Different

This week was our CC Practicum.  It is when the parents get some training and encouragement for their next school year and the kids get to play in camps.  This year Henry and Caroline were both in Geo-Draw camp, while Josiah was in Math Mania.  Josiah walked in the room, saw a code upon the board, and quite unexcitedly muttered, I think they're doing real math in here.  It was a simple code on the board in which they had to figure out their teacher's name.  A=26, B=25, etc.  When I picked him up that afternoon, he had already written it down on an index card so he and Henry could write in code to each other.  Henry spent the entire three days of Practicum getting as dirty as he possibly could.  They went out on the playground for three hours each day.  He was caked in dirt by the end of each day.  I made him bathe each evening and when the tub was drained, the entire bottom was filled with dirt.  I've never seen anything like it.

Typically we do Practicum in July, so the kids were pretty happy to do it in May and miss three days of school.  We did squeeze some school in the last two days of the week.  We did an experiment about air currents.  As the sun heats up the air each day, the molecules expand and move more quickly creating air currents.  The experiment showed that happening, but using water so we could see it better.  We had a baking pan filled with water.  Underneath it on one end we had a cup of ice and the other end had a cup of boiling water.  After two minutes we put one drop of food coloring on each side.  The warm water moved the food coloring around quickly while the cold water made it flow slower.  It was really cool to watch.  You not only saw it flow horizontally, but you could see the vertical difference, too, with the cooler water sinking.  Josiah and I were mesmerized.

It was a busy, tiring week.  By Friday morning no one knew what they wanted for breakfast, but they knew it was nothing that we had.  So, Henry had chips and fresh salsa and Josiah had a slightly less healthier chips and cheese dip.  It was food in their bellies.

Caroline had her orange-white belt test this weekend.  She was in there with four other kids and she kicked tail.  She hasn't had a belt test in a long time because she didn't want to do karate for quite a while, so I kept saying no to the belt tests (why pay for something she doesn't want to do?).  But she's been back into it the past couple of months and she was excited to test for it this time.  Because of that, it was an easy belt to test for because she knew her stuff really well.  During the self-defense portion, the instructor came at her, trying to keep her on the ground.  Once she made it to her feet, he then intimidates her and grabs her hands.  She has techniques that she has to use to get out of his grip.  She was doing a good job, but at one point she slapped the side of his face.  Then she slapped it again.  Apparently there was a time for her to do it (like when he had a hand up there to stop her hand), but she threw out the rules when confronted.  Of course, this is what I'd prefer if it happened in real life.  She told me beforehand that her favorite part was when they break the boards at the end.  This time she was able to kick through two boards, but was pretty disappointed she couldn't kick through the third.  She did well.

Todd found something for us to do this weekend.  It was a Memorial Day event honoring Danny Dietz, a Navy Seal that died in 2005.  Todd had mentioned that there was a car show as part of the day.  As we got there and started walking to the entrance, Josiah pointed to a car in the parking lot and said, "Is that one of the antique cars?"  Yeah.  That one there's from way back in the 80s.

We weren't sure if the event picked up in the evenings with the BBQ and singers, but in the afternoon, it was pretty sparse.  They had a bounce house that the kids played on a lot.  Next to it was a mechanical bull.  The boys took many rides on the bull.  The man who was working the remote control would always start off really slow and let the kids get used to it, but then if they were doing well, he's swing them around and if they were staying on too long, he'd whip that bull and knock them right off.  We cracked up each time.  (He wasn't hurting them.)  We watched an ax throwing competition and then wandered over to the horse arena.  It was teams of two roping a calf.  One would rope the head, the other would rope the hind legs and the animal would go down.  These guys were accomplishing this in about six/seven seconds time.  It became clear, though, that we have raised city kids.  Instead of seeing Calf Roping, The Sport, they saw, Calf Roping, Animal Cruelty.  They really felt sorry for the calf.  Henry, in particular, asked to leave so we did.  Before we left to go home, two enjoyed a cupcake and one enjoyed a snow cone.

For Memorial Day today we took a jaunt around the retention pond in our neighborhood.  The kids rode their bikes and for the beginning of the circuit, Caroline was in the lead.  She had moments of panic when she encountered wasps, birds, and a slight incline in the sidewalk.  She actually fell off her bike going up the small incline because she wasn't used to any increase in elevation.  She did fine after that and rode far ahead of us.  Todd told the boys he thought they would make laps around us.  Up to that point they had been riding for a good distance, but would then turn around and come back to us.  Once he mentioned lapping us, they were off.  Even though it's only a retention pond, it is a nice walk.

Caroline was sitting with me outside one evening.  We were talking about her friends and how to make friends and things of that sort.  Then she filled me in on an observation, "You're nothing like Mrs. X."
Me - Oh yeah, in what way?
C - She buys her kids whatever they want and she does whatever they say.
Me - You're right, we are different. 
In my mind all I could think was -- and you kids are different from her kids.  I can only see that as a compliment, though it wasn't given as one.

The kids begin their swim lessons this week.  They're looking forward to getting back in the pool.