An Afternoon At the Museum

For Christmas, Uncle Sergio & Auntie Kyla got our family a membership to the children's science museum here in Columbus, known as COSI.  What a unique and generous gift to give to a family...they also gave my other brother a membership to a new children's museum in Dallas.

At the Gadgets area of the museum Gaby is the one who most would enjoy this section for obvious reasons.  He used tools to build something and to destroy take things apart, while Christian and Jojo shot baskets.  Around the corner I was able to view videos on factories.  I saw how ice cream was made and other interesting processes.

In the huge Little Kidspace there are many places to climb and toys to build.  This area is great for the parents to relax while the kids run around in a safe enclosed place, and older kids can hang out and play games in a different space so they don't get mixed up with the little ones running around.  Jojo found the trains, so we were here for awhile.

The Ocean area waterfalls were fun for the kids who ended up getting soaked when they tried to connect different pipes to get the water flowing in certain directions.

Jojo was determined to wait in line so he could go inside this little yellow submarine.

There is also another area where you can experience the motions and sounds of a different submarine as it crawls along the ocean floor viewed through the windows.  My stomach couldn't take it so I could only stay for a little while...it's that real. Dragging Jojo out to see the other exhibits was difficult.

Here Jojo takes command of the Dora the Explorer spaceship. 

The inner courtyard has a little house.  I'm fascinated by these tiny spaces, so much so that I have a link to the right for the Tiny House blog.  The Life Exhibit was also one of my favorites. One day we soon we will visit the giant movie theatre; Gaby wants to see Toronado Alley. Should be a blast, as long as the seats don't move while we watch the movie!

Nana Came to Town

Nana came to celebrate Jojo's birthday.  The boys went to the Halloween store and found this year's costumes: Transformers.  Christian, who is scared of the scary masks, did not go inside so he had no choice but to dress as a Transformer this year. 

We walked to the car show down the street.  I imagined riding in this car and waving my hand like Mrs. Bucket (That's "Mrs. Bouquet" to the commoners). 

Gabriel

Jojo

Christian wanted to do "something fun", which means anything outdoors.  Mike and Brenda took them to the park and to the creek.  They were worn out afterwards.

We went to the German Festival and had our fill of frankfurters.  There was a park for the kids to jump around in blow up trampolines, go on manual train/airplane rides, and face painting!  The live music was the best -- if you've never heard a polka-ized version of 'La Bamba', you don't know what you're missing!  The costumes, the food, the craft booths were so much fun. 

Nana and I also took Christian to the ER on Sunday night, but other than that, we had a good time with Nana! 

Anything involving Christian is usually a long dramatic tale.  I only add this so I'd remember:  right side pain could be the appendix, pain on the left side is probably gas.  Never take Christian to the ER when he has pain on the left side.  Never take him when Nana is in town the night before school when he's the only one who has school the next day.  Remember that his hip could hurt due to growing pains, though, just like Uncle Jimmy, somewhere around puberty.  Remember to look at all surrounding circumstances before taking him to the ER (Is Nana in town?  Is Monday the next day? Make sure Christian sleeps in his own bed the night before school when Nana is in town.)

Fall is in the air.

All the Children

While Christian had soccer practice, the boys played at the playground on a typical windy March day.  Among all the screaming, laughing children was a lone figure named Ramona standing high up on the jungle gym.  The children ran around her to climb down the bars or slide down the slides.  Ramona was unsure what to do.  I remember I'd seen her before; she's a middle aged woman with the mentality of a shy child.

Gabriel complained that he couldn't find a friend to play with.  I told him to go ask someone to play with him.  It's so much fun watching how the kids interact with each other.  Finally, Gaby found another boy and he sidled up to him.  They stood shoulder to shoulder and Gaby turned to him slightly as he muttered, "Hi. I'm Gay-bee-ole." Gaby didn't look directly at him, but past the boy in hopes that he had found a friend.  Gaby's eyes were wide with anticipation, but no worries.  The boy gave his name and they were fast friends, two peas in a pod climbing up the bars together and chasing each other.

As I waited for Jojo to take his turn on the slide, Ramona gleefully slid down and as with any other child I enthusiastically said, "Whee! Oooh, you went down fast!"  Ramona stuck out her hand and introduced herself.  She spoke to me in both Spanish and English.  "Look what I have," and she pulled out her cell phone.  It was time for Ramona to leave.  I wondered, where are her parents?  And then I realized her parents must be very old or maybe even deceased.

I hope we meet again.

Faster than a Rolling 'O'

Christian: You're not allowed to wear the Darth Vader mask at the Balloon Fiesta.


Gaby: Yes I am, but you're not allowed to wear that cape at the Balloon Fiesta.



Nana and Papa came for the Balloon Fiesta in October. We saw the Glo-deo one evening and then came for the Mass Ascension one weekend.

The boys dressed up in their new Halloween costumes to see the Storm Troopers with the Darth Vader balloon.

The latter half of the month Gaby stayed home from preschool because he had his tonsils and adenoids removed.  He got to stay one night at the UNM Children's Hospital, which is a very nice place for children.  They have a special family room and a rooftop playground.  Plus, Mother Goose came round to read a story to Gaby who was very groggy and sore after the surgery.

Gaby gives tonsilloadenoidectomy surgery a one thumb rating.

One thing that was stressed to me by the numerous nurses and doctors:  make sure Gaby drinks plenty of fluids!  That first weekend home he hardly ate more than a bite of a popsicle or taste of yogurt or sip of juice.  We resorted to feeding him fluids with a medicine dropper.  The second item stressed:  keep ahead of the pain by giving him medicine every 4 hours the first few days.  The worst part was right after the surgery when Gaby came out from under anesthesia and I had to calm him as he kept waking/crying and passing out.  Although Mike stayed with him before surgery, he was unable to be there afterwards and Gaby remembered!  "Where's Daddy?  I want Daddy!" he would ask before he'd pass out.  It was the same scenario when he had his ear tube surgery a few years ago at the age of 17 months.  Only this time, I was prepared and not pregnant or hormonal when I had to see him like that. 

Since he's had the surgery, he no longer snores at night and sleeps well.  And he seems to have so much more energy and is less cranky, too.  He'll have another sleep study in January to see if the apnea has disappeared.  Gaby had an ear infection soon after the surgery, so he'll have his ears checked next month.  Only this time, he didn't have a sore throat and that was a relief.

From Flamenco to AC/DC

A couple weeks ago my mom and I went to see a flamenco show, "Seis Cuerdas para Dos Tacones" (Six Strings for Two Heels), which was part of the annual Flamenco Festival here in Albuquerque. As a little girl, I wished to learned to dance flamenco, or at the very least, sevillanas. The guitarist, Juan Antonio Suarez ("Cano"), and flamenco dancer, Concha Jareño, performed such a powerful show with a modern twist on the traditional dance. In Concha's first dance number she wore a beautiful red dress and was laying on the ground so that all the audience saw were ruffles...and then she waved her arms and made beautiful forms that looked like birds sweeping the air. The way she used her costumes and her body with both fury and gentleness was incredible.

Here is a video on YouTube of Concha dancing:

In flamenco dance there is usually an ensemble with a guitar player or two, both a male and female dancer, a singer, and back-up clappers to add rhythm. However, Concha Jareño danced solo with the guitarist/composer Juan Antonio Suárez. Here is a video I found of both of them collaborating with an ensemble group, and actually it's quite jazzy. I hope Gaby shows an interest in Spanish guitar someday. But neither of these videos do their performance any justice!

What is fascinating to me is how Spanish guitar can sound like two or three strummers playing at once. This anglo must have gypsy blood! I wish I could find a better video with Juan Antonio Suarez's music, but this will give you an idea.

Maybe someday the boys will appreciate this type of art.

Last night I had my fill of 80's hair and AC/DC, Anthrax, and Metallica when we took the boys to the monster truck show. Gaby, especially, was excited about watching the motorcycles, smash up cars, and the monster trucks and also seemed the enjoy the music. The star of the evening was a local who drives the Pit Bull monster truck and was quite a character hyped up on testerone, loud engines, and screeching tires in front of the crowd....see their web page and you'll get an idea. It was actually a good time and something different for us to do. We went to an outdoor arena so it wasn't as loud. We wore ear plugs, except Jojo. Jojo learned to cover his ears when it got too loud. The best part for Christian was the blow up jumpy trampoline slide thing that was set up for the kids.

It hardly rains in Albuquerque, but last night we got rained on at the show. I used one of Jojo's diapers not only to soak up the rain water, but for extra cushioning for my delicate derrier on the backless bleachers. That was Mike's excellent idea.

Another smashing good time.