Weekend

What a great weekend we had this past weekend.

Rob was at a work retreat on Saturday, so Zack and I had a day for adventure. Earlier in the week, Zack had commented that we hadn't gone to the zoo in a while, so off we went. We had a great time. It was a gorgeous fall day, not to cold, beautifully sunny. Zack was in a great mood all day. First stop was the reptile house (of course). We managed to hit feeding time for both the green anacondas and the alligator snapping turtle. Then we checked out the invertebrate house for the first time. Somehow we'd always missed that before, but we found a lot of cool stuff there: cuttlefish, mantis shrimp, bird-eating tarantulas (I maintain that there is no good reason for a spider that big), hermit crabs (substantially bigger than the ones we've found in CT), and lots of other bugs and sea creatures. We saw lots of other fun things, too. It's so obvious he's getting older because he'll spend more time at each exhibit and is so interested in all the animals. We did a ton of walking, since we took the Metro, but he did great walking around all day. That didn't preclude a nap on the train ride home, however.

He's becoming a pro at the Metro. He used the card to get through the gate. Then he decided he'd put his card in his coat pocket and zip it up, so I let him hold onto his card all day. He held onto it all day.

Kelly came over to hang out with us on Sunday. We went to Ikea, got our fix of Swedish food, did a little shopping. Again, Zack was in a great mood and was a lot of fun. He finagled a rather sizable shark out of the deal, which he carried around throughout pretty much the entire store. We came home to a lovely crock pot chicken dinner by Chef Roberto. It was really great to have a family day--it felt like it had been a long time since we'd just hung out together like that.

Today I went to Zack's first parent-teacher conference. More on that later.

Playground

Zack and (mostly) I were a little under the weather thus weekend, but we couldn't resist a leisurely walk down to the playground this afternoon. Such a gorgeous fall it's been!

Cutest ninja ever!

Off to school

He really wanted his own umbrella, so after searching high and low (I never thought it would be that difficult!), I finally ordered one online. And since it's arrival, it hasn't really rained. He was soooo excited that it was raining this morning when he got up! He could finally use his umbrella!

It stopped raining by the time we walked to the bus stop. But he was determined.

Soooooooo cool !

He sounded out the words and wrote that sentence all by himself!!!!

Pictures by Zack

Playground. Soccer. Playground.

He went to the playground before soccer yesterday, and to another one this afternoon. He's one busy kid!

Pictures from the Nature Lab

Here are Zack's sketches from the RISD Nature Lab.

RISD

Zack and Rob left Friday night to attend Rob's 25th college reunion at RISD. Originally, I was supposed to be on work travel, but that ended up not happening because of the shutdown, so I stayed home. As anticipated, he did great on the flight up to Providence, even though the flight was delayed for nearly an hour. I got these pictures today. They apparently stopped at the Nature Center on campus and did some sketching. Doesn't he look great sitting there drawing? I can't wait to see what he drew.

And in that picture from behind him? There is just no good reason why a spider needs to be that big. Just no good reason.

Portrait of an artist

This is the picture he brought home from his drawing class yesterday. He said they were looking at a picture of an artist, but he forgot her name. My first thought was Frida Kahlo, but that didn't ring a bell with Zack, and it doesn't really look like her anyway. Finally, Rob mentioned Maya Angelou, and Zack said that was it. Regardless, I love the turquoise lips.

King Tut

So far we are really loving Zack's new school. His teacher is great, he's enjoying it and learning a lot, the aftercare program is wonderful. Through the PTA, they also offer a number of after-school classes for the kids. There's Track and Field, Yoga, Karate, and others, along with a drawing class. We decided to sign him up for the drawing class. He goes right there from his kindergarten class, draws for an hour, then goes to his aftercare program. It's hard to get the entire story from him, but they seem to be learning about lines, how to sketch something in pencil first, things like that. Last week he came home with this piece. They were drawing from a picture, pencil first, then a Sharpie, then color.

This boy...

...might love his pooch just a little.

Teeth

Zack went to the dentist this morning. He did great, as always. The news, however, is that two of his bottom front teeth are loosening up!

It seems like his teeth just started poking through (on his first Christmas, to be exact). Can't believe he's about to lose some!

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Sent from Mailbox for iPhone

Emergence

A few weeks ago, Zack found a wooly bear caterpillar outside and wanted to put it in his Bug Playground. We read up on how to care for wooly bears, and gave him grass and maple leaves. In a day or so, we couldn't find him. Turns out, he'd created a cocoon. I did a little more reading, and found out that we needed to put him in a cool place and that a moth would emerge in spring.

Tonight I just happened to look in the box as I was walking by, and saw a moth! So much for a long over-wintering! Given that he wasn't all beaten up as he would have been had he been trying to escape for a few days, I think he just emerged. He was a little groggy. Zack immediately agreed that we had to let him go outside, so we left him on the bench outside the back door. When I just looked, he was gone, hopefully flying freely.

We both agreed that we wouldn't have expected this kind of moth from a caterpillar colored like a wooly bear. This picture doesn't capture it well, but he was a lovely golden color.

Not-a-box

Zack has a book called Not-A-Box, about a bunny who imagines his cardboard box is everything from a race car to a rocket ship. This is Zack's Not-A-Box.

Cousins

We're on Block Island for a family wedding. Zack gets to hang out with his cousin, Ella, all weekend and have sleepovers. They're so cute together.

What a beautiful island! And it looks like we're in for gorgeous weather, so we should have a fabulous weekend.

Strange

It's a strange thing, watching your child grow up. I've been thinking this a lot lately, as Zack is older, as he goes off to school. Watching his growing independence is fascinating.

Last night, two other neighborhood families joined us for dinner. We all decided we were going to cook our way through some new cookbooks, and last night was our first feast. We all have kids, four between the three familes, three girls and Zack. Zack is the oldest, with M right behind him. L and J are both three. As soon as everyone got there, the kids went off to the living room, and the adults went off to the big room. We decided to eat first, in relative peace, while the kids played, which they did with nearly no need for any intervention from us. They were busy turning the living room into a fort, drawing pictures, who knows what else, all on their own initiative. Apparently, M got thirsty, because Zack came out to the kitchen, got cups for both of them, filled them with ice, filled them with water, and acted like the perfect gentleman and host by giving M her cup of water. He had no idea I was watching as he did this, but I was so pleased with him!

Both M's mom and I kept commenting on how big they are, how much they've grown up. I'm not even sure we can put it into words. While they have their trying moments, it's also just wonderful watching them become so capable and independent.

Buddies

Georgia came over and laid near Zack while he was playing this afternoon. She kept him company for quite some time. It's really sweet to see them together these days. He's super sweet with her, very gentle, and takes his "big brother" role pretty seriously. To say nothing of the fact that he loves her to bits.

Cantaloupe from our garden.

Tastes pretty good for the first 'lope we've ever grown.

After care

Kindergarten is "full-day," the definition of which seems to be 8:50am to 3:00 pm. Rob and I wish that was also the definition of a full day of work, but it isn't. So Zack goes to aftercare, which is conveniently housed in his elementary school. The program is run by Kids After Hours (KAH; which also runs the summer camp that he'll be going to for the next 5 years or so), and so far seems very cool. The staff know all the kids' names, they really enjoy being there, and they make it fun for the kids. KAH works closely with the school, particularly in getting the kids from their classrooms to the aftercare site. They have a snack, and an opportunity to work on their homework if they have some. Then they can do various things, like go out to the playground.

This week they started having clubs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was looking at the list of clubs as I was waiting for Zack to come out last night, and saw there was a construction club. I asked about it and was told it was an opportunity to play with Legos, TinkerToys, etc. I commented that I'd have to mention it to Zack for the future. The staff person told me that Zack had already chosen to be in that club and had participated that day.

Alrighty then. I was also informed by Zack himself that I could pick him up later on Tuesday and Thursday nights so that he could be in the club longer.

I think he's adjusting OK.