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Mt. Rainier Sunrise Point

This was our first trip to Sunrise. We normally go to the Paradise side, but it still had snow cover and we didn't want to deal with that again. Sunrise Point is the highest elevation you can reach on Mt. Rainier by car at 6,400 feet. We did a 4.2 mile hike up to Dege Peak and were greeted by a mass of bugs that included mosquitoes. We stayed at the top for about 1 minute and then had to head down to escape the bugs. We had bug spray on, but it didn't ward them off. 

Mt. Adams in background

Bug City

It was a good day

First Bowling Experience

More School Swag

New coats. I got a cool reversible jacket from my Grandma and Grandpa who live far away. It will be perfect for fall and spring. Earlier this summer mom and dad got a great deal on this Lands' End winter coat. It has a removable liner and will be perfect for really cold days.

We took the link light rail and then a ferry over to Bainbridge Island where we ate, played at a park, and then went home

Lavender lemonade, lavender cookie, and pteranodon

This place is the size of a small closet on an island in the sidewalk

Everything is vegetarian!!

white chocolate and dark chocolate

Mint chocolate chip

Gabe's School Orientation

As we were walking up to the school Gabe says:
"Mom, I'm ebarassed."

Me- "Why are you embarassed?" I'm thinking "Thanks a lot, kid"

Gabe: "I'm nervous about meeting new kids."

Me: "Well, I have to meet new people, too and I don't know what to expect, either."

Gabe: "Oh, ok."

He was fine after that.

School Clothes and Supplies

Yes, even at private schools you must buy supplies

Summer's quickly wrapping up

Gabe begins school September 1st an soccer season starts soon after. So if you want to spend some quality time with Gabe now is the time to do it.

Science Fair

A friend of mine hosted a backyard science fair. Here's what I did:





Saltwater vs. freshwater density from Patrick Michaud on Vimeo.
Gabe's backyard science fair project. Will the egg float better in the saltwater of the freshwater?
Then, which is more dense: vinegar, olive oil or saltwater? And will the egg float on any of those?
Bet you cant wait to find out.

This is Coach Colt. He liked to joke around with me and steal my water bottle. Mom put a sticky note with my name on my water bottle, but he just took that off too.

Last day of soccer camp. I had a lot of fun. The older kids at camp had a good influence on me. I stopped lying on the field and actually participated and focused on the activities.

Uncle Dan

Gabe "Mom, I don't know how to explain this, but a kid at camp told me his Papa is a ghost living in the clouds."

Me- "Was Papa his grandpa?"

Gabe " No, his uncle. What is an uncle?"

Me- "Your dad's brother. Like Uncle Dan, or if I had a brother he would be your uncle."

Gabe-" Oh yeah, I know about Uncle Dan; I really like him. I'm glad Uncle Dan isn't a ghost living in the clouds."

I'll Eat You Up!

We were going through stuff in storage when I found this cat costume my grandma made me for Halloween. I think I was in second grade when I wore it, but it fits Gabe pretty well. He's been wearing it off and on for two days now. Homemade costumes are the best. - Z

Soap Fossil

I wonder what's inside

Last day of Camp Rockosaurus

"Dear Rockosaurus Families,

We commenced our last day by creating our own amber fossils.  While traditional  amber fossils span the centuries with their durability, ours are a little different, made from soap, not amber.  Unlike traditional amber, feel free to use this one to wash up for dinner! 

Next, we exploded into action, as we bumped and shifted our way through an exploration of plate tectonics.  We dove into the earth’s crust, learning about how it is similar to an orange with a peel that has been broken into many pieces. These pieces are always bumping into each other, sliding against one another, or pulling apart which can cause earthquakes and volcanoes. We discussed how some earthquakes are larger than others (measured with the Richter scale) and the kinds of damage they can cause. We experimented by designing structures out of blocks that could withstand shaky ground. After these structures were complete, they were put to the test as we created our own earthquakes. Those not left standing where revisited, and your camper came up with solutions on how buildings such as these could be redesigned and reinforced to withstand a plate tectonic belly dance.

Next, our volcanoes constructed earlier in the week, reappeared ready to blow. We talked about how the tectonics of our earths crust sometimes makes way for a volcano. We discussed magma and lava, and watched as our homemade magma poured out of our very own volcanoes. The flow of excitement continued into our volcano ice cream party. Best tasting lava we’ve ever had!

Over this past week we’ve explored dirt, rocks, dinos and volcanos. Today your camper will come home, armed with knowledge, but also armed with amber fossils (peel away the paper cup to reveal your soapy fossil) and home grown crystals. There may still be some liquid in your crystal.  Allow it to evaporate to see your crystal grow.  Campers will also be coming home with a “plant in a bag,” which allowed us to explore life underground.  To watch your plant sprout, ensure the paper towel is damp and that your seed is tucked snugly inside.  Hang the whole bag in a window where the sun shines, and…viola! Watch the sprouting magic that usually occurs underground for yourself!  We tried to send away for a pet dinosaur for every kid, but it turns out they’re a little hard to come by these days. :)

It has been a pleasure exploring with your camper this week.  We had a wonderful time and hope to see them at camp again soon! "

And the moment you've all been waiting for...

My observations and prediction

Thursday's email:

"We began our day with  an exciting visit to the Water Works exhibit.  We observed the inner workings of the Archimedes Screw, and studied the trajectory of a water gun as droplets flew through the air.  Then it was back to the classroom!

Armed with toothpicks and other tools of the trade, we launched an exciting excavation of the Toll House variety--excavating chocolate chips from a hard cookie bed that is. We learned about how fossils are excavated and what kinds of tools might be found in the average paleontologists’ bag. Campers treated their chocolate chips as fossils, and just like fossils, they, reluctantly, collected each specimen without using their mouth.

Next we constructed mountains which tomorrow will transform into volcanic eruptions! 

Tomorrow we will learn about amber fossils by creating our own.  We will also be learning about earth quakes, volcanoes, and all nature of things that make the plates we stand on rattle, shake and roll. We will be returning to volcanoes that we began today, and wrap up with a volcano ice cream party, featuring smooth, frozen cream rather than hot bubbling magma.

P.S. Your campers also participated in composing a new camp song I won’t soon forget. Here are the lyrics so you can join in if you hear them singing it.

I had a little dino.

His name was tiny Fred.

I put him in a pond

To see if he’d turn red.

He drank up all the water,

He ate up all the fish!

And now he’s sick in bed

With a fishy belly ache!

Chorus:

Fishy, fishy, fishy.

Fishy, fishy, fishy.

Fishy, fishy, fishy.

Fishy, fishy, SPLASH!"

We recently took Gabe to a speech pathologist to see if we could get him into speech therapy. He had difficulty making "l" and "r" sounds and we thought it would be beneficial if someone could work with him and teach him how to use his "new tongue".

The speech pathologist showed Gabe a bunch of outdated pictures of various object (seriously, that TV does look like a microwave). It was obvious he had some trouble with "l". However, he said the word Flag perfectly. We had never heard him say that word properly before. We were shocked. We also noticed he was making an "s" sound for "th" Thursday is Sursday, etc.. He showed no problems with r's. He now says garage instead of galauge.

The speech pathologist decided Gabe doesn't need therapy. He is within "normal" range and apparently most 5 year olds cannot say "th". She gave us some "l" and "th" words for  Gabe to practice.

He normally does pretty good when we're sitting down and focusing on this work, but in regular speech I have to constantly remind him of the proper pronunciation.

The speech pathologist was nice. I was just hoping for a little more that "he'll be fine".

I should mention that it was very difficult to even find an available therapist. There were more than 50 speech therapists listed in our area, but most had a 3 month waiting list. We waited one month for a therapist a little farther away.

Camp Rockosaurus Rocks!

This week, Gabe's going to Camp Rockosaurus at the Science Center. He's learning about rocks, fossils, dirt, plate tectonics, volcanoes, and dinos.


Each day, I get a detailed email outlining what Gabe learned at camp. This is very helpful because Gabe is at that age where he likes to fabricate stories and sometimes just gets mixed up on what he's learned. It also gives me some things to discuss with him.


Monday's email:

"Some Monday’s you wake up with a bad case of bed head and three slams of the snooze button. Others commence with laser shows and prehistoric creatures. This Monday was the later...

After a spectacular Pacific Science Center laser show, we embarked into an exploration of that very thing you cringe over when your child traipses into the house with a thick coat of it on their feet-- DIRT. And of course, all the things that come with it...from the smallest worms to the biggest dinosaurs and fossils and every pebble in between.

We dug into our topic by looking specifically at soil and what lives underground, peering into the life of a worm and taking a closer look at what happens underground by sprouting some seeds.

Tomorrow the exploration continues as we crack into the inner world of rocks and geodes. We will study how rocks are formed, three different kinds of rocks, and what rocks are made of. To accomplish this feat, we invite your camper to bring in their own rock to share--perhaps a shimmering tumbled stone from a gem show, a crystalized geode from the road side, or a pebble uncovered tonight from the back yard. Tomorrow, we will each unveil our rock and share it with the group."

Gabe brought in a smooth black stone from the beach.


Excerpt from Tuesday's email:

"From granite to sandstone, we tumbled through today’s material like the geologists we were born to be. We began by exploring every last rock and pebble brought in by each camper, discussing the visible characteristics of each. However, every scientist knows observation is about much more than what we see, so we practiced using our other senses as well. Thinking about weight, texture, even smell, we learned how we can gather different types of information using different senses, and that it is important to to take any observation for “granite”.

To learn first-hand how some of the most spectacular rocks are formed, we embarked on growing our own using a simple “salt crystal” recipe. We will be examining our crystals each day this week, tracking their progress, as we watch beautiful salt crystals emerge and intricate designs grow.

A visit to the land of walking sticks and hissing cockroaches was the cherry on our day, where your camper explored the intricacies of the life of an insect in Pacific Science Center’s Insect Village."

Wednesday was crazy hair day. This isn't too much of a stretch for Gabe. I simply put some gel in his hair and made it stand up all over.

Wednesday:

"We’ll kick this letter off with a joke--Why did the carnivorous dinosaur eat raw meat? Because they didn’t know how to barbecue!

While your camper may not know the answer to this silly question, they can tell you that a carnivorous dinosaur might in fact enjoy a big steak during a summer afternoon barbeque! Today we took one great big step back into the cretaceous period, turning our sights towards the great reptiles that once roamed the earth--Dinosaurs! We began by donning the proper attire, making our very own dinosaur hats. Once equipped, we made our way through the day, learning about the role camouflage played for dinosaurs and still plays for many modern creatures.

But the fun didn’t go extinct there. After a quick check in on our crystals, we learned about the tools a paleontologist might use.  We practiced our skills with our very own geodes.  During this activity, your camper made key observations about the size of their geode, the color, what it felt like, and even what it smelled like!  They made predictions about what they might find inside as well.  To check the accuracy of these predictions, wrap your geode in newspaper, and (with an adult) break it open with a hammer."

I'm proud to say Gabe knows his animal diets. We were working on this at the zoo the other day.


Tomorrow, find out what's inside Gabe's geode...