Back to the Mines...

 This kid loves Minecraft.  Not sure why, but he's mesmerized by it:

Lego "Pit of Despair"

The kids were very influenced by The Princess Bride. 

They recently created and occupied "the Lego Pit of Despair".... bwah ha ha ha!

Backyard labor

Adam helped MLD sand a piece of wood for a special project.  Took quite a bit of effort:

Froebel Block Swap

Who needs Froebel blocks when you have a Rubik's Snake to play with? Mr. T focuses on this toy with laser-like intensity. You can almost see the gears spinning in his head as he turns the pieces round and around.

The irony is that the smaller blue/white version was the goody bag gift at his siblings' 8th birthday party... and it's the 4 year old who continues to play with it on a daily basis.

His favorite configuration?  The colonial bayonette, of course!

The 1980's are calling

Anyone alive in the 1980's will remember when suburban homes with 2+ children often had two phone numbers.

Why?  This question is for the benefit of anyone born post-1982.

Because there was no call waiting, cell phone, email, or text message.  There was this annoying noise called a "busy signal".  It meant that someone else was on the phone and you could not get your call through.

Two phones meant there was often one line free and therefore, one call could always get through.

This became fun when one was old enough to realize that you could make plans with people by talking to one friend on one phone and another friend on the other phone at the same time!

We had something like this going the other day when our grandparents couldn't get the microphone on their computer to work:

Tee hee hee!

Homeschooling Lesson #38: Microscopy

Look what Tate found in the basement storage area:  MLM's compound microscope!

The A-team showed zero interest, but this kept Tate engaged for quite a while.  What was even more exciting?  MLM finally figured out how to get enough light into the microscope to use the higher magnification levels.

Shopping Online

It's important to teach all children the value of money.  When I was young, perhaps this lesson was a bit easier to teach because cash was used far more often than it is today.

Not only does today's world use credit cards, but our children watch us order over the computer. They don't see us enter credit card numbers (unlike those hackers out there).  Magically the items appear at our doorstep a few days later.

The connection between working for money and then spending it on goods is completely lost.

How lost?  Well, this clip demonstrates it fairly well:

To the Moon!

To the Moon!

Kids today are being prepped at a young age for life in space.  After all, this generation might even make it to Mars.

Well, that's if we're allowed to end the coronavirus quarantine and leave our homes.  But hey!  We can all dream, right?

Here are photos of Tate and his classmates preparing for the future:

Jet pack

Tate modeling his jet pack

Safety first!  Wearing his space helmet in case there's a rough landing.

Capt T announces it's time to get back on the ship.

Amazon Order

Years ago MLG sent us a hilarious copy of Mother Goose and Grimm

So when I saw this

I couldn't help but think about the comic strip. 

Maybe one day I won't be surprised if my kids ask if babies come from Amazon.  Everything else does!

Media Lab

One rainy Saturday we visited the Media Lab to see a weekend exhibit by Mercedes-Benz.  We thought the exciting activity was going to be the original 1890's car; turns out the AI goggles were the star attraction for our family.

Stroller Magic

Remember how proud I was of my stroller when the A-Team was born?  The stroller played a large part in our first Freedom Trail walk and was incredibly helpful for all of the wellness visits we had.

The amazing Britax B-Ready has transformed itself once again, this time accommodating one big boy and one little baby. 

Ta-dah!

Eternal thanks to Grandma who first saw this stroller when I was pregnant and recommended it to us.  And thanks to Baba Lida for giving it to us.  The Britax is still going strong!!!

Tom and Jerry

Want to hear A+A laugh out loud?  Turn on Tom and Jerry.  This is the most exciting TV they've watched in a while:

Remote Phone

Did you know that our universal remote doubles as a phone too?  I had no idea, but the little guy did:

Old Sturbridge Village

We had one of those mornings where the kids were whining and didn't want to do anything, least of all leave the house?  So MLD and I did what any parent would do:  bundle them up and take a long car ride to a historical site from the 1830's.  OK, maybe not every parent would do this, but it seemed like a good idea.

Complaining turned into compliments within 10 minutes of our arrival.  I think the water pump played a huge role in turning around attitudes:

Adam learned about old-fashioned horsepower:

Ashley learned how to throw a pot:

And then both Tate and Adam refined their wheelbarrow handling skills:

We even got to drive a team of oxen!

We had so much fun that we went back a week later!  This time we took family:

Can't wait to visit again to see how the early Americans fared in other seasons.

Shuttle Engineer

Adam learned how to make paper airplanes at an afterschool program.  He quickly identified a problem:  they're not easy to launch.  Not that he said this in so many words, of course, but this is clearly what he was thinking about.

So what's a guy to do?  Well first, confuse the heck out of your mother by asking for straws and tape.  Blue tape.  Then take your Chinese New Year paper holder in half and attach it to the body.  Tape up one end of the straw, fit the other inside, and et voila!  Paper airplane launcher!

I'm quite certain this is how all NASA engineers get their start.

Gettin' Younger

The android-fluent population is getting younger by the day.  Now if a 5 month old can swipe, can't you?

Inventors

Inventor camp was so much fun!  Miss Luaren and Miss Sam are fantastic teachers.  

Day #1 we made working robots.  Day #2 (below) we made kinetic carousels and pompom shooters.  Day #3 we made working conveyor belts.  We learned a lot!

Science Guys

The A-team went to the Museum of Science with Ana and Pam.  There was lots to see and do:

Eco-Adam

Adam has a scaled model of a Subaru STI, because it's his favorite car of all-time.  Although this car doesn't have any special features, like revving up, Adam has decided it's important to make sure it "has enough power for tomorrow".  So what does he do every night?

Plugs it in, of course:

For the record, no, we do not have an electric car.  Nor does Subaru.  No idea where this one came from.  Ahh, our little engineer strikes again!

Snow, Anyone?

Tired of seeing more snow?  Then avert your eyes.  Here's the A-team, bundled up and a-glow with wintertime excitement.

Yup -- that's a Cozy Coupe you see underneath Ashley.  That's how much snow we had!