Nice lego moment with Kanoa

Playing Legos with Kanoa....Li is sitting nearby building on his own.

We found the yellow pineapple which was Sponge Bob's house. I attempted to put it in the usual tiny spot that we designated as the hiding area so Plant Man wouldn't get it.  I tried to put it there, but it went elsewhere.  Kanoa said that wasn't where it was supposed to go.  I told him that I knew, but my big fingers prevented me from getting it in there.  He said, "I can do it with my little plingers" and took it and plopped in it the right spot.

Makana reads Go Dog Go

This morning Makana (age 7) picked up Go Dog GO to read to Kanoa (age 3).  He lost interest, but she read it to me and herself aloud!  She was so surprised that suddenly she could do it!  I was excited for her!  Before she could only read some words.  This time, she got all the words except for two of them!  This is an example of her being able to read when she was ready.

Whenever she got in the mood for a book, Go Dog Go was the one she picked up to look through and "read" more than any other book and I know she really wanted to be able to read it word for word by herself.  She would say aloud (to herself, me or someone else) what she remembered on each page, coming up with similar sentences descriptive of the pictures, but not necessarily exactly what was written.  Most of the time she read it the way she could and got much enjoyment out of it.  When she was frustrated in the past at not being able to read the way Jim or I or Katie or Li did, I told her that she'd be able to read when She was ready and that people are ready at different times and it would happen.  We made a list of the words that she did knew and that seemed to please her.

I suspected that her ability to read it was coming as she's been writing alot over the past few months while gaming and skpying, asking me to spell or write for her when needed.  I noticed that she could write and spell more and more words and I noticed that she was able to read more words as well.  It was so exciting this morning to hear her read aloud and feel so happy about finally being able to do something she has been wanting to do for so long!  She said that I had always said it would happen when she was ready, and it did!   Awesome!

Mystic, CT, Mom and More

Went to CT for Jim to visit lighthouses and to take a cruise with Katie and Li and Makana to a special lighthouse that we've talked about visiting for years, New London Ledge Light.  Kanoa was too young for the trip.  Wolf and Katie were to go on a cruise by themselves in the morning, and then all the kids except Kanoa were to go on the afternoon cruise to New London Ledge and see where "Ernie the Ghost" haunts and once lived.  The weather canceled the first trip, but it was rescheduled to Sunday.  The New London Ledge trip was canceled for the weekend and we weren't able to be there when it was available again.  

view from hotel window

We went to Mystic Village and then the Aquarium - the beluga whale was awesome to see!  It came right up to people - Makana included!  How exciting!  (scroll down to get to the beluga whale pictures)

Katie was excited to see the Titanic Exhibit - I thought it was very good.

I loved the quote by Robert Ballard about us being born curious explorers.

It goes along with Valerie Fitzenreiter's quote: “A child does not have to be motivated to learn, in fact, learning cannot be stopped. A child will focus on the world around him and long to understand it. He will want to know why things are the way they are. He won’t have to be told to be curious, he will just be curious. He has no desire to be ignorant. Rather he wants to know everything.”

Love these words....

We all loved the 4D Sponge Bob movie that was worth paying extra for!  What a nice end to our visit at the aquarium!  

Li LOVED being doted on by big sister Katie.  He felt so special. <3 td="">

  

Mom came up from NJ on Sunday and we all explored Mystic Seaport together.  Later that night, Jim stayed with Kanoa so I could spend time with mom and the other kids at dinner (that was SO kind as it is precious to get to see her in person and have time to talk with her at length!).  

We saw a praying mantis just before we went out in the car!  I haven't seen one in years!!  Used to see them a lot when I was a young child.  So this was so cool to me!

Mom really wanted to go on this boat ride.  It would have brought us closer to the exit area.  We waited a while for it.

Kanoa felt uneasy about it, so he and I got off.  Though he wanted to try going back on, the man running the boat told us he wasn't letting Kanoa "play games" and refused to let us back on.  I was Mad and told the man that Kanoa was NOT playing games.  This man must have been brought up to think kids are manipulative or something,  I was very unhappy about the way we were treated.  Would he have treated an adult that way?

But Kanoa and I made the best of it by visiting one last museum that had a game room upstairs.

  

That evening (or was it Sunday?), Jim took Li and Katie to a mall while I took Kana and Kanoa to the pool. Makana lost a tooth there!  Seems every time we've traveled, at least one child loses a tooth!  Exciting for them!  

Monday we visited a couple of lighthouses - it was SO beautiful at Stonington!!!  We went to this beach near the parking area by the lighthouse and Makana let Kanoa wear one of her new necklaces and they joyfully played together.  It was SO lovely to be a witness to their play and I watched them with a smile in my heart.  Li joined in too.  Katie chilled out by the rocks by the water.  We spent a bit of time with Jim by the lighthouse, but only he climbed to the top because it would have cost so much money for all of us to go up.  A beautiful spot and what a nice morning we had!

We picked up Wolfgang on the way home who visited for 3 weeks.  I love how excited and happy Katie and Wolfgang are when they see each other again.

The following Wednesday we went to Bugmania at the Maine State Museum - though it was interesting seeing the specimens and collecting bugs outside, the best fun was had rolling down the steep hill alongside the museum with friends!

  Makana Really wanted to sleepover Rubys and felt that this one time...right then...she Could do it!  I at first had said no because I wasn't so sure she could and felt like it would be a long almost two hours to get her if she couldn't, but I changed my mind because I saw the look in her eye and felt that it meant SO much to her to do it or at least try.  She did do it too!  I remember when she was buckled in, there was one moment where I thought..hmmm..does she still feel okay about this?  I didn't say anything though as I wanted her to trust herself and make choices that felt right to her.  She had a great time!