A Surprising Day

Late yesterday afternoon, I met my husband in the kitchen with my hands behind my back. We had the following conversation:

Me: I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes.

Hubby: (nervously) Why? What's behind your back?

Me: Just trust me.

Hubby: (nervous laugh)

Me: Just trust me. Okay? I won't do anything bad I promise. Just close your eyes.

Hubby: (closes eyes nervously)

Me: (holds object in front of his eyes) Okay, open them. Happy Birthday!

By the way, his birthday is March 7th., my due date.

I know it is hard to see, but if you look really carefully, you'll see a + there.

Tacoma Kids Weekly: Week of June 30, 2008

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. We visited the library this week to report our progress for the summer reading club and see Jeff Evan's funny magic show. We went to the library yesterday for the free day. We went early to both miss the traffic going to the Taste of Tacoma and beat the heat. We played in the newly expanded Kids Zone and watched the new Wild Wonder's presentation before heading home. We spent part of the last two days playing outside with the sprinkler to try to beat the heat. All-in-all, it turned out to be a fun week. Now I have to catch up on the housework. One consequence of being away from home is the house falls apart around you. But that's ok with us.

So, here's this week's list:
First of all, don't forget that the spraygrounds and wading pools at various Tacoma parks are open. Kids love playing in the water and on the playground. The summer playground program runs Monday through Friday, is free, and includes staffed activities, lunch, and snack (food first come, first serve for children ages 6-12 only). You can also put together your own picnic lunch and enjoy the good weather.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Regal Cinemas is offering free family films every Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The movie starts at 10am but I advise arriving no later than 9:30am. Arriving between 9am and 9:15am is better. Seating is first come, first serve and they do sell out at some shows. Arriving late means you may not get to see your choice of movie or any movie at all. I follow the choices at Lakewood 15 on S. 84th. This week, they will be showing Doogal and Shrek the Third. For other theaters, check out their website.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008
See Regal Cinemas above on Tuesday.

The Tacoma Nature Center and Pt. Defiance Zoo are hosting a nature discovery night at Jane Clark park. You can learn about frogs, learn about conservation, and participate in frog activities. The fun takes place from 4:30pm to 6:30pm.

Thursday, July 3, 2008
It's Tacoma Farmer's Market Day. Visit the market between 9am and 2pm on Broadway between 9th and 11th. Support local farmers and buy the freshest produce available. This week's musical entertainment is Todd Koeppen, a Christian artist. While you are there, don't forget to visit the Tacoma Children's Museum, which is free during market time.

Tall Ships begins today with the Parade of Sails, which begins around 10am. The ships will sail across Commencement Bay and parallel to Ruston Way to the Foss Waterway. I'm thinking this would a perfect day to plan a picnic on the waterfront.

The Tall Ships festival continues at Foss Waterway beginning at noon and going through 8pm. Ships will not be available for touring today but all land activities will be up and running. The festival is free and features food, music, kids activities, living history, and much more.

Friday, July 4, 2008
Tall Ships continues today (see Thursday for more information). You can enjoy the land activities for free. Ships are available for touring for just $10 for most of the ships and $20 for all of the ships. Ticket prices are for adults and teens; children 10 and under are free with an adult. Discount coupons are available at State Farms Insurance offices. The USCG Eagle is free for everyone. Sailing cruises start at $40 a person. Here's a direct link to the times and free family fun.

The Freedom Fair takes place along Ruston Way today. Admission is free. The fair includes arts/craft vendors, food vendors, musical entertainment, carnival rides, and plenty of people watching. The fair ends with a great fireworks display. My advice is don't stay for the fireworks but do what we do. Each year, a very nice lady up the hill a ways on the corner of N. Yakima and N. 12th invites everyone to use her lawn to view the fireworks. She has a completely unobstructed view of the fireworks straight ahead of you (rather than craning your neck up) and she is far enough way that it isn't quite so loud. The best part is that you can usually find parking nearby and be in your car on your way home before the waterfront crowd has even made it off Ruston Way. It takes up 10 minutes to get home compared to the 2 hours the time we went to the waterfront. The only drawback is there is no bathroom nearby; you must walk down to Ruston Way for that.

Titlow Pool and Stewart Heights Pool have free open swim today from 12pm to 5pm. Titlow has a large pool with both shallow (3ft) and deep ends and a very shallow wading pool. The pools are separated by a fence so you don't have to worry too much about your little ones falling into the big pool Stewart Heights has a zero depth entry, lazy river, bubble pool, water play structure, and waterslide.

Saturday, July 5, 2008
Tall Ships continues today (see Wednesday and Thursday for more information).

Home Depot's kids workshop takes place this morning between 9am and noon. The event is free; home depot provides all of the supplies and tools needed to build a simple wooden kit with the kids. Kids new to the program will also receive an orange apron similar to the one's employees wear and a pin to place on their apron for each kit they complete. I recommend bringing along a pair of needle-nosed pliers to holding nails while your kids hammer. We'll be building bird houses this month. You will probably see the kids and I at the S. 72nd Home Depot around 9am or 9:30am.

Sunday, July 6, 2008
Tall Ships continues today (see Wednesday and Thursday for more details).

Waiting for the Bus

Just three hours prior to the above event my kids and I walked down the sidewalk past the very spot that the bus stop now occupies. This is exactly the reason my kids are not allowed to play on the 10 foot wide strip of grass between the sidewalk and the side of the street. The number of accidents on my block is absolutely astounding.

We live on a major arterial that gets a lot of traffic daily. The speed limit is 30mph. Most people drive between 35 and 40mph and sometimes as high as 50mph. Occasionally, we hear cars in the middle night just flying down the street; they must be going at least 60mph. It's crazy. To add to that, the two cross streets between which we live, have stop signs that many people ignore.

Ignoring the stop sign is exactly what caused the above accident. The car that ended up in the bus stop was driving northbound on our street when another car ran the stop sign and clipped the backend of his car. That sent him spinning into the bus stop. Thankfully, no one was sitting there waiting for the bus and everyone was alright.

National History Day Winner

I didn't even know that there was a National History Day or that there was a contest associated with it that came with a full college scholarship(to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH) for the winner until just a few minutes ago. I opened my email and found the news release from the Washington State Historical Society, which is the coordinating agency for the state of Washington.

The contest is for students in grades 6 through 12. A theme is selected and students must research and present their topic within the theme. They can chose how they present their material: paper, documentary, website, performance, or exhibit.

Why am I posting about this here? A few reasons it is appropriate for this blog come to mind. The contest is education related. It is open to all students, including homeschoolers. And, the most exciting reason for me is that a homeschooler won. Good job Amy, Audrey, and mom! I'm just tickled for your whole family.

Tacoma Kids Weekly: Week of June 23, 2008

This coming week begins summer fun in the community in this area. It's the week when all of the programs begin which means there's lots of free fun to choose from if you happen to get bored at home.

Before I get started with the daily list, let me tell you about something that is available every day of the week beginning Monday. The Tacoma parks department runs a drop off program for ages 6 - 12 through the summer. At select parks, kids can spend the day playing (either directed or nondirected) play, playing in the water (either the wading pool or sprayground depending on which park they are at), and enjoying a free lunch and snack. The parks department website indicates that, while there are staff at hand, they are not responsible for the children. The children are free to come and go as they wish. What that means for us parents is that we need to decide if our children are old enough to be trusted on their own or we need to go along to supervise. Personally, I go with my kids, but you'd be surprised how many kids, of all ages, are there without parents. Lunch and snack are provided, is first come first serve (they do run out), and for the children only. Parents, bring your own food. Visit the Metro Parks website for locations and times. My kids love this program because there's water play and tons of kids to play with.

The Tacoma Library kicked off their summer reading program yesterday, as well. Throughout the summer, you will see library events listed here on the appropriate days. Most of the programs are repeated at several branches at different days and times. I will list each one on the appropriate day. If there is one that you just must see, check the website for all of the schedule performances and mark your calendar so you don't miss it.

Monday, June 23, 2008
Jaydeen Nation's Petting Zoo will be visiting the Swan Creek Branch of the Tacoma Library at 2pm. This small petting zoo was set up outside the library for kids to visit and pet the animals outside their mobile pens. My kids loved it last year at ages 7 and 5 simply because they love any chance to visit animals they can get.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Regal Cinemas kicks off their family film festival this week. Every Tuesday and Wednesday morning, participating theaters offer G and PG films for free. Shows begin at 10am. Seating is first come, first serve. I have seen movies fill up, primarily because several local daycare/daycamps arrive by the busload. Because of this, I suggest you arrive no later than 9:15am to secure your place in line. The closer to the front of the line you are, the more likely you'll get the movie and seat of choice. Outside food and drink is not permitted; however, concessions are available. For a list of movies at our local theater, visit their website.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Regal Cinemas' family film festival takes place again today. See Tuesday for details.

Magician Jeff Evans will be doing a show at the South Tacoma branch of the Tacoma Library at 3pm. We have been to several of his library shows over the past three years. They all promote reading and use of the library. His tricks are usually related to popular children's books. For example, one of his popular tricks is to have a volunteer child help him make a sponge cake the Amelia Bedelia way. My kids and I have always enjoyed his shows, although sometimes he's not too careful with his slight of hand, making it easy for parents to see how his tricks are done. He'll fool the younger crowd that his shows are gear to though and they'll love his funny style.

Thursday, June 26, 2008
It's Tacoma Farmer's Market day! Head downtown to buy your week's fresh produce, browse through the arts and craft vendor booths, and enjoy the weekly entertainment. If you go this week, you'll be treated to the music of Southern Skies from Olympia. The market is open from 9am to 2pm and is located on Broadway between 9th and 11th. While you are there, don't forget to stop by the Children's Museum of Tacoma and let your kids play for free.

Magician Jeff Evans will be performing at the Fern Hill branch of the Tacoma Library at 3pm. See Wednesday for my review of his show.

Friday, June 27, 2008
The Taste of Tacoma begins today and goes through Sunday. Pt. Definance Park will be filled to the gills with food, arts and craft vendors, carnival rides, and free musical entertainment. For a low cost day, pack a lunch, browse but don't buy, and enjoy people-watching and music. My suggestion would be to go early or ride the bus as parking gets harder and harder to find as the day goes on. Often you'll have to park on a residential street a mile or more from the park and walk. For more information, a list of vendors, and a schedule of entertainers, visit their website. (On a side note, it's funny that this is called the "Taste of Tacoma" since most of the food vendors are not located in Tacoma.)

Magician Jeff Evans will be performing at the Mottet branch of the Tacoma Library at 11am. See Wednesday for more information about his shows.

The Tacoma Parks Department is putting on a carnival, complete with carnival games, inflatables, pony rides, and hands-on activities, at South Park from 5pm to 8pm. The website does not indicate whether there are any costs associated with their carnivals.

The Puyallup Public Library is putting on a spider-ific program for young readers at 3pm. Learn about the spiders from the book Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin, watch the movie based on the book, and create spidery crafts.

Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Taste of Tacoma continues today. See Friday for details.

Anyone who lives in the Tacoma City Limits can enjoy the Pt. Definance Zoo for free today. Just show up with your proof of residency (driver's license or utility bill) for each adult in the group. The zoo opens at 9:30am and I suggest you get there early. With the Taste of Tacoma going on later in the day (beginning at 11am), there will be a ton of traffic heading that way.

The Zambini Brothers will be putting on a puppet show at the Kobetich branch of the Tacoma Library at 3pm. I have not seen one of their puppet shows so I can't tell you anything about it. I have seen one of their giant roving puppets and it was very cool.

The Puyallup Public Library is hosting the Chalk the Walk program from 10am to 12pm. Let the kids come draw on the sidewalk in front of the library for free. Artists will be available to model and assist.

The Washington State History Museum is hosting the Northwest Native American Market and Festival between 10am and 5pm. There will be food, storytelling, music, and dance. Outdoor activities are free, or you can pay to visit the museum and activities inside.

Sunday, June 29, 2008
The Taste of Tacoma continues today. See Friday for details.

In the Spirit, the Northwest Native American Market and Festival continues. See Saturday for details.

Basic Wheat Bread

The Heart of the Matter' weekly meme theme is Tried and True Recipes and bread was specifically mentioned. I have a tried and true basic bread recipe that we love here at our house. It is very easy to alter slightly, which I do often, and shape into whatever shape I happen to need that day. I use my bread maker to do the mixing and kneading because I have weak hands and am prone to carpal tunnel syndrom. I bake in the oven because I prefer the results to using the bread maker for the whole process.

Basic Wheat Bread

1 cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups flour (*see notes below)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

**NOTES: I use a mixture of whole wheat and unbleached white flour totaling three cups. 100% whole wheat is too dense for us when homemade. 1 1/2 cups wheat and 1 1/2 cups white is just about perfect, but I've been known to be lazy and just do 2 cups wheat and 1 cup white. When I want a lighter, less dense bread, I use 1 cup wheat and 2 cups white. I've used 3 cups white and no wheat as well.

Put everything in the bread machine pan in order listed and start the dough cycle. When done, remove and shape as desired. Let proof for 20-30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I do not preheat the oven; I find this gives me a lighter crust that my children prefer. Baking time may vary for your oven but 15-17 minutes works perfect for me, where 20 minutes makes the crust too dark and crunchy. Just watch the bread the first few times you make it until you figure out what is perfect for you.

Sometimes I like to add a teaspoon of garlic powder to the bread and some hard cheese (parmesan/romano/asiago). I just toss in a bunch of cheese so I don't have a measurement...maybe a 1/4 cup or so. I brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle more cheese on top before baking. This version I bake in a single long loaf as a side to dinner. Yum!

Finally, a Decision is Made

Relief finally comes in the form of a decision for next year's curriculum. For Mika, the new plan is completely different from last year's with the exception of math. I wouldn't dare change anything that took my daughter from tears to tolerating, even enjoying, math. We are moving to different spelling and language arts programs that are drastically different to what we've used previously. We are adding a bunch of electives. And finally, we'll be studying history and science in a similar mannar (lots of reading with added projects and field trips) but using a different curriculum. History will now be chronological which is how I always wanted it anyway. I'm excited to finally have my decisions made.

Bet you are wondering what it is now! I would be. But I'm nosey like that. If nothing else, this will be a place for me to find the list in case I lose my notebook (which is likely to happen, based on past experience). If you aren't at all curious, you can just ignore the rest because I'm going to list it out now.

Mika's curriculum will be:
Spelling - Spelling Power
Vocabulary - Michael Clay Thompson's Building Language*
Grammar - Michael Clay Thompson's Grammar Island*
Writing - Michael Clay Thompson's Sentence Island (to be done after Grammar Island)* and Instutute for Excellence in Writing, Teaching Writing Structure & Style
Poetry - Michael Clay Thompson's Music Hemispheres
Math - Math-U-See Delta*
History & Literature - Story of the World: Volume 1 Ancient Times with Activity Book
Science - Apologia: Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day fleshed out with library books
Health - The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls (American Girl Library)
Spanish - Rosetta Stone Online
Typing - Learn2Type.com & various online/downloadable typing games
Critical Thinking - Mindbenders A1 and Perplexors: Basic Level
Handwriting - daily cursive practice
Drawing - Drawspace.com aught by mom (she requested drawing lessons)
*We will start with this level and move on to the next level when finished.

Sammy's curriculum will be:
Spelling - Spelling Power
Phonics - Spectrum Grade 2
Language Arts - Spectrum Grade 2
Writing - Instutute for Excellence in Writing, Teaching Writing Structure & Style
Math - Math U See Beta followed by Gamma (he works quickly & wants to do both)
History & Literature - Story of the World: Volume 1 Ancient Times with Activity Book
Science - Apologia: Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day fleshed out with library books
Spanish - Rosetta Stone Online
Critical Thinking - Mindbenders Beginning Book 1 & 2
Typing - Learn2type.com & other online/downloadable typing games
Handwriting - daily cursive practice
Drawing - drawspace.com taught by mom
PE - taekwondo
Ok, so that looks like way too much to me. I have to remember that some of these only take a few minutes a day and that we won't be doing every subject every day!

Coming Home

I'm finally getting around to posting the end of our Portland trip...

The last day of our Portland trip was Friday. Rather than hitting another stop in Portland before leaving, we headed for home right after breakfast. Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for one more field trip (making it 6 places in just 4 days) so I stopped at the St. Helen's Visitor Center to stretch our legs. There are three visitor's centers and while I really want to take my kids up to the ridge, it just wasn't going to happen this time. It was cloudy and raining which meant we wouldn't see the mountain well, if at all, anyway. So, we just stopped by the center that is just 5 miles off the freeway by Spirit Lake. It seemed like a great idea to me since we did learn a little bit about volcanoes earlier in the year.



First, we watched a 13 minute movie about the 1980 eruption. It was a full house with a visiting private school on a year-end field trip. Afterwards, we explored the exhibits available. One showed where they believe the continents used to be before they moved to their current locations. Another showed the "Ring of Fire". There were a couple of cool statues and other exhibits pertaining to volcanoes and climbing. There was this neat one in the photo. You can go down into a volcano model to see the rock layers and molton core. The kids thought it was cool.

I enjoyed this display showing St. Helens before and after the eruption side by side.

Outside we found some trails and a boardwalk through the wetlands. It was green and beautiful. However, due to the cold, rainy weather we didn't go far.
Before hitting the freeway again, we stopped at Burger King for some lunch. Josh loved being crowned king. Can't you tell?
Not too far down the freeway, I captured this photo. Josh was so tired, he passed out with his water bottle still in his lap. Meanwhile, Mika is struggling to open up a pudding container.

Sammy wasn't tired. No, not at all. Mika is still struggling with that pudding.

By the way, this is a common site of my 6 year old in the car. Does anyone else have a 6 year old that still passes out in the car like this? It needn't be a long trip, either.

Well, that was our Portland trip, beginning to end. We had a long, tiring, but fun week. By the end of it, Mika missed home and wanted to get back. Sammy, on the other hand, loved it so much he didn't want to come home.

I hope you enjoyed tagging along with us via the blog.

Tacoma Kids Weekly - Week of June 16, 2008

Next week begins the whirlwind of free summer entertainment for kids. There is something listed for each day of the week next week. There are so many choices, you can't do them all, even if you wanted to.

Monday, June 16, 2008
The Tacoma Audubon Society is have a plant walk at the Adriana Hess Wetland Park today from 12pm to 1pm. During the walk, you and the kids can learn to identify some of the native plants in the park.

Thursday, June 19, 2008
It's kids day at the Tacoma Farmer's Market! The Starstruck Kids band will be providing the day's entertainment. The market takes place between 9am and 2pm on Broadway between 9th and 11th. You can park at the Tacoma Dome Station for free and take a quick light rail ride (for free) over to the market. In addition to enjoying the free entertainment, picking up some fresh produce for dinner, and buying some fresh flowers to adorn your home, you can stop by the Tacoma Children's Museum for free, as well.

Today is also the Third Thursday Art Walk. Head downtown to visit many of the areas art gallaries and museums. The Tacoma Art Museum, the Museum of Glass, and Washington State History Museum are among the venues you can visit for free between 5pm and 8pm.

Friday, June 20, 2008
Auburn Kids Day takes place today at the Game Farm Park. The event includes inflatable rides, arts and crafts, face painting, food, children's entertainment (shows) and a ton more. Check out that link for the entertainment schedule and directions. The festivities take place between 11am and 4pm.

Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Tacoma Public Library system is kicking off their summer reading program today with a program by Scott Peterson, the Reptile Man. He'll be showing off some of his reptiles at the Moore branch at 11am, the Wheelock branch at 1pm, and the Main branch at 3pm. Don't forget to sign up for the reading program while you are there, if you live in the city limits. Kids only have to read 10 books at their reading level to earn free tickets to Point Definance Zoo on August 23rd. The Recess Monkeys will doing a show for us at the zoo, too. They are holding weekly prize drawings for kids stopping by each week to report a book read, as well.

Slug Fest is taking place at NW Trek today and tomorrow. There will be all kinds of slug-inspired activities for the kids included with admission. Admission is $15 for adults, $13.50 seniors, $10 ages 5-12, $7 ages 3-4. If you've gone to Pt. Defiance Zoo any time this year and still have your tickets, check out the back of them; they usually have a discount coupon for NW Trek on the back, even if you went to the zoo on a free day.

Good Days Equals Happy Mama

I've had a good couple of days and, other than this headache, I'm feeling pretty happy about it all. I wanted to write about it all as it was happening but I just didn't have the time.

First, there was Thursday. Thursday, my daughter and I decided to go shopping to look for a new dress for each of us. We ended bring home a pink t-shirt that said "Drama Queen" on it for Mika. I've been looking for one for her for a while. Then we got this very cute pink and white striped dress for Mika. It fits her shape perfectly and looks very cute on her. We also got her another three piece outfit that's primarily aqua and white and is the cutest thing I've seen on her. I couldn't not buy it after seeing it on her. She's wearing it for Father's Day tomorrow. We also found her some much needed underwear and socks for about 50% off.

In addition to finding some cute clothes for Mika, I found an outfit for myself. It is very unusual that I find something that fits well, let alone something I like. Thursday I struck gold. The outfits fits well, looks good, is fashionable (I'm never fashionable), and I just love it. I wore it yesterday and I felt so good all day.

Yesterday, I awoke in the most sweet way possible. My toddler had woken up and gently crawled over to me and planted a little kiss on my lips while I was still asleep. Nice way to wake up, huh? I spent the morning bathing all three kids and myself, getting everyone dressed, doing my daughter's hair nice, and going my hair and makeup (a rare thing). As we are out of cereal, I cooked breakfast too. We had eggs, chocolate-chip waffles (reheated from Thursday), fried potatoes, and chocolate milk. Yum! By the time all this was done, it was time to leave. We were going to up my husband's work to meet his co-workers and swap cars so he could take the boys (his car doesn't have a seat for Josh). Mika and I headed out to the Washington Homeschool Convention.

At the convention, we saw Adora Svitak speak. I wanted Mika to see her because she shares a lot of writing. I was hoping it would inspire her to continue to strengthen her writing. We sat through the entire presentation and then Mika got starstruck and wouldn't talk to her. We spent the rest of the time browsing the convention and running into a few people we knew, including one of Mika's newest friends. I was wearing my new outfit and received a ton of compliments. I ended up spending only $25 (which is awesome) to buy a video on making costumes cheaply and without sewing. Hopefully, I'll use the video to make some play clothes for acting out some of our history. So, a recap of the day...wake up kiss by baby, clean and nicely dressed children, yummy breakfast, lots of compliments, browsing homeschool materials, and not overspending. Can a day get any better than that?

Today, I made breakfast again (fried eggs and banana pancakes) before heading out to the convention again. My husband went to the store for a few things to save me time and took care of the kids so I could spend the day at the convention alone. Isn't that wonderful? At the convention, I listened to a workshop that, while interesting, didn't really give me anything new. I chatted with a lady in the workshop and then headed out to browse more curriculum. It was fun and interesting. I love looking through curriculum and school stuff.

My plan for the convention was to investigate My Father's World, look for a language arts/grammar curriculum for Mika, and check out latin programs. I ended up ruling out My Father's World, buying a science curriculum, buying a history curriculum, and getting a recommendation for a language arts curriculum. I thought I had decided on science and history...it was either going to be My Father's World or our modified Konos that we've been doing. Well, it's neither. LOL I'm happy with my choices though, and I'll talk about them in another post.

I came home to the kids playing outside with dad. It was great weather for it. It was so nice to see the family enjoying themselves outside. I spent a few minutes checking in and then proceeded inside to start on dinner. I didn't know what I was going to make, but I did know we had pork chops in the fridge. I ended up baking chocolate chip cookies (totally not planned but have been on my mind lately). Meanwhile, I fried the pork chops and made latkes to go with it, which I served with a dollop of sour cream. I've never made latkes before but they turned out good. After dinner we enjoyed the cookies with milk while watching Black Beauty, which we'll begin reading tomorrow or Monday.

All that to say, I've enjoyed the last three days.

Tomorrow is Father's Day. We have some surprise fun planned but I can't tell you about it because my husband reads my blog. Hope you all have a happy Father's Day.

The Hotel

Staying at a hotel was a novelty for the kids. They've only been in a hotel once before and they were excited about it, especially when they learned that our hotel fed you breakfast, provided free cable and Internet access, and had a pool and hot tub. It was going to be fun! And, in many ways, it was.


Each evening we were there, we headed down to the pool to swim/play. The kids loved it! They went back and forth between the pool and the hot tub. Some of the parents in our group took advantage of the pool and hot tub as well. I took the chance to take Josh into the pool for the first time. He loved the pool and hot tub and pointed me back and forth to both of them. By the end of the week, he was happily walking off the edge of the pool (he doesn't know how to jump yet) and "swimming" to me from the steps.

One evening we couldn't swim as the pool was closed for the night due to an unfortunate potty accident. Oh, no! What are we going to do all night? Have a movie night party in our room, of course! We had three families in my room to watch Stewart Little 2. During commercials, they wrestled and played and threw popcorn all over the carpet. (The two children don't have faces because I didn't get a chance to get permission to post their photo.)

Thursday night, Josh was exhausted and passed out early. I don't know why; we only woke up at 7am, ate breakfast, went to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, visited the World Forestry Discovery Center, went to dinner at a restaurant, and swam for an hour and a half...all after spending the prior two and a half days doing other all day outings. Why would he be tired?

Mika wasn't tired either. Really, she wasn't. Not one bit.

So, about the hotel itself...

We stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites near the Portland Airport. The group we went with (CVA) booked the hotel based on rate, breakfast service, and having a pool. It was an okay hotel. It was a smaller hotel and not quite as nice looking as the photos on their website. It looks older than the main building photo and is located in a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood close to two freeways. My room didn't come with that nice floral display on the coffee table shown in the photo but it was fairly nice and clean. The maid service cleaned every day, leaving fresh linens and towels as needed (unless you indicated otherwise). I had to call the front desk twice for a plugged toilet and another time for toilet paper. The day we left there were problems with the sound on our TV.


There were issues over the phone service because they block it when a group reserves the rooms. I had a hard time getting my phone service turned back on. The first day, the front desk employee basically shrugged her shoulders and told me she didn't know why it didn't work or how to turn it back on. I wanted to let my dad (whom we visited prior to joining the group) know we made it without getting lost. I also wanted to let my kids talk with daddy but they couldn't. The second day I was able to get them to allow me to make local calls. The third day, the phone was blocked again and I had to call down to the front desk to get it turned back on again. While I understood the reasoning behind blocking the phones, I think they should have allowed them to be turned on when requested. All that would have been required was a personal credit card on file so the call charges could be billed to the family instead of the group. It was a hassle that I didn't enjoy.


Breakfast service was ok. There were waffles you make yourself, four cereals, mini muffins, dry donuts, bagels and a variety of toast, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, and biscuits and gravy. Drinks included coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milk and juice. While protein was lacking, there were a reasonable amount of choices that would be enough for most people. I recommend staying away from the biscuits and gravy as I've never tasted worse gravy.


Overall, the hotel was ok. It was more pleasant than negative. I can't really compare it because I don't know the amenities and prices of other hotels in the area. I'd probably do some shopping around if I were to stay in a Portland hotel again.


Ok, truth be told, if I had the money I'd stay in the Residence Inn by Mariott -- Downtown/Lloyd Center in a 2 bedroom loft, penthouse suite. I stayed there once with some friends and it was awesome. Of course it is also 2 1/2 times the cost.

World Forestry Discovery Center

The World Forestry Discover Center is another Portland location that we visited while we were there last week. It is located across the parking lot from the zoo and is an attraction on the Portland Attractions Pass, so we went.

The entire two floor museum is dedicated to learning about forests and all that pertains to forests throughout the world. It covered everything from the animals that make forests their home to recreational pursuits to logging. Most of the museum was hands on activities, making it interesting to children.

This photo shows the kids piled into a safari jeep which was a creative seating arrangement for a video safari through the South African forests. A boat takes you on a video ride on the Songhua Lake in China. A train has TVs telling you about the Trans Siberian Railway. And a canopy crane takes you to the top of the Brazilian forests. These creative seatings were fun for the kids.

My kids loved this virtual whitewater rafting trip. My toddler loved bouncing in the raft while my daughter enjoyed to opportunity to be dramatic. You can actually see yourself on the screen in the raft going down the river with other boats. The camera takes your photo, which you can later purchase.
Kids can also climb up some steps and sit in the cab of this logging tractor. It's great for make-believe. Back on the floor, you can operate the machine virtually. Another virtual exhibit nearby allowed you to sit in a sling and pretend to be a smoke jumper.

Upstairs was this wood of the world exhibit showing how wood was used by various countries throughout the wood. All of it was hands on and the kids went from station to station looking and trying things out.

This museum was interesting but my tired kids were ready to go after about two hours. It makes a great field trip to anyone studying plants, forests, the timber industry, or the Pacific Northwest. While I wouldn't drive down to Portland just for this (I would drive just for OMSI, though), it can be an interesting stop if you have the time.

Works for Me Wednesday: Preventing Car Sickness

I enjoy a good blog meme from time to time when I have something to contribute AND I remember to actually post the idea. Works for Me Wednesday is one of my favorites and today is Wednesday and I remembered something I wanted to post about on the right day. Lucky you! LOL There are hundreds of tips every week. Head on over to Rocks in My Dryer to see this week's tips.

With summer here, many people are thinking about taking vacations and going camping. Or maybe you are thinking about going on a field trip that's farther away now that most of the extracurricular programs are finishing up for the year. Either way, you need to get there somehow.

Whether it is by car, train, boat, or plane, some people are plagued by motion sickness. I personally suffer through every kind of motion sickness there is. Car sickness? You betcha. If I'm in the car for more than two hours I'm going to be feeling it, especially if it is a warm day. If I drive I feel better, but it seems that it accumulates while I'm driving and if I switch places with the passenger I feel as if I was the passenger all along. Seasickness? Definitely. I can't even ride the ferry for 15 minutes without feeling a bit green. Airplanes do it too me too, especially those seats near the back of the plane. It doesn't matter how I get there, I'm going to be feeling rather nauseated on the way. But I found a way to prevent it!

Ginger. In capsules. With no ginger taste.

This bottle is my best friend when I'm traveling. I was skeptical at first but ginger won a special place in my medicine cabinet and glove box after my husband and I took a trip to Montana. Not only did I survive the 12 hour drive to his grandparent's farm, I read the whole way there. I did not experience so much as a minute of nausea the whole way. It was wonderful! I now take it about 30 minutes before every long car drive, boat trip (including the ferry), or flight. If the trip is longer, I repeat the dosage every 4 hours or so. I even give it to my kids (the ones old enough to swallow a capsule) to ensure they feel good for the trip too.

So next time you are planning a vacation, a camping trip, or a field trip that's far enough to cause someone to feel a bit of motion sickness, consider putting a bottle of ginger on your shopping list. It's safe. Kids can take it. And it causes no drowsiness like Dramamine does.

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

I'm finally getting back to finishing up my Portland posts. On Thursday, we headed over to the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. The center consists of two parts; a typical museum where you look at and read about the exhibits and a presentation.

In the exhibit building there were some things to look at but not touch. There were actual pioneer dresses, a wagon (you can see part of it in the background), and other small artifacts. There were only a few hands on exhibits such as this cardboard quilting activity Sammy is working on. There were two scavenger hunt sheets; a drawing-based one and a written one. There were maps that you can put a post-it note on with your family name to show where your family is from and a basic family tree worksheet. A couple of bonnets are available for your daughters to try on. But that was about it in the main rooms.

In a back room were some interesting activities. One of them was this "wagon" that you could pack with the items you need to take with you on the Oregon Trail. There were pans, buckets, bags of food staples, canned goods, and other items that the pioneers would have needed for the trip. It is the kids' job to attempt to pack all of these things in the wagon. When they are done, they must put it all back for the next visitors. In this room, there was also a wheat grinder, a photo board (you know those things boards with drawings on them that you put your faces in the holes?), some pioneer readers, and some pioneer toys to play with.

The most interesting part of the center was the presentation. A pioneer-garbed woman talks about the traveler's experience from purchasing items, to difficult decisions on what to bring, to things that might happen on the trail. In the process, she uses the props you see all around her in this photo and some audio files. We learned about how much items cost. She talked about how some people had a hard time parting with special family heirlooms and often made poor decisions to bring heavy, large items that later might be abandoned along the trail. She told us tales about the men learning to drive the oxen pulling the carts, shooting themselves accidentally in their excitement in shooting a buffalo, and about a baby that was bounced out of a wagon unnoticed until several miles later (he was found safe and unharmed later). Some of these stories really brought the experience to life. This presentation was geared towards upper elementary age students as far as content and holding a kids' interest. For mom, it was interesting.

After that presentation, we were ushered into another room for a multimedia presentation told from the perspective of four actual pioneers: two men, a woman/wife/mother, and a young girl. The stories told came from their actual diary entries, using their own words. It, too, was interesting. Between the two presentations, it was a bit much for younger children, though.

While I found the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center interesting, my kids had a different experience. The museum portion was uninteresting to them but the presentations were better. My 6 year old did fine with it but he's used to and good at sitting through things he doesn't enjoy. More active children who have a hard time sitting still or young children might have a hard time with it. Altogether, you'll only spend about 2 hours there, not counting lunch if you choose to picnic there.

Tacoma Kids Weekly - Week of June 9, 2008

Sorry for missing last week. Being in Portland with an uncooperative laptop did not work in my favor for getting a list together. This week has plenty of options, including several events just for fathers. The Washington Homeschool Convention is a must-do for homeschoolers in the area and a great way to gain new ideas and motivation for next year.

Monday, June 9, 2008
The Tacoma Library's summer reading program sign up begins today. Be sure to sign up your kids at your local library as soon as possible to give them the best chance of completing their reading goals for the summer. All kids who meet their goal will receive 2 free tickets (one for them and one for a parent) to the Point Definance Zoo on library day (August 23rd) so mark your calendars to avoid scheduling conflict. First day to report will be June 21. I will be reminding you of the summer reading program events all summer long right hear on Tacoma Kids Weekly so check back each weekend. If you live outside the Tacoma city limits, check with your local library for their summer reading program; most libraries have one. Pierce County's begins June 21st.

From noon to 1pm, you can join the Tacoma Audubon Society for a free guided bird walk at the Adriana Hess Wetland Park at 2917 Morrison Rd. W., UP. This event would be great for anyone who has studied birds this year or who enjoy keeping a nature journal.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Every Wednesday through the month of August, you can enjoy the Gig Harbor farmer's market. It is located in Skansie Brother's Park from 11am to 4pm. According to their website, children's activities include magician, face painting, balloon art, a children's activity tent, and Elmo and Big Bird. Take the kids out for some fun and pick up some fresh produce for dinner at the same time.

Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Tacoma Farmer's Market takes place downtown on Broadway between 9th and 11th from 9am to 2pm. The musical entertainment today is provided by The Schematics, who call themselves garage funk. The Children's Museum of Tacoma is free for families during market days in June, July, and August. So, park at the Tacoma Dome Station for free and take the light rail to the market. Enjoy the vendors and entertainment, purchase some farm fresh produce, and let the kids play a while.

Friday, June 13, 2008
The Washington Homeschool Convention takes place at the Puyallup Fairgrounds today and tomorrow. This is a great opportunity for those who are new to or are considering homeschooling at there are a lot of great workshops being held, including ones aimed at those new to homeschooling. It is also a great opportunity for veteran homeschoolers to gain new ideas, motivation, and encouragement. Check out the workshop schedule and descriptions on their website. Cost is $15 for adults and $5 for children with family rates and rates for both days.

Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Sound to Narrows takes place with a variety of events for runners, walkers, and children. While it is too late to mail in registration, you can still register at South Sound Runners, REI, or on race day. Registration costs $26 and includes a t-shirt, $22 with group registration, and is free for children.

The second day of the Washington Homeschool Convention takes place today.

If you missed the school/homeschool day at Wild Waves, here is another opportunity for a good price of admission today. Bring an article of clothing to donate to Sleep Country USA's clothing drive and get 1/2 price admission. While still not low cost, it is a good rate for Wild Waves if you've been wanting to go and you get to help out a foster children at the same time.

If you've been wanting to visit the Washington State History Museum, today would be a great day as they are putting on a special family program called "Ships, Sailors, and Sounds of the Sea-Celebrating Washington's Maritime History". The event includes two authors presenting their stories and images, one presenting the history of tall ships in the area and the other presenting her children's book Dinosailors. You can also hear the singing group The Shifty Sailors who will be preforming both traditional and fun sea shanties. Visitors will also be able to tour the 70 year old sea scout ship Odyssey. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $6 for children, and free for under 5. There is a family rate of $25 for 2 adults and up to 4 children. If you go, ask for the scavanger hunt for the Great Hall of Washington History. It is quite difficult but fun; just ask for help for those items you can't find.

The Museum of Flight will be hosting the American Heroes Airshow featuring a variety of helicopters and those who flight them. There will be displays, special demonstrations, and entertainment. Helicopters will arrive between 7:30 and 9:30am and will stay through 3:00pm. The event takes place in/near the parking lot and is free. Going into the museum will cost the normal fee. Helicopter rides will be available for a free.

Snoqualmie Valley Scenic Railroad is offering father's a free train ride with a paying child Saturday and Sunday. The excursion, which departs from Snoqualmie or North Bend, is 65 minutes round trip. Fares for the rest of the group are $10 adults, $9 seniors, $7 children ages 2-12, and free for under 2.

Sunday, June 15, 2008
Camp 6 Logging Museum is offering dads free train rides for Father's Day. The indoor and building exhibits are open 10am to 7pm and the train runs noon to 6:30pm with departures every 30 minutes. General fare is $4, seniors ages 55-99 are $3 and children ages 3-12 riding for $2.50. Under age 3 and over age over 99 are free.

The Hands on Children's Museum in Olympia is offering fathers free admission today. This is an awesome children's museum and one of my children's favorites (second only to Portland). Hands on "exhibits" are geared towards children 2-8 with a separate play area set aside just for the under 2 crowd. General admission is $7.95 and $4.95 for 12-24 month toddlers.

Portland Children's Museum

We skipped part of the Oregon Zoo so we would have time to hit the Portland Children's Museum located across the parking lot from the zoo. Besides the kids were getting tired of walking.

Just inside the door of the children's museum is their water works exhibit. This area has several water play tables with a variety of ways play with the water. There is a major flaw in the design of this area: most of it is out of reach of children under about three or four years old. Josh could just barely reach this one water table which happened to have a step on one side. He loves playing in water and it was a shame he couldn't reach most of it. Sammy, on the other hand, could reach it all and enjoyed doing such things as turning a crank that rotated a water wheel that had a variety of strange objects to scoop the water with...like a baby's shoe and a rubber fish.

This area of the children's museum was a hit with the younger crowd. It was a large area filled with cleaned rubber pieces that we parents guessed was chunks of tires and running track. They had a variety of scoops, buckets, and dump trucks available. Josh liked this area a lot. While I was watching Josh, the older kids were busy in the store set up nearby. Their favorite part of the store was the miniture grocery carts (that some stores have for the kids) and the cash registers that beep as if it is scanning the products. The Hands on Children's Museum in Olympia has a similar store area but it is smaller and doesn't have carts (only baskets) or beeping cash machines. For this reason alone, I think, Sammy likes Portland better.

There was also a neat stage there. It comes complete with a curtain you can open and close, stage makeup (face paint) you can apply yourself, costumes, and working lighting. After watching Josh dig for what felt like forever, I left him under the supervision of a friend to check on the older kids. I found Sammy entertaining a handful of parents with chicken jokes.

Later, Josh and I joined the older kids at the stage. He wanted these shoes put on him.

Meanwhile, Mika went back and forth between working the lights and being on stage.

While there were other parts of the museum, they were small areas that didn't interest the kids. We spent more than an hour at the stage while various kids entertained us with their on-stage antics.

Acer Laptop Woes

If you are looking to purchase a laptop, I do NOT recommend Acer products.

My husband bought me a brand new Acer laptop last August. I've only had it about 9 months and it has already had multiple parts break on it. The touch pad buttons stopped working properly. The space bar developed problems. And the DC power box/pin broke causing recharging problems. So, much to my dismay, I had to mail it halfway across the country, at my expense ($17 via UPS) and survive two weeks without my computer.

I can tell you that I was not happy to be without my computer for two weeks. I had no access to my documents, my family's photos, or my passwords. Because every website has different requirements for user IDs and passwords, I use Roboform to remember them all for me. Because of that, I don't know all of my passwords and ended up being unable to access two crucial websites while my computer was in repair. This ended up being a significant problem.

As you can imagine, I was thrilled to get my computer back today. There was one problem: in the process of fixing my computer, they broke something else on it. My wireless connectivity button is now broken. It was just fine when I sent the computer to them. I called them about it and they were oh so gracious to pay for the shipping to them this time. I'll still be without my computer for 2-3 weeks again.

I know that I'll need access to some of my documents while it is gone so I'll have to email them to myself so I can use them on another computer. I'll also be copying some other files to CD in case I need them and writing down all of my passwords so I have access to those websites I need.

What a pain!

When I'm ready for a new laptop, you can be sure it won't be an Acer. I'll be looking for something that, hopefully, will be better made. I'll definitely look for better repair service. While requiring customers to mail their laptops to the company and then wait 7-10 days for repair before their laptops get mailed back may work for the company, it definitely doesn't work for the customer.

Whatever happened to providing quality products and quality customer service?

Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo is a really nice zoo. It's certainly rivals the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. One of the really nice things about this zoo is the fact that it is very wooded. It's beautiful just to walk around. One area, Stellar Cove, was really cool. It was full of caves that you walk through in order to be able to see underwater habitats.

These seals were fun to watch swimming around in their habitat. Josh loved watching them.

Not too far away were the penguins. They had their own little building. Inside were the penguins, some kind of bird that I don't remember, and some turtles. Josh couldn't get enough of following and pointing at the penguins.

Outside the penguin house were these cool sculptures. The kids just had to climb on them, as always.
There's something new at the zoo: dinosaurs. It cost an extra $4 per person for the honor of walking a path with animatronic dinosaurs along the way. I'm glad we went because they were a lot of fun and the kids loved them. Josh didn't show an ounce of fear and just pointed and stared. This particular dinosaur spit at you. If you look closely, you can see the spray hitting the kids. It was a really popular spot with all the kids.

Ok, so I lied just a teensy-weensy bit above. While the first T-Rex didn't scare Josh, this one did. It was HUGE and LOUD. It roared and every time it did Josh jumped. Unfortunately for him, there was also a slide near him that the kids wanted to go down so he had to hear a few roars before we could move on. And move on we did.

After the dinosaurs, we wanted to find the train. On the way, we found this adorable Malaysian Sun Bear. Doesn't he just look adorable there, napping in the sun?

We finally found the train ride and waiting in line. The train loops around parts of the zoo and parts of the Washington Park, a huge park in which the zoo, children's museum, forestry museum, and Japanese garden are all located. Right before we left, another family in our group showed up. Mika wanted to ride with them but they didn't make it on the train so we made very quick plans to meet after their ride returned to the depo. The kids enjoyed the ride and we socialized with yet another family with our group on the ride.

After the ride we, ate our lunch while we waited for our friends. Then we all headed through the Northwest exhibits and the farm exhibit.

In the farm museum, the kids ran and played together. They found this tractor to climb on and we were able to get them to stop just barely long enough to snap this photo. The only one missing is Josh. Don't they look like they are having fun? They are!

After finding our way through the Northwest exhibits, we headed out of the zoo for our next stop: the Portland Children's Museum.

We didn't see everything in the zoo but the kids were getting tired of all the walking. I would definitely visit this zoo again, though. It was a nice one.