Potty Training

Skyler is now officially potty training. He is wearing "pull ups" by day and diapers at night. I got the little mini toilet seat insert Tuesday and he is using that. He has peed into the toilet and pooped in the toilet today, so he has 4 potty stickers on his chart so far. We'll see how it goes from here. He is very eager and willing and asks to use the potty although not sure if he gets it 100% yet. The next step is he needs to start telling us when he has to go- he has not done that yet just will ask to go to the potty but it seems more random then when he actually has to go.

Frog Themed Geocache

We did a geocache with a frog theme in Playwicki Farm today called "Listen to the Frogs." Same park as yesterday but we saw different things.

Once again, we saw incredibly beautiful scenery. Here is what we walked across on the way to the first stage:


The view looking left from the little wooden walkway:

Looking right from the wooden walkway. This reminds me of places my grandparents used to love to take us to when my brother and I were kids. They loved taking off thier shoes and then wading around in a little brook:

After hiking up hill for a little while, we got to the coordinates and here I found the clues for stage 2. These cute little frogs were hidden between these rocks:

underneath the frogs (above) were the coordinates for the final stage and to find the cache.

To get there, we had to walk back down, across the same wooden walk way, and then around the limestone quarry:

we were now at the bottom of the quarry- a little pond - which had three tall cliffs on the sides. It was very pretty. There were mallard ducks swimming in it. Shayna standing in front of the quarry holding the GPS:

Next, we walked to the right and up the hill around the quarry so now we were at the TOP looking down to where Shayna was standing in the above photo. Here Manny found the cache- it was hidden at the base of a tree at the very edge of the cliff under a giant log.

There was a giant log nearby to sit on and rummage through the contents. It had a cute drawing of a frog on the bottom:

Skyler liked the beach ball in it, Shayna and I thought this Fonzie bobble head type toy was funny:

There was a little froggie toy that lives in the cache, you squeeze it and it croaks. It was put there by the owner in case there were no real frogs in the pond (there weren't). I thought this was so creative. This was the same person who made the "kite and key" cache.

Skyler-isms

Here are Skyler's version of the following:

1. Uh oh spaghettio = Uh oh dee doh

2. Peek a Boo = EE boo

Potty Time

Manny brought down the potty chair yesterday to start introducing the concept to skyler. He had him sit on it, but with clothes on, just to introduce it to him. I was hesitent and hadn't even started to potty train him yet, because of my experiences wth Shayna.

Tonight, when it was time for bed, Skyler said he wanted to try and "poopy" on the potty. I think it was partly a bedtime delay tactic, but nevertheless, I had him toddle on over to the bathroom and he sat on the potty seat. I left him there reading the potty book, not really expecting to see any "results." A few minutes later I returned, and he had peed in the potty! Since I wasn't prepared or expecting anything so soon, I had not prepared his "potty chart' so I had to hastily turn over shayna's old chart, write "Skyler" and a "Pee" and "Poop" section in marker, and then he got to put his very first sticker under the "pee" section of his very own potty chart. Not sure where this will lead...but we'll see if he makes anymore requests and just play it by ear.

Playwicki Farm

Today our geocacheing adventures brought us to Playwicki Farm in Lower Southampton. I did not know about this public park before. Here is the sign for Playwicki Farm, to the right is a very quaint looking stone farm house. Not sure what its purpose is, it was locked up. There were signs near it about some kind of labyrinth project. NO IDEA. No literature of any kind was to be found (brochures etc.). Behind the house there were stone ruins. Its very pretty here. behind the kids is a wide paved tar path-and a nice playground (this was tough getting Skyler to walk by), which led us to begin our adventure. after leaving the paved path, we walked on a wide grassy path which must have been a horse back riding trail (?), and then eventually came upon this bridge going over a brook or creek:

Pretty view from the bridge:

after walking by a pond, then going up-up-up-very scenic- and going off the trail-wandering around in a zig zaggy but upward and eastward pattern - we eventually pinpointed the cache area. Shayna found it! It was under this tree stump. here she is in the spot she found it:

Skyler checking out a toy that was in the cache:

making the trades-we took a lame travel bug (no item attached) and etch a sketch pen and left a puzzle and alien toy:

here is some of what it looked like walking back. it was so pretty, pictures do not do it justice. it was so hilly that it had a wonderful view going down. we saw more deer right in the woods.

after leaving the woods, we got back onto the grassy wide trail again. this time we wound up going a different way. we found a few of these strange unmarked signs:

when we returned we were in the back of the ruins, which we had started out in front of before. we had made a full circle. the parking lot is right in front of this area above.

we took the kids to the playground. this was a really nice one with a wide assortment of climbing apparati, including climbing wall and cimbing net of some kind, and had this neat music playing area. It was Skyler's first time on the see saw:

Overall we walked 2 miles (shayna wore a pedometer) and Skyler walked the entire time!

we topped off our au natural day by having a salad for dinner- using hydroponic lettuce - and then watching the Discovery series part one of "Planet Earth."

Idlewood

Our 2nd geocaching adventure of the day took us to the fields behind Neshaminy High School. There we would enter a trail through the woods called Idlewood which would take us to the Neshaminy Creek. If not for geocaching, we would never have discovered this beautiful place.

After parking, we had to travail over some mud to get onto the fields because of construction. At the edge of the fields by the woods we saw a whole herd of deer:

After walking about .8 mile or so through the woods, we came to the top of a fairly steep hill with gorgeous views of the creek below, it was interspersed with rocks and huge boulders. It looked like a childs dream for imaginative play. This photo was taken about 3/4 of the way down:

at this point we were walking around trying to pinpoint the location of the cache. we had to cross a little babbling brook -going across by stepping on the stones:

Manny found the cache under a huge boulder, not far from where I stood when I took this photo of Shayna and Skyler playing among the giant boulders:

Shayna and Skyler checking out the cache:

On the way back, there was this nice "boardwalk" going over the brook:

Growden Mansion

We did two geocaches today. The first was at the nearby historical Growden Mansion. It was called "Go Fly a Kite." It is said that Ben Franklin did his famous kite and key experiment where he discovered electricity right here. He knew the owners,at the time was the Galloway family, and he would travel through to visit his daughter who lived in Bensalem. The mansion was first owned by Joseph Growden from Cornwall England around 1692. he received 5000 acres+ land from William Penn- which is Bensalem. There are bullet holes in the outbuilding where the "red coats" fired shots.

Here is Skyler looking at a tree with the mansion behind him:
we looked around for a while, not having much luck. Then it dawned on me to try looking up. as soon as I said, lets try looking up, Shayna pointed at something obviously hanging from a fallen tree:

so at first we thought, ok, how do we get to it? does someone have to climb/shimmy up that tree, like they did in a recent episode of "Lost?" Then I spotted some fishing- KITE line wound against the tree. Manny managed to get it unwound and the line controlled the cache:

Here is Shayna holding the small cache. Just signed the log, this one was too small for any trading of items.

The COOLEST most CREATIVE thing:here is the actual log book. The old fashioned key was actually attached/hanging on the end of the kite string! So the cache was the "kite" and the "key" was at the end- just like Ben Franklin's experiment!

Skyler's Sleeping Buddies

Here is what Skyler now sleeps with, which includes his top stuffed buddies:

1. Elmo knows your name talking stuffie: he knows Skyler and talks to him, sings, tells stories, etc.

2. Bear: bear has always been a favorite of Skyler's. He was the 1st gift given to Shayna by her Uncle Mike and Aunt Christy.

3. Rabbit: Skyler loves rabbit and he calls him rabbit. He was found abandoned sitting on the grass in front of our car at the parking lot of the zoo on Mothers Day 2006.

4. Toy: The little toy that came with his hanging ocean crib toy, which also still hangs in his crib.

He will grab all of the above in his arms while clutching the toy, and he also presses his Ocean Wonders Aquarium which then plays music, has swimming fish, and lights. If you press it, he will turn it off and then turn it on himself.

Spring Fever

We finally got a nice weather day so went to one of the closest places we could think of to enjoy the outdoors and take a little walk. Dad went fishing with the gps, so no geocaching. We went to the Bristol waterfront.

There is a short walking trail there that goes along what used to be the old canal: That is the Delaware River behind Shayna and Skyler. The current was very strong- you would NOT want to fall in!

here is the cute little walking trail:

we had planned to to geocaching Friday, however nature decided to pour rain down on us. So we will try geocaching whenever it all stops and dries up.

Math Champion

Shayna got a perfect score of 6 on her last Continental Math League test today. She has a perfect score on every test. This makes her the top in the Bensalem School District.

She also may be the top in the region. Not sure exactly on that yet, as they need to wait until all the results are in from all the schools, etc. Shayna THINKS the region may be 3 states. We'll update on that as soon as we know.

Kudos

We had this conversation today:

Shayna was sharing what happened at school today. Ms. Welch made an announcement to the entire 4th grade after the pledge of allegiance, that tomorrow is the final Continental Math League Test, and that if Shayna gets another perfect score, a 6, that she will/may be the REGIONAL CHAMPION, or top in the region. (I am not sure what encompasses the region geographically). The kids then applauded. Shayna is already the top in the District as the standing go now.

So then Manny mentioned how when he was in school (not sure what grade but here in the US so age 10 or older), the teacher would ask the class to do the math problem first, and then ask Manny if it was right.

Then Shayna said, last year in 3rd grade, if the teacher asked a question, and Shayna raised her hand, she would ask if anyone else knew first, because she knew that Shayna knew the answer.

So I said, when I was in first grade, the kids would stand in line to ask me for help or ask me questions, if the teacher was busy or had her own long line.

Note: Shayna had her online try out test for Kids Jeopardy tonight. If she is selected for the next audition, I will get an e mail.

King Tut Exhibit

We went on a family outing to the King Tut Exhibit at the Franklin Institute. It was very interesting and Skyler was well behaved. Since we went in at 6pm and hadn't had dinner yet, we were all really hungry and the smell of roast beef wafting up into the exhibit whet our appetites. Conveniently, they have a special restaurant on the 2nd floor in the back of the Ben Franklin Exhibit called King Tut's Oasis. Its pretty neat, all made up like a big arabic colorful tent so you feel literally as if you did enter an oasis and have left the museum. Turns out what I was smelling was the lamb stew with onions and cheesy rice. It was delicious. Skyler actually ate- first time we ordered for him and he ate in a restaurant. Also, Manny ordered the babaganoush appetizer and I ordered the hatoush appetizer (salad). So we had lots of fun calling each other babaganoush and saying babaganoush over and over even on the car ride home because how can you not- its a very funny word. apparently egyptians like words ending in "oushe or ouche." Like you see the pharouhs have thier names in the ..... cartouche.

No photos allowed in the Tut exhibit...but I have a link below where you can view the exhibit rooms and see some of what we saw to get the idea. The most interesting things I saw were the images of King Tuts likeness made based on the 2005 catscans, the fact that the artifacts had so much pretty blue colors, and the small burial mask (same as Kings but smaller) for his stillborn child's fetus. In the very last room were 5 of the artifacts found wrapped within the mummy linens, including his "crown."

Here is the very cool pyramid shaped dessert I had:


Shayna and Skyler sharing dessert:

The entrance to the restaurant which is in the back of the Franklin Exhibit....there is this neat electricity display where you touch these giant tubes and the lightning reacts to your touch:

I took this video of Skyler and Shayna in the front of the exhibit, playing the glass harmonica keyboard:

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGlXRI01rho

General info. about the King Tut Exhibit:

http://www2.fi.edu/tut/exhibit_info.html

Really cool link, you can see the map/menu of the actual king tut exhibit and see what each room was like, and some of them you can click and enter inside the rooms:

http://www.kingtut.org/about_the_exhibition/exhibition_preview

Skyler at school

Skyler's teacher, Mrs. Greenberg, takes pictures and then e mails them every 2 weeks. So here are the highlights...so you can see some of the things they do.

1. This is how the kids walk in line:

2. In gym class last Thursday. They have gym every other week. Skyler looks excited about getting to crawl through this tunnel:

3. Some of the kids with Mrs. Greenberg:

4. Skyler painting on "green day" - we noticed how all his lines are spaced equally apart:

5. The kids out on the playground- finally a nice warm day on March 15th. This is what you call toddler traffic:

6. Skyler in his car:

7. Skyler putting his coin into the tzedakah box:

What is tzedakah? Go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzedakah

Ring Around the Rosie

When I came to Skyler's classroom to pick him up today, I saw avery cute endearing sight.

The kids were all in a circle holding hands doing ring around the rosie. They were doing it by themselves, not with a teacher, nor led on by a teacher. They just decided they wanted to do ring around the rosie. They looked so cute.

At one point, the group disbanded and Skyler elicited the kids to start again. He held out his hands to two other kids and took thier hands, starting it up again.

I didn't have a camera with me but I am sure you can imagine this in your mind.

Reading

Skyler picked up this washcloth and said "teletubbies." I wasn't looking at it at the time, and thought he saw the image of the teletubbies on it. When I looked at it, I saw that it was only the WORD teletubbies. He recognized the WORD, maybe from seeing it on TV or on the On Demand menu. Maybe sight reading?

Playground

We had the first nice day of the year today, so after school we took the kids to the local playground. here is Skyler peeking out of the tunnel:



Here is a video of Skyler learning how to catch and throw a ball, on the playground:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0fxVCKYMoA

TV Debut

Shayna's promo spot she filmed for Comcast On Demand Activity TV debuted today!

You can see it ON TV anytime if you have Comcast Digital Cable, anywhere in the country. Here is how:

1. Go to On Demand

2. Go to KIDS

3. Go to Activity TV

4. Choose SCIENCE

5. Play any episode

Shayna will be in the intro. to the shows.

You can also see it online. here is the direct link:

http://www.activitytv.tv/activity.aspx?catid=13

The Letter P

P is for......

Puppet making:

Puppy:

Puppet show:

Painting: