Having a day off at home with sick kids is finally giving me time to catch up on our activities for the past month (I can't believe how fast the time has flown!).

NT has been faithfully watching PBS's Cyberchase each morning and picking up lots of math concepts that are actually geared toward 8-12 year-olds. He loves it. We've almost finished a 1st grade math workbook that I picked up at a bookstore for my own comfort. He hates every minute of it since it's boring and "too much like school", but I can get him to breeze through it during Lizzy's dance classes if I promise to play cards or Connect 4 after only a few pages.

NT has been going through library books like crazy. He has 40-60 checked out from Hennepin County and St. Paul libraries at any one time. Subjects are all over the map--his interests are broad: Tropical fish, chickens, Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster, Bermuda Triangle, Lost City of Atlantis, reptiles, inventions and inventors, acid rain, volcanoes, airplanes, building wooden toys, making space ships and boats, reptiles, UFOs, the Trojan Horse...the list goes on and on!

He has watched DVDs on a similar range of subjects, including reptiles, underwater sea creatures, the mechanics of roller coasters, evolution, the history of the chicken, rockets, and more.

We started seeds indoors in late March and have been watching them grow for weeks. We started seeds outdoors at Dowling in the past week and are keeping our fingers crossed! We discovered an active robin's nest near our patio and found a woolly bear caterpillar while uncovering perennials in the yard. The kids filled the pool yesterday for the first time this spring.

Now that the weather is nice, I've been printing off maps for NT to lead us on walks to "mysterious destinations" around the neighborhood, he's been doing all kinds of science experiments in the back yard, and we've been meeting friends at the park, zoo, and at play group.

NT and John have been busy with Cub Scouts. Most recently NT competed at the regional level in the Pinewood Derby and the Raptor Center visited their last pack meeting. John took NT to visit a television station downtown and NT was just awarded his Tiger Cub badge!

Lizzy has been taking three dance classes a week and NT continues with his ceramics class. We took a family trip to Duluth where the kids spent hours in the pool, threw endless rocks into Lake Superior, chased seagulls, and visited the Maritime Museum. The kids have been building endless forts in the living room and consistently inventing all kinds of contraptions with LEGOs and Magna Tiles.

NT and Grampy went to The Works' "Circuit Play" program in March, and the kids and I toured the State Capital last week with a huge homeschool group. We built airplanes at Leondardo's Basement and attended a "Motion Mayhem" presentation at the Wescott Library put on by the Science Museum. The kids have been swimming at the indoor beach with Grampy and Maria, and NT went kite flying with Grandpa Alan while Lizzy and I recently attended an excellent performance of the James Sewell Ballet company.

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on linear measurement. Afterward, he watched an IMAX DVD on Shark Island and a Nature DVD on sharks.

Lizzy asked me to bring the big cardboard blocks up so they could build their own coral reef which didn't last long because NT was back into reading his fish book to figure out what he wants to do now that he's not sure he wants to keep the other blue gourami after the tragedy. He is also very intent on getting a loach, so he's trying to read up to figure out which kind will be suitable for his tank. In the process of his research he came across the term "import", so we talked about what it means to "import" or "export" something.

The kids played Go Fish again. I'm not sure how much Lizzy "gets it", but they seem to enjoy playing it anyway and she is easily identifying the numbers.

We spent the entire afternoon with homeschool friends at the zoo and had a great time getting lots of exercise and learning lots of new things about the many aquatic fish and animals they have there!

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase this morning. He came upstairs afterward to show me that he had learned to add three 3-digit numbers together so we fine-tuned what he had seen on the show.

After breakfast NT asked for our old digital camera and the kids took turns taking pictures for quite a while before they decided to build a pirate ship in the living room out of furniture, couch cushions and blankets, which soon turned into a bird's nest. They used two laundry baskets to make the egg that they took turns "hatching" out of.

After lunch NT went to the Science Museum to see Into the Deep at the Omni with Grampy, which he loved. Lizzy and I went to meet friends so Lizzy got to run and play and share dance steps with with two other little girls.

Late afternoon NT and Grampy returned and NT twice watched the Into the Deep DVD that Grampy bought for him to take home.

Though it was a fun day, it was a disappointing evening for NT. He and John walked over to basketball practice only to discover that it was cancelled for both this week and next, meaning that there are only two games left and no more practices for the season. NT was so upset. John took him down to their basketball "court" in the basement and they practiced for a little while down there.

When it was time to go to bed we went to feed the fish, only to discover that one of his new fish, a blue gourami, had gotten caught in the shipwreck and drowned. NT was devastated. His Siamese Fighting Fish had died earlier in the day (we were expecting that since he had not been well for some time), so it was a doubly difficult loss for him.

First thing this morning NT and I worked on time telling--digital clocks vs. clocks with hands. He attempted to teach Lizzy how to play Go Fish and then tried to get her to play football with him in the living room. She is getting weary of being tackled, so she wasn't a very willing player.

NT decided to build a ski gondola from the kitchen to the living room. He used what seemed like miles of red Christmas ribbon and did quite a few experiments to figure out how to get whatever object he wanted to move to slide on the ribbon. Meanwhile Lizzy was building a home for her purple pony with Magna Tiles. I have never seen her build 3-dimensionally with them before (just do flat patterns on the floor), so I was really excited to see that all by herself she had built a structure with a floor, four walls (2 tiles high) and a ceiling!

We played several rounds of Go Fish and Lizzy helped me play my hand by helping me determine if we had the cards that NT asked for and asking him for cards that we had. I shared with NT my strategy of remembering cards that he asked for that I didn't have at the time, so that if I did get the card in the future, I would remember to ask for them. He picked up on that very quickly and won two of the games!

After lunch we went to Leonardo's Basement for their first homeschool workshop. Of course, NT loved it just as he did the last time. He got to use paints, a hot glue gun, a hack saw and power tools all by himself--he can't get enough of that place! Lizzy stayed with me in the parents' meeting and busied herself for almost two hours "writing", coloring, and drawing.

We stopped by the co-op afterward and NT wanted to try something new for his co-op treat so he tried cardamom angel food cake. The frosting was a bit strong for him (and me!), but we were both glad he tried it!

At ceramics class NT got his first lesson in changing a tire. The instructor had a flat tire when he arrived, so he was showing the kids how to jack up the car, get the lug nuts off (they got to take a turn doing this if they wanted to), and change the tire!

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on 2 & 3D geometry. He worked for quite awhile afterward reworking the LEGO model of his bedroom that he had made the day before. He built his "dream bedroom" out of LEGOs to show us how he wants his room set up (there are lots of fish tanks in it).

Lizzy had ballet in the morning and while we waited, NT and I worked a little more in the math workbook for my benefit, though we were interrupted by one of the other moms who sells Usborne books. We spent the rest of the time looking through her samples and they are really amazing. NT was actually jumping up and down with excitement over BOOKS!

The kids spent the afternoon building with K'nex and playing basketball in the basement...until NT decided to bring his dribbling practice up to the dining room, which lasted for quite a while.

Late afternoon NT had a Mad Science Class and then went to Minna's for dinner where they played card games and board games. Meanwhile Lizzy and I went to Irish step where Lizzy had a real live fiddler in class!

Highlights of the past few days include:

Zoo with friends Augie and Louisa on Thursday where NT took a complete inventory of all the fish at the zoo to see if there were any breeds there that he could get for his tank.

Gymnastics for Lizzy on Friday morning. While we were waiting NT and I went through a good portion of the a first grade math workbook (for me) so I could feel comfortable that he does, indeed, know the kinds of things first graders are "supposed" to know.

Friday afternoon NT had homeschool science club at the Science Museum which turned out to be a disaster. We have been repeatedly disappointed with the calibre of those classes and have decided to find other more exciting places to participate in science classes. While NT was being bored to death in class, Lizzy and I hung out with Runa and her mom at the museum. After class all the kids ran crazy together to burn off all their pent up energy!

This morning NT had a basketball game and had Grampy & Maria and Minna & Grandpa Alan in the cheering section. He is making great strides and is really enjoying the game.

After basketball we took a family field trip to the fish store where we spent a huge amount of time talking with the staff about our cloudy water problem, learning about what kind of fish food we need (we ran out of what the fish came with), and asking about what to do about our Betta who doesn't eat. NT got two new powder blue fish for his tank (I can't remember the kind...).

NT has been keeping up with PBS's Cyberchase, and for days the kids have been building with the big cardboard blocks I brought up from the basement. They have also been getting tons of entertainment out of the huge Rubbermaid container that the blocks are stored in. It is fascinating to see the kinds of games the kids come up with on their own.

NT has been drawing, wrote a letter to Ezra, has been asking about the meanings of sooooooooo many words, has been reading his fish book like crazy, and asks so many questions about so many things I can't keep up! :-)

This morning NT flew out of bed to watch PBS's Cyberchase about math in nature.

The kids spent the morning building all kinds of forts in the living room, building with the Marbulous set, and generally making a huge mess of the house.

Lizzy went to Minna's after lunch to bake a birthday cake for Kiki while NT and I went to a homeschool program put on by Mad Science on air pressure at an Eagan library. Afterward, NT and I went to Bridgeman's for a treat. Lizzy went shopping with Minna at the co-op.

We saw another wild turkey on the parkway on the way home.

As we go about our days, NT and I talk about a lot of life issues, most of which I forget to write down, but a teeny tiny number of examples just from the past few days include: restaurant franchises (who owns McDonald's), how Elvis died, how come so many famous people die of drug overdoses, who is more famous (U2 or the Beetles) and why, who are the first and second most-wanted "bad guys" in the world and why, could you start your own organic fast food restaurant or not, why are some people's houses worth more than others, what is debt and why can't the bank just give us more money just because we want it...plus, I am constantly defining words.

I feel pretty confident he wouldn't be learning many of these things sitting in school all day, if for no other reason than that he wouldn't be as exposed to as many real-world things that prompt him to ask! :-)

The kids built with K'nex in the living room late this afternoon and then went out to play with the neighbor girl in the snow before dinner. John and both the kids walked over to NT's basketball practice this evening.

Highlights from the past several days:

We tried out the new play group last Friday. They were meeting for a class on endangered species at Woodlake Nature Center. NT at first refused to go and refused to "learn anything" but, wouldn't you know it, he learned a lot, got to touch a live turtle, met some new friends, and had a lot of fun.

Saturday morning NT had a basketball game and had a good-sized cheering section, as usual. He and John went to the fish store afterward and he brought home 5 new tiny fish for his tank--he has been reading about them over and over in his fish book.

Sunday Aunty Em and Craig took the kids ice skating and out for a treat afterward. We had homemade pizza and banana splits in honor of Valentine's Day while watching the Olympics.

Monday Lizzy had ballet and then the kids went swimming with Grampy and Maria at the "indoor beach" and out for a treat afterward. Late afternoon, NT went to play at the neighbors' while Liz and I went to Irish step class--it was a busy day!

All the while, NT has been keeping up with PBS's Cyberchase, reading his fish book like a fiend, inventing all kinds of things, playing like crazy with his Marbulous building set, devising and writing up all kinds of "secret plans" to "trick" his parents with his sister, and conducting all kinds of physics experiments in the living room which make a huge mess and drive his mother crazy. :-)

Tuesday we had a much needed at-home morning to sleep in (until 7 a.m.), catch up on housework and laundry, and build pillow forts in the living room.

In the afternoon, we joined some new homeschooling friends at the History Center where NT showed us around the Ben Franklin exhibit. We checked out the MN 150 exhibit, and finally ended up in the granary play area where the kids got all rosy-cheeked climbing up and down, running through tunnels, and "driving" the grain wagon.

NT had ceramics class in the late afternoon and then he and John had a Cub Scouts den meeting in the evening where it was a craft extravaganza!!

Yesterday started out bright and early with PBS's Cyberchase and then it was time to take NT to his weekly MN Science Museum class, which he is really enjoying.

The kids built a fort in the living room/dining room after lunch and then we took an impromptu trip to the Como Park Conservatory to meet some other new homeschooling friends. We saw all kind of tropical fish and plants, lots of cool koi, and even an up-close sloth that we watched for quite a while and learned quite a bit about! We really enjoyed the warm, humid air--NT pretended he was back in Lamanai!

NT had basketball practice and one of the other parents approached me to tell me what a great game she thought he had on Saturday!

Today the kids did some more fort-building and then we were off to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts where we waited in line for an hour with hundreds of other artists so NT could register his artwork to be shown in the Foot in the Door exhibit starting later this month. He is really excited--he has been asking to show his work in the "Minneapolis Substitute of Arts" since he was 3-years-old!

After lunch we headed over to the library where we picked up a bunch of lacrosse books and a lacrosse DVD that NT had requested, and Grampy picked NT up to take him to practice basketball at the gym for the afternoon.

Today NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on factoring.

The kids changed yesterday's wooden "dance floor" into a "tennis court" this morning, complete with pipe cleaner tennis ball.

NT had his first Science Museum class for the Homeschool Engineering: Machines that Move series where, among other things, they each made and tested their own anemometer.

Lizzy went to spend the morning with Minna. They played the little violin and baked banana muffins.

NT and I stopped to check out the new library on Lake Street on our way home from the SMM. We decided it didn't have a very good selection of books (compared to what we're used to at Southdale), but NT did find a book on Chess, which he spent much of the evening reading. We also requested some books online about lacrosse.

The kids played more "tennis" in the late afternoon and built all kind of things with the Magna Tiles in the living room. Then they helped me grate all the cheese for dinner.

We tried a new recipe (Three Cheese Manicotti) for dinner. NT gave it only 1 star (because of the onions).

NT had basketball practice last night and then spent the rest of the evening reading his chess book. Lizzy and I read books on the couch and tried on some of my jewelry.

For the most part, we had a nice relaxing weekend to finish up our activity-filled week.

Saturday morning was NT's basketball game. The team did much better this week and NT made the first basket of the game with Auntie Em and Craig there as witness!

After the game, Lizzy and I went to the co-op while NT and John went to the fish store to find out how to fix the cloudy water in the new tank. NT also traded in the two common platys he inherited because he didn't want them to have their live babies in his tank, knowing that the baby fish would eaten right away. They learned all kinds of things about how to care for the fish and the tank.

Saturday evening John and Liz made everyone's current favorite dinner on NT's menu--German oven pancakes with sour cream and strawberries.

Sunday morning we all pitched in to clean the house. In the afternoon it was football mania with back-to-back playoff games. John made homemade popcorn for a snack and then sloppy joes for dinner. I contributed homemade apple crisp for the half-time dessert during the Vikings game.

All weekend the kids played with the Magna Tiles, read books, and made up all kinds of their own physical activity "challenges" in the house since it was wet and sloppy outside.

Today NT was up to watch PBS's Cyberchase on refining and optimizing inventions. Then the kids brought up some huge sheets of scrap wood from the basement to play with (Magna Tiles and cars were involved, of course).

Lizzy had ballet and NT and I worked on some new math flashcards I picked up for him. He didn't love them, but I was impressed by how much he knew or was able to figure out...like how to add 53 + 25 without a piece of paper and pencil (or a calculator) and how to solve for "x" in a simple equation.

This afternoon the kids shoveled snow and played together until it was time for NT's cooking class where they made homemade pretzels. Then Liz helped me make dinner--biscuits and sausage with gravy--which NT gave only 2 stars. During dinner NT and I had a conversation about how he doesn't like jazz (always my dinner music of choice) because it's too slow and there's no singing (at least on the CD that's currently in the player...).

I am so wiped out after our big day today, I could hardly get myself to sit down and type this up!

This morning we quickly did our morning routine so we would be ready to be gone for the whole day.

We left at 9:30 for Lizzy's gymnastics, which she really looks forward to every week. While waiting, NT and I planned next week's dinner menu and then he spent the rest of the time reading one of his new fish books. He is trying to figure out what kinds of fish he can add once we get the water situation all figured out.

We ran a couple of errands and then it was off to the Science Museum of Minnesota for NT's first Homeschool Science Club. Today's topic was magnetic attraction and he was able to join the 7-9 year-olds. He made a couple of magnetic contraptions that are beyond me, but they are pretty cool and he had a great time. He saw a couple of his new homeschool friends in class and was really excited about that too.

While we waited for NT during his 3 hour class, Lizzy got to play with one of her new homeschool pals and even made another new friend.

After class NT wanted to explore the dinosaur exhibit, so we hung out at the SMM for awhile longer and ran into his new friends again. The kids had a great time and would have stayed longer if I would have let them. As it was, it was a very long day--we didn't arrive home until 7 p.m.!

This morning NT skipped Cyberchase to get right to his fish-watching. He is really enjoying his new pets and has started making up names for each of them (there are 11). He learned to feed them this morning and is consumed with trying to figure out how one of his platys can have her live babies without having them become lunch for all the other fish.

In the meantime, I am more concerned about figuring out how to keep the existing fish alive. We don't know exactly what kinds of fish we have (except the platys) so we're not sure we're feeding them properly...and then there's the question of clean and safe water...

We just barely finished our latest Hardy Boys mystery this morning. NT has declared that there is no point in reading fiction because you don't learn anything from it. He wants to switch to non-fiction. I'm wondering if he'll consider the Little House books non-fiction by his definition...we'll see.

The kids built castles with the Magna Tiles this morning while I read to them. Then they wrestled and played football in the living room before watching the 1957 version of The Cat in the Hat.

This afternoon the kids went swimming at the "indoor beach" with Grampy and then they all met Maria for dinner. While the kids were gone I picked up two freshwater aquarium books for NT so he can study up on how to take care of his new pets.

NT and John are attending the Cub Scouts pack meeting this evening where NT is getting recognized for earning his Wolf Cub badge!

Liz and I stayed home and read books and then had a lengthy discussion about ballet class. She loves ballet very much but is anxious about her current class, so we are thinking about switching to the new homeschoolers' ballet class (same studio) that starts in March.

We have been so busy the past few days that I've had a hard time keeping up!

Sunday we had brunch at Minna's with a number of our Seattle relatives who were visiting. Of course, during most of it, NT was glued to the Vikings game in Minna's den.

Late Sunday afternoon NT and Liz went to Grandma Ruth's to decorate Valentine's Day cookies and play with Bob. They came home with a huge stash of craft supplies (and a glue gun!) from Grandma Ruth and a whole bunch of notebooks and pencils and items for NT's Leonardo DaVinci inventions from Bob.

Monday morning Liz had ballet and NT worked with his new multiplication flash cards while we waited. We went to the library and NT checked out a number of books on medieval knights & weaponry, and some books on different types of spy planes, etc.

In the afternoon NT went to Minna's for a walk with some of the Seattle folk and then back to the condo to work with his new glue gun. Meanwhile, Lizzy and I met some of our new friends for a hike by the river and a warm-up afterward at the Riverview.

Tuesday NT asked if we could go to the Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit once more before the exhibit closes. We saw that exhibit and explored many others, including the Egyptian mummy, which we discussed at length with a docent.

We went to the historic 5.8 for lunch and learned about its history and how it started. We talked about the Prohibition and what a speakeasy was.

Late afternoon NT had ceramics class where they are currently working on tea sets.

Today Liz visited with more Seattle folk at Minna's with Auntie Em for brunch while NT and I went to check out The Works where they had a homeschooler program on estimation and budgeting today. NT really liked it and is looking forward to visiting again soon.

When we got home Maria met us with a HUGE surprise for NT. She found a 20 gallon tank with all the equipment (including fish!) for NT, who has been wanting his own fish tank for a very long time. We spent the afternoon cleaning and filling the tank, and then NT and Maria went to the fish store to learn more about what to do to try to keep the existing fish alive. NT is beside himself with excitement!

Tonight NT and John are at basketball practice.

All week NT has been keeping up with PBS's Cyberchase and we have been practicing a lot of math as it has applied to our everyday life. We have been reading another Hardy Boys' mystery. NT has had his globe out and has been figuring out where places are, like Wisconsin and Iceland. The kids have been building things like crazy with the Magna Tiles and jumping on the trampoline in the living room and making obstacle courses all over the first floor.

I think we're all ready for a day off!

NT watched PBS's Cyberchase this morning. The topic was balancing equations.

The music selection for the morning routine today was rap...which in this case was pretty much the same as the hip hop CD the kids have been favoring, so that was kind of a bust.

We read quite a bit of the new Hardy Boys book this morning, looked up several words we didn't know, and then NT worked on writing his last name in cursive. The kids also played with the Magna Tiles and Maria's dogs for a good portion of the morning.

This afternoon we tried a new homeschool playgroup, which the kids loved. There was a whole pack of boys NT's age to sled and play basketball with, and Lizzy played with 3 other girls near her age, which was fun to watch. This was the first time Lizzy has been in an unstructured group of children and she did beautifully.

After playing with the other kids for almost 5 hours, the kids fell right to sleep tonight!

Another big day today...

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on angles in bouncing.

The kids listened to Marlo Thomas' Free to Be You and Me while NT played with LEGOs and Lizzy played with the Bright Builders. They raced again on their 2-floor obstacle course and then NT read to me from his book on pet fish while I helped Lizzy get dressed. We discussed the meaning of the word "prone".

Grampy and Maria picked both kids up to go see Disney's The Princess and the Frog and took them to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Maria and NT pored over NT's fish books and Maria told him all about all the fish she used to keep. He really wants a big tank and is saving up. Right now he says he wants guppies.

John left work early so he could join us on our trek down to Honeymoon Creamery, just outside of Red Wing, to pick up the last of our fresh milk until spring. While John and I loaded up the milk, the kids romped around on the farm in the snow with the farm dog and got to see a very cold turkey who "leaked" out of the warm barn out into the snow!

On the way home we drove through the city of Red Wing and the kids commented on what a pretty town it is (especially all lit up and decorated for Christmas!). We decided when it warms up a little we would take a field trip to Red Wing and will check out all the cool places like the famous St. James Hotel and Red Wing pottery. NT was especially interested in the limestone bluffs and we told him how they use dynamite to blast the limestone apart so they can put a road right through a bluff. John showed him how you can see the lines where they drilled to insert the dynamite.

Later we stopped to check out the ski hills at Welch Village (the kids approved and want to ski there sometime this season), and then had burgers and crinkle fries at Wiederholt's in Miesville. There, NT and I read more from his fish books (he wants to do tons of research to get his tank!) and then played hangman while we waited for our food. Meantime, Lizzy played waitress and took John's order with her notebook and pen. NT did an experiment to see if he could numb his taste buds with an ice cube so that he couldn't taste the water in his glass (it tasted like iron). He said it worked.

By the time we passed the Koch refinery it was dark outside and the refinery is stunning with all the lights. The kids don't remember seeing it this way before and were quite impressed. We talked about how they change oil into gasoline for our cars there.

Just before home we stopped at our favorite Christmas light house a few blocks from home. The whole house is decorated with millions of tiny little colored lights that are perfectly synced to music on a special radio station you can turn on in your car. It is really impressive and the kids love it. We can't figure out just how they do it, but one of these years we plan to find out!

This morning NT tried out a class at Leonardo's Basement where he joined six other boys for a half-day of "building stuff". First he got to take apart an old tape recorder and then he got to design and put together three of his own inventions, including one with a circuit that lit up a Christmas tree light.

Before we left for the class he asked why it was called "Leonardo's Basement" since Leonardo Da Vinci was a famous artist, and he was going to class to build things, not paint things. So while NT was in class, Lizzy and I went to the library and checked out several age-appropriate books on Leonardo Da Vinci.

We looked over the books this afternoon after class and discovered that Da Vinci was also very famous for being an inventor. We read that he lived over 500 years ago and learned about the Renaissance period. We discussed the definition of "ancestors". One of the books even has directions for lots of cool inventions that NT can do mostly on his own...after we collect a few things like cereal boxes and paper towel rolls.

While we were at the library, Lizzy and I discussed the courtesy of walking up and down the right-hand side of the stairway so as not to block others who were going the opposite direction.

This afternoon the kids listened to Marlo Thomas' Free to be You and Me on CD while building with their Magnatiles, setting up and running an obstacle course that they put together on two floors of the house, and setting up their own bowling alley using some of our over-sized cardboard blocks as pins. Nicholas tried out different balls to figure out which one was the best size and weight to knock over the "pins".

Later the kids helped me grate the cheese for the homemade pizza we made for dinner tonight.

At clean-up time we talked about estimating and NT estimated how long it would take them to clean up the living room and then we played "beat the clock" to get it done. He overestimated the amount of time he thought it would take them by quite a bit!

Lizzy helped her daddy make a special dessert tonight to eat during the Vikings game, which NT and John are watching now. NT is getting really good at following the game, picking up the terminology, and understanding how the teams can get points in different ways.

This morning NT watched PBS's Cyberchase where the subject was number and operations.

After breakfast he built a structure with his Magnatiles and then disappeared to his basement workshop where he created his own Secret Decoder (note to self: get him some brads!) before it was time to leave for today's field trip.

We picked Minna up bright and early and headed to the Minnesota Children's Museum to check out their new dinosaur display which was really impressive! The kids dug for fossils, learned cool dino facts and saw what North America looked like 65, 75, and 85 million years ago. We stayed at the museum for over 3 hours! Besides the dinos they did a craft, played in the kitchen/restaurant, made a music video, worked with other kids in the factory, and NT worked for quite a while with the hydraulics in the water room--it is so cool to watch him figure things out that even most adults can't do!

After the museum Minna treated us to a fancy (for us) lunch at Fabulous Fern's and then it was home to finish up the crafts they've been working on for the cousins while they listened to more Encyclopedia Brown mysteries on audio book.

After dinner John walked the kids over to Ellie's and then to Debbie's to deliver some homemade toffee--an event they look forward to every year!

This morning NT helped me make breakfast (Minna showed him a great way to crack eggs that works well for him every time!) and then John took the kids for a run around the neighborhood. Afterward, they played outside in the snow for quite awhile and then went sledding at the golf course.

This afternoon the kids and I walked over to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a movie based on the book of the same name by Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett. It was Liz's first movie in a theater and she loved it.

Since the theater only takes cash and we rarely carry any, I borrowed cash from NT. John took the opportunity to explain to NT that he should charge me interest and explained to him that's how banks make money. I also had NT figure out how much it would cost for the three of us to see the movie ($2 x 3 people) and asked him to figure out how much change I would get back from the cashier.

Earlier in the day NT asked me how people could afford to retire--where do they get money? I explained the concept (and importance) of saving and investing for retirement.

We also discussed, at length, alternate meanings of the word "sharp": That looks sharp and Be there at 5:00 sharp.

The kids were engaged in imaginative play together for quite awhile this afternoon.

This evening the kids helped John put together Liz's castle, NT and I walked the dog around the neighborhood and looked at all the Christmas lights, and NT watched PBS's This Old House before bed "so I can give Daddy some tips".