A Nice Love Letter

Tuesday morning I found out my essay, "The Same Sky," has been accepted at The Dos Passos Review and will be published in their Fall 2011 issue.

Look Who Got The Game Ball

Aubrey begged Coach Colette to let her play short stop Thursday night. Colette told her she could, but Aubs had to make sure she'd be tough and let nothing get past her.

So when a hard grounder was hit to her, she ran up on the ball, snagged it in her glove, kept her head on straight, and threw it directly and accurately to first base.

The runner managed to beat the ball to the bag, but I was up and cheering like crazy watching that kind of cool on the field from my kid.

Coach Colette obviously felt the same way, too, signing the ball with "Great Snag, Aubrey!"

Aubrey went to sleep that night so happy, which was especially nice because she'd been really sad to leave Box R on our visit Thursday. She'd wanted to skip her game, but understood her team was counting on her to play that night. So proud of her that day for many reasons.

Box R or Bust

The 4th graders had a blast.

Mick and Dane's friend Memmo's dad, Dave.

They balanced and jumped and hung and fell their way through the obstacle course. They rode the hanging oil drum "bucking bronco," they shot arrows at the archery range. They also ziplined, rowed, and swam at a lake while the temperature outside was 50 degrees. They gathered sticks and made dream catchers, hiked in rain and hail, slept in tipis, took turns at KP, howled like wolves, and roasted marshmallows round the fire.

And if they were Dane, they also roasted wet socks. And "accidently" burned them.

Those 27 fourth-graders came back today grimy, dragging, and happy. They were a little queasy from the bus ride home, but you could tell it didn't matter. Their teacher set them up with an awesome adventure.

When I asked Dane at dinner what the highlight of his trip was, he said, "Being with Dad."

Dane and Dad.

Mick said he loved being there for Dane, too, even though it was cold and a lot of work. He also said one of his highlights was that our niece, Indi, came and sat on his lap the first night at campfire.

Indi.

Such a great time.

Dane and Nic.

Dane and Aubs when Aubs and I dropped in for a couple hours.

Our friend Linda and her daughter Alex.

Linda and Alex.

Dane and me. Dane says, "Creepy smile Dane."

Mick, Aubs, and Indi.

KP duty.

4th Grade Box R Campout

Dane's class is spending two nights and three days at Box R Ranch out the Green Springs road. Mick took the time off and is chaperoning.

Dane's teacher invited Aubrey and me to join them for some of the activities, so Aubrey's taking a state writing assessment at school this morning, and then we'll head out to join them for a couple hours.

What we wonder:
*What's it like in the tipis???
*Did it snow there this week?
*Is it rainy?
*What have they been doing???

Will try to report back in a timely manner.

Bottle Sounds

For this year's Science Fair, Aubrey got curious about sounds bottles make when they a) have different water levels, and b) are tapped on or blown into.

 

She started out with identical bottles with different levels of water (which of course had to be a snazzy color). 

 

She then got out her keyboard and tried to find a note that matched the sound the bottles made, first when blown into, and secondly, when tapped. Finding the notes was hard, and she needed some help from me, but she thought it was really fun to do this experiment.

What she found out: 

*Taps sounds go lower in pitch as the water rises -- because the tap vibrations get bigger with more liquid.

*Blows go higher in pitch as water rises -- because the air vibrations have less space to fill when there's more liquid, which means the vibrations go faster and higher.

 

After many long week night and weekend hours, she had her "What I Wondered" and "What I Found Out" sections laid out on her board. Below, she tells one of the judges (her teacher, Debi) about her experiment and its implications.

 Way to go, Aubrey!

Electric Info: Electricity -- and How Different Types Work

After thumbing through The Dangerous Book for Boys and Totally Irresponsible Science, Dane decided he wanted to demonstrate how electricity works. So, this year, he and his buddy Nic teamed up for their Science Fair project. They made up separate boards for their presentations, but their boards were both focused on the three types of electricity. That means they did their experiments/demonstrations together, but then made sense of them on their own.

One project was about static electricity, demonstrated with salt and pepper in a pie tin. Each kid then rubbed a plastic spoon in their hair or against a wool sock, and the charged spoon attracted the pepper.

For their second type of electricity, they demonstrated the DC of AC/DC familiarity. For this, they created a battery cell where a direct current briefly lit up a tiny light bulb as the copper wires, quarters, blotting paper, foil, vinegar, and salt worked their science. (I was going to write 'magic' there, but that could be a little misleading.) 

For the final part of their project, the boys put a blue box together and demonstrated how electricity with Alternating Current would work when plugged into a wall and a power source.

 

After hours and hours of evening and weekend work, the board was done. Dane particularly liked drawing and diagramming and doing the layout.

Above, Dane meets with one of the judges (his teacher, Nancy!) and discusses different aspects of his project with her. It was exciting to listen to his main points and to hear what he'd learned about his topic.

Ode to Scrappy

"Mama, wouldn't it be great if we all lived in our van?" --Aubrey, age 9

(That's my girl!)

The Shrimpiest Shrimp Plays A Game

Aubs with her pal Ruby.

Aubrey's first softball game was so much fun.

We arrived Tuesday night in Gold Hill, about 25 minutes north of Ashland, to play the Gold Hill Marlins. Like our team, they are ages 9-11; however, we learned that they're mostly 11.

For the record, Aubrey was the shrimpiest shrimp out there.

She and the other Grizzle girls held their own, though.

Although we looked little and lanky, our few 11-year-olds were good leaders and our new players stepped up and played with heart!

We lost the game 7-12, but the girls had great attitudes. They got walked plenty of times, we witnessed numerous errors, they stole some bases, and it was an overall jumble of awesome softball learning and effort.

Miss Aubs hit the ball her first at-bat. She was last in the lineup, but she was the first to actually hit the ball! She told me later she was scared when she got to the plate (see post below), but that she was ready to give it her best. Mick and Dane and I were all there, yelling and cheering as she ran those little legs down the first base line to beat the throw to first.

She sat out the first inning, but played center field the second inning. No action out there for her, but those of us who watched her from the grandstands laughed and chuckled as she bounced around in the outfield with this visible giddiness and "I'm ready!" attitude. She might not have been doing kartwheels out there this year, but you could tell kartwheels were in her heart.

Later, she played second base and was equally ready then: leaning over, mitt hanging between her bent knees, still bouncing. She got a chance to bauble the ball a few times, and it was just pure joy to watch all that learning and effort going on.

She and her Grizzlies play the Marlins again tomorrow night here in Ashland. That'll be my first night as Base Ump (I was scorekeeper Tuesday night), so there'll be two of us out there a little nervous. If anything, though, we know this sport is character-building and we're up for it.

Teeny Tiny Big Thoughts

This is what Aubrey just wrote in her little tiny book with her little tiny pencil:

4-12-11
Today is my first baseball game. I'm scared and happy at the same time! the end

Go Ski Racers

The kids had fun up on the slopes yet again this year. They're turning into amazing, competent, slick little skiers, thanks to the Mt. Ashland Racing Association and six hours of instruction with accomplished instructors every week for 12 weeks.

They each raced in one race this year.

Dane earned his best times, meeting his goal to come in under a minute on each run. In fact, I think he got like 50 seconds each run, missing 3rd place by a second, and first place by only a few. It was super exciting.

Aubrey had one solid run with a little over a minute, and then one run that took her quite a bit longer than she'd hoped. She had a great attitude, though, and knew it was just part of the experience.

 Aubs there in the black mittens, waiting to race.

 Dane tired, and tired of waiting.

 Aubs out the gates.

 Aubs headed down the hill.

Aubs earning her participant ribbon.

I didn't get a good picture of Dane coming down the hill, because I waited at the bottom both times and was beside myself as I watched him just cruise. Didn't take a good picture, but loved reveling in the moment!

Birthday Bashes

This'll be a random update post.

Above is a "frog" drawn for the Traditional Reynolds Family Birthday Party Pictionary game. The frog was drawn in February at one of Aubrey's parties.

The following photos are of her 3rd grade girl slumber party and her cousin/family birthday party. Again, random order. Will have to fill in comments occasionally.

Haven't posted for a very long time and have several others to do.Might skimp.

 Dressing up.

Cleared out the living room, hung a blanket over the door windows, and spread sleeping bags across the floor. A tight fit but worked out ok.

Ready for cousins to come and dip mini cupcakes in frosting and decorate.

Pass the gift and unwrap a layer when the music stops -- a musical chairs game of sorts.

 Pictionary.

Barritt laughs/cries about the "Barritt's Boyfriend" drawing -- an old joke we share.

 Yup, ferris wheel.

 Wart hog by Mick, not at all the creature he was supposed to draw.

Jude drew this camera and his 4-year-old brother Weston figured it out immediately!