a Marmee & Oliver day...

On Tuesday this week Oliver and I had an adventure day, just the two of us. We dropped Lucius off at my cousins house (Thanks Mary!) and headed over to a Light Rail Station in St. Paul. We parked the car, bought our train tickets and off we went. The Light Rail took us to Downtown Minneapolis where we walked a few blocks to the HUGE downtown library. It was the first time either of us had been there. Oliver's always excited about books, so we headed straight into the children's section and started pulling books off the shelves. The Librarian was SUPER helpful and nice, Oliver quickly made a new friend in her. He saw pictures hanging up around the library and HAD to know if there was a scavenger hunt he could do. Apparently he was correct, so off he went on a hunt to complete two scavenger hunts.

 The Librarian told us about a special room we should visit before leaving. She took us back to the Stacks room (its open to the public but you need a key to get into). Once inside you could move all the bookshelves around to find anything you wanted. She showed us how it worked and even told Oliver he didn't have to worry about being smashed, cause once someone walks into the aisle, there's a light that comes on and the bookshelves won't move till the person comes out (good to know). She left us alone in the stacks room to search for ourselves. It was super fun watching all the shelves move. Super cool.

We had a picnic lunch and still had time before we needed to pick up Lucius. So we jumped back onto the Light Rail and got off at the U of MN campus. We walked two blocks to the Weisman Art Museum. Oliver and were in the second gallery when he turned to me asking "do you think they have a Kandinsky here?". Say What?!?! Did you really ask me about a famous artist's paintings and who is he? Oliver told me that his art teacher had told him about the Artist Kandinsky, and he really liked his artwork. Sadly, the Weisman did not have one but he found other pieces he really enjoyed. Like this one. 

We eventually rode the light Rail back to our car and headed for Lucius' school. But we were passing Har Mar Mall where Oliver has an art piece on display (we just found out about it). We had a little bit of time to race inside to find his art, take a picture and made it to Lucius' school with time to make a movie of our day. 

Oliver put this lovely video together mostly by himself on my phone. He labeled it, picked the videos and photos to use and chose the music to play along with it. Enjoy. the password is: library

library leal from Margaret on Vimeo.

More Fencing...

Last Saturday we arrived at Fencing a tad early. The boys don't mind, cause that means they can run around in the gym while we wait. They decided they'd practice their fencing game.

Eventually it was time to begin class, but Lucius was crying about something that happened before class started. So he missed out on a few of the games during class, which made him more sad and he cried for longer. Until suddenly it was time to put on the protective gear and he was right as rain. Funny how that happens. They both fenced with bigger kids. Lucius looks so small compared to other kids in the class.

Lucius has the grey pants with the orange stripe on the leg and Oliver is in the black shorts with blue on the side (both sort of centerish in this photo)

Someday...

There will come a day when Lucius (and Oliver) go out adventuring and he'll ask me not to come along. I'm thrilled today is not that day!

Last week on Monday, Lucius wanted to go for a bike ride. I wasn't feeling like biking, so I walked behind him. He told me about a park he remembered from last year "remember the tiny park with the big rock?". I knew exactly which one he meant. We packed a lunch and headed out for an adventure together. We ate lunch on top of the big rock at the tiny park. We listened to the birds singing in the trees and the wind whistling through the branches.

After lunch he played while I read a book. Soon enough he wanted to go biking again. Away we went- he lead the way. Lucius took us off down a few new streets we've never been down and then past Oliver's old school, through the woods past the Nature center and towards the arboretum. I stopped to use the restrooms there and then we were off to the little free library in central park. After picking out a book for himself and his brother (and leaving a few of our old ones in exchange) we rode through the neighborhood and down a dirt road to the rainbow park. There he played again, swung on the swings and climbed. Eventually it was time to head back home. It was a lovely three hour plus walk for me and an awesome Lucius lead adventure for him.

It will be a sad day when they start taking they own adventures but I'm hopeful it'll be a short phase and when they've had adventures on their own, I might one day be included again. So very grateful we have still have plenty of time to enjoy these days with each other right now!

Deconstruction...

Morfar had an old radio that he had been saving all winter for the boys to take apart. He was working outside a couple saturdays ago and brought it to the boys with a few screw drivers. I said it was fine if they wanted to deconstruct it during quiet time but I wasn't going to help them.

Of course, I couldn't help coming out to check to see how they were coming along. I did end up helping a little by loosening a few tight screws and suggestion Oliver get a wire cutter to cut the wires with. Other than that, they completely disassemble the radio in about an hour (give or take a few minutes).

They saved out a few pieces that they are already planning to use when tinkering. This was on the same day they saw the chemists at the library so I asked Oliver to look at how the different buttons worked. Told him to make a few observations about the radio's insides. He was already excited to show me a few things he'd found by taking it apart. It's kind of fun to let them do "dangerous things", they surprise me with how careful they are.

Miscellaneous photos...

a few extra photos of random things they've done this month.

We have been enjoying playing with the neighbor kids from all over the neighborhood. We met a few more kids that go to Oliver's school and invited them to play with us. Some nights we have upwards of 6-8 kids running all over the yard. It's pretty fun. So glad it's warm enough now to be outside all afternoon/ evening till bed.

After dinner some nights we take family walks. Sometimes to playgrounds in our neighborhood, some times just a long walk.

We made Tacos (one of the boys favorite meals) for dinner one evening, and I tried making homemade corn tortillas. I thought they turned out pretty good.

A random picture of our boys with the neighbor boys. I believe they were waiting for their mom and I to get ready for a walk, so they sat on the curb and waited together.

Speaking of the neighbors... Oliver and his friend Jason got into a little argument over our swing. They worked it out and apologized. Afterward Oliver decided he wanted to write his friend a note. It included two pieces of scrap wood for his friend as well. I guess wood scraps were his peace offering. 

Oliver had his first big head injury last week. I accidentally opened a drawer as he was bending down to pick something up below it. He hit the corner just right and it cut deep enough to bleed and leave quite the goose egg. He was a trooper and we patched him up well enough, no doctors visit needed yet.

I heard the boys playing quietly one night and went to see what they were having so much funny doing together. I found them like this, playing a friendly game of checkers. Sharing, taking turns and even helping each other to win- moments that are a treasure.

At least one day a week I've been driving Daddy to work so I can have a car for the day. One such day we were early going to pick him up, so we decided to stop at a new library. The boys love books and loved seeing a new selection at this library. They sat down and read till it was time to go get Daddy.

Reading with Morfar... one of the favorite things they like doing with their grandfather. SPending time on his lap, listening to him read any book.

Lucius sat one morning and listened to about 1-2 hours worth of Nate the Great audio books. The character Nate loves pancakes and talks about making them in every one of the stories. SO when Lucius politely asked if we could have pancakes for lunch that day, I said YES! which totally made his day.

Fencing and Flubber...

Last Saturday was the first day of fencing class. I had called on Wednesday, before the class was to begin, to register Oliver at the "last minute". The class is for 6-9 year olds, but there's a class for 10-12 year olds at the exact same time. So I asked the lady on the phone if perhaps my almost 5 1/2 year old could join the class as well. I never expected her to say yes, but she did. So both Misters we able to learn. Lucius was pretty darn excited about that, since last year he could only sit on the sidelines and watch.

Lucius and Oliver had really great attitudes for being some of the youngest in the class. They played all the games and Oliver helped guide his brother along the way.

Eventually they put on the protective gear and started fencing. Oliver and Lucius paired up to be partners. It was all going great till Oliver declared "stop, I'm having hair issues!". His hair was getting in his eyes, he was too hot, then other kids started looking at him (trying to help) and he lost it. Thankfully he decided to sit on the sidelines and watch for the last ten minutes of class without too much drama. Lucius finished fencing with another kid and they tied with four strikes each.
 

 

After class was over, we headed past the library to pick up some books I had on hold. It wasn't going to be a long trip but when we stepped in the door Oliver spotted a sign that said "chemists for kids". One of the many fun events the library hosts. We walked in during the last 20 minutes they were there and they boys did several experiments with the chemists. They held a bubble in their hand, exploded a film container into the air, made a super bouncy ball and poked a stick through a balloon without popping it. Oliver loved all the experiments and made a sign on our driveway saying "Science is fun!" & "I love this. It is awesome".