We go to the Ronald Reagan Libary every year for their July 4th celebration. Hubby has been wanting to visit the museum inside. Groupon had a deal; so we bought 2 tickets. I debated to buy it with the concern that the girls would be bored and complain the whole time. Hubby said to just buy them. They might enjoy it. We brought a picnic lunch and ate lunch at the grassy area located before the entrance. We checked in and picked up our GuideCam. The GuideCam is basically an iPod where you can listen to commentary of the exhibits and also hear Ronald and Nancy speak. You are able to take pictures and video as well. We both enjoyed the experience having the GuideCam. The girls got a little bored at some places; but then found some interactive exhibit to play with to get their attention back. Their were quite a few interactive exhibits such as designing presidential plates, flower bouquets, creating your own business and going through holes in the Berlin wall. Their highlight was Air Force One. The girls have never been in a plane before; so they were excited to see what one looked like inside. Of course it was set up for the president and didn't have all the passenger seats like a normal plane; but they got the idea.
The library had a special limited time George Washington exhibit that we also saw. The girls had fun trying to find George in this one exhibit of his house at Mt. Vernon. She finally found him and shouted excitedly, I found George Washington! Everyone started chuckling and asked her, where is he. She was proud to point him out. I was surprised when I looked at my watch to find out that we spent about 4 hours at a place where I didn't think the girls would last 20 min.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Trees and Chores
My oldest is really into climbing trees right now and has been waiting to go to the park to climb some big sturdy ones. Apparently, Bouquet Canyon park has the wrong climbing trees cuz they didn't have any large branches cool branches to climb. So now we are on the hunt to find the perfect trees for her to climb. She also wants a treehouse in our back yard. We told her good luck cuz we don't have trees in our yard! I found a treehouse online that comes with a imitation tree that cost like $8,000 and told her to save her money. She says, how can I save up that much money when I don't get any money? And that is when the chores began.
She is 7 years old and pretty much has one chore of feeding the fish which she forgets to do most of the time anyway. So, it's about time we added a bit more to help lighten my load. Here's the run down. Washes dishes everyday. She washes all the plastic (the girls plates) dishes, and any tupperware and silverware. Stuff that doesn't break. Takes out the trash when needed, feeds the fish and makes her bed on the weekends. We are way to rushed in the morning to have her make her bed during the week. Her allowance is $2 a week. I have no idea what the going rate for allowance is; but that is where we started.
2 weeks later.....She says that she needs a raise. It is going to take forever to get the treehouse at this rate and starts doing the math. I told her she has to wait a little while and we can discuss a raise. She has been faithfully doing her chores; but the enthusiasm has worn off a little. My youngest has seen that she has been getting money and wants in. We gave her the chore of setting the table for dinner. She puts the plates, cups and silverware on the table and passes out napkins. She gets $1 a week.
She is 7 years old and pretty much has one chore of feeding the fish which she forgets to do most of the time anyway. So, it's about time we added a bit more to help lighten my load. Here's the run down. Washes dishes everyday. She washes all the plastic (the girls plates) dishes, and any tupperware and silverware. Stuff that doesn't break. Takes out the trash when needed, feeds the fish and makes her bed on the weekends. We are way to rushed in the morning to have her make her bed during the week. Her allowance is $2 a week. I have no idea what the going rate for allowance is; but that is where we started.
2 weeks later.....She says that she needs a raise. It is going to take forever to get the treehouse at this rate and starts doing the math. I told her she has to wait a little while and we can discuss a raise. She has been faithfully doing her chores; but the enthusiasm has worn off a little. My youngest has seen that she has been getting money and wants in. We gave her the chore of setting the table for dinner. She puts the plates, cups and silverware on the table and passes out napkins. She gets $1 a week.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Earth Arbor Day
Bouquet Canyon Park celebrated Earth Arbor Day with a variety of activities. The 1st thing I noticed when we got there was trees being given away. I am in desperate need of trees in our backyard cuz we only have one. I don't know the name of it; but it has reddish brown leaves year round and it's bare and ugly. So, we grabbed a tree that could fit in our car. It's a very small tree; but atleast its something that we can plant and hopefully give some shade in the distant future.
We then came across a ladybug booth. I have never seen so many ladybugs before. They were in huge bowls and kids were scooping handfuls of them into paper bags to take home and put in your garden, rose bushes, plants, etc. The girls were excited to see so many ladybugs and be able to take them home.
After ladybug catching, the girls planted sunflower seeds in small dixie cups. My oldest kind of through in her dirt and seeds while the youngest carefully put the dirt and seeds in. The lady at the booth said she was a natural gardener.
A magic show was starting and the girls spotted a churro cart. We gave them a choice of getting a churro or walking in one of those giant hamster balls for $3. They choice the churro ($2.50) and shared it while watching the magic show. Both girls enjoyed the show; but my youngest showed the most interest cuz she started doing her own disappearing acts later at home.
The most anticipated activity that we saved for last was the bouncer and rockwall. They played on the bouncer slide for a good while and then wanted to give the rockwall a try. This was the 1st time my youngest had tried rockwall climbing and she did pretty good. She was having so much fun that she started crying cuz we had to leave. We gave her one last area to look at which was recycled art before we ended our day.
We then came across a ladybug booth. I have never seen so many ladybugs before. They were in huge bowls and kids were scooping handfuls of them into paper bags to take home and put in your garden, rose bushes, plants, etc. The girls were excited to see so many ladybugs and be able to take them home.
After ladybug catching, the girls planted sunflower seeds in small dixie cups. My oldest kind of through in her dirt and seeds while the youngest carefully put the dirt and seeds in. The lady at the booth said she was a natural gardener.
A magic show was starting and the girls spotted a churro cart. We gave them a choice of getting a churro or walking in one of those giant hamster balls for $3. They choice the churro ($2.50) and shared it while watching the magic show. Both girls enjoyed the show; but my youngest showed the most interest cuz she started doing her own disappearing acts later at home.
The most anticipated activity that we saved for last was the bouncer and rockwall. They played on the bouncer slide for a good while and then wanted to give the rockwall a try. This was the 1st time my youngest had tried rockwall climbing and she did pretty good. She was having so much fun that she started crying cuz we had to leave. We gave her one last area to look at which was recycled art before we ended our day.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's
As a way to say thank you for your support and to celebrate 34 years of scooping, it's our annual Free Cone Day! Make sure to check with your local shop to be sure you know they are participating and what their hours are for the day so you can optimize the amount of times you get in line for your free cone. Enjoy!