Dirty Laundry

School is out for the summer.  We found some cheap fun this morning.  Laundry basket + jump rope =…..

 

 

Last week we had some fun at Dash Point Park with some other Decatur teachers and their kids.  All the kids had a very good time and Camden discovered two jelly fish, one teeter totter made out of a fallen tree (scary), a pointy stick to drag around, and various shells and a sand dollar.  Shelby discovered how to dump rocks and sand in the water over and over again. 

On Saturday, Matt took Camden to the helicopter air show at the Museum of Flight.  Camden’s favorite helicopter was the Chinook.  He says, “we go to the museum and we found a Chinook!  Chinook…Chinook….Chinook….daddy, I LOVE your pictures from the Museum of Flight”.  On Sunday, Matt got to open his very special Father’s Day gift – a car window cleaner.

Overseas Telegram

Here’s an update on my big summer adventures.  Childcare is arranged (for the most part), clothing is purchased (for the most part), and Chinese Visa is in hand (well, on top of the entertainment center if you want to get technical about it).   My teacher profile is up at www.culturalexploration.org if you want to check it out.

 

From what I’ve received so far about my itinerary, here’s the first part of my trip:

• depart Seattle July 21st – 12 hour flight into Taipei, Taiwan.  Then, hop on another three hour flight from Taipei to Beijing.
• In Beijing, we’ll get to visit Tian’anmen Square, the Forbidden City,  the Temple of Heaven, part of the Great Wall, the Sacred Way, the Ming Tomb, and the Olympic National Stadium (Bird’s Nest).  Additionally we’ll enjoy an Acrobatic show and a specialty Duck Dinner.  Before leaving for Xian, we’ll visit the Summer Palace and see the giant pandas in the Beijing Zoo.
• After arriving in Xian, we’ll visit the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum, the Big Wild Good Pagoda, the ancient City Wall, the Great Mosque, and the Hanyangling Museum and Mausoleum of Western Han Emperor Liu Qi.  In the evenings we’ll see the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance show, have a Dumpling Banquet Dinner, and shop the Muslim Bazaar.
• Then it’s off to Shanghai.  We’ll see the Shanghai Museum, Yuyuan Garden and the Bund and visit parts of the World Expo.
• After Shanghai it’s off to Hong Kong and then Taipei – but I don’t have details for that part of the trip just yet.

 

No doubt, if you are like me when looking at this itinerary you think, A. I’m already tired just thinking about it and B. exciting! 

 

So, what do I have left to do for this trip?  There’s an orientation meeting on June 28th where I get to see the entire itinerary and talk with teachers who went on the trip last year.  I still need some travel items, but am feeling pretty well set overall.  Before July 21st I have a few things to do – four days AP training in Bellevue, six days AVID training in Sacramento, three days at Pacific Beach with my family……I’m going to go take some Tylenol now.

Hurry Up and Wait

Oh dear.  Didn’t post anything about Camden’s 5th birthday.  So, here’s a little catch up post and then onto more recent things with a new one. 

So, at the beginning of the month was Easter.  We didn’t plan to all wear blue – just worked out, I guess.  The kids got balloons at Sunday School and we had a fun day, just the four of us.

Then came Camden’s 5th birthday.  First, the obligatory cupcakes for preschool.  Matt and the kids decorated them.

For Camden’s birthday, he chose to go to the Museum of Flight together.  We really lucked out because both Grandma and Grandpa Cochran AND Uncle Mark, cousin Maggie, and cousin Courtney came along.  They had fun running amok, but mostly enjoyed going up and down the glass elevator.

At one point, three of them were sprawled out on the floor and a nice lady walked by and said, “oh look, they’re all tired out”.  Um…yeah, right.

After the Museum we came home to enjoy Camden’s race track cake and open presents.  This is an easy cake to make and was extra easy because he wanted the same one last year so I had done it before.

Later in the month, Matt had a day off work and took the kids to Point Defiance Zoo.  They spent the majority of their time in the kids play area and had a very good day while I slaved away at an all day teacher in-service (gah).