The End to the Week

Of course Friday is pretty much the same as Monday, Tues, Wed, etc.. around here.

oh what to say?

Life's just been marching on here. Funny how time does that.

We did manage to get to the kids' school apt to prove they've learned something. Sonia repeated nearly entire chapters out of the science books she's been reading (because that's her preferred reading, not because I decided we were going to study what she picked from the library..) And Joey really demonstrated how he's turned into a reader.

And after that visit, I'm overhauling what we're studying. Because the school's curriculum (which we aren't using.. but..) and emphasis is on chronological order of time. So.. from the earliest people to the Egyptians, the early writing, Babylon, the Greeks..
It sounded like a good idea- I mean, I didn't learn the stuff in chronological order, maybe that would help?
No. I don't believe it does. I think it's like reading the entire bible and starting at Genesis. The first time you attempt to read it.

So.. starting immediately we're going to jump ahead to medieval times. Because that's when real princesses lived.
And because Joey wants to slay his brother the purple dragon with his lightsaber sword.
And because Robin Hood is a cool book.

And after that we'll be learning about the Gold Rush. And go pan for Gold.
And the Revolution and and and...

So.. while I was in the library I picked up a book. It was about Old Sturbridge Village. Literally. And it made my eyes mist. I wish I could give my kids all the cool experiences I had as a kid AND all the cool stuff I can give them now.
humph. Guess I'll have to go visit. And I'll tell the kids 'hey, I've been there' and they'll think 'oh, boring' but if I tell them 'hey, Sonia and Joey- you were here when you were babies- they get super excited and they compete with their "memories" of that time.

Also doing a study on False/implanted memories here. I completely believe my kids would be susceptible to that, so please don't suggest anything bad to them. Of course I play into that as needed.. hey, do you remember when we were here? Well- THAT place was significant because of.. (xyz) works really well if I can produce pictures of the kids in front of XYZ. Even if they were 6 months old, it still produces a "hey I remember that time" statement from someone. Especially funny is the 4 year old pipping up that she remembers it from when she "was in mommy's tummy"

But of course future pictures will require a new camera. Sadly my little Cannon has groaned it's last breath. If you are going to buy a camera, do not buy a cannon point and shoot. The second you get sand anywhere near it, it won't work. If you bang the snot out of it, it will begin working again.. only until you get sand in it again and bang the snot out of it again and then it fails to work in many other ways.

So.. I'm back in the wishful thinking market for a point and shoot camera that is alittle more indestructible than the Cannon. or at least have less of a sand Achilles heal since we like to frequent the beach. In the mean time you might find me lugging around my old SLR Cannon. They certainly don't make them like they used to.

So the camera breathed it's last breath at the Zoo today. I didn't realize that the backpack I tossed it, my wallet and our water bottles into had sand at the bottom of it. So the Camera gave me the 'lens error' message again and I thought 'oh. I know how to handle this, I googled it last time, Larry banged it and it worked'
No. it didn't work for me. Instead of giving me a groan and grind and 'lens error' message it give me nothing. I think I killed it.

The zoo was ok. It's free kid month so all the schools in Mexico send their schools to the zoo this month so it's a bit crowded with swarms of identically dressed kids speaking spanish. The identically dressed would be the difference from normal San Diego. Their uniforms there are different than the standard uniform in a US school- really cheesy gym suits mostly are worn- track pants, polo shirt and the matching gym jacket or sweater.

But the zoo was really a diversion for the real reason we went south which was to get fill the truck again with more diapers since we were out and the diapers we needed are in our friend's garage and the other reason was Ikea.
Because
a. kids eat free this week, so I didn't have to cook dinner or shell out $ for fast food if I didn't cook and
b. free babysitting for an hour
c. They have kitchens that are alluringly cheap with cool features which Consumer reports rated fairly highly, so I decided to go look at them with a more critical eye.
and
d. did I mention free dinner and babysitting??

I really wish other places adopted the feed your kid free and watch them for an hour. Like, say, the Commissary.
maybe I'll suggest that to them.