First Field Trip

The teacher's strike finally over, field trips have started up again. And so a few weeks ago, our kindergartener went on her very first field trip. To the local skating rink, only minutes away. The parents were invited to join their kids at the rink, and help tie some skates. The children enjoyed their short bus ride, and were excited to get on the ice.

That was the first of a series of four visits to the skating rink. A few days ago, we went a second time. Our six year-old's skating skills are rapidly improving. So much so, that this last Friday, she asked me to "stop following her around." I explained that I was just trying to stay close by in case she fell and hurt herself...

Our Kindergartener Turns 6!

We weren't sure how her actual birthday would go, as the day before, she had a fever of 38.2C and a bad cold. But the morning of February 19th, her 6th birthday, she woke up in good spirits, and without a fever. So off to school she went, with Mama in tow, carrying a few boxes of cupcakes.

She wore a crown, a ribbon, and received plenty of attention at school. We had a small dinner at home, a few family members over, a cake baked and decorated by her talented aunt, and far too many gifts.  All in all her birthday was a great fun!

Our Four-Year-Old!

This Thursday, our pre-schooler turned 4. She woke up, rushed downstairs, put on the birthday dress that she had chosen the night before, donned the princess crown that her preschool teacher had given her the day before, and requested pancakes.

Later on that morning, she excitedly told her swimming instructor that she had turned four. Luckily, we were able to convince her to remove her crown for her swimming lesson.

We had a few friends and family over for dinner. My sister made a "butterfly cake" and her fiance provided a musical candle that played "happy birthday" over and over and over again. We moved the candle to another room after 25 renditions of Happy Birthday.

Immediately after devouring some cake, she happily opened her gifts. 

She finally removed her crown at bedtime. We reminded her that now that she was four, she could no longer suck her thumb. It seemed to work as she has sucked her thumb for briefer periods since turning four.

Robotics: Kindergarten Version

We were invited to visit my daughter's kindergarten class on Thursday evening, after school. The students had been working on a robotics project. I wasn't sure what to expect...I thought that perhaps they had built some robots.

What I wasn't prepared for was that on top of building robots, they had programmed them! Had kindergarten gotten a lot more complicated since I graduated?

It was a family affair, as I brought along our kindergartener's siblings, and Papa joined us after work. The siblings were so excited, they ran around the room, dressed up in a variety of costumes, read books, and mostly ignored the robots. Our oldest, on the other hand, eagerly showed us the robots they had built, and how to turn them on. There was a crocodile that opened its mouth, a monkey that jumped up and down, and even a soccer player that kicked, and a goaltender that attempted to block shots!