Montessori Observation Day - the last time (*sob*)

Part of the philosophy behind the kids' pre-school is that once a year parents are invited to observe them in school during a regular day for about 45 minutes.  The kids were incredibly excited to show off what they were doing and at times weren't able to separate themselves to do individual work.  Max started working on a United States puzzle and was asking me what different states were.  He was pleased to notice that Florida (where Boppy is working and where we had just visited in February) and California were both colored pink on the map.  When Daniel saw them, he announced, "Well, that's why the plane ride took so long! Look how far apart they are!"

Daniel was showing off his numerals and counters, showing that he recognizes his digits and can count.

Caroline worked with maps of Europe, matching the two sides to each other.

One of the things I specifically remember from my time at Montessori was learning to lace shoes and do buttons.  The third of these tasks is the "buckling frame", which Max tackled next.

Daniel moved on to Color Box 3, matching colors, but it is a project that takes a long time and he wanted to show off other things during my brief visit, so he put it back and rolled up his mat (this is the most amazing - and frustrating - part of watching them.  They are perfectly happy to put everything back where it goes at school, while at home their toys are everywhere.)

Both Max and Daniel migrated to a table to do "metal insets" - a task that involves tracing both inside and outside a shape and then drawing stripes inside the shape.  What is interesting in these pictures is that the boys - who have been going back and forth on which hand they use to write with all year - are using both hands here too.  Max, who has mostly decided to be a righty, traced inside the shape with his left hand, then outside with his right. Daniel, who has settled in to being a lefty, traced inside the shape with his right hand, then switched over.

Toward the end of my time there, the kids decided to team up on things.

I got hugs and kisses at the end of the visit and then they bopped off to do some more "hard work".

Little Lady Day and Getting Ready for Baseball

The deYoung Museum in San Francisco was having an Oscar de la Renta show and we kept seeing the ads for it.  I explained that it was a museum exhibit all about fancy dresses.  Caroline decided that was right up her ally.  So we left the boys with Uncle to have a naked boy party (or whatever it is boys do when ladies aren't around) and joined my friend Alyssa and Grandma at the museum.  

As we wandered the galleries, there were outfits that ranged from red carpet-worthy gowns to the more "casual" end of the spectrum.  I told Caroline that in each group of dresses she should pick one she wanted to wear to a fancy party and one she would want to wear to go shopping with her friends.  I was pleased to see that she has impeccable taste, though she is destined to be quite a flashy shopper.

Caroline's real goal in attending the museum, though, was to access the museum's tower, which she sees whenever we drive past the museum in the park.  From atop the tower, you can see a panorama of the Western part of the City, including our house and Grandma and Boppy's house!  She was very excited!

Check out her "college student" outfit - that's what she calls furry boots, leggings, and a hooded sweatshirt.

Back at home, the baseball season started.  Coincidentally, we had just organized the house the previous weekend and had centralized all our baseball hats, so the kids decided they should try them all on and show their allegiance.

Easter Egg Hunts

The Easter Bunny came to Grandma and Boppy's house this year.  We waited around for him and the kids finally got antsy and ran out to get some frozen yogurt with Uncle and WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT! That's when the Easter Bunny showed up!

The hard boiled and decorated eggs went outside on the back porch and then inside it was all candy-filled plastic eggs.

In just under ten minutes, some 50+ eggs were discovered! Woo hoo!

Dinner with Antoine

The kids made a new friend this year at school, a boy named Antoine, whose house we've gone to play out a couple of times.  He is equally comfortable playing "boy" things with Max and Daniel as he is playing more "girl" things with Caroline and so they have been pretty successful playdates.

This time, we went out to dinner together and got In 'n Out and then donuts for dessert.