Thunder

Zack took this pic of Georgia tonight, in her preferred hiding spot during storms. He knows this, so he made it all the cozier for her.

Poetry.

The other night, as Zack and I were about to start reading, he asks me" Mama, do you know what onomatopoeia is?"

After a moment of shock, I started scanning my memory. As I was making my mental way back to my junior high school English class, Zack proceeded to define it for me. 

Onomatopoeia? Seriously? In 2nd grade? There's no chance I'll be able to help him with homework next year! 

My new favorite sight...

...is Zack getting into reading by himself.

Zack...

...being himself.

Santa Fe 4

We spent Memorial Day at Bandelier National Monument. The two ladies in the one picture were quite taken with Zack's explanations of what things were (accurate or not). We had a lovely day.

Santa Fe 3

He needed something to keep the sun out if his eyes.

(No we didn't buy it)

Santa Fe 2

It's not entirely clear who had more fun at the Children's Museum.

Santa Fe 1

Apparently all Zack needs is a Nutella milkshake and a canine buddy to be happy.

Goin' to Dewey!

Auntie Kelly is taking Zack and his friend Ariana (and Jojo) to Doodles at Dewey this weekend. Its a fundraiser where folks bring their labradoodles and golden Doodles to the beach. Z and A were sooooo excited!!! They left after school today and will be back tomorrow night.

I love that Zack has this kind of relationships Kelly! I can't wait to hear about their adventure!

Voting

I asked Z if he wanted to go with me to vote to tomorrow.

"Wait, Mama. Don't vote for the guy who's going to bring back segregation"

"Who's that?"

"Ummm...I can't remember.......Donald Trump"

I told him not to worry, there was no chance of me voting for him.

Best buds

Kelsey and Zack.

(A pic from KAH)

Brave

This boy sees someone he knows wherever he goes. And if he doesn't know anyone, he'll make a new friend. I love this about him. He tells me he's shy, which might be a little bit true, but I also think he's very brave.

Air and Space

Zack had a field trip to the Air and Space Museum today. Since the first day it was announced, he has been asking me to go as a chaperone. I figured there won't be many more years that he wants to be seen with me, so I cleared my schedule and went along.

There wasn't enough room in the bus, so the parents met the kids there. He was so excited to see me! Another mom and I had charge of 3 boys for about 2.5 hours--which was pretty much the perfect amount of time.

We could barely get them through security, they were so immediately in awe of all the planes and satellites hanging in the main hall. We did a whirlwind tour through pretty much everything, spent a lot of time in the hands-on hall learning about all sorts of air and space principles, saw a demonstration about the space station, and saw the Wright's first plane. Zack and his buddies spent about 15 minutes figuring out the logistics of space toilets (picture below).

We had a great time, but I was really glad that I didn't have to ride back on the bus! I have nothing but the utmost respect for teachers who do this daily!

When I picked Zack up tonight, I asked him if he enjoyed the trip. He said "Yeah it was awesome! Especially because you came along!"

My heart may have melted just a little bit.

Parenting.

Parenting seems to boil down to either saying things you never imagined saying (e.g. "Get that eel out of your pants!")...

...or being rendered utterly without words.

Conversation between Zack and I this morning

Z: Where's my coat???
M: I'm pretty sure you hung it up last night. 
Z: (Indignantly) SEE?!? I'm not used to hanging up my coat! 

Sigh.

Star Wars Club

I don't think anyone is going to mess with KAH this month!

Sometimes...

...there just aren't any words.

All of us at Disney

Here's a shot of all of us at Disney. I'm surprised at how well it turned out, since at the time Zack and Ella were snipping at each other and were NOT interested in posing. 

Thanksgiving

Zack had no interest in getting autographs from the characters....until we had thanksgiving dinner with the princesses. Then he was all over getting autographs and pictures.

Legoland, Day 2

LL is the best place ever, according to Z. Today he got his driver's license, watched a 4d movie, fought bad guys in a mummy tomb, watched good guys fight off pirates on water skis, and went on a boat ride. At the moment he's building a velociraptor cage.

And yes, that's a life-sized Ford Explorer made out of Legos.

Tomorrow it's onto Disney.