Our friend, Cheetah

We went to GCV to see their War of 1812 exhibit. As our time there was drawing to a close, a Monarch butterfly suddenly landed on Roen's hand and he held it for a few minutes. I tried to get close and take a picture, but I scared it and it flew away. It didn't fly far however. It looped around Roen several times and then returned to his hand where it stayed quite contentedly for a good half hour as we roamed around shops and tents. Roen decided to name it Cheetah. While we were crossing a field to return home, the wind picked up and blew Cheetah off Roen's hand. He hovered around us a bit and then landed on Daddy. The breeze was kind of strong for him though and he lifted off flew around us again and then headed toward the trees. It was a really neat experience to see a butterfly that liked Roen.

Girl vs. Boys bowling

We met some friends for bowling yesterday. Roen and his friends bowled and mostly realized when it was their turn, et cetera. The girls mostly danced around and talked and didn't seem to pay much attention to the game of bowling whatsoever. At one point, my friend noted that my daughter bowled and ran back to play at a table with her friends without even waiting to see if her ball knocked any pins down. Kind of funny.

Flying Solo

Simone lost a tooth yesterday. Roen has been my assistant tooth fairy a few times. Today, he asked if he could "fly solo". I said he could and gave him Simone's tooth treats, a plastic Hello Kitty and a dollar coin. We waited for her to fall asleep and he slipped in and delivered the gifts. I asked him where the tooth was and he had forgotten it! I sent him back to get it. He brought me the tooth and I asked where the note was and he had left that too. He had to make three trips to finish the job. Simone said she knew Roen had come in. Roen was a little disappointed to hear that.

Baby Tintin and Simone

Simone has developed a special relationship with Tintin. He will allow her to wrap him up in a wash cloth and he'll just sit on her chest and sing to her. It's so cute. Sometimes she can turn Tintin on his back and even put his head on a tiny pillow and he'll just sing to her the whole time. The rest of us can't get Tintin to do it for us at all. It's kind of odd too because Tintin hated Simone for about two months after she threw a blanket on him in a very misguided attempt to catch him. He finally let go of his grudge though and now he loves her.

Just Google it, Mom

About a year ago, Grammy bought the kids some junky light toys for cheap entertainment. On July 4th, Simone realized that she couldn't find hers but Roen still had his. She asked for another one and I said I didn't know where Grammy got it and thought that was that. Simone got a brand name off of Roen's light and told me to "Just Google it, Mom!"
Sigh, technology!

Apocalyptic Lion eating animals butt first

I picked up Roen from Animation camp, he showed me a drawing that he'd done with oil pastels. All the kids had done large, close-up pictures of animals that were very colorful and pretty. Roen's was very different than the rest. He had more of an apocalyptic scene with a lion eating a pig's butt and then it's poised to move on to a gorilla's butt followed by a goat's butt. There's a carcass off to the side. I wonder what his teacher thinks. I wonder if she recognizes the style is sort of Narnia/Captain Underpants.

My future grandaughter, Venezuela

Sim was labeling a map of South America today. She really liked the name of the country, Venezuela. She wanted to know if the people lined the shore and swayed back and forth in a hula-style dance saying, "Vene, Vene!"

She also says she may name her future daughter, Venezuela.

Hairy Teeth

We went to the dentist yesterday. They called me back to see Simone during her exam because they were cleaning a lot of little hair pieces out of her teeth. They asked me if she was using a natural bristle toothbrush. I told them she was eating her hair which I hadn't realized she was doing until that point. I saw her put her hair in her mouth but I didn't know she was actually eating it. argh! They asked her to stop. She seemed embarrassed. She is also seems to be missing one or two grown up teeth in her x-rays. They'll check again next year as she may be a late bloomer.

ninjitsu skills

Ro is currently fascinated with Ninjas. We've studied feudal Japan a bit and also Lego has come out with a new line of Ninja sets. He's practicing being stealthy. Tonight, he called me into his room for good night prayers and I climbed his ladder but didn't see him in bed. He shouted and jumped out at me from a hiding spot. Aaaaaaah!

Simone is also getting more stealthy. Her great delight is to see if she can sneak up the stairs and jump up by our bed and scare us. She hasn't quite pulled it off yet but she improves every time.