Space Camp!

July continued to be busy as Owen participated in a three-day camp at the Challenger Learning Center.

"Crater Kids" focused on the moon expeditions, and had information about how rockets, astronauts, and all of the planets in our solar system. Owen learned a lot and had plenty of fun.

At the end of the camp there was a graduation ceremony for the parents to attend. The kids showed off their space suits ...

They sang us songs about the solar system ...

And then we had some time to go to work some activities with them in the space lab.

And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see it was a great experience!

Voetbal and Raspberries

The Dutch may have been defeated in the finals of the World Cup, but at least I got to watch the game with my Dutch bretheren.


And we got to have a fun weekend in Iowa City!

The raspberry patch took center stage at Grammie and Grampie's house for much of the weekend. When you think about it, it really is nothing but a bush growing candy.

And what kid isn't going to love that?!


And, of course, we did many of our favorite Iowa City activities. Whitey's dessert. A Breugger's/Java House breakfast combo. And, of course, their favorite playground, and splashable fountain in the ped mall.

Maya enjoyed a climbing, descending circuit she mapped out on the gym.

And Owen had a blast in the fountains!

It was enough fun to make the World Cup loss seem a little less painful. We'll get 'em in 2014!

Field trip!

... To the zoo!

Owen's Pre-K 3 class took a field trip to the zoo on July 8. My dad had always been the chaperon king of my K-6 field trips, and when Owen said he was hoping one of us could come along it seemed like the perfect opportunity to play hooky (i.e. "take vacation") from work and go along.

We had a great time.

The Miller Park Zoo is a very nice small zoo. There's a petting area with goats, chickens, and pigs so ugly that if it weren't for interested children they'd get no action ...

There are also great sea lions ...

And this beautiful Sumatran tiger.

It was interesting being with a group of five year olds and seeing the place through their eyes.

For example. We were standing as a group, looking at the tiger who at that point was pacing back and forth at the front of his cage thinking all of these preschoolers would be mighty tasty if he could just find his way out. It was one of those perfect zoo moments where you really can't help but admire the animal's strength and "wildness."

It was also the moment Owen noticed the little bench set across the sidewalk for people to sit and admire the animal at length.

"Look, a bench!" said Owen. And all the kids who had moments before been rapt in the tiger's attention turned and yelled "A bench!" then ran to find a place for at least one butt cheek on the tiny cement seat. The teachers had no answer for it. The moment with the tiger was over, and it was time to move on.

Perhaps Owen's favorite part of the day was holding a millipede. I held it too, although I wasn't as gung-ho about it as the five-year-olds were. It was tickly. Not at all pinchy like it is to have some bugs on you.

We had a great time at the zoo.

Count me in for the next field trip!

Wisconsin Dells

VACATION TIME!

Owen was very pleased with the new in-car DVD player.

Maya ... not so much.

Car seat discomfort and an absolute bottleneck of cars (and boats) traveling through southern Wisconsin on July 4 weekend made our trips to and from the Wisconsin Dells a challenge at times ... but it was definitely worth it.

We overnighted at Nana and Grandpa's on our way there to cut down our travel the second day, arriving early afternoon on July 3 in time for some good fun on the water slides before we all collapsed off to sleep.

It was a busy weekend a the resort, making the finding of parking and the following photo of luggage arriving something to celebrate.

The kids had a great time, though. We spent a lot of time at the water parks, playing on all the slides and in the lazy river. The best slides were those we could do together with Owen. They were all operated with two-person inner tubes; Amy or I would sit in the back and Owen would grab onto our legs up front. He always started out a bit nervous when we approached a new ride, but it was always a race to get back to the top from that point on.

We also took a Duck Boat tour of the Dells on July 4 morning. The guide was cheesy (it's Wisconsin after all), but it was worth it.

And speaking of rides, Owen and I had a great time on the go-karts!

The sensory overload really came, though, at the July 4 fireworks. Owen and I had just returned from the go-karts when it was time to get in place for the fireworks, so I told Amy to take him and I would stay in the room with Maya, who had just gone to sleep.

Amy's story is that the first explosion outside coincided perfectly with a HUGE rainstorm. The two of them still got to see the show, but part of it from the safety of shelter.

Inside the hotel, the first firework coincided with Maya waking up thinking we'd gone to war. I couldn't help but think about my good friend Troy whose Dachshund Snicker almost dug through the front floor mats of their car when they made the mistake of letting her come along to the Independence Day celebration when we were growing up.

That was Maya.

She screamed until Amy and Owen returned to the room 5 minutes after the show was over. Happy birthday, America!

We still had an awesome time, though, and are looking forward to going back again, but perhaps on a less explosive holiday next time.