A blog about self-identity, relationships, motherhood, Illinois living, random travel and other wacky stuff.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sun Up to Sun Down
Friday, May 29, 2009
15 steps away
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Musical comforts
So today I walked into the Tiger room during Music class. X-man adores music. He loves his music teacher Ms. Mary and singing with his Spanish teacher Ms. Nora.
Today, Mary was teaching the tigers forte and piano. It won't be a surprise to any of you who have heard me sing that I had no idea what these terms were -- until I sat down with X-man and listened. When the Tigers finished as a group going through the flash cards, X-man decided it was time to go and pick out new sippy cups, since ours our shot.
On the way out, I stopped to talked to his teachers, and suddenly there was music behind me. It was quiet. The kids were crawling toward Ms. Mary from their group spots very quietly. Then the horns cranked on and the kids all danced.
And what made me feel awe and comfort. She was using a song sung by Bjork.
How freaking cool is that? I remember music in pre-school as being the 10 Little Indians (yes, wholly inappropriate now). But "It's, Oh, So Quiet" is the perfect example of forte and piano.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Mandatory Rest Requirements for Parents
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Brothers, baseball, BBQ in Baltimore
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Moving along...
Monday, May 18, 2009
Review of Great America with a Pre-Schooler
X-man's favorite ride was driving the boats. By the time we got to it, he was a champ at rides. And he loved that he got to go, "ALLLLLLL by myself!" He rang the bell on the boat, let the employee help him in and buckle him in and didn't fall in the water. I'm so calling that a giant big boy success. You'll note in a lot of these photos -- he's the only one on the ride. We waited in NO lines. No roller coasters had over a 10-minute wait as far as we could see. Spinning rides were literally walk up and get on, so were all the kiddie rides. Some of the rides weren't open yet (including the train that goes around the park) because they haven't gotten all of their summer staff hired yet (college did, after all just get out), but I think I'd rather have no lines with an antsy 3 year old than worry about the fact that the Tilt-a-Whirl wasn't open.
And here was the biggest surprise of the day. In the cartoon area across from the boats was a mini Jetsons' roller coaster. X-man went on it with Daddy. He held on tight, but he did it!
Outside of the cartoon area X-man heard the Sheryl Crow song from Cars. (I was shocked that the WB haven would do that with a competing movie company.) X-man sat down on the bench and listened to the speaker in the foliage bobbing his head until the song was done.
We all went on the Mystery Machine ride, where X-man's favorite part wasn't the ride going up and around -- it was putting his arms up so the safety bar could spring up. :-)
X-man and I also went on the double decker carousel. He named his horse, Cutie. I named mine Marlow. He held on tight and liked seeing the rest of the park from up high.
And the sign of a really good time -- a pre-schooler who fell asleep within 10 minutes of getting in the car in a fresh diaper post juice box. You'll see what he chose to purchase for $10 or less -- a stuffed Superman for $7.
You can also purchase meals and parking online, which helps with shortening lines into the park because no transactions have to be made. You just hand them a print out to scan. Parking is $10 for the cheap parking -- which is NOT that far away. Expensive parking is $25 to be like 100 yards closer to the door. I wouldn't find that a worthwhile extra expense.