Educational Variation

There seems to be a lot of home-schooling material being produced. This probably reflects the fact that many more parents are homeschooling their children. Also, there are probably more charter and magnet schools. Educational variation seems to be increasing, thus giving more parents more choices.

Wash the Car

One way to keep the kids occupied is to have them help wash the car. Today was a sunny day so it was great to wash the car with the kids' help. I made the soapy water and they washed the car with a sponge. Then they rinsed. It kept them busy for quite a while.

Chess

I think kids would benefit from playing chess. They would learn how to think ahead, to plan, and to follow rules. Plus, chess is a safe activity that engages the mind. So all I have to do is get some chess pieces and we're ready to go.

Good Resource

After a very active day, I'll let the kids watch a DVD for a brief period. We borrow them from the library. The library is such a good resource for DVDs and other items. Whoever started libraries in the past--hooray for them

Liking Reading

My daughter is reading "Bad Kitty Gets a Bath." It seems like a very cute book with an interesting plot that kids would be interested in. If kids develop an interest in reading for themselves, then this is a big plus that will serve them well in the future.

Handbuzzers

My kids went to a fun center and won some prizes including a handshake buzzer that they kept using on me. They thought it was hilarious. I recall as a child seeing these handbuzzers advertised in comic books I read. I probably ordered some of these.

To Etch

My daughter is enjoying her "Sketch and Etch Safari" book by Scholastic. It includes a wooden scratching stylus to be used like a pencil to etch I think. The book is about Africa and Africa's wildlife. It is a good book.

Learning Games

I let my kids play PBS games online at times. But recently I have allowed them to only play "learning" games online. I want them to learn while using the computer. One website had a lot of "learning" games including math questions that if answered correctly allowed the runner in a baseball game advance to first base (and so on with more correct answers).

Waning Summer

It seems like the days are getting shorter now that summer is nearing the end and fall is approaching. There will no longer be days with sunshine even past 9:00 p.m., at least not for another year. Now we attempt to wrest that last bit of vacation from summer before the kids go back to school.

In the Back

It is a good thing to have a backyard where the kids can play. Having the kids play on the front yard is fine if I'm out there with them, but I find it difficult to leave them alone in the front yard with cars whizzing by and everything else. Now with the play structure in the back yard, the kids can have fun out there and I can take care of things in the house with a secure feeling.

Camera

My kids are having fun with an old baby toy that mimics the features of a camera. The toy has a button that when pushed sounds like the whirring of a real camera. I guess the kids want to play "camera" after seeing Mom use the camera all the time to take family photos.

Initial Advantage

I've been reading the Outliers book and it begins with a provocative finding--that many talented star athletes are "talented" not only because they are good, but also because of their birthdays. Any young person signing up for some sports will have to be a certain age by a due date such as January 1. A person with a birthday close to the due date that makes him or her a bit older than others will have an advantage because of his or her older age and larger physique. Trainers and coaches will gravitate to these "older" youngsters to give them more attention and resources. This places these "older" youngsters at an advantage that follows them throughout their lives.

Good Food and Conversation

I had a wonderful time today going to a barbecue and eating grilled chicken and shrimp outdoors with friends and colleagues. It was a hot day, but it was made bearable with good food and fine wine, along with casual conversation and tasty brownies.

Electricity Experiment

My kids received a gift from a friend. The gift was an experiment set that included a battery and other electrical items. One experiment involved connecting wires to the battery and to a light bulb to light up the bulb. Another involved connecting the battery to a buzzer. These and other experiments help the kids learn about electricity and currents and other related issues.

Water and Mount Hood

I'm still thinking about our drive up to Timberline Lodge the other day. I'm thinking of the tons and tons of ice and snow accumulated on the mountain during the winter, and how all those tons of ice and snow melt to become tons of water that flow down into reservoirs, lakes, and elsewhere. That is a massive amount of water. It accumulates; it melts. The cycle repeats itself.

Timberline and More

SUNDAY

Instead of going out to buy ice cream cones, I told the kids they could make their own ice cream treat using the low-sugar, low-fat Umpqua ice cream in the refrigerator. I told them they could take an Oreo cookie, crumble it up, and make an ice cream cookie topping out of it. They did this and had a nice ice cream treat they made themselves.

SATURDAY

My family and our out-of-town friend had a great time going up to Mt. Hood on a nice summer day. We drove up to Timberline Lodge and had an exhilarating view of the mountain and the surrounding area. It was overcast on the way to Timberline, but once we ascended, we drove through the cloud cover and rose above the clouds to enter into the direct sunlight on top of Mt. Hood. We also rode on the chairlift, not to ski, but to get an untarnished view of the entire area. We got off at the top and we walked on a stretch of snow that still remained despite the summer weather. Up further, we saw little figures of skiers still skiing on larger patches of snow/ice that endured. The kids had a great time riding the lift and walking and playing on the snow.

Treasure Island Restaurant

We went to Treasure Island, a Chinese buffet restaurant in Beaverton, for dinner tonight. There was a wide variety of food including fish, bok choy, fried rice, hot and sour soup, beef with broccoli, chow fun, clams, and much more. The food tasted great, and there was plenty of seating for everyone. The service was fine, and we all had a tasty, enjoyable dinner.

Timberline History

One nice scenic activity is going up to Mt. Hood during the summertime and riding the ski lifts to get a panoramic view of Oregon. I did not know this was possible until I checked out information about Mt. Hood. In addition, there are tours of Timberline where one can learn interesting information about Timberline, including the fact that it was built during the Depression era as part of the works program, and that President Roosevelt (FDR) came and helped open up Timberline Lodge after it was built.

Reading Poetry

For bedtime stories, we've been reading a book full of poems. This is a wonderful way to get the kids thinking about expressing themselves through poetry, and perhaps later writing poetry. There are various forms of writing, from science reports to essays to novels and more. Poetry should be another form of writing that young people are exposed to.

Yogurt

We made the milkshakes and they were good, real good. The difficult part was choosing between ice cream or yogurt. I wanted to go with vanilla yogurt because it was fat free; it did not, however, have reduced sugar. The other choice was vanilla ice cream that had reduced fat and reduced sugar. I finally chose the ice cream with reduced fat and sugar. We added nectarines, grapes, and soy milk to the vanilla in the blender, mixed it all together, and had a great home-made shake.

Milkshakes

My kids asked me to make milkshakes. I suppose summertime is the time to make them, although I am wary of the kids consuming too much fatty foods. Maybe I can use low-fat milk and low-fat ice cream (with reduced sugar). Perhaps I can blend in a few carrot sticks while still making the milkshake tasty.

Sports and Academics

There are many sports available to college students including rowing and lacrosse. This is a good thing. Being physically active is good for the body, and college should promote physical fitness. Of course, this should not be at the expense of academic and scholarly work, but both sports and academics can be complementary and one can strive to do well in both.

Rock Climbing

It seems like rock climbing is becoming more popular with young kids. At today's Hillsboro Celebration event, there was a rock-climb wall where young kids could try our their rock-climbing skills while staff held onto the ends of the ropes. I've also seen rock-climbing walls at other family events. This is a good way for young people to exercise their arm and leg muscles, and to develop their agility and flexibility.

Asian Grocery Markets

It appears there are more Asian grocery stores opening up. There are seemingly quite a few small Vietnamese or Chinese or Korean grocery store here and there. Then there are the bigger Asian grocery stores like Uwajimaya and H-Mart. From a free market perspective, this is a good thing because it increases competition, satisfies demand, and allows consumers more choices.

Fruits

With the hot weather, my kids and I have been eating a lot of fruit--blackberries, cherries, blueberries, and grapes. I'll probably have to restrict this intake to reduce the sugar we consume. Still, eating fruit seems much better than eating ice cream and popsicles all the time. So more fruit it is (in moderation).

OMSI

I like taking my kids to OMSI because of the science. Girls and boys should be exposed to science at an early age, and OMSI helps accomplish this in a fun way. Of course, it costs money to go in, but we have a yearly pass. I think this is more economical given the multiple times we go, especially during the too-hot days during summer or too-cold days during winter.

Seeing the Moon

There is a bright moon nowadays during the summer. Regrettably, there are a lot of tall trees around the house that impairs my line of sight, thus making it difficult to use my telescope. I like the trees when they block the hot noontime sun, but they also block the moon at night.

Water Filters

My family uses Brita water filters to filter our drinking water. It seems like a prudent expense considering all the pollutants that exist, especially in our modern age full of chemicals, drugs, toxins, factories, corporations, manufacturing processes, and more. Some chemicals and pollutants are odorless, colorless, and tasteless--in effect invisible. Again, filtering water seems like a prudent precaution.

Root Beer Float

At a friend's barbeque today, I drank something I had not tasted for quite a while--a root beer float. This brought back memories of my youth when I thought vanilla ice cream combined with root beer float was the coolest drink around. I had great fun as a kid creating my own root beer float drinks. Those were the good ol' days.

Severing

Mt. Tabor had a "centennial" celebration replete with fun events such as a kids' parade, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, a rock-climbing wall, and more. I noticed some kids in the kids' parade wearing signs on shirts saying they were 5th generation Mt. Tabor residents. I thought it is good that one can trace such family history and anchor one's existence to a specific period and place. And yet there are those bereft of such history--of such anchoring. Many Americans forcibly abducted and kidnapped to be slaves in the United States have had their connections to a place severed. Family connections that had gone back countless generations in one's land were uncoupled. That which had been one's entire life, land, existence, was no more.