Winter Break Galore

Even PreK homeschoolers need a break now and then. Ok, maybe not the little ones, but their parents for sure. I know, I do. So I decided that the last week before the New Year was going to be our winter break. Besides, there was so much going on and all M's friends were on winter break and available for daytime playdates...

Fortunately, we live where we live, in Raleigh. So we always have lots and lots of things to do. It's a great place for kids for sure! (Hint-hint: cousins, do come visit us with your little ones!)

Honestly, between getting ready for the New Year (meaning deep-cleaning the house), working out at the Y, having tea with my friend and playdates with M's friends, things are a bit of a blur now. But that's why I take pictures - for some near-term clarity in addition to long-term memories.

We went to the Natural History museum not once, not twice, but three times. Once we went to see Tornado Alley 3D movie (that's the picture of us in funny glasses). M was particularly impressed with all the tornado tracking vehicles 'cause they all had either big parabolic antennas or Doppler radars on them. Now every time we see a news van, he asks if it's a tornado hunter. The second time we went to the Discovery Room with a friend. And the third time we went to check out the Genghis Khan exhibit. M seemed very interested at first, then looked not at all interested except for a couple of instances. Yet later that day I heard him re-telling his experience to a friend:

"We went to see Genghis Khan at the museum. He was this ancient important person and a warrior. But not like a jedi. But he had a huge army like clone trooper army. They all lived in these round houses that they moved all the time. And they had swords. But bows and arrows were a lot more important too 'cause they could shoot far. And they wore these things, like metal shirts and that was so when an arrow hits it doesn't make a hole in the stomach. And they had catapults and these big things to shoot huge spears with."

The weather was warm enough and we went to playgrounds a few times. And when it wasn't all that nice outside, M played indoors with his best friend, George. Of course, there were also new toys to play with after each holiday.

M also explained his theory of everything to me (in Russian, but I'm translating for convenience): "I think, that  we and the Earth and the Sun and all the planets and comets and everything aren't real. I think they are toys and a little boy in another galaxy is playing with them."

And he came up with his first real rhyme (in Russian) while walking by a neighbor's house where they still had a big pumpkin by the door: "Страшные тыквы нам не страшны, А даже очень нам смешны".

Finally, on New Year's Eve we went to the Downtown to check out the big tree, the ice rink (it was too warm and the rink, while operating, was covered with a half-inch of water) and the big acorn that Raleigh, the City of Oaks, drops at midnight every New Year. So now M thinks that "Рали - город дубов" and "Когда опускают большой желудь и он касается земли, из него вылетает Новый год".