...

 ...demo, FCY, writing, X-Men '97, ... updates coming soon...

Fledgelings

Spring is here and our back yard has plenty of young families visiting.  The young birds are here, young Phoebes, young Downey Woodpeckers like above, young thrashers, young bluebirds... we're seeing all kinds of fledgling birds at the back deck.  And Mom is really happy to see our frequent visitor the chipmunk, loading up those cheeks like a grocery cart. 

The next generation of sea monkeys is doing just fine, swirling around happily in the tank. I give lots of oxygen and don't overfeed.  They seem to be doing well.  It's hard to take a picture of them though.  You can see an attempt at one of the little guys above, but the tank is actually swirling with activity.

Maddie had a child day at school, her last Tuesday as a junior.  No tests until Thursday, and that's pretty much the last day of significance at school.  She's coasting the rest of the year, and that's okay.  Meanwhile, I was finishing up our Castaway Cove writings, and it's been fun to finish up with the devotional portion that includes actually seven entries dedicated to the cast of Gilligan's Island, one entry per castaway.  For research, I've been returning to that classic show, and loving it.  Tonight we watched a few episodes.

We watched an episode of "Monk" tonight, and after that it was time for bed early.  Maddie wanted to get some rest, so good for her.  We read half of a longer short story, one about Wedge during the events of "The Empire Strikes Back."  We'll finish that up tomorrow.  And after that, prayers, and sleep.  It's been a good day.

Day of Testing

 

You can see we had another day of testing at taekwondo, another step in the direction of Maddie getting her third degree belt.  That's later on next year.  Tonight her friend Chloe got her third degree belt, and another got a second degree belt.  I was on hand as the unofficial photographer taking pictures like the ones above and more, sharing them online for parents who were happy to see them.  Maddie did well, of course. 

It was a long day of testing though.  Maddie had her pre-calculus final at AP, and it was four hours of misery for her.  She was ready to go home afterwards.  But she's done now, largely.  Just one more smaller level test left, and she's done with this year at school.  

Mom and I voted today, early voting.  There were three races with opposing candidates, but otherwise it was a pretty quiet primary.  We got our stickers though, and talked with the poll workers working there.  It wasn't terribly busy today at all.  That will change in November, of course.  Maddie gets to vote in that one.  That's right, Maddie votes in the very next election.

It was raining a good bit today.  Lots of rain lately.  We read tonight, and we said our prayers.  Time to get to bed early though - Maddie had an exhausting day.

The Silver Surfer vs. a Giant Crab

It's the rise of the Silver Surfer!  This morning I returned to an old gag from a long time ago at KidPak.  It went with the surfing theme to have one character dressed up as a "poor man's Silver Surfer." And here I am with a surfboard completely covered in tin foil.  I've got a hat covered in tiny foil too, and Mom pulled out the Tin Man costume from "The Wizard of Oz."  Yes, it's goofy.  But it was fun.

Maddie and other students look on as the Big Kahuna rests dormant in the background.

Everyone on their surfboard practices the three-point hero pose.

Nerdo comes out to read his Mother's Day card.

Camille spoke this morning, and there was Bonnie too!

Afterwards, Mom wanted some Chinese food, so we got some of that coming home.  We ate, and Maddie spent some time studying for her test, while we lounged about the rest of the day.  For Mother's Day, Maddie had worked hard on a really fun booklet that she's been creating.  Mom enjoyed flipping through the pages, reading it and looking at the illustrations.  It's simplistic, but thoughtful and fun.  

And for tonight... the big movie of the night was of course... "Mysterious Island."

You may have been expecting some sort of "Mother's Day" theme, but we were really just continuing our Harryhausen festival.  I actually really enjoyed this movie.  All of it is so outlandish, and Harryhausen's work is so much fun in it.  Mom requested this movie and the two of us watched as Maddie sat at the dining table, studying for much of the night.  She has a big test tomorrow.

We closed out the day reading a short story about a person who studies tauntauns on Hoth, which was interesting.  We'll get some rest tonight though.  School starts up again tomorrow on location, so we set the alarms, said our prayers, and got to sleep.

Back to the Gardens

 Maddie had Team Edge practice again this morning, and the practices are getting a bit longer as we get closer to the actual performances.  But the team is doing well.  The last run-through was fantastic.  We got home, and Mom has been doing her research in regards to her bone density issues.  One obvious direction we all wanted to take is more exercise.  I'm still on the treadmill each day, but today we decided to go for a walk. I suggested we walk at the Botanical Gardens in Gainesville, as we just renewed our yearly membership there.  And so that was that - we packed up and headed to the Botanical Gardens!  

There was a guest exhibit there, a collection of "bug-inspired" artwork created in colorful glass.  You'll see the insects of glass below, along with a hummingbird too.

The weather was actually perfect today.  Even in the sunlight, the cool breeze and temperature were just right for a walk through the gardens.

Maddie enjoyed it too.  She used the camera and spent the time there walking along the trail, enjoying the sights and snapping a lot of photos for her online account.  Here are just a few that she took this afternoon:

Not the bees!

I took a few pictures too.

It was a very pleasant afternoon.  They didn't have any of the local honey there, as it was bought up earlier.  There was actually a good crowd there at the gardens, which was nice to see.  The weather was just so perfect. 

Afterwards, we went over to a new barbecue place (to us, at least).  It was nearby, and it was okay.  Not our favorite.  But the atmosphere was everything you'd expect from that sort of place.  We enjoyed sitting down together for a meal, and then we were on the road again, heading home.

We had some work to do setting up for tomorrow at KidPak.  Also, there was some usual housework to do.  Our movie of the night was "Clash of the Titans," which I surprisingly have a lot of dialogue memorized from!  I saw this a lot as a kid.  Ammon's line, "Call no man happy who is not dead!" It sticks with me because my dad would playfully announce this from time to time around the house.

Anyway, we were off to bed after that.  Maddie was doing a bit of homework.  We were also doing a bit of Battlefront earlier on.  Tonight we read a short story "From a Certain Point of View," and after that, prayers.  The Plush Entourage was down the hall after that, ready for sleep.  Got to get up earlier tomorrow!