Meeting Jane Goodall - March 2007

Part 2 of my "Cool Stuff Happens" series. RMD did a biography book report on Jane Goodall in 3rd grade. I figured RMD would like Jane and I was right. After her report was completed she told me that one of her life goals was to meet Jane Goodall. So of course I got on the web to do a search on Jane and what do you know - Jane Goodall was speaking at a presentation at Washington State University 3 weeks after that search! We were so excited - we immediately made plans to go and see her. RMD's teacher did not mind at all that she would miss 2 days of school, and the school librarian actually gave us the library copy of a Jane Goodall book and asked if we could get it signed! We drove 5 hours to Pullman, WA and lined up at the Coliseum early - there were no advance tickets and we did not want to miss Jane because all the seats were taken. Jane's talk was mainly about her then new book "Harvest for Hope". As I had read it prior to going to see Jane, her talk was particularly fascinating to me. After we saw her speak, we lined up to have the books we purchased prior to the talk signed. The line was VERY long, and it was about 10PM. We were resigned to stay, though - this was a once in a lifetime chance. We were even having fun in line - having met the mom and daughter right behind us. This little girl had also done a report on Jane Goodall and even brought it to be signed by Jane. While we were chatting with them, an usher came around, looked at RMD and grabbed her out of line. Apparently, he was looking for really little kids to get them to the front of the line so they could get to bed! Because RMD is so short he grabbed her too. Well, we grabbed our new friends and whizzed off to the very front of the 2 hour line! Jane signed our books as well as the library book for the school. She signed our friend's book report too. I was able to snap a few blurry pictures, but it was so worth it! Afterwards we went to have dessert at Denny's with our new friends and then we hit the hay at the Holiday Inn (which, by the way, was where Jane stayed as well!) What a COOL adventure! And, I now check Jane's website every once in awhile. I'd love to see her again!

Oh, and guess what? Jane Goodall was homeschooled!

Hmmm?????

What do Louisa May Alcott, Leonardo DaVinci, Robert Frost, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, The Wright Brothers, Lewis and Clark, CS Lewis, Joan of Arc, Hillary Duff and George Washington have in common?

They were all homeschooled!!!!!

For a huge list click here.

A Wild Ride

While organizing my pictures into files on the computer, I came across this one and had to post it. In June, 2008, my cousin Pete came out to visit and we headed to see the Snoqualmie Falls. Look who was waiting in the parking lot for his owners!

Time to plan another trip

As much as I try not to overbook the kids, our schedule is crazy this Fall! Here's an example of a typical week of "extra" stuff - not including schoolwork time:

Monday - APD piano 2:45-3:45 PM
Tuesday - Labyrinth Coop 9:00-2:30, APD soccer 5:00-6:30 PM
Wednesday - APD Jazz ensemble 6:00-7:20 PM
Thursday - WAS 9:00-3:00, APD soccer 5:00-6:30, RMD Girl scouts 4:00-5:30 & Choir 7:00-8:30
Friday - RMD Theater class 12:00- 3:00
Saturday - APD Music theory class 3:45-4:30
Sunday - APD soccer game

That's just the regular stuff. Added to all that are the dentist and doctor appts (not many of these, but still...), Outreach meetings or picnics, GS camp - RMD is going again this weekend, my book club meetings... It's enough to make me crazy! So, I need to start planning another trip. This time I'd like to go to the Yucatan in Mexico, for sun,beaches and more ruins! This time Mayan. I don't need strictly relaxing beach time - just time away from schedules!

Missing TV

Well, this post will come as a shock to Pat, but I am actually missing TV - just a little bit. It's kind of fun when the new season of TV shows comes on. I used to like Grey's Anatomy - although we didn't watch it last year. I bet Pat is missing Heroes. I'll actually be glad to miss Survivor - same ol', same ol'. I'm not sure what we'll do when American Idol comes back on though. Some of the shows we can probably watch online - I just got an ad from Amazon.com about their new video-on-demand service. Heroes is on there - the new season, even. And that would really be better then hooking up the cable again - it's nice not to waste time staring at the TV every night. Nice also that the only thing the kids can watch are DVD's that I choose - usually educational!

Cooking up some science

In February, 2008 Rachel was really into cooking. She loved making omelets for me (she doesn't like to eat them). One day she found an egg that just wouldn't crack. How cool is this?!! I had never seen a raw egg peeled before this day. We ended up hard boiling it.

A "Weird" Concert - September 2007

2007 was the year of concerts. In September we went and saw Weird Al. It was actually alot of fun.



(This is the cell phone that got us back stage passes at the IDOL concert! Here it is doing double-duty as a new age "lighter".)