*waving*

Hi there, friends. Sorry to abandon you, but I've just really lost momentum this week. No bookwork done at all, but here is what we've been up to.

Wednesday we went to Muir Woods. Gorgeous! It was our first time there. There is a similar redwood grove a little closer to us, but this one is just stunning. Since it is so close to the constant fog of San Francisco, it's almost tropical in nature. The ferns, the underbrush, the sorrell... it's just gorgeous.

We went with "the field trip group" but no one else actually showed up except for the organizers. No one in our county ever wants to drive! It's very frustrating at times. It didn't matter though because it meant that we got to spend a nice day with our old friends MomJ, S5, and M2. It's been a long time since we've gotten together with them because as the boys get older, we are all getting busier and busier and our family plans don't overlap much. We are on different educational paths too and, surprisingly, they don't mesh well. It sounds weird, I know, but it's really hard to explain. Anyway, we found that a weekly playdate was just causing us stress so we decided to drop it for a while. So the boys had lots of pent up rough-housing to rid themselves of. They just go insane when they are together! They both got in trouble more than a few times, lol, but all in all it was a great day. It was nice to get out and breathe real forest air for a change.

The forest had such a nice effect on me that I did something that I rarely do. I bought them souvenirs at the gift shop. Cameron got a combo compass & magnifying glass. He's got a huge compass collection. Cassia got a kaleidoscope filled with flowers and insects (plastic, of course). I got a book called Ecoart. It looks like it has some great stuff in it. It's heavy on making your own art supplies - clay from the earth and natural chalks - and using recycled household items for projects - like milk jug doll houses and egg carton birds with paper bag feathers. It also has your traditional nature crafts like hand woven baskets and pine cone animals. It looks like a lot of fun. Will I use it? Hopefully! LOL.

I also got a book called, One Grain of Sand, that tells the "life story" of a grain of sand as it eroded from the Sierra Nevadas. It was a $2 impulse buy, but it's a cute story. There was a great looking children's biography on John Muir, but I refused to pay $18 for a 20 page book. Yeah, I'm cheap. I'm sure the library has it though. Not that I can check anything out until I pay my fines, lol.

Thursday was gymnastics. I have a major Cassia brag... she did so good! They had them climbing a big rope with knots every foot or so. About half the kids in her group only made it onto the first knot and no farther. The rest of the kids managed to pull themselves up on the second knot. She, and she alone, went up on the third knot. I was so impressed. Cameron was too. He said, "I can't even go that high!" And he can't. She's a monkey, that's for sure! She also did divinely with her "handstands" (walking your feet up the wall), her body was a board. All the other kids were all bendy and falling over. Her coach told me last week that as soon as she turns 4 she'll be ready to move up... into Cameron's class! I even suspect that someday she may be invited into the "hot shot" class. Have I bragged enough yet?? Cameron's class started their practices for the annual gym show. Those are always so cute. :)

That was about the only thing even close to academic that we did. Other than that we cleaned and went to the grocery store and watched movies. Like I said, no motivation this week. I was postponing my blog entry today in hopes that we would at least do some science or drawing today, but I just don't see it happening. I think we are all still adjusting to DH's new work schedule. It's not been as hard as I feared, but I think it is affecting me emotionally a little more than I would like to admit.

Anyway, tomorrow we plan on going to the zoo to start the big birthday celebration! DH is going to work from home on Monday and Tuesday so that he can be here for Grey's big day, Monday, and for Cameron's first t-ball game on Tuesday. :)