The kids and I teamed up with my friend Katie and her crew, and we went on a field trip to the San Diego Olympic Training Center!
We had a blast on the Olympic Podium...Always a fight over who won Gold!...
Look at the GUNS on my friend! :0)
After seeing a short, and SUPER-INSPIRING film about the Olympics, we were brought out to the Olympic Torch...
And then because our group was so small, we got VIP treatment, and instead of walking the grounds, we were taken on a tour via "The Jeep" (according to Beatrice)...
On the tour we rode past the multiple BMX courses...
We got to see the archery team practicing...
We got to see Beach Volleyball members in action...
AND while out in about in "The Jeep" we got to have a chance conversation with a Paralympic athlete training for the Biathlon...he will be competing in the 2014 winter Olympics...so exciting! I think the kids had a pretty good time, but no doubt, Katie and I found this field trip to be AWESOME!!!
"(Ladies and) Gentlemen, start your pedals!"...
Wyatt struck gold when a very exciting package arrived in the mail for him this week! For the last few months Wyatt has been diligently saving his money for the Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon. In addition to putting aside any money that he was gifted, or earned from doing extra chores, Wyatt and Rick carefully went through all of the toys in Wyatt's room, and if there were items he no longer played with, then they sold them on Ebay in an effort to obtain more money for the Millennium Falcon. Finally the day had come when Wyatt had enough money for the Star Wars ship!...but would you believe, he no longer wanted it!?!?! Well, that's not entirely true...he still WANTED it, but after all of the work he put in to accumulating the funds needed, he had the haaaaaardest time parting with the money in the end! He had so much enjoyed telling his cousins that he had $50...and then $80...and then $100, etc. He realized that if he purchased the Millennium Falcon then he would go back to having no money at all. :0( But after some coaxing from mom and dad, he took the plunge and bought the Star Wars ship on Ebay (that was $30 cheaper than buying it in a store). Finally, the Millennium Falcon arrived to our home..."Oh Happy Day..."
And now begins the 2-day process of putting ALL THOSE PIECES together!!!
Fiiiiiinally, their work was complete!!! I'm not sure who loved this toy/project more...Wyatt????
...Or, my Star-Wars-lovin'-husband???...
We went to a couple of birthday parties this week! Each of the parties were for boys...turning 7! :0)
First up was our friend Malachi's Star-Wars-Pizza-Pool-Party!
Happy Birthday Malachi!!!
And then we celebrated with cousin Brady at his Ninjago birthday party!...
The winner of the "Who knows Brady BEST" trivia game...(Wyatt was just a photo-bomber!)
There were presents to be opened...
...and then REALLY GOOD presents to be opened, lol...
Happy Birthday Brady!!!...
And finally, in school this week...
...we learned about the 11th state in our union..."The Empire State"...New York! We learned that Washington DC was not our nation's first capitol, but that New York City was the first capitol of the USA. We also learned that 8 million people live in NYC...making it the country's largest city...which is more than twice the size of the second largest city, Los Angeles.
We learned that a famous New Yorker is on all of the dimes...none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt...the only person to be elected U.S. President 4 times!...
We learned all about the Niagara Falls! Did you know that 40 million gallons of water plunge down the falls every minute!?...and that the power generated from the falls is used to create 17% of New York's electricity!? Craziness! We did some watercolor painting of Niagara Falls...
(This is Bea touching the falls...)
I had high hopes of playing a Statue of Liberty game...something like what you would see at a Bridal Shower...you know, making a bride out of toilet paper???...Obviously, we wouldn't be using toilet paper for the Statue of Liberty...but it wouldn't matter...each day came and went in our house, and each day the roll of green crepe paper sat on our kitchen counter...unused :0( ...
I have actually had the pleasure of visiting NYC, and so I had the kids browse through my scrapbook from that trip...
Remembering when...
One of my favorite pictures I have of my mom (of all time) came from that trip...
State dinner was especially delicious this week!...and super easy to prepare, lol! When I was doing my research for NY food in my 13 colonies cookbook, the food listed for this state sounded awful! I had no desire to eat Oyster Pie, Black Bean Soup, or Planked Shad! (What IS "planked shaed!?!?!) Where were the listings for hot dogs from a hot dog stand, or pretzels from a pretzel cart, or bagels from Dean and Deluca!?!?! That's the NY I remember, LOL! So I decided to put our history books away, and I googled "best NY pizza in (our town)"...and for dessert, "best NY cheesecake in (our town)." We were in for a treat!!!...
While they also sell pizza by the slice...
...we took a whole pie to go!...
And then we ended our state dinner with Cheesecake!
I went into the shop just to purchase a single slice of plain NY cheesecake...but "browsing turns to buying," and we walked out with a slice of NY cheesecake, Reeses Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake, AND the Hula Hawaiian cheesecake (mocha coconut flavored)...
The pizza was INCREDIBLE!!! And while all of the cheesecake was good, it was unanimous that the plain NY Cheesecake was the very best!! MMMMMmmmmmmm
Onward and upward to next week! :0)
