Misc.
This past week has been a last minute scramble to order things for the upcoming trip to California. Moriah and Elsie needed new swimsuits, we needed to get activities for those long hours in the car, and of course snacks, drinks, and disposable diapers. Oh, and Legoland tickets and coupons, and batteries. Yesterday, before our unplanned trip to Jeff City, we discovered that Toby forgot to mention that his shoes don’t fit anymore. And then Samuel realized HIS shoes don’t fit anymore (they’ve been wearing snow boots most of the month). But Toby fits into Samuel’s old shoes, and only Samuel will need a last minute trip to Stride Rite.
About that unplanned trip to Jeff City (only our second trip, but somehow I feel confident referring to the capital of Missouri in this familiar way)… James found out Sunday about a bill before a committee, and knew he had to go talk to some people. So we left Monday evening, and were back Tuesday evening. This was our first trip with James’ new personal assistant, John, and I think I could get used to it. John does the driving, carries luggage, holds doors, clears the breakfast table, and still finds time to do the stuff James needs him to do.
It was a successful lobbying trip, and the children and I had a great time snagging deals at the amazing sale at Hobby Lobby (including a beginner rocket for the boys to build with Daddy). Samuel found a rocket that uses hydrogen fuel that it makes from water, and thinks that will be the next thing he saves up for. We went to a nice little cafe attached to a bookstore, and the children had Steamers (flavored steamed milk) or an Italian Soda. Then we read books in the children’s section, and went to pick up James and John at the capitol. On the way home we stopped at Porky’s in Mexico, MO for some good home cooking. Moriah now declares Porky’s to be her favorite restaurant in the whole world.
The children got to try out the new learning gizmo that I got for the CA trip. It’s an electronic thingy that drills math problems as well as has spelling, and history and social studies questions It’s the Leapfrog Turbo Extreme, and I think they are liking it. I anticipate we will return from the trip with the children having increased their mental math speed. Note that it has a headphone jack, so the adult types in the car will not be going insane. At least, not from the noise of the Turbo Extreme. 
Moriah is working angles in her math book, and will be starting her new book (Singapore Math 4a) soon. We have completed 2 more chapters of the Mystery of the Periodic Table. I a was particularly excited with a serendipitous concurrence related to those chapters. We watched The Scarlet Pimpernel together as a family, which was the first that the children had learned about the French Revolution. We discussed that tumultuous time in France, explaining different parts related to the plot of the movie. When I went to teach the next part in the Periodic Table book, I realized that it was about Lavoisier, “Father of Modern Chemistry’, who was killed by guillotine in the French Revolution. The children were able to understand that better because of watching the movie together.
I’m attaching a picture of the baby, because everyone wants to see how cute the baby is, and a couple picture of the children at the capitol building in Jefferson City. Notice the colorful blobs at the base of Jefferson’s statue- that’s them.
