Cave man unit completion

In order for Link to earn a Lego Caveman and woman he had a checklist of activities he had to do.  Tonight he completed the last ones which included finding wood for a fire in the woods, roasting meat (hotdog) over the fire, and watching a little video on how you can make a fire by rubbing sticks together.  He didn't have to actually start a fire this way.  He is 5.

The other day Link learned to make pinch pots.  I've been trying to get him to be more adventurous and get dirty, but now I'm realizing that it is something we can work on gently or else learning won't be fun for him.  Clay was not exciting for Link because of the mess.  So I put it in a baggie for him to make.  And when that still wasn't capturing his interest I brought out the colored modeling clay and we had much better success.  We also let the clay dry in the sun.

Here is a great tutorial on how to make a pinch pot with the added bonus of Link making up a song called "caveman style."  Can you guess what tune it was sung too? 

And Link added his own activity to his list.  A bear hunt with Felix as the bear.  This bear we attacked with bear hugs.

First Humans continued

I made a cave out of a large box (thanks Olson appliance) and crumpled brown paper and Link loved it.  Today he made mud paint, mixing mud  and "blood" and trying out different types of brushes.  For this kind of paint the harder the brush the better it worked.  He liked the feather and the stick the most.  

He made some petroglyphs in the cave.  It is so funny to see how much he doesn't like to get dirty.  Not sure he would have survived.  

I also let him use a marker so he could better tell his story. He drew a cave girl similar to his Lego one with a bone in her hair.  And he put a seed in her belly which he told me was grandma rose.  So basically cave people are about 90 years old.  

We also looked at random facts about cave people and discovered they talked by making clicking noises and that they ate sweet potatoes, so we had sweet potatoes for dessert.

Felix update

Felix has a tooth.  Right on the bottom.  He is also standing up and trying to balance and move around.

I am putting lots of toys away that Link loved at this age but Felix doesn't care for.  Things like the jumper and play center.  Felix is more drawn to cars, which is great because we have a few and link didn't ever play with them.  I even think Felix is making motor sounds a little.

He's making mama  and dada sounds but not intentional words or signs yet.  Except he rubs his eyes when he wants to nurse.

Felix is getting lots of curls on his head.  He has been fortunate to never get the reverse male pattern baldness in the back or sides of his head.  

Here is a selfie he took at work.

In laws and no husband

Bryce went to San Francisco for the annual Disrupt convention and I stayed home with the boys.  Fretting how to do it alone without daycare for Felix, Jim and Betsy came from Ohio to help out.  I have amazing inlaws.  Not only were they able to watch both boys, they helped us get ahead in so many areas we were behind in.  Yard work, kitchen cleaning, etc.  I couldn't have done it without them and wish they could have stayed longer.

I think Felix looks a lot like Grandpa Jim.  Look at those matching ears.

8 months

Felix is now 8 months.  When we come to these dates I hate that I work.  I feel like I hardly have seen 8 months of him. Felix is now a babbling, crawling fool.  So amazingly adorable.

 To celebrate we went to Pike's Peak in McGregor and climbed behind Bridal Veil falls. Then we went to Shihatas and picked apples.  Bryce also went pants shopping for his trip to San Francisco.

We dropped Bryce off Sunday in Cedar Rapids.  The Boys and I went to The Village Meat Market.  There was a man singing live and we were the only customers so we got ourselves our very own blues concert and amazing food.  Now we just need to take Bryce.

Another mini

The following weekend after Iowa vacation we had a Minnesota vacation.  We had our annual lake adventure on Zumbro Lake with my cousin Liz and other Arlington peeps, Dani and Becky.  But first we needed to go up to Minneapolis for my college friend, Debbie Monn's wedding on Harriet Island.

The wedding was fantastic.  I saw college friends like Nikki and Lacy and had a blast.  Debbie is super creative and the wedding was top notch.  First of all the pastor started with "mawwige" from the Princess Bride and continued to recite the whole speech.  Then he said some great things about Debbie and Paul.  I rare enjoyed their self-written vows which included, "I promise to do my part to make our marriage fun."  

Their guest book was a photo booth.  Two strips were printed and scrapbook pages were made to glue one of them down on and sign.  The food was prime rib and ravioli and lots of yummy goodness.  Link loved the cake which had the couple represented as a sloth and a squirrel.  He also made his own dance up called dog chase where he was on all fours and chased lights.  

Back in Zumbro Falls we came home to drunk and obnoxious drama and life behavior.  The boys went to bed and I stayed up at the campfire.  Each night everyone ripped on Lewis about what an asshole of a husband he is to my cousin, Liz, and he is but I didn't feel like joining in since the other husbands were doing such a good job of schooling him.  The next day we were out on the pontoon all day.  Link did stellar, even floating on an innertube which is huge for my water shy boy.  Bryce and I both tried jet skis for the first time.  Felix was happy to go to anyone, which makes me joyous.  Liberty especially loved him.  Of course no photos from the boat since we didn't want to get anything wet.  I took Link on a four wheeler ride, which I hadn't done since I flipped one doing 40 mph and broke my upper arm.  I was a bit nervous but we had fun.

Homeschooling Link

Well, we've made the decision to homeschool Link.  Currently we are homeschooling Tuesdays and Saturdays and sending him to Kinderhaus on Thursday and Fridays.  He was a little nervous to go back, but quickly connected with old friends and is thoroughly enjoying it.

First Unit: the first humans.  

I will put my lesson plan on here when I am at my desktop instead on in bed on my iPad.  Essentially we are studying cavemen but I wanted to be a little more broad.  We started with the question "if you were the first human what would you look like and what would you need?"

Our first Saturday we went cave exploring.  I had to drop salsa off at seed savers for their contest so we kept going North to Niagara Cave in Minnesota.  I've been to a lot of caves in the US and I adore this cave.  We had a great time.  

Link always poses In some sort of fighter pose these days.

Today we went on a hike and gathered sticks and rocks to make a spear, bow and throwing stones.  Then we went on a bear hunt.  We pretended we were covered in mud and leaves and hid in the back yard bushes.  Then we stragized and link threw rocks to scare the bear and I pierced it with the spear.  We then thanked the animal for its life and apologized for taking it from him.  Then we had to figure out how to cut it open.  Link decided we found a sharp claw a bear had lost and we used that.  Inside the build a bear I had taken out some stuffing and a speaker box that was broken and therefore scary to Link and instead I put in its place some ground beef for meat, rubber bands for intestines, red paint for blood, glue stick wrapped in paper for bone, and extra black fur for making clothes out of.  We alked about the importance of using the whole animal.  Then we had to figure out how to get it back to the cave and wether or not we should share any with other animals.

More time on the water

Amy and John came to Elkader with the family and we went canoeing from Elkader to Motor Mill.  
Link joined us again and kind of liked it and kind of wanted to be home playing Legos.  We also went to finder for some big burgers.  Along the way our van stopped working.  Fortunately we are buying moms pilot so not a big deal.  My mom came and got us and I totally forgot about art fest meeting and play practice.  Instead we sat around the campfire and played sardines.  Again, not a lot of photos since it was water and campfires, but still a lot of fun.  The only great photo I got was of my 90 year old grandma and Felix on the floor and my cousins feet in the background.