Wordless Wednesday - Wow!

Raingutter Regatta

Well, the boat was much easier to make the car for the Pinewood Derby, but the race itself was more work for Dylan. How do these boats race? With hot air blown through a straw ... how else? Dylan was so excited to race in his first Raingutter Regatta and he did very well, winning the first three heats. However, at the final heat he did not fare so well and some tears were shed. All in all, Dylan had a great time and learned a valuable lesson in sportsmanship. As the Cub Scout motto says ... Do Your Best!

Getting ready for the first race and practicing his technique.

Go Dylan Go ... 

Careful not to touch the boat.

Good form and the sail is staying up!

And Dylan's boat SEA DOGS wins again!

The final race against a Webelo. Dylan did his best and that's all that matters.

The Easter Bunny Is Awesome!

Yes, at almost 8 years old Dylan still wakes up at 6:30 am to see what the Easter Bunny brought to him. After all his dental work, Dylan was a little worried because his sugar intake is now limited. What will the Easter Bunny bring me?

To make sure the Easter Bunny still stopped by our house, we made special Easter Eggs for him to find and hide. No ordinary dyed eggs would do this year... we made our own colored eggs with melted crayon wax!  What a cool science experiment too. As soon as the eggs came out of the hot water, Dylan carefully applied the crayon to the egg. Instead of just coloring the egg, the crayon began to melt and the result was a beautiful shinny finish on each egg. And the best part, no messy dye to clean up!

Much to Dylan's surprise, the Easter Bunny filled his basket with not candy ... but LEGO's! The best part, he didn't even care about the candy! A couple eggs filled with jellybeans and a small box of chocolate sat in the basket while Dylan ripped open the new Pirates of the Caribbean LEGO's and began building at 7 am.

Now it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the annual egg hunt in the backyard. This is one of Dylan's favorite things because he knows these eggs contain something much better than candy ... MONEY!

Ok, this is just a little too easy. Maybe Grandpa needs to think of some new hiding places for the eggs next year.

Dylan found all 24 plastic eggs and walked away with $7 plus a few chocolate eggs. After all was said and done, Dylan said, "Mom, the Easter Bunny is Awesome!"

Make your child smile like Dylan did with the newest Lego Collection, Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Spring Break in Monterey

This year we decided to not only get away for Spring Break, but to take our first road trip together. It was better than I thought, considering the furthest Dylan has driven is San Diego (2 hours), and this was going to be a 6-7 hour drive. The Are we there yet? didn't start until Santa Barbara, and then it was How much longer? about every 40 minutes. I tried to get him to enjoy the beautiful coastal scenery, but it didn't last too long.

At last, he sleeps and the drive is peaceful.

It's just not a road trip without a stop at McDonald's!

Dylan's picture from the road. (only 1 hour to go)

We arrived in Monterey about 4 pm and I immediately felt relaxed. Something about hotels and being away from home, not to mention the fresh coastal air, was just what we both needed. Our agenda included The Monterey Bay Aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, and anything else we saw along the way to our destinations.

The aquarium was amazing and we spent almost all day there. Took over 150 pictures! Definitely worth the drive to see this place.

Dylan even got a little education on Steinbeck with some historical landmarks...

And in true Dylan style had a little impromptu photo shoot ...

A little stroll through the Cannery for some lunch.

Lunch at Bubba Gumps

A Kid in a Candy Store ... Classic!

Day 2 - The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History (like he needs any more animal/nature facts to add to his ever-growing encyclopedia of a brain)

Who cares if it's only 60 degrees outside ... we're going in the water! Well, Dylan went in the water. For about 2 minutes and then he decided his feet were freezing so we put our shoes back on and went for walk along the rocks to see marinelife up close. We spent almost 2 hours here along the shore in Pacific Grove.

Just a few of the seals we saw

Come on Mom, let's go!

The kelp beds from above

This sign was great ... Tsunami in California?

 After a long day of sight-seeing, we decided to have an early dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. Dylan love the fact that seals were right outside the window of the restaurant. he thoroughly enjoyed his calamari and pasta!

 We had an amazing time together and will always treasure the bond that we share.

Wordless Wednesday - Monterey Bay Aquarium

Made My Son Cry Today ...

We all know how much Dylan loves LEGO's ... especially Star Wars LEGO's! He has spent all his money on new Star Wars LEGO's and they are now displayed in his room. (that is for another day's post) However, there is one particular set that he really wants and has been asking for. Every time we go in the LEGO store or into Target he just stares at it. He keeps asking and I keep saying no. Dylan is learning the value of the all mighty dollar and that money must be earned. Yes, I even said 'money doesn't grow on trees ya know' ... wow, just like a parent huh?

Well, today we had to run some errands to get a few things for our vacation and once again he asked to go look at the LEGO's. As he stared with awe he said, "Mom, I'm going to keep saving until I have enough money and buy this. It's on sale for $35.99" He then proceeded to walk away and I put the LEGO box in the cart. We continued our shopping and I told him that maybe if he helped clean the house today and kept doing so well in school that he could earn the LEGO set. Mind you, he has been walking alongside the cart moping like he just lost his best friend. Just then he looked in the cart and tears began to roll down his face. He ran to me and hugged me so tightly. I asked why he was crying and he said, "Because I'm so happy" This is when I knew I made the right choice when I put the box in the cart.

Open House!

I remember being a child and getting so excited for Open House. This was the one night that I could really show off all my talents and hard work to my parents on my playing field ... my classroom! This year, the theme for Dylan's Open House was the ocean and all the wonderful creatures who call the ocean their home. Being the little brainchild that he is, Dylan volunteered to help each student with the research for the individual reports. The teacher gave him a list of all the ocean animals and he brought in his books (with pages marked for each student) and shared his wealth of knowledge.

I have only seen Dylan this excited to go to school a few times. He kept asking me if it was time to go yet. Knowing how much I love the ocean, Dylan was super anxious for me to see all of the wonderful things he had been doing in class. The classroom was completely transformed into an underwater world and I was so amazed at what Mrs. Fratantaro had done with the kids. Orca whales on one wall, jellyfish hanging from the ceiling, starfish and sea urchins lining the ledges, sea otters on another wall ... all beautifully made by the students. Oh, and the reports ... wow!

Dylan and his Viper Fish

Love this painted fish and on the back is a story.

Handmade with love. A ceramic fish I will treasure always.

I am so proud of Dylan. I can't wait for him to bring home all the other things he made!