Prime surprised me

Prime really surprised me today. Daddy took off his training wheel last night and this morning, I took him to the park to try to learn to ride his bike w/o training wheel. I was thinking this will take like 5 days before he get the hang of it.

It was very hard at first, I had to hold on to the back of his jacket very tight. I can tell he was leaning on me heavily and it was very tough with lots of stop and go. After a round of that, I was getting tired of holding on to his jacket so instead I put my hand high on his back just below his neckline. That was much better....it was a lot easier for me that's for sure. For him, there was lots of major swerving, but I think that is because he was learning how to find his center.

After a little bike riding, Prime is ready to stop and go play. I used a line I just read this morning in "For the Children's Sake" by Susan S. Macaulay which says in the section about the habit of self-control, " I can see you don't feel like continuing xxx. But it is your duty to try as hard as you can. When you finsh xxx (this lap), then you can go play". She also talked about the question is not "What do I want?", but "What do I think is right in this instance?" That really struck a cord with me.

So Prime decides to finish and I thought since we're close to the end of the loop, I'll see if he can ride by himself for maybe 5 sec. So I let go (thinking he is just going to crash), and the first time, he rode off for about 6 secs before I caught up with him to stop him. He rode so fast that I was so stunned that I didn't want him to crash really hard on the path. After that, I realized maybe he can balance by himself after all. So we tried again and this time he rode by himself for a good minute before crashing onto grass as he had trouble turning and breaking. We talked a little about braking and slowing down when there is down slope and we practiced that a little bit as well. But I think as long as I help him start off (save that to work on another day) and more practice, he can ride a real bike by himself! YEAH!

I couldn't believe the transition was so fast. What kids are able to do just amazes me. It wasn't that long ago he didn't even know how to ride a bike because he had trouble coordinating his feet. He never had a little bike. This bike is it. But today, just amazing!

Look at him go!

Rewarded with a treat.

O.P- Making ice cream in a baggie

J made ice cream in a baggie at the organized playground (O.P.) program today. I was honestly a little surprised that it worked well, esp. since it did turn from total liquid to ice cream like texture.

Prime says, "mmm....it is SO yummy!" while J says, " Good, tastes little like coffee." ( I think that may have been a little too much vanilla extract) :)

To make the ice cream in a bag, add some milk, vanilla extract, 2 packets of sugar into a zip lock bag. Then in another larger zip lock bag, put some ice and rock salt, and put your smaller bag into the large bag. Then, just wait until your mixture changes into ice cream.

I'm no expert at this so we did a little research on the why's. For a more measured recipe and a little chemistry, click here for more info.


J says it was so cold so she had to squish it around in her mouth.

Prime was busy rock climbing while J was making her ice cream in a baggie. Jumping on the inflatable is always fun.

enjoying summer

We finally got a chance to see the beautiful peonies and even though we missed the peak time (early to mid June) to see it, we still got to see some. I especially want the children to see as many traditional Chinese dresses like the "qipao" have peonies.

J didn't think this particular kind smelled nice. She like the smell of the white peony variety (picture below).

We also saw Echinacea or coneflower today. I remember it seeing it just yesterday from Lisa @ 5orangepotatoes. Lisa, now I finally know what you are talking about when you did the cone flower give-a-way. I actually thought it was Cornflower. LOL! Thanks!


My brave little climber. There was an earlier discussion about our tonsils so Prime wants to check out daddy's tonsils.

Going through the trails; stopping at the "Fairy Woods &/Troll Hollow"

Trying something new: swimming in the river. Believe it or not, the kids were scared at the beginning and J asked a whole bunch of questions like is there crab in there? How about lobster? Daddy said, no, those are in salt water like ocean but you might find some fish in there (as we see someone fishing) but they won't bite or bother you to which J says, well shark is a fish and they bite! Just go ahead, we tell them. Few minutes later, they were having a ball! We had to tell them not to go too far as the drift gets very fast just past this island.

Playing with a captive painted turtle. It belongs to S.

Building and learning by doing

One of the focus in our homeschool curriculum's craft is wood working. Due to my lack of experience with that, I signed the kids up for Lowe's free kids building workshops. It was actually pretty good. The kids made a pirate ship. J had no problem while Prime needed some help in hitting the nail straight and hitting it hard enough. But with a little practice, he will have no problem. It was a great experience; the kids liked their own creation and wants to come back and make more and we will do exactly that. They even get an apron and a certificate with a patch to iron on. I saw many kids there with lots of patches. Some even got goggles.




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Later, we went to attend but also to help to put up decorations for a baby shower. Congrats, S. We can't wait to meet your baby girl!

J and Prime were good little helpers: setting up the table clothes, carrying the presents, decorating with banners and lanterns, putting blue stickies on the wall ( J said they are kinda of like play doughs) to hang decorations, and even blowing up balloons. They learned if you don't hold on to the balloons (since the balloons haven't been tied to a string nor to their wrist), they will fly up into the tree, and then to the sky.

After the party, I encouraged the kids to hold the puppy and they tried and learned that Max is a very nice puppy. (We have no dog nor cat so my kids are always quite weary of dogs/cats esp. since once when Prime was young, a hyper puppy knocked him down from behind and J got scratched by a hyper puppy). So I'm proud of them for trying to overcome their fears. Today, they learned through doing that its not too bad.




Just wanted to share, my sister in law and her son made that piece in the back of Prime. Too bad I didn't get any good pictures. But it is filled with diapers and decorated with baby toys, a crown and a tutu for the baby girl. How cute is that!

frolicking on the beach with friends

Who knew kids could be so interested in the Symphony Orchestra? Not. But, boy were they excited to go to tonight's event. J remembers going there last year. It is a little bit of drive for us but I guess the kids remember having a good time and just can't pass up the opportunity to see their friends. The kids did have lots of fun with sand and even though they were not suppose to be in the water, they still found a way to be in it and have a lot of fun. I loved watching them play!


Water fight - so much fun to watch.



Prime being patient with a wee one and making his own sand structure.

J dug a deep tunnel and got lots of other kids to join her.

The actual concert. It was after all great music! Thanks to Target for sponsoring the event.