Grocery Store

I have tried to make big weekly trips to the grocery store, but it just doesn't work for our family. So, I've made it into an educational experience and we make short trips about three times a week.

It is cheaper for our family if I go to just a grocery store. If I go to a Super Wal-Mart or Target, I come back with something like a weeks supply of groceries a Joan Rivers Christmas CD, a new comforter for the blow up mattress, and a beta fighting fish that looks like it already fought, and a sense of pride at my ability to take advantage of a good sale.

Caleb, who is four, comes with me and we use the produce section for math. "Caleb if I have two apples and I get two more, how many do I have?" Sometimes if Caleb has his own little cart we will keep track of how many items he has in his cart and how many I have in mine. We will talk about how many more items he has than in his cart than I do in mine, or I'll ask questions such as, "If I take out the bananas and the apples, how many items will you have?"

I do my best to get Caleb involved in "helping" me get apples, or bananas, or the right kind of milk. The canned items are like stepping into an "I spy" book for Caleb.

Elise is just beginning to sign, so this is also a wonderful opportunity to work on those. Right now she is very proficient in the "more" sign. She wants more of everything! But there are all kinds of animal pictures at the grocery store, so we go over animal signs there.

The grocery store is also a great place to talk about nutrition, being polite, God's generosity, His blessings.

I try to go when the store is not that crowded. I usually go by myself on the weekend, just too many anxious people shopping for the week.

All of this works well because I make several small trips throughout the week. So if you are like me and can't do the calendar with a month of meals (I really envy those that can), adjust your goals and perspective. It's easier.

The Kimball

Today Caleb, Elise and I went to the Kimball. We parallel parked on the road between the Amon Carter and Kimball. You have to walk across a wide grassy area before you can enter the Kimball from this entrance. If you look at the picture, the Kimball is the building that looks like a bunch of greenhouses. Entering this way allowed Caleb and Elise to run around after being on their best behavior in the museum. Nothing is as appealing to Caleb as a clean slate of green grass. He liked being able to run around with his eyes closed without hitting anything.

There is one problem with parking on this side--no handicap ramps, so we ended up having to take Elise and her stroller up steps. Fortunately a museum man in a blue sports coat helped us up the last few steps. All of the museum people were very friendly by the way. The steps are wide and short, so it's worth it to go in on this side of the museum, especially since it is also the side with the big reflecting pool and waterfall.

Caleb kept asking if each statue was a bad guy or Goliath, except for one Asian sculpture with four hands. He said that one looked like Doc Ock. (from Spiderman).

Tips:

• Leave before they get bored. We probably only stayed 30 min. total and that included buying something at the gift shop.
• Give them a place to run and shout afterwards. In fact, have a back up plan if your kids seem tired, grumpy, or in a generally wrong frame of mind for looking at art. And, personally I intend to take full advantage of all free museums before taking my kids to ones I have to pay for.
• Caleb was good with just a few rules that we practiced ahead of time and talked about in the car: Don't touch anything. Do not stand too close to the painting. And do not point to close to the paintings. Oh, and Use your quiet voice.

Relevant Books

I went to the library and chose a couple of books on going to museums. Tonight we read You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum. It is a cute book that really has piqued Caleb's curiosity.

Reading books or watching a TV program about an upcoming event really does give Caleb a script to work from. I learned this when we went to his four year old check up. He knew we were going, and he knew he was going to get a shot. By coincidence he happened to watch an Oobi episode where Oobi goes to the doctor and gets a shot. This twenty minute program totally prepared Caleb. I recommend taping the episode so that you have it on hand whenever you make a painful doctor visit. Caleb did not cry at all and he got four shots. The next time we went in to the doctor we ended up getting flu shots. This was a suprise, one neither I nor Caleb was prepared for. It did not go well.

Playing Museum

Today Caleb and I made a museum and then "toured" it. Special emphasis was put on being quiet and staying several feet back from all of the pictures and sculptures in the museum.
Caleb is pensively regarding a recently acquired contemporary sculpture in the minimalist genre of his mother's latest work.

Museum prep

Today while eating lunch Caleb and I talked about going to an art museum. We talked about how we were supposed to stand way back from the paintings and the sculptures. We will continue to talk about museum etiquette.

We also made scuptures from tin foil. This one is entitled Exercise in tin foil and artistic futility while fending off a one year old. Not that it would have looked any better without the extra "help".










This one is entitled Tin Foil Cannonballs and Swords.









And we painted as well. This one is a picture of an Apple tree in a rainforest. I accidentally put the picture in on its side, otherwise, I'm sure you would be able to tell exactly what it is.

Museum delayed

We had to put off the museum for a week. Caleb was sick for most of the week and then I was sick for the remainder.

Cross Timbers' Adventure Land

Cross Timbers Adventure World Playground park in North Richland Hills is a nicely shaded park. The play area is pretty big, but it is built to accomodate handicapped children. (I noted a special swing, and extra wide, genltly sloping ramps. Elise was able to climb on much of the play equipment. She knows how to turn around at the tops of slides and go down backwards on her tummy. But she was having a hard time on a number of these slides because her foot kept getting caught at the top. Most of the slides at this park didn't have a good platform to turn around on. Eventually she modified her slide. She now goes down head first.

Abundance of woodchips and trees. Elise loves to eat woodchips.

The only thing I didn't like about this park is that it was pretty close to dense woods and busy highways. Especially for a big play area that was kind of spread out. There were a couple of times When Caleb was out of eye sight due to the size of the play area and being close to woods and highways made me a little nervous.

coming up--Amon Carter, Kimball

This week kids and I will be visiting the Amon Carter and Kimball Art museum. Both permanent collections are free. This would be a risky trip if I didn't employ a backup plan. Sometimes museums just don't work out. Between the two museums is a large expanse of grass, if weather permits (and we probably won't go if it doesn't) we will bring a football or frisbee, and a picnic snack.

Vista Ridge Mall

When my one year old was at the three steps and then face plant(if she was lucky and didn't hit a table corner on the way down) walking stage this was a great place to go. Its about a twenty minute drive for me, but well worth it.

Find the entrances on either side of the Foley's for the kids play area.

Every surface is rounded and soft and gently slopes. Except for colliding with the occasional errant toddler or befriending the baby with a biting fetish, your one year old can move freely and safely without hearing, "Don't climb on that!" "Well that is what happens when you attempt to dismember the cat!" "No, do not eat potting soil!" "The fireplace is not a sand box!"

There is one entrance in and out of the play area, so as you guard that you can pretty much let your child roam at will. Its like an oversized playpen.

Family bathrooms are close and user friendly.

My four year old still enjoys going, but he is more impressed with the glass elevator that is nearby.