Kids and phones

Baby T says, "A little girl can have a phone!"

Apparently, she learned this from an informant at preschool.

Waxahachie

We went to Waxahachie's Scarborough Renaissance Festival today as a very, very early birthday gift for me (my birthday is in June, after the Faire closes).  C has been there before for two school visits, but this was a first visit for the rest of us.  Here are some notes:

• so hard to get into the parking lot!  so far from the entrance!
• C wore her purple flower wreath from a previous visit to the Faire, a purple shirt, carried a purple foam sword, and eventually picked out a purple painted parasol
• almost no cell phone looking!
• so much smoking!  
• This was a Celtic theme weekend, so there were hundreds of kilted men, including lots of men in the famous Utilikilt (it's like a hybrid between Dockers and a traditional Scottish kilt).  
• lots of great Renaissance costumes with a sprinkling of non-Renaissance costumes
• jousting
• iffy toilets (they told us to put the toilet paper in the baskets, not the toilets--eww!)
• I spent a lot of time shuttling myself and Baby T to the bathroom. 
• We saw a falconry show
• C and Baby T rode a camel together
• C and D did bungee jumping (they've wanted to try it for years)
• C and D enjoyed fried ice cream
• there were also a number of impromptu battles between the kids, as we brought along our foam swords--they got pointers from a kind stranger

I was keeping a particular eye on the musicians, as C has a particular interest in Renaissance music, and there's a possibility that she could eventually play at the Faire.  Going in, I was wondering about what kind of instruments are typical.  I'm not sure if this was typical (it being a Celtic weekend), but I saw a number of harps, modern guitars, a mandolin (?) and a ukulele.  I didn't see an actual lute, as far as I could tell.

Another Saturday

Here's what happened yesterday:

• My husband drove C and D out to C's horse therapy out at the ranch.
• I took Baby T to campus where Baby T scootered amidst prospective new students and their families (I did NOT expect that).  We met an out-of-town internet friend and her preschooler and infant, had lunch (also amidst the prospective new students and their families) and then did a loop at the zoo.  It was over way too soon.  They're from the Houston area, so hopefully we'll be able to meet up again in the next year or two.  
• Baby T has acquired her entire set of 8 Octonauts, and really really really wants a playdate to play with her new set.
• In general, Baby T has an insatiable appetite for life.  So, we make cut-out cookies (C took Star Trek insignia cookies to school for First Contact Day) and a couple days later, Baby T wants to do it again.  Or we did our zoo outing with new friends and she's clamoring for playdates.  More more more!
• I haven't planned the summer yet, but we are all hoping to travel to the West Coast in June and there should also be a couple weeks of gifted camp in June for the big kids.  My husband will be teaching some courses.  I have gotten Baby T into a one-day PDO program that promises lots of water play.  Beyond that it's a bit hazy--I do know that I'd ideally like to get Baby T into a swim class, because she's showing a lot of water skills.  

Ollie and Baby T

So, Baby T has just discovered Ollie, the spherical programmable robot.  She was really using a tablet  to program him.

She was also playing with the LEGO Mindstorms set.

I'm not sure how sophisticated any of this play was, but she is interested.