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Game Night at CPSC

Lucie's class studied games for their project this session. They showed off some of their work at a Game Night on Wednesday.


Milo likes the pond in front of the school.


Leslie talked a bit before we got to play any games. Although you can't see him in this photo, Milo is sitting at the table next to Lucie. At one point he blurted out, "She SAID that already."


Playing one of Mallory's games


Here's Lucie's version of the "Rainbow Game." Note the little creatures she made for game pieces.


Lucie invented a game called "Batty Bats," featuring fish and bugs in a "Bug Box."

Hey, ladies

Look what Milo can do.

This reminds me of somebody

Here's what happens now when I try to take a picture of Lucie and Milo together.

Jack and the Sack

Lucie's YPPC group performed two Jack plays. Lucie played the part of a pig in Jack and the Three Sillies. Here is a scene from Jack in the Sack, in which she played a doctor (she also played the part of a turkey).






Milo waiting for the play to start


Curtain call


Hanging out at Toast after the play

Violin recital

Lucie recently had her first violin recital. She played "May Song" and "Long, Long Ago." We are very proud of her.






There was some waiting.


"May Song." Milo was fidgeting in my lap while I tried to shoot this movie.


"Long, Long Ago." The memory card went bad in the middle of this one.

Snakes and snails

Tonight at bedtime, Milo was inexplicably interested in what things had sugar in them. "Does water have sugar in it? Does milk have sugar?"

The queries got stranger and stranger.

"Do bats have sugar? [smirking] Do butts have sugar?"

From across the room, L immediately remarked, "I can tell he's going to be like the other boys."

Trip to Tennessee

We took a car trip recently to visit Papa, Nana, and Brian in Tennessee. Here are some postcards from along the way.


We were surprised to find Maggie Valley in a state of abandonment, the roadside restaurants and motels shuttered. (Soco Tower is for sale.) This summer may be your last chance to see Ghost Town in the Sky.


Chickens at the Oconaluftee Farm Museum




Newfound Gap


Gatlinburg (Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum)


Collierville Greenbelt


Lucie got a bit tired on that walk.


At the Pink Palace Museum there was an exhibit of artifacts excavated during some of Brian's archeological digs in Memphis. It was really cool, and it left an impression on Milo. This weekend, he took a spade to the hillside in our backyard, saying he was going to "look for bottles like Uncle Brian."


We got to see the amazing animated carved wooden circus model in operation.






The Mississippi


Papa, Nana, Lucie, and Uncle Brian at Mud Island Park


Milo got a toy bow and arrow in Cherokee. He liked trying to get it to stick to the plate glass window.




Nana and Lucie blowing bubbles in the park


We saw the Lost Sea.


There was so much more that we simply did not take pictures of. The kids did not want to leave. Thanks, Nana and Papa, for the fun visit (and the cool head lamp).

Drive time

C was driving Milo to Sherrill's after having dropped off Lucie at a friend's. Traffic was slow, and no doubt prompted by C's grumbling about the red lights, Milo said, "This ride is taking a really really long time, like going to Nana and Papa's house!"

C: "Not really. It may be taking us a little longer than usual this morning, but don't you remember how very long it took to get to Memphis? We were in the car for a whole day."

M: "Yeah, I guess so."

About a minute later:

M: "This ride is taking a long time. Not an officially long time. Just a long time."

Baracko style

Shortly before the inauguration, when Chris put on a suit for a funeral, Milo commented, "You look like Baracko Bama." I realized today, when Milo commented upon his own dress, that this was about more than the suit. Milo dressed himself in nice jeans, a t-shirt, and a button-down shirt, and then announced, "I look like Baracko Bama in a shirt and jeans."

Later on, at the thrift store, Milo spotted the American flag over the entrance and said, "Look! It's a Baracko flag!"

Trouble fingers

Play-gerism

Lucie played the part of Cookie Monster in the latest YPPC Rats production, "Play-gerism (Abridged)."


"I'm the rootinest, tootinest, game warden in all of Albuquerque!"


"Only Big Bird can do that, Guy."


The Sesame Street gang competes on "The Price is Wrong"


Curtain call

Trip to Michigan

We took a trip to visit family in Michigan between Christmas and New Year's. A slideshow of the entire trip can be found in the Boo Blog Annex. Here are some highlights.

On the way up, we stayed at the Lafayette Hotel in downtown Marietta, Ohio. We discovered this beautiful old hotel that allows dogs last spring. This year we got to see a gingerbread contest.




Breakfast overlooking the Ohio River

We took a short excursion into Windsor, Ontario, and played in a park along the Detroit River. Here are the happy cousins.






Milo threw some rocks into the river.


But the most fun was to be had by stomping on ice near the underpass.

Side note: The restrooms in this public park in the middle of winter were unlocked, functional, clean, heated, and contained wheelchair-accessible, padded baby changing stations. (In case there was any doubt in your mind that Canada is a more civilized country.)

We had Christmas, Part II, at Nini's house. Nini got Milo a double-sided light saber (actually a sort of lighted baton for twirling at Grateful Dead concerts and the like). Much fun was had by the kids chasing and being chased and lightsabered.








We went skating downtown at Campus Martius.




Lucie lost a tooth at the rink. (She wiggled it out.)

We went sledding! This doesn't look like much snow, but the ground was totally frozen, so it worked fine. The only problem was that it was really cold.




Someone left a bathtub out there.


Here comes Maria.


Elaina and Lucie


A sign of change spotted in downtown Detroit


On New Year's Eve, the girls dressed in "Victorian" clothes and played a role-playing mystery game.




Poor Milo had a fever.

Later we watched the ball drop and listened to the gun shots. When Chris and I finally settled into bed, around 1 am, we heard a bullet hit the roof right over our heads (a loud thud, followed by the sound of a rolling metal cylinder).


Playing Apples-to-Apples at Lloyd and Hazel's with second cousin Maraena


Waiting for breakfast at Nini's


In the hotel in Charleston, after getting candy sticks at Cracker Barrel

We had a good trip and are ready to do it again. Have minivan, will travel! It was great to see everyone this Christmas.