Saturdays

Saturdays Zorah has a class called Imagination Station at the community center. In theory, the kids visit a country each week and learn a little about it while doing crafts. In reality, the kids color xerox pictures of a nation's flag, a food, a map representation of the country, and a cultural item. Afterwards, they do a craft. They don't really learn a lot about a country this way. However, Zorah has fun. She likes the teacher, and -- most of the time -- she likes the kids. That's enough for me.

On paper, the class runs from 10:30am to 12pm. Since there is only so much time you can take coloring pictures that are at most 3" x 5" with used crayons, we usually get out anywhere from 15-30 minutes early. This leaves us the perfect amount of time to get to storytime at Barnes & Noble.

For any other kid her age, Barnes & Noble storytime would be like heaven in a bookstore. Somebody reads to you, and gives you a sugary Starbucks decaf treat and a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

Zorah doesn't eat sugar if at all avoidable. She politely refuses the proferred crap or says "Yuck" depending on the day. Nevertheless, B&N storytime is still heaven in a bookstore for her. Why? Because there are books! Occasionally she just forgoes storytime completely and chooses her own reading materials. One day I think we spent 4.5 hours in the store reading, with a break for a bagel and cream cheese from the cafe.

On this day, however, Zorah decided to participate, the results being this video and a bookmark made of paper and those foam stickers I have been seeing everywhere lately.

An Action-Packed Thursday

Lately I've been taking Zorah to an unschooling playgroup on Wednesdays, held at rotating parks in the area. One of the people in that group told me of another group, this one of homeschoolers, who have their park days on Tuesdays. Of course Zorah was raring to go. Except it was postponed until Tuesday due to inclement weather.

I don't consider myself to be a really social person, so I was happy to find that it wasn't too hard making conversation with anyone in either of the groups. I guess that's because deciding to keep your children away from traditional schools is a pretty major thing to have in common. What is interesting is the differing mindset of people within one group, which is in turn vastly different from the members in the other. I love it.

Anyway, Zorah had a blast, especially when April, one of the co-moderators of the group, pulled out the parachute. Wheee!

One good thing about this park day is that it is shorter. I have a tendency to hang around until the last person leaves. Since everyone left on time at 2:30pm, I was able to get home in time to change Zorah into gymnastics gear and head to her class. She did some really fantastic things today too. In this video, she does a handstand roll, a backward roll, and backward dips on the beam.

In the next video, she does a backbend, which she never did before by herself. Luckily, her teacher, Miss Barbara, was unable to spot her, being occupied with another student.

Zorah Got A Bike

Today was a rainy day, but it somehow seemed like the perfect time to get Zorah a bike. When we got home, Brian took her out to see how she would like it. She seems to be wary of it, and only took it out for a few minutes.

No rush, though, I say. I feel like if I push the biking, it's a sure way to make her reluctant to try. Maybe it means I have a child's mentality, but I certainly am more inclined to do the opposite of what someone tells me to do than to submit/obey.

The Springs Preserve

Classes started again for Zorah which makes things kind of busy around here. It's not that she has so many in a day as much as that they are at weird times. They are almost all at 4 or 5 pm, which makes it hard to plan the day and get dinner done at a reasonable hour. I have to find quick easy meals that I can cook in about 45 minutes. But I digress.

I've been meaning to take Zorah to storytime at the Springs Preserve, which is a nature conservancy, I guess, one of whose goals is to teach visitors about sustainability, permaculture, and the like. Anyway, on Tuesdays in the morning they have storytime, and I thought it would be a good way to check the place out.

It really does have beautiful grounds and buildings. Even rushing past them all to get to the preserve library in time we could see that. Unfortunately, storytime was a bit disappointing. The reader didn't really get that you have to show the kids the pictures, and many of the kids were uncooperative and bored. One of the kids who was there was an exceptionally rowdy little boy, maybe two or three years old. His mother kept making comments like "I know you're a boy, but you could try to behave anyway." He was a terror, and even harassed Zorah a bit, but I had to pity him a bit. I can't imagine what it would be like to feel that kind of latent hostility coming from my mom all the time. Let's teach the boy to hate himself extra early. Sigh.

Well, Zorah and I didn't make any lasting friendships during storytime. When it was over, we went to the bathroom where they had the coolest hand dryer Zorah and I had ever seen. You put your hands in it and then it turned on and did a quick and fantastic job of drying. Zorah said she wanted one for the trailer.

After that we decided to walk around a bit. On our tour of the park we saw some interesting ideas, such as using broken glass as a decorative and functional mulch? I think that's what it is. It sparkles and holds the moisture in.

Then we saw a bird that we both liked.

We went the long way around the park, then Zorah found the playground. It seems they were having an archaeology workshop in the mammoth skeleton sandpit. While we waited for that to end, we played with a water fountain at the other end of the play area.

After the group left, Zorah helped the staff look for "artifacts" that had not been dug up during the excavation. Mostly she just played with their shovels and rakes. Then we had lunch together in the cafe and left. On our way out, we saw some teddy bear cholla, which is my particular favorite desert plant. Zorah insisted on having her picture taken sitting next to one which was peeking out from behind the rock she sat on.

After the preserve, we went to the Amber Unicorn, a used bookstore that I think I have mentioned before. We stayed there only an hour or so because we had to get home to get Zorah dressed for gym, but she was so tired from all our activities that she crashed in the car. I guess that made it a good day?

Where Have We Been?

Sometimes there are days when you do nothing really productive at all. Please don't assume, however, that all the days I don't post are nothing days. They are just days when I don't feel like blogging, or I pass out putting Zorah to bed. Classes have started again, so soon I'll be back on the video clips and photos track. Until then:

New Year's Eve in Vegas

So the family came and went. That's about how fast it seemed to me anyway. If there's one thing I regret about this cavalier lifestyle is that we are far away from family. (How can cavalier mean chivalrous at the same time as it means carefree and arrogant?) In any case, I hope we see them all again soon.

On New Year's Eve, our much reduced family of three decided to check out the Strip. Police blocked off the Las Vegas Boulevard from Sahara to Tropicana, as well as the corresponding highway exits. We had made reservations at The Capital Grille at the Fashion Show Mall, which overlooks Las Vegas Boulevard. Getting to the parking garage that was open for the occasion was a bizarre series of encounters with mall security, who would check a clipboard and wave us on.

Anyway, after dinner, we walked down the closed off Strip. This was fun for about 3/4 mile, until Zorah got tired and wanted to be carried. This was okay for the additional 1/2 mile we walked to the intersection of Flamingo. At that point, Z was about done, and Brian had to use the facilities, so I parked myself against one of the police barricades holding Zorah. At that intersection, on the east side of the Strip was total chaos. It looked like a mosh pit.

More curious was the group of fundamentalist Christians waving their banners about sin, redemption, and accepting Jesus as your personal savior. The contrast between them and the naked shadowdancer right behind them in the casino window was such a great summarization of Vegas. I tried to take a picture, but I was holding a sleepy Zorah at the same time.

What surprised me wasn't the fact that they were doing there thing in the middle of the Strip on New Year's Eve but the anger and hostility with which they were met. They were cursed, berated, and mocked. One woman had one of her friends hoist her up so that she could get a photo giving Jesus the bird. Did seeing the Christians make them feel guilty? Was it just too much of a buzzkill on New Year's Eve? Doesn't that sound absolutely ridiculous as a reason?

When Brian finally got back from the bathroom, we walked the 1 1/2 miles back to the car. I wish we had a stroller. Zorah did wake up in time for the fireworks, so we pulled over behind the Strip to watch them, then went home and went to bed.

Happy New Year!