We went for a walk on the Battle Road in Lexington before the rain started. Many silly pictures were taken. There were tears of joy and tantrums. The British would have been scared.
Ivy is a whopping 4 year-old now. She loves princesses, pink and purple, dancing, flowers, rainbows, unicorns, ball gowns, sparkly anything, and zebras. But she also loves dirt, sticks, rocks, fighting robots with Calvin, smashing bugs, playing soccer, hiking, climbing trees, and still pulls really great faces.
Calvin is seven now, and enjoys building lego hero factory guys (and then he and Ivy spend hours setting them up and fighting battles), beyblades (Japanese spinning tops), Skylanders (even though we have no Wii), and is excited to start T-ball.
He and Bryn recently participated in the science fair. Bryn did a research project on black holes. Calvin tested the electroconductivity of different substances. At first he had an LED hooked up to a 9-volt battery, but the LED burnt out so he (at Peter's, "Father-of-the-Year"'s, suggestion) used his tongue to measure how hard the wires shocked him. when they were passing through different things like bread, spoons, vinegar, etc. A unique setup, for sure.
Bryn was bored this afternoon, and so came up with a new hobby: broom flying. She's been getting pretty good and frightens all the owls, woodpeckers, and squirrels in the treetops of the forest.
Calvin's art was selected from his class to be in a district-wide art show. We weren't sure which of his many art pieces had been selected, so it was fun to race around to all the pictures trying to find his. But it wasn't a picture at all- it was a three headed snake sculpture.
Calvin was pleased as punch to see his art on display, but quickly snatched it up and gave it a guided tour of all the other art pieces. Meanwhile, Bryn and I talked about how not being selected doesn't mean your art isn't wonderful (hers is definitely wonderful).
Peter and I attended Calvin's school concert. His entire grade performed, and he was chosen for a xylophone solo. He didn't tell me beforehand, so I didn't even have my nice camera or video camera on hand. The regret tastes awful.
Ivy told us tonight that when she has a baby of her own, if it's a boy, she will name him "Mister Calvin," and if it's a girl, she shall be called "Pretty Rainbow." Either way, I'm going to be one proud Grandma.
"I snuck some goldfish for my asthma-tizer before lunch." -Calvin 9/1/10
"I'm going to be a scientist when I grow up- I'm going to be like Albert Einstein. Except I'm going to investigate with balloons." -Bryn 1/12/11
[Proudly] "I'm obnoxious!!!" [pauses a few seconds] "That means both my arms and both my legs are equally strong. " -Bryn 3/23/11
[After the first loud thunder clap of the day] "Huh? Oh no no no! A Dinasaur a-coming!" -Ivy 6/9/11
"Just, whatever you do, if someone calls you carrots, DO NOT break a slate over their head." -Bryn's advice to Calvin on his first day of kindergarten 8/30/11
"Uncle Lance is a bigger pile of nuts than Dad."
-Calvin 12/28/11
[As Bryn and Calvin were doodling numbers on the whiteboard] "Calvin!!! Don't draw a clown face on my eight. You'll ruin it's dignity."
-Bryn 5/4/12
"You'll find that sometimes even serious people have a little bit of laugh in them."
-Calvin 9/9/12
"Atoms are made of neutrons, electrons, and pecans."
-Calvin 2/9/13
"You would need safety gloves to move the sun. And a ladder"