Last year was our first City School/Farm School swap. It was such a smashing success that when it was over Aubree immediately asked, "how long till we can do it again?"
We had this year's City School in mid-July (Farm School is still forthcoming), and we tried to ramp it up a bit from last year.
We picked Jaylen up on Tuesday afternoon and took her with us for our weekly homeschool playgroup at the community center. The kids got to make their own gak/slime/flubber (whatever you want to call it!).
Aubree and Jaylen spent the evening playing with their American Girl dolls and giggling. There was a lot of giggling. About an hour before bed, two little voices asked, "can we go to our room early and read to each other?" Um....sure.
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| Bryce generously gave up his bunk bed for the week |
Wednesday we were up bright and early to head out to Northwest Trek. My kids spent the long drive there telling Jaylen about all the fun things she would see. We chose a cool, overcast day to visit which turns out to be the best kind of summer weather to see active wildlife.
When we got on the tram, however, Thane panicked. I think because the tram no longer had windows (they take them off in the summer), he was terrified things (Graham) would fall out. Bryce was amazing; he wrapped his arm around Thane's shoulders and held his hand tight the whole trip.
This was the third time I'd been on the tram ride, but it was still awesome. I think the girls thought so too (even though they were cold).
After the tram ride, we perused the rest of the zoo. When we got to the coyote exhibit, the kids were disappointed that the coyotes were nowhere to be seen. In a desperate attempt to draw them out, the kids started howling and yipping. Whaddaya know? The coyotes came bounding out of their den and started howling right back!
Thursday morning we were again up and out the door early. After a detour for Aubree's violin lesson, we continued up the highway to the American Girl store, or, as I like to call it, Little Girl's Secular Mecca.
I have very mixed feelings about the American Girl store. On the one hand, it represents good, wholesome, old-fashioned traditions. Little girls playing with dolls and reading books and learning history, rather than focusing on electronics or boys or fashion or whatever else lobbies for their time and attention.
On the other hand, have you seen the prices of their items? $14 for a pair of doll shoes (Aubree's purchase). $28 for a t-shirt. $30 for a miniature "sleepover set" including a tiny bowl of popcorn, two tiny glasses of soda, and a mini plastic "Apples to Apples" game (Jaylen's purchase). Girls bring their dolls to the store to have their hair done at the doll salon (for just $10-$25). It smacks of consumerism and excess and entitlement.
In the end, I remind myself that we visit at most once a year. And the girls used their own, carefully saved, money to buy their chosen products. Plus, I can't deny that they loved the store and the things they saw did spark their imaginations and lead to some great pretend play later on.
After visiting Girl Wonderland, we had to balance things out a bit and visit the Lego store (which, admittedly, the girls liked just as much as the boys). That's where Bryce parted with his equally carefully saved money.
Before leaving the mall, the kids wanted to re-visit the small play yard we visited last year. They even wanted to re-create the pictures we took last year. I'm nothing if not accommodating (for simple requests at least).
By this time, the sun had decided to grace us with her presence, so we met up with some friends at the "beach" (but what I really mean is, "the shore of Lake Washington").
It was a beautiful day to be outside.
But with all the mud, there was a little confusion as to whether this was city school or farm school.
Our long day wasn't quite over. We came home and put the boys to bed, then headed out one more time for a Concert in the Park. As was typical of our adventures, the American Girl dolls came too.
After just a few minutes at the concert, both girls looked like this (and I wasn't much better):
We didn't stay long before heading home and crashing in our beds (or was that giggling I heard?)
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