Leprechaun Trap

For school this year Alia had to make a leprechaun trap.  She started out by drawing the design she wanted to use to capture her leprechaun.  Next she headed to Granny's, our thrift store and picked out the perfect materials for the trap.  Finally, she and Scott spent a few days putting it together.  I was impressed with her design.  She wanted to make sure that the leprechaun never got the gold so she and Scott figured out how to make the gold disappear when the trap fell. 

 

They created a pulley system using 2 spools of thread and some rope.  The gold is connected to the cage so when it falls, the gold snaps to the back of the box.

 

Pinewood Derby

 Recently, the kids had the opportunity to make pinewood derby cars. They really got into it. It was a great learning experience for both of them. They both wanted to know what made a fast car so we had the chance to teach them physics. They learned about potential energy and friction. Avery was obsessed with reducing the friction in his wheels.

Avery stood here for almost 2 hrs polishing the axles for his car. He really wanted to make sure that his car was fast.

Alia got into it too. Both kids did all the work themselves. Here Alia is making holes in her car because she wanted her car to look like cheese. Later she covered it with sparkles because she wanted her car to be called "sparkly cheese". I was impressed with both of them. They came up with their own original designs and worked over three days to complete them.

 Avery's car- Stealthy Ninja

 Alia's car- Sparkly Cheese

 

 Let the races begin! Both of them were so excited and nervous waiting for their car to be up.

Two happy kids. Their hard work paid off. Avery won 2nd place and Alia came in 3rd.

Alia said "wow I didn't know that my cheese would be so fast". Avery is already strategizing for next year.

Happy 6th Birthday Alia!

 Alia and Banana 6 years!

 She was opening gifts and ran into her room to grab a picture.  She drew herself a sausage for her birthday.  I love her personality!

 She wanted to show Grandma and Grandpa how her American Girl dolls were sisters.  Thank you for Samantha!

 Waiting for her friends

 
9 - five and six year old girls sure made for an exciting birthday!

 Alia chose a magical theme this year.  They made magic wands and magic glitter bottles.  After the glitter I would say the whole house became magical.  Hours later and I am still finding glitter everywhere!  Avery even found glitter on his pizza when we were eating super.

 
The wands and glitter bottles were a hit.


Avery put on a magic show for the girls.  This was his first paid gig : )


 For snack we had magic cupcakes with pop-rocks for sprinkles, color changing spoons with the ice cream and magic candles on each cupcake.  Some of the girls were concerned when their candles wouldn't blow out!

 Of course we allowed the girls plenty of play time, it was one huge play date!

And as always the yearly questions....
1.  What is your favorite color?  pink
2.  What is your favorite toy?  Sparkle, my zebra
3.  Favorite game?  Made up games
4.  What is your favorite animal?  A horse
5.  What is your favorite book?  Books I learn from
6.  When I grow up I want to be a zoo worker because I like animals.
7.  What is your favorite thing to do at school?  Play outside and have choice time.
8.  What do you like about yourself?  I like that I help Avery do things like put away his laundry.
9.  What is your biggest accomplishment this year?  I got my ears pierced.
10.  What do you want to do next year?  Have another fun birthday.
11.  I like to collect rocks.
12.  What is the funniest thing you did this year?  I asked for a ship for my birthday.
13.  What is your favorite family tradition?  Hiking
14.  What was your favorite memory this year?  When I found an octopus.
15.  What is your favorite thing to do with friends?  I like to play outside.

Games, Exploring and Ear Piercing

It's been awhile since I've posted so I thought I would give an update of life lately.  Winter here has been interesting.  It's not as rainy as we thought and we have blue skies every week or so but it is always wet.  There is even moss on the roads.  The ground hasn't dried out since October.  The rain is no where near the downpours we experienced in Florida, they are more misty. The kind you really don't need an umbrella for to stay dry.  Instead of the snow in Wisconsin we have rain interspersed with sun or clouds.  The temperatures have been great, hoovering right around 50 degrees everyday.  

 

The kids have been playing really well lately and coming up with so many fun games and activities.  I love watching them play.  On this day they made a post office and delivered mail to one another.

 

 This was our mailboxes.

 

 Another day they decided to set up a massage station. 

 

 I love the grumpy face....he hates his picture taken.

 There is a puzzle on the ferry to keep us entertained.

 We spent a few hours at a climbing wall in Seattle.  It was a pretty cool wall with great bouldering spots.  I loved how the routes not only had the specific routes taped but they also had the route marked with the same color holds so it was easy to see the route.

 The kids love playing in the mud during low tide.

 Enjoying one of the sunny moments on the docks at Dockton Park.

 
 We found a dead Giant Pacific Octopus at KVI beach.  It grows bigger and lives longer than any other octopus.  They average 16 feet and 110 pounds.  They only live about four years and die after breeding.

 Alia wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday.  I recently read an article from Time magazine about getting ears pierced at a tattoo parlor instead of at the mall.  You can read it here if you are interested.  With all of the research I did I realized that the tattoo parlor was a far superior option for Alia.  The tattoo parlors don't use the old fashion piercing guns, instead they use a needle to pierce the ear.  It just so happens the article I saw that was posted on Facebook was for a tattoo parlor in Seattle.  I asked other moms around the island and there were quite a few that highly recommended this place so we headed there today.  It was a great experience.  They were very professional, knowledgeable and gentle with Alia.

 

All done and very excited!  She said, "It just hurts for a second.  It's fun doing my ears because I like my earrings too."

Christmas 2014

 

 We found a tree farm on Vashon to cut our own tree.  We even had snow on the day we cut our tree which made it feel even more like the Christmas season.

 Making gingerbread cookies and having hot cocoa is the perfect end to decorating the tree.

 

 We went to a local production of the Nutcracker. It was fun to show them the ballet and then share the Nutcracker video I was in in fourth grade.

 I found a use for that 11 pound bar of chocolate, we made lots of truffles and turtles with it and they were amazing!

 Christmas morning chaos.

 I guess it's no secret that I love chocolate!  Scott went a little overboard when he filled my stocking.

 An intense game of chess.  It was a close match but Avery snuck in at the last minute and won.

 Alia is rocking her 80's outfit that Grandma and Grandpa Davis gave her.

 He was having fun with the teeth and face paint we gave him for Christmas.

 He loves this camera and takes a lot of pictures and makes still frame movies.

 We were able to fly stand-by to Wisconsin to see my family.  It was an awesome gift.  Here the kids are enjoying making a gingerbread house with Cassie.  It's a good thing Avery was around to help Cassie figure out the construction.  They also were able to enjoy this gingerbread train as the one they made at home before we left was eaten by Venus.  She waited until no one was around and ate almost the whole house before we caught her.

 Alia loves coloring and had fun coloring with Bama.

 Which one is Papa?

 Papa wearing the coat we all got him and Mom with her Thirty one gifts bag.

 We even managed to get the dogs in the picture!

On the last day there we were able to meet up with friends from grade school.  I love this group and was so happy to see them all!