUTEST thing: SKATER pants in his size. They change from pants to shorts just by rolling up & velcroing. They sold out of the denim ones though (Childrens Place size 24mo), I got him dark blue and light khaki but I am still hoping to find them in denim.

Coloring

Skyler coloring with crayons for the first time. He did a great job and knew to color on the paper. He doesn't care to color in the picture, but prefers to make his own art on the blank part of the paper. I moved the kids table from the playroom into the kitchen and now Skyler eats there most of the time.

Audition Update

Shayna auditioned for the Bucks County Playhouse's summer children's theater on March 25th. She sang 16 bars from "Seasons of Love" from "Rent." She did a monologue from "the Wizard if Oz." The one she did was the scene at the very end when Dorothy wakes up back in Kansas. We found it on the website that Uncle Michael found. We decided to use that one because one of the plays they are casting for is the Wizard of Oz.

Here is the monologue she did. She rehersed for about 3-4 hours the Friday before and also some the Thursday before, to memorize it and work on her acting. Manny and I coached her.

The Wizard of Oz
written by L. Frank Baum (novel), Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf
Dorothy:

But it wasn't a dream. It was a place. And you and you and you...and you were there. But you couldn't have been could you? No, Aunt Em, this was a real truly live place and I remember some of it wasn't very nice, but most of it was beautiful--but just the same all I kept saying to everybody was "I want to go home," and they sent me home! Doesn't anybody believe me? But anyway, Toto, we're home! Home. And this is my room, and you're all here and I'm not going to leave here ever, ever again. Because I love you all. And... Oh Auntie Em! There's no place like home!


We also gave them her resume and 8X10 photo composite. She was #44 in the 8-9 year old category. There is also a 10-12 and 13-15 category so there are a LOT of kids who audition for these plays!

We will find out on April 30th via e-mail if/what she was cast in! We hope she gets a speaking part!


here is the monologue website: http://www.whysanity.net/monos/

Art Exhibit

Shayna's art was on display at the Bensalem School District's art festival. The festival is being held at the high school on 4 different dates.

Monday night was "choral night" with a choral concert. The art exhibit is on display for the entire festival (Tues. is band night and Wed. strings).

We went Monday to see the art exhibit and Shayna's artwork. We had a bit of trouble finding her art, as you can see in the photos it is displayed in an odd spot by itself and hung above eye level so you had to look up to see it. I also liked the Panda art behind the bars (see if you can find it in the photo). Since it featured work from ALL the schools it was neat to see what other 3rd graders were doing as well as other grades in the other elementary schools, and also to see the extremely advanced art by the high school students (some really cool pottery, clay, huge paintings and more).

I asked Shayna to point to her art.

close up of Shayna's artwork