Measurements

Yesterday was the semi-annual semi-accurate measuring of height day.

Venice is 56" - she grew 1 1/4 inches since January

Casey is almost 56" (I call it 56)...he and Venice are almost equal, he is delighted, proud and happy.  He grew 1 3/4 inches

Xander is 50 inches - he grew 1 1/2 inches.  He is slightly taller than Casey was when Casey was 7 1/2.  So Xander is very proud.

Teiya tried several times to stand on her tippy toes....I caught her each time.  She was laughing as she did this.  She is 47 3/4 inches.  Almost 4 feet tall....She grew 1 inch.

Granny

Outing report...

Hey,

At Putter's we started out as a whole group, 6 of us - the regs say only 5 in a group playing the course, but the woman said since there weren't many people we could go as a group....This didn't last more than the first hole, as it took all 6 of us a very long time to play the hole - was always confusing who was to put next....Of course, the first thing to decide was whether we use the rules of play, or use our own modified rules - Venice was clear, we use our modified rules...

So - starting on the 2nd hole, I went with Casey and Venice, and Granny played with Xander & Teiya....this moved things along much faster, at least for my group - by the time we played the 9th hole, half way thru the course, we were so far ahead the trailing group had played maybe 5 holes - Granny and I switched anyway, and Venice was "disappointed" - Why do we get Granny now...? - I said that she and I had discussed it, and felt that it was to the benefit of everyone to experience being with Granny and with me - oh, but with a sour sort of face - while she didn't say it, Venice felt it was "unfair"...

It was clear that Xander and Teiya needed a lot of help and tips on how to strike the ball - I'd watched Granny working very hard with the 2 of them, so I continued the "training" helping with their stance, the way they addressed the ball (as in, "how do you do, ball..." - just kidding), holding the putter, and how hard to hit the ball....Well, it was like trying to stand up a piece of cooked spaghetti - each time they'd "forget" the instructions....Teiya kept coming at the ball from the left-hand side, tho she admitted she was right-handed - after awhile, she got into the swing of it (hahaha) but kept just tapping the ball and it would dribble a couple of feet down the fairway and stop - I'd have her do it over again, then she'd hit it harder and it would be fine - but, on the next hole, we'd go thru the same routine....Xander was better at it, but he also had a hard time getting the club face to be in the right direction....About the 11th hole, Teiya asked if we could "skip" this hole as she was tired - but, she was ready to take on the next hole....Then around hole 16 she said again that she was tired, and could we skip this hole - I said fine, but Xander didn't want to skip it, so Teiya skipped it, and Xander played the hole....Atone point Xander while waiting his turn stuck the putter's head in a crack between a couple of bricks lining the edge of the green, and it got stuck - I hadn't noticed this, but all of a sudden here he comes over to me tears streaming down his face and silently crying - I hugged him, and asked what had happened - he showed me his putter stuck in the crack between the bricks, and he tugged on it and it wouldn't come out - more tears....I grabbed the handle and jiggled it back and forth and after some effort it came loose - Xander took the club, and wiping tears moved on to take his turn - he was fine after that, and didn't stick the putter into any cracks around the course...

Xander found a white ball about mid-way around the course that someone had left there - I pocketed it, and said we'd return it at the end....Xander asked me who had won between him and Teiya, so I tallied it up - when I told the two that they'd both gotten a score of 79, they seemed fine with that...

As we were progressing thru the holes, Teiya asked me if she could hit her ball into the water hazards - I said no, not deliberately, and asked why she wanted to do that - she wanted to retrieve her ball with the nets provided at various of the water hazards - she accidentally hit one into the creek, so did have an opportunity to scoop it out with the net, and was a happy camper for it...

More as, or if, I remember it...

Jiichan...

Reading Maps

Venice became very interested in the map on our way to Coldstone...I couldn't get it to her in time for her to use. But on the way home, she and Casey spent the entire time trying to trace our trip.
We were on Pearl to 18th when they began to look. They found the correct page in the book at my instruction, So imagine me trying to tell them where Chambers is...I did remember it was in the middle of the map more or less....so they looked and looked and finally found Chambers....By now we were on 18th. So I told them to go over a few streets and they would find City View....Well they couldn't figure out what direction. I told them to go to Casey's left hand...still didn't help....so I said put your finger on Chambers and go to the next street...see what the saw....they said 7, 5,...so I said move in the other direction and that they would find 18....so they went 3, 2....I said go to the 5, then go in that direction and suddenly found 18....So I said go along 18 one street and tell me the name...Venice said which way....I said it didn't matter because I could tell what to do after they told me....so she shouted out Polk....so I said now go the other way until you get about 6 streets away and you will find City View....they did, they were so happy...so then I said go up City View....to 19....they said which way...I said just go on City View and tell me the number you see....They found 22....so I said keep going that direction and you will find 27....Venice found 28...I said go back one....Casey found 27....I said move your finger across the page and you will see Panorama...they did....they were so excited....by now we were actually at Chambers. and 18 so we continued on 18 and they traced it to City View and up City View to Panorama....they were quite proud....

Also in all of this they were reading the streets we crossed...and recognized the President's names....and wanted the first names of the pres...I don't know all of them...but more than they did....

fun ride.
Granny

Discussions with the Grandkids

Had a short discussion with Teiya and Xander about what a week is. First, however, as a lead in....Xander says my mom was gone a long long time to Vegas...Teiya said, "about a week?" He said, Yes. I asked him if he missed his mom....he said, yes, then quickly no...I asked if she called every night...he said yes....Then Teiya says, is a week 7 days? I said yes. We then named the days of the week....and counted them...Everyone was satisfied....

Had a longish discussion with Venice about cremation. We passed a cemetery (because I took a wrong turn)....the one at the top of the University, very old....Venice, said..."oh, there's a graveyard." I said yes. She then said, "I wonder if Satie's grandmother is buried there." I said I didn't think so as this was a very old graveyard and I thot that Satie's grandmother was buried somewhere else. Somehow she asked a question...I don't remember what....and the topic of cremation came up. I told she and Casey what cremation was...Just so you know all thru this conversation, Venice was very matter of fact and interested.....So then I said that sometimes people choose cremation because it doesn't use up land....and also, after a person is cremated the ashes can be scattered. I said sometimes people scatter them in the ocean and they know the person they love is always there...or they put the ashes on plants in their yard and the person is with them thru the plants. Venice was getting happier and happier...she loved these ideas!....then I said some people put the ashes in a vase with a lid...called and urn....and sometimes ashes are shared. So some go to different members of the family. She nearly flipped out with joy....she said can I have some of your ashes and Jiichan's....I said probably...then she said, "I will be a collector of ashes" I will get as many as I can....then when I die I will have my ashes mixed in and then give that to my children in my will. They will go on and on forever........ So then I asked Casey what he thot about all of this...was it good or bad...he basically said he didn't know...he spoke kind of tentatively...but wasn't sure what he thot........

then it was on to other topics...

Granny

Playing Piano

Last week, Casey and Venice were humming a song (that you would all recognize, but I can't recall)

Anyway, Venice sat down at the piano to pick out the notes....they hummed the melody, then she would try to replicate it. She got the first few notes in a couple tries, but couldn't get the last three or four notes as they came down and she didn't go down far enuf.

But they valiantly hummed, she played, Casey encouraged...and by gum,...they got it...
An once they got it, they were done!!

Very charming.

Can You Make a 4 Leaf Clover?

Hi Guys,

Well, today's conversation in the car on the way home was very interesting...

Venice asked if it was easy to find 4 leaf clovers - simple enuff question, right...? - Casey didn't know - I said that clover leaf patterns came usually in 3 petals, and that occasionally one comes with 4 petals - 3 was the "normal" pattern, and 4 petals was more rare....Oh...

Casey asked if you could alter the DNA of the 3 petal clover to make a 4 leaf clover so it was more available - I said I thot so - then, would it be the normal clover...? - I said I didn't know...

Casey = could you change the DNA to give a turtle the legs of a heron...?!! - Hmmm, WOW...! - Where did that one come from...? I said I don't know, but I don't think so....why not...? - Hmmm - well, for one thing the legs of a heron would probably not support the weight of a turtle, so it's survival wouldn't be assured....why not...? - I said the way evolution works is that a creature adapts to its environment, and the ones that survive are the ones that make changes that suit it best to survive, and a turtle with the thin legs of a heron would have trouble supporting the weight of its shell - if it had difficulty walking, it would be susceptible to predators....also, I said I think that some changes or adaptations aren't likely to allow the creature to survive, because the changes don't give it enuff of an advantage against its environment and predators....

Casey = well could you give a turtle the legs of an elephant...? - Hmmm - well, those legs would certainly be strong enuff to support the weight of a turtle - but, again, I'm not sure that a turtle with the legs of an elephant would survive, again for the same reasons I said before - the legs would be more than enuff to support the weight of the shell, but because they would be so huge in relation to the rest of the turtle, that adaptation would work against the turtle's surviva....

Venice = could you change the DNA so butterfly wings would grow on an elephant...? - I don't think so....Why not...? - well, I don't think that DNA can be used across different species - and, even if it could, wings on an elephant wouldn't be an adaptation that would serve an elephant....Venice = well, what about butterfly wings on a human...? - I don't think it would work scientifically - and, even if it did, the wings of a butterfly would be so flimsy that it wouldn't work to help a human fly....Casey = yeah, the weight would be too much...

Jiichan = Venice you sound like you're interested in science - do you think you would ever become a scientist...? - No, I'm not interested in becoming a scientist....I want to become a dancer, then a dance teacher, then a - and she listed a half dozen professions....Casey said he might consider becoming a scientist...

Casey = science is getting so that people will soon live to be 120 years old....Venice = You and I will probably live to be 110 years old - and Jiichan will live to be 120 years old - It's more likely that you'll live longer than I will...

Jiichan = How did we get on this subject...? - Venice = it's my fault, I asked about making a 4 leaf clover out of a 3 leaf clover...! - Jiichan = no, it's not your fault - there's nothing wrong about your question, it was a very good question....Do you know what the stupidest question is...? - Venice and Casey = No, what...? - Jiichan = It's a question that you don't ask....Venice = but what's the question...? - I don't understand....I couldn't explain it - it was too esoteric...

Jiichan...

Grandkids Play Together...

Just a quick report of one touching incident involving Teiya, but more widely, Venice, Casey, and Xander...

First, just to say that when Venice and Casey and I left Crest School when I picked him up for our outing, the two again had a difficult time deciding where they wanted to go - Amazon Park was one place, but then Venice started pushing for someplace "inside" as it was too hot...! - The "inside" meant a paying place, such as Emerald Lanes for bowling, or Chuck-E-Cheese, or the like - I told her that it was still summer, and the weather was so nice, we wouldn't be doing anything inside till the weather got colder...

Well, this didn't stop Venice - she tried thinking of another place indoors that didn't involve spending any money, while Casey was content with going to Amazon Park - the two couldn't agree...

Venice continued to push for someplace indoors, and I finally suggested that we could go to Granny & Jiichan's house and they could play indoors downstairs in the basement - the two loved the idea, so we headed home - I was on a chip purchasing errand for snacks for our evening with our friends, the Colemans, so we went first to Market of Choice, and then home...

Granny was surprised that we were coming so early, but the explanation explained it all...

So - at one point, the 4 kids were playing downstairs, and Venice and Casey, as the older ones, were given "responsibility" for "supervising" the younger ones - Granny had instructed Xander and Teiya that they were to obey and mind Venice and Casey if anything came up...

Then, at one point Venice and Casey come to the back door, and Venice explain that Xander had hit her, and she had this most innocent look on her face - I asked if she'd done anything to provoke him, and she said, no, she hadn't...

I thot for a moment whether I needed to go down and get Xander's side of the story, or should I just tell Venice to deal with it....I decided to go down and try with everyone there to figure out what happened, and try to ameliorate the situation...

On the way down, I could hear Teiya crying, so decided that it was a good thing I'd decided to come down...

When I entered the basement, Xander was happily running around babbling and singing - Teiya was sitting on the ledge of the upper area, crying - I picked her up, and asked what had happened...

She said that Xander had told her she wasn't Teiya...! - Sniffsniff....I asked her again, as I didn't understand what she meant, but she only repeated what she'd said the first time - I asked Xander if he'd said to Teiya that she wasn't Teiya, and he said no, he hadn't said that, that he said she wasn't Xander...! - Major puzzlement on my part, as nothing either of them said made any sense...

I asked Teiya if he'd said that she wasn't Xander, and she said yes - I said I didn't understand, as she isn't Xander, so why did that upset her...? - Teiya wasn't able to explain...

Then I thot that maybe it had to do with Venice's comment when she and Casey came up to tell me that Xander had hit her, that she had left Teiya in charge of Xander...!

I asked Teiya if Xander had done anything to her to make her cry, but she said no - I asked if when Venice told her that she was in charge of Xander, did she know what that meant, and she said no....I asked if not knowing what that meant made her unhappy, and she nodded yes - and, Teiya further said that when Venice told her, she talked really loud, and that made her unhappy, too...

So - mystery solved...! - When Venice and Casey left the basement to come up to make her criminal report, she left Teiya in charge of Xander, and not knowing what that meant, made Teiya unhappy enuff to cry...

Don't you just love it...?!

Gordon...

Jiichan's

Hi Guys,

These two are simply great - I could essentially drop them off someplace and come back in 4 hours, and they'd be fine finding something to occupy themselves...

Before we could leave Crest School from picking Casey up, they had to discuss where we would go for the outing - it always is a big deal, as tho the world's survival rested on their final decision....they started out first deciding they'd just stay at the Crest School play structure to eat their lunches, but as we were heading to the structures, Casey suggested we go to Venice's school and her play structures for lunch - they decided that would be a good idea...

As we walked back to my car, they started exploring other options, Chuck-e-Cheese being one, "because we'd not been there in over 2 months...!" - the magical time lag between paying events - that was dropped for bowling, again because we'd not been there for several months - by the time we got to the car, they were still deliberating on where we should go, and when I asked if they still wanted to go to Venice's school for lunch, they said they were still deciding...!

Everyone got buckled up, I started the car, and Venice suggested we go to Amazon Park, and they could eat their lunches on the dinosaur - Casey agreed that'd be a good idea - but when I started the car moving, Venice said they'd not decided yet - then she corrected herself, and said she'd not made up her mind yet - I reminded her that she'd suggested Amazon Park, but she said that it was only a suggestion for them to think about, and she'd not made a final decidion of what she wanted to do today...! - So, I shut the car off...

Venice mumbled "Amazon Park..." - "bowling..." - "Amazon Park" - then, she said that it should be Amazon Park, because it has a lot of shade, and they wouldn't need sun screen - Casey agreed...

On the way, Venice asked if we could stop at Ben&Jerry's so she could get a shake for her treat - Casey liked the idea so he could get a cone to take to the park....we stopped at the mall, and went in to B&J's - Venice got a shake, and Casey got a dish instead, because he wanted to carry it over to Amazon Park - when we got our ice cream, and as we were leaving heading for the car, Casey asked if we could just sit here and eat our ice cream - I said fine, and they proceeded to play on the low concrete wall around the walkway and tables outside all the little shops there - we spent maybe 40 mins while they climbed the low walls and "tight-rope walked" along the wall, stopping periodically to eat their ice cream or drink the shake....Casey's ice cream melted, and spilled over the edges because the sun was so hot and he wasn't eating it fast enuff....at first he said he didn't think he could eat all the ice cream, but I told him to eat as much as he could - after I'd helped him with my eating a couple of spoonfuls, he did finish it all....I finally suggested we go over to Amazon Park, mainly because there wasn't much shade where we were, and I was tired being in the hot sun - reluctantly they agreed, they were happy just to stay playing on the wall as their play structure...

When we arrived at Amazon Park, the two of them headed for the dinosaur, and started their lunches - they interrupted lunch when they packed everything up and went over to the tower and fire engine structure - they opened their lunches on the top of the tower, and between bites, climbed on the structure, and went over to the fire engine and climbed that, and at one point even climbed over the wire fence separating the play structure area and the surrounding grassy areas and bike paths - then, they climbed back over, and resumed their play...

At one point Casey told us a joke that Tori had put in his lunch = "What did you say after eating a Wookie...? - Mmmmm, chewy...!" - I'm not sure Venice got it, her not knowing that much about Star Wars, but she did laff - Casey roared with laughter...! - I told him I thot it was pretty funny...

It took the two of them the whole afternoon to finish their lunches, and I think they finally did - at least I think they did - one time during all this, they left their lunch boxes open near the empty wading pool, and they were visited by about 4 big black birds - they didn't seem to find anything of interest, tho they did poke around a bit - I couldn't tell if the birds actually ate anything or not - the wading pool has been empty for a long time, and in fact I don't recall any time I'd been there when there was water in the pool - it didnt' matter - the two found twigs, leaves, pebbles, and who knows what else, and made up some game involving all these things - they didn't need any play strucrtures, as they made up a whole story and activity around the things they found right there - they played at this for nearly an hour...

At no time was there any tension between the two that I could see or hear - they get along famously, and seem to genuinely like each other - they play off each other's strengths, and don't seem put off or feeling put down for not having skills the other has - Venice is clearly the more athletic, with excellent small and gross motor skills - Casey is less so, but even he has improved in his climbing and running skills - he seems willing to try to climb or do anything in a physical way, and does a fair job of keeping up with Venice....Venice is the one with the huge imagination, and she usually starts any of their discussions of what the plot or story line will be - Casey contributes, and seems to hold his own with adding things from his own imagination - they play off each other quite well...

Venice doesn't have the depth of knowledge about Star Wars that Casey has, but that doesn't seem to bother her - She typically doesn't bring it up, it being Casey who does - if she doesn't know something that Casey is talking about, and "stuff" about Star Wars comes pouring out of him like a flood, she just says so, and he explains it to her - she's seen the Star Wars display at McDonald's, so she has some familiarity with the characters - when Casey describes one of them, she remembers "him" from the display....Casey also brings up a lot of things that Venice has never had interest in, they being something scientific, or something esoteric that only Casey would be interested in, but of late she seems to be catching up in terms of things scientific herself - anyway, the two can carry on a conversation about something scientific, something to do with Star Wars, something about faeries, about goblins and dragons and Jack Frost, and whether any of it is something real or imaginary, something that could never be, or something only possible in the future - as I say, they get along famously, and I'm just along for the ride - well, a driver on their ride...

They don't seem to be much aware of other kids around them when they're together - sometimes another kid near their age will be playing near them or will come up and try to enter into whatever they're doing, and will usually be the one to begin some exchange, and I'm usually not near enuff to hear their conversations - they may play together for a while, then the other kid will be off, leaving the two of them and they return to whatever they were doing seemingly without missing a step...

Yesterday they were playing on the fire engine, when a child, maybe 24 months old came up, cautiously because they were whirlwinds on the fire engine - Venice and Casey are climbing on, rushing around, and jumping around and off of the fire enjine, so the little girl is way intimidated - she touches the back of the fire engine, then backs off, and as her mom comes up tells loud enuff that I hear her that the two kids, Venice and Casey, told her she couldn't go on the fire engine - I'd not heard or seen either of them say anything to the girl, and in fact they seemed more oblivious of her as tho she weren't there, but I told Venice and Casey that they couldn't tell the girl she couldn't get on the structure, and Venice said she'd not said anything to her - the girl's mom said it was all right, neither of the two said anything to the little girl, that she just made that up...

I did tell Venice and Casey that they still needed to be conscious of littler kids around them, and to make sure they weren't too overwhelming for them - Casey and Venice said "We know...!"

The two were very reluctant to leave the park - I'd given them a headsup of 20 mins, then 15, then 10, and then 2 - that it was then time to leave...."Awwwww...!" - When they had to go back to the tower for their lunch boxes, they took the long circuitous route climbing on every play structure between were we were and the tower - and, they followed the same long-way path back to where I was....they dragged their heels getting into the car, and even once we were on our way, Venice wondered if we Casey to could play at her house before going home - "Pleeeeaaasssseeeee...!" - Venice said to Casey that they should talk to their Moms and see if he could have a sleep over tonite, and they should really try to convince their Moms about it....I told Venice that we didn't have enuff time for Casey to play at her house right now, because his Mom would be picking him up at 5:00, and we were going to just get to our house by that time - "Awwww....! Pleeeasssseeee...!"

So when I dropped Venice off, she was sad that she had to leave Casey, and we talked about a sleep over at Granny and Jiichan's sometime soon - that didn't help her right at that moment...

So that was the day - I never know where we're going for our outings, but I'm going to have to rememger to take a book to read or something...

Jiichan...

Words of Wisdom

Hey Guys,

While driving around Weds Casey and Venice are talking in the back seat - I love listening to them talk because for now at least they're unself-conscious and darling...

Casey: I like Star Wars because you can learn so much from watching it...
Venice: Yeah...
Jiichan: Like what, Casey...?
Casey: That money isn't the most important thing...!
Jiichan: How did you learn that from Star Wars...?
Casey: Han Solo is only interested in money. But he comes back to help out his friends...!
Venice: I love High School Musical II, and I learn a lot from that, too...
Jiichan: Like what...?
Venice: There's this one girl who likes to boss everyone around, and that's not nice...!

I just love it...!!!

Jiichan...

Jiichan's Outing

We hadn't gotten into the car at Casey's school, and the two were talking about where we'd go today - they usually wait til they're strapped into their car seats and I'm pulling away from the school before they talk about where we're going....this time they thot Chuck-E-Cheese, then, no - McDonald's, then, no - the Science Factory, but that, too, was no....then they thot maybe Granny&Jiichan's basement - well, maybe, cuz they hadn't been there for a while - in the end, they said no to the basement...

Venice said she was hungry and asked where we were going for our treat, and I said I didn't have anything specific in mind, but we could go to Ben&Jerry's after wherever we went - they both thot McDonald's was the place to go, so I said ok....Casey said that it wouldn't be a regular Jiichan outing if we didn't have a treat...!

Then, Venice remembered that she needed to be home by 5:00, and I said I knew that and would be keeping track of our time....she then said that we could go to our favorite place for outdoors since it was such a nice day, and we could keep the other places for times when it was cold or rainy - Casey agreed - Venice asked if we could go to Skinner Butte Park and play, and then end up going to McDonald's for our treat afterwards - I said I didn't know if we'd have time to do that, that I was concerned that we wouldn't have time after Skinner Butte - Casey said why not go to McDonald's first, and then go to the park - Venice chimed in that we could go there, eat our ice cream, not play on the structure, and then go to the park, and that would give us enuff time for both....I suggested that if we did that, they could take their cones with them in the car, and we could drive to the park and eat ice cream at the park, thus saving time and giving them more time at the park - they both thot that was the greatest idea...! - on the way to McDonald's Casey said this was the best outing ever...!!!

At Skinner Butte they pretty much played by themselves while I watched - they play so well together, and there's a pretty even give and take between the two....at one point I didn't see them from where I was sitting, and waited thinking I'd see them come running around the play structure - they didn't, and it had been maybe 20 mins or so - maybe less, but I was anxious not seeing them, so it felt like that long....so, I went looking for them - I found them lazying in a big open mesh tube, just curled up in the bottom of it, drinking their root beers and talking - pretty cool, that...

The two of them are getting very athletic around all the structures - both climb without much fear, and sometimes it scares me where they climb - Casey is getting to the point where he's Venice's equal in where he climbs, getting more athletic....they both are like monkeys, and at times cause me to catch my breath - I try to stay close enuff so that I can scream if I think they're getting beyond their capabilities, but far enuff away that I don't stifle them in their explorations - I know, that probably scares hell out of the parents to hear this - sorry about that - I do love to see them carefree and unself-consciously enjoying themselves, and each other...

It was a very good day...!

Jiichan...

Casey's Philosophy

While working hard on a project, Casey comments, "Ha! I read my own mind."

Cleaning

Venice is very into cleaning the bathrooms right now. This consists of taking the hand soap (usually the foamy kind, but any kind will do) and pushing it all over the counters, toilet, sink, floors, etc. Then using toilet paper, towels or kleenex to clean. I guess it's a stage as her cousin Casey likes to do the same thing. When they are together, they are quite the cleaning machine. A few weekends ago, they emptied an entire kleenex box to do their "cleaning". I still have lint on my mirrors that I need to take care of. And yesterday, at Thanksgiving, we couldn't find the kids for a few moments. After searching the yards, the kitchen, the rooms, etc., we found them in the bathroom "cleaning" Aunt Janet's bathroom. Soap bubbles were all over the floor, wet towels strewn about, the works. Uh, good job?

Teiya and Xander and little bit of Casey and Venice

On the way home from pre-school, Xander and Teiya have interesting conversations...here are a couple of items
Teiya told about how she saw a film on fire safety....she said the film told how if there was a fire, you shouldn't hide in your room. Because your parents wouldn't be able to find you and wouldn't know where you are. They might think you are on a fire truck being saved or with a fireman or they wouldn't know...or they might think you are on a truck to Africa....(don't ask me how Africa got in there....)....So I asked what did she think the main point about the film was.....she said quite emphatically....don't hide!

Teiya brought up the fact that a little girl that she knew had moved this summer, then she said, just like we did...this little girl lives a mile from her new house and she walked over to Teiya's. I couldn't get the girl's name. Then I asked Teiya if she walked to the girl's house, She said, yes she walked, or ran, or piggybacked....She said it took about 4 minutes...I asked her if she knew what a mile was and then told her it was 4 times around Casey's track...she said...hmmm....Xander chimed in and said he had walked 6 times around the track...so I told him that was a mile and a half...he was pleased.

Then Teiya brought up going to the dentist and Xander chimed in...that he had seen the dentist and he didn't need to go any more.. I asked him why he didn't need to go...he said nothing was wrong with his teeth and he didn't need to be seen. I told him that everyone goes to the dentist two times a year for a checkup and a cleaning...he was silent...

They then started talking about Christmas...so I asked why Christmas was so much fun....Presents!! Teiya said....so I said also you decorate your house and she talked about decorating the Alameda house....then I said you can give presents as well as get them...you could make presents for your mom and dad...Teiya got all excited about that...so now Tori, you have some presents made for you here at the house. She wanted to get on it right away...we have hidden them so you won't find them.....

At the house, they were eating and Teiya suddenly exclaimed that out the window, she could see Alameda...Xander gently corrected her and said she was looking at downtown Eugene. She was somewhat quieted, but insisted that it was Alameda...she used to live there and she might be going back.

At the park, Xander when dashing up the dinosaur, and Teiya tried to follow. She got on the tail and worked very hard to get herself up. Xander was at the top, yelling encouragement....He kept saying Pull, Teiya, Pull...she had on boots which didn't allow her to get a good grip with her feet and she kept slipping. She was almost to the top and looking a little scared...so I went over to help her down if she wanted. When I got there, I told her that she was doing good work, and that her boots made it hard...Xander is still yelling, PULL.....so she gritted her teeth and pulled and pulled and pulled and finally made it to the top...she was so pleased.....then later when it was time to go down, Xander of coursed jumped....she thot about that, but decided to go down the tail and did so, better and faster than the last time we were at the park....so she was very aware of her accomplishment and Xander was so supportive....
I had bought some decorated cookies...and gave Xander and Teiya each one to eat on the way to the park. Xander ate one bite, thot it was too sweet and didn't want anymore. Teiya ate two bites and was done.....

Later at the house Venice and Casey were offered the cookies, Venice gobbled one down, Casey so not interested......Venice and Casey decorated their pumpkins...Casey used a lot of Harry Potter ideas...he used the witches hats as sorting hats....We then explained to Venice what a sorting hat was...he put the names of the houses on the pumpkin...I think he only had time to do two...Venice's is pretty and patterned...I am not sure if she finished but I am putting it outside with the rest.

We had ice cream and soda's for treats...Teiya and Xander, just had plain ice cream, they don't like soda....Venice and Casey have Cream Soda, with vanilla ice cream....Casey's disappears so fast...Venice just sort of slowly sips and maybe drinks half of it...so I think she does it because Casey does...

if i think of more, will let you know.
Granny