Back to school

This morning was all excitement. C6 and Q5 were READY to go to school by 7:00. Dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed and headbanded. Then -- waiting.





I got them outside, where they stood for some photos. They are adorable in their uniforms! I love them. Even after all that fuss during C6's first year.



Eventually, though, it was time to go, and the whole family trouped to school. Yes, that is me carrying my tea with a wet spot on my shirt where some cottage cheese fell on me.





C6 thought we might be first in line, but we were so not close to first in line! It was a mad house by the time we got there. C6 was happy happy to be there.





After C6 got in line I took Q5 over to her classroom. She found a seat, made sure that I gave the bag of supplies to her teacher (I did) and she found a seat.





No tears or worry from Q5, none at all. She seemed a bit pensive at times, but she was not concerned at all, despite some clingy, weepy children near her (her apparently best friends)




So, the top 10 things I learned from Q5 today.

1) She sat next to H5 all day, and plans on doing that every day
2) She sat next to P5 at lunch, and plans on doing that every day
3) Sharks have many many teeth that they replace
4) Playdough was her favorite activity
5) They had frosted flakes and milk and graham crackers for breakfast (C6 did on her first day of kindergarten, too!)
6) She was lying about the sharks. She already knew about sharks and they didn't learn about them today.
7) She doesn't want to tell me what she did today

Yeah, that's the 10 things I got out of her.

Both girls were exhausted this afternoon and could not get along. We played on the playground and walked home, had a snack, had some quiet time, then started to fight. I had to put one in the tub and one in her room to keep things from getting violent. Hope things go smoothly tonight.

TENT NIGHT!

The pool has tent nights every so often over the summer. You can stay over, swim late, toast marshmallows, eat s'mores, and sleep in a tent under the starts.

But we are not there. The girls have always been pretty uniformly against tent night. But a while back C42 mentioned that he's sleep in our tent in the back yard. So when Q5 had a hankering to do tent night at the pool tonight C6 suggested the backyard instead.

I initially thought hahahaha! look what I've gotten out of, but now I think it looks fun, if a little crowded, as we have only one 2-man tent.





When asked what they were doing tonight both girls said virtually the same thing.









By the time this was set up, I wanted to sleep outside! But it was fairly buggy (although they have a bug lamp)and uncomfortable, and crowded, and a bit warm and awkward (ground isn't level).

****UPDATE****

At 9:00 I heard a moaning crying at the door ... Q5 wanted in to come in to use the potty and sleep in her own bed. I sent her upstairs to pop into bed and I went down to the tent to get her blankie. C6 wanted to come in, except she didn't want to miss popcorn for breakfast that I'd promised. She asked if she slept in her bed if she could have popcorn for breakfast. No? She's staying outside for now.


*********2nd UPDATE*********

9:32 and C6 is now reading in bed. C42 is taking the tent down. Apparently the crickets are too loud.

Engrossed

Q5 is engrossed in her book. Holding the book with her feet and twirling her hair. You can just see C6 reading the Harry Potter book on the sofa.

Awww.

On our way to the museums the other day we stopped at the Naval Memorial to eat our lunch. It is right outside our metro stop (Archives/Navy Memorial), and a fun memorial with a fountain.








And we saw the cutest bird, who was banded, which resulted a whole bunch of questions from Q5 about the bands and how the bird was caught and why it might be banded.

It fluttered around us for a bit, then over came two more birds ... another adult and a baby. And I had the hardest time catching them on the camera until the baby bird opened it's mouth wide and asked for some lunch.





CUTE. I loved that. I don't believe I've seen that in person before, only on TV.

Lessons learned.

Brought to you by Jolly Rancher. The girls had the worlds grossest snow cones on Monday. The items in question came out of a food truck parked at the National Museum of American History. And they were stale, tasted like chemicals, and hard as ... ice. I suppose I ought to have known that a pre-packaged snow cone would be yucko.





Actually, Q5 enjoyed hers. She ate every last drop (that she didn't drip on the wall). C6 got sick of hers about half-way through and I obligingly threw it out for her.

If you are looking in the background thinking that isn't The National Museum of American History you are right. It is Natural History. We left the National Museum of American History after visiting the Invention at Play exhibit, where they twirled whirlygigs and C6 sailboarded.





(Q5 wasn't tall enough)




We also visited the Spark!Lab, where they played with those electronics SnapBoards to make a musical doorbell and other things.





We also visited the America on the Move exhibit, the First Ladies at the Smithsonian exhibit, and the On the Water: Stories from Maritime America exhibit.

I had figued they'd be tired after all that, so in order to get them back to the Metro without any problems I suggested that we stop and get icecream after the museum. It was a positively received and generaly acceptable idea.

I was hoping to find a vendor selling Dove bars or Magnum bars, but they were probably all on the Mall side of the museum, and we were on the Constitution Ave side of the museum. So food truck it was.

And they zoomed in on the snow cones. I didn't fight it, I thought it would be nice and quench their thirst and not be bad. Wrong, wrong. They hasn't even made a dent by the time we'd gotten from one museum to the next. When we reached the National Museum of Natural History I asked if they wanted to go in, and they both said yes, and C6 requested that we go see the "you know what" to which I said "No" figuring she meant the gift shop ("because, mumma, it doesn't hurt just to look") but she actually meant the Rocks and Minerals exhibit, including the Hope Diamond.

Oh, sure. So we sat on the wall and they ate their ice balls (notice how virtually NONE of the snow cone is gone? That is after a 5 minute walk).




After the sticky ice was all gone we went in, Q5 was getting tired, so we blazed through rocks and minerals, hit the Hope Diamond, and left the building.

On the way to the Metro we stopped to check out Q5's feet, as she'd complained about he feet hurting. She'd gotten blisters on each heel. I blamed it on her not wearing socks, which really it was, but I realized later that it could also be exacerbated by the fact that she was wearing a size 9 sneaker when she has size 11 feet.

I suppose that the fact that feet continue to grow ought to have been obvious. I came home and went through Q5's pile of shoes. After we get rid of the summer sandles and flip-flops she'll be down to three pairs, including two pairs of school shoes and one pair of hand-me-down (from C6) sneakers. Got to go shopping!

TOES.

I watched this and realized Q5 really is quite dexterous ... she doesn't go over the edges of her nails at all. I love her sideways stroke. I was surprised and told C42, who responded "Q5 has a lot of skills. She scares me sometimes"





This video is kinda long, kinda dull. I'd watch just the beginning.

Peace Camp

This past week the kids have been at Peace Camp. I didn't get much out of them about what actually happened at camp every day. I did find out that they spent most of each day outside (at different stations doing activities?), and that C6 was in the blue group (6 & 7 year olds, and Q5 in the red group (4 & 5 year olds). They are both REALLY looking forward to next year when they can be in the same group. They both asked if they could go to Peace Camp next year, which tickled me.

I know from talking with others that they were supposed to be learning strategies for solving conflict, which is why they were there. Although it was only one week, I'm hoping some of what they learned they will internalize.

Oh. And they had a Peace Camp Extravaganza today. Well, they didn't actually call it an extravaganza. But I did. And here is the proof.

C6 before the extravaganza starts




Q5 and MH5 during their presentation ... it was a song about hands not for hitting for shoving, but for hugging. Or something like that.





And all the kids shared what gave them peace. It was difficult to hear what they say sometimes, but my kids have nice, loud voices. Still can't hear them. I'll translate.

Q5:[turns away from camera and starts playing with hair] I'm, I'm Q5 and I'm 5 and one third. What brings me peace is C6.
Audience: Awwwww.




Before her turn C6 tucked her shirt tail in through the top of her shirt to make a halter top. I was waving at her and telling her to put it down. She didn't. But this is why.
C6: my name is C6 and what brings me peace is reading without Q5 disturbing me and hula dancing to classiscal music.




They had a great time. We will do this again! Next year, same time, same place!!