Water Taxi

A sunset ride back to the boat on the water taxi with a boy who has ice cream pulsing through this veins.

The Fort

Playsilks are the ultimate form of amusement. They pack away small and play big. You can never have enough of them.

Beach School

Even at the tender age of 4, spending the week at the beach in late September/ early October raises eyebrows and draws out the inevitable question, "what about school?!"

What ABOUT school?

I couldn't help but think of the myriads of 4 year old sitting in "kindergarten prep" all day long with the average 15 minutes of outside play time. This is the most incredibly beautiful time of the year, and little children should be out using all of their senses, all of the day, soaking all of it up.

BUT... that doesn't mean no time for ABC's.



In fact, while I was lazing about the beach concentrating on the hunt for the perfect shell (which I never found), Zach discovered that when you take the broken tail of a horseshoes crab and pop it on the tip of a common seagull feather... VOILA! A classic quill pen! He decided he wanted to practice his writing on the beach. So he used a flat piece of driftwood as his eraser/ Zamboni. Then he declared that he would only be writing the names of famous pirates, scoundrels, and sea captains.





This is Zach writing "AHAB", as in Captain Ahab of Moby Dick.





He framed in sticks and shells his favorite of them all. Captain Bligh (he spelled it phonetically) from his new favorite book Mutiny On The Bounty.



Now that's what we call school!

The Beach (Rehoboth Oct 2008)

Psychedelic Playdough

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• food coloring or pastry coloring for brighter colors
• glitter and/ or peppermint, lavender, or sweet orange essential oils
  

Mix flour, cream of tartar, oil, and salt in an old cooking pot you don't care too much about.

In a separate container (coloring MAY stain container), mix food coloring with warm water and pour into pot. (add essential oil and glitter too if desired)

Stir over medium heat until smooth.

Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth.

Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled, and it will last for a long time.

The Master Plan (September 26, 2008)

ZACH: "You know what I want for my 5 birthday? A machine that I can get in and control the earth. So if I want a volcano in Annapolis I push the volcano button and a volcano erupts up and if I want a snowman I press the snow and ice button and I get snow and ice to build my snowman with. I want to control the water too with it so I can go underwater and go up again if I want to control the earth again and then I can go to every continent and control it there by that machine.

So can I have that for my birthday? PLEASE?"

ME: "I don't know if a machine like that exists?"

ZACH: "Then I can invent it. We can build it ourselves! Let's go get some materials at the hardware store, ok mama? Ok?"

National Building Museum Washington, DC

A visit with Grandpa and Grandma V at the National Building Museum...

This is the space where one of the many inaugural balls held in Washington, DC every four years takes place.





































Zach decided to try and build an arch. A great hands on lesson in compressive strength.












So if I scale this thing and hide up top maybe I can hang out until the inauguration and then make a grand entrance by...

Under the Stars

The light was leaving
in the west it was blue
The children's laughter sang
and skipping just like the stones they threw
the voices echoed across the waves
its getting late

It was just another night
with the sun set
and the moon rise not so far behind
to give us just enough light
to lay down underneath the stars
listen to papas translations
of the stories across the sky
we drew our own constellations

So Big (September 2008)

Day on the Bay (August 2008)

A lovely sail with Miss T



























I'd like to see a monohuller try this! ;)

Food Art

Jack Johnson & G Love Said It Best...

Well i woke up this morning,
rainbow filled the sky
Yes I woke up this morning,
rainbow filled the sky
That was god tellin' me,
Everything's gonna be alright

View from our bed in Hawaii...







End of the rainbow...!

Hawaii

Grandpa and Granny live in a land far, far away. We have to cross a continent and half an ocean to get there, so we only get there once every other year or so. When we go, we stay for a while and try to give Zach a chance to get to know his grandparents for that short time. Well, now that he is a "big boy" at the ripe old age of 4, he seemed to jump into the role of doted upon grandson with ease. He and his grandpa have quite a special bond, from playing chunchos...




To sharing a cold one together....



Grandpa even let's granny have a minute or two with Z. Usually in the evening to feed the animals on their 10 acre farm (40-some ducks, 20-some sheep, 2 horses, 1 mule, 1 cat, 1 dog)





































Sock Puppet Show






The guys sketching designs for the new dog house...





And working on said dog house...



Sword fighting with eucalyptus branches...





















































I hope they get the chance to spend more time together in the future...