Saw this while driving down the road the other day. A great reason to always have a camera with you!
Fire engine anyone?
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Happy Birthday Mr. President
This morning NHL woke up. One of the first things he said to me was that it was President Barack Obama’s birthday today. Yes, my almost six year old son knew that the President’s birthday is today.
You may be asking yourself, how or why he knows this fact or several others about United States Presidents that he rattled off to Nana and Papa last night? The answer is mainly that he loves to learn. When he hears something, he sets it to memory. Just like his Daddy had when little, NHL has a some what photographic memory.
Of course, the real answer is that we bought sets of U.S. Presidents flash cards and ones of the United States. Nana found them at Target in the dollar bins as you walk in. NHL loved them so much while visiting her a few weeks back that I went and looked for them. As a teacher, I love having as many educational and fun things around the house.
Sunday JL and NHL decided to look at the U.S. Presidents cards. They sat there for quite some time reading about each of the presidents. JL noticed that President Obama’s birthday was the day after his. NHL recalled this and as you know said it first thing this morning. Last night he was even able to tell Nana several other facts about more distant presidents.
While NHL was playing with the cards at my parent’s house he asked me which presidents were around during my life. I knew most of them. What I did not realize was there was one other. Since I was a December baby born after an election I was technically born during the Ford administration. Sad that I never really thought about that, but I always remember Carter being mentioned when I was older and never thought about when he was sworn in. To answer NHL’s question I quickly pulled out all of the cards for the presidents and showed them to him. Then we talked about the two presidents during his life and how there will be many more to come.
Anyone else notice how different #43’s photo is compared to the rest? I thought it was odd how his was a close-up shot rather than the more traditional portraits. I’m assuming the current president’s photo was a quick one they used to get this product out fast.
Yesterday while on the way to drop the boys off to Nana and Papa (we were going out to have dinner for JL’s birthday), JL asked NHL how old he thought he was. NHL guessed 31. When JL told him he was 34, NHL immediately said "Oh, so next year you can run for President Daddy!" So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, TechyDad will be running for president in the not too distant future – LOL!
So what kind of fun educational items do you have/use with your children or did you love when you were a child? Please let me know in the comments because inquiring minds would love to know.
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Perhaps the great camera comeback
Back in January I wrote about the death of my little handy dandy point and shoot digital camera. Here is a reminder of what my camera looked like:
I was not willing to invest money in my camera. When we contacted Canon they told us that we could send it in and they would look at it. The cost for a diagnostic check was almost as much as a new camera. Over the months I whined a lot about not having my little camera with me. I missed the convenience of being able to toss it in my diaper bag. Instead I would schlep JL’s big camera with me to events where I needed to take photos.
When we arrived home from Disney World my father was quite upset with his Canon PowerShot A570. It was starting to do similar things that my camera had done. He went to different stores and was quoted prices to look at it. In the end, he decided to purchase a new bigger camera. During one stop at a small camera store Dad happened to mention the problem that we were having with our Canon’s. The suggested that we try something with our cameras. We should use some rubbing alcohol on a Q-Tip to the battery area to clean the contacts.
What the heck, I certainly could not make the camera any worse .
Yesterday I charged up some new AA batteries in my Energizer unit and took out some rubbing alcohol. I put the batteries into the camera and decided to test it out. Much to my surprise, I did not see the flashing red dying battery light. In the past I would see this as soon as I put in fresh batteries, whether rechargeable or not. Today I took the camera out with me and the batteries are still going strong. I am not holding my breath just yet, but it looks like it could be a new life for my little camera.
So far I have taken 54 shots, off loaded the pictures and these batteries are still going. Some of the memories captured include the following:
JSL heading off to get into my car before we went to the post office, Staples (great bargains this week), and Target.
Then it was time for both of the boys to get into their seats in my car.
Before dinner JSL actually asked to take some photos with Daddy. Here they are having some fun.
While doing some cleaning we found an old pair of shades that had been NHL’s. Now they are perfect for the little dude.
Oh my how I have missed my little camera. Who knew that a simple cleaning with a little rubbing alcohol could do the trick. So glad that I did it myself instead of spending ~$100 sending it away. Here is hoping that it continues taking many more photos of our special family moments.
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Recycling Coca-Cola style
The Green movement of buying more earth friendly products, recycling, using reusable bottles and bags has hit in our house for a while now. There are some things that will not happen (cloth diapering since my youngest is already 2), but we are trying to do as much as possible. I have been impressed recently with other places that are doing the same.
This is a sign that we snapped a photo of while at EPCOT in May. I loved the display with information for people and wished that I had more time to stop and check things out.
This weekend while visiting Six Flags something caught my eye in Wiggles World. I went to check it out and HAD to take a photo.
Yes, this was strategically located next to the regular garbage can. The Coca-Cola shaped bottle is actually a recycling container for visitors to place their empty soda bottles in. Love it! In fact, I kept looking for different places where they were hidden within the park. Here is another one that I found.
I think it is great that Six Flags and Coca-Cola are teaming up together to help our planet. They could simply have their trash cans and not bother, but they are going the extra step to help everyone. Kudos to both parks for helping us to be more Green!
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Enter the world of Berenstain Bears
Welcome to Aloha Friday! This weeks question will take you back to your childhood and make you use your imagination. Here it is:
Have you ever wished that you could jump into the world of a book you read as a child or read to your children? What book would it be and why?
As a child, parent and teacher I have often thought about this as I read amazing stories with beautiful illustrations. Of course, I never thought that it would actually happen in my life. A few weeks ago the world of the Berenstain Bears came alive when we went to visit the Strong Museum of Play. When I was growing up I read lots of the Berenstain Bear books and loved them. NHL has read a few and we now plan on many more.
When you walk up to the area you are greeted by the Berenstain Bear family. Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister are all waiting to welcome you to the amazing world that they live in.
There are seven areas to explore within the Berenstain Bear area. Here is information from the Strong Museum website and photos of the kids playing within them:
Mama Bear’s Quilt Shop: Design your own quilt or work at the counter to sell and buy quilts, just like Mama Bear! Centuries-old quilts from Strong’s collection decorate the shop.
Papa Bear’s Woodworking Shop: Put on a work apron and build your own creations with pretend tools and wooden construction toys.
Bear Family Restaurant: Be a customer or part of the restaurant staff in this pretend diner inspired by Burger Bear.
Dr. Bearson’s Dentist Office: Don a lab coat and play dentist with a giant set of teeth and oversized dental tools.
Farmer Ben’s Farm: Visit a barn, barnyard, and fruit and vegetable stand filled with learning activities.
1. Cousin S selling produce, 2. The little guy wants some fruit, 3. Sending things up and away, 4. Ready to catch the items, 5. Time to collect eggs, 6. Are they good or bad eggs
Brother and Sister Bear’s Club Houses: Make tin-can telephone calls from club house to club house and play silly sentence spinning games.
Bear Country School Art Class: Create a Berenstain Bears-themed masterpiece to take home or plink out a familiar tune on the Bear Band xylophone.
We spent quite a lot of time in this part of the museum. My two boys and niece loved running around and exploring all of the items within. Of course, now the boys want to read more Berenstain Bear books, which is fine with me!
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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.
Aloha #56
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