Blog Carnival "normal" day

Thanks to Ren Allen for suggesting the "normal day" blog carnival topic over at familyrun.ning.com -- tracking our day yesterday was an amusing and interesting activity. I know young children say all kinds of things and ask all kinds of questions, but some of the questions and statements were more interesting/amusing than normal, I think...

Sunday Aug 4th, 7:30ish - Jet (3yo) wakes up and reaches for two hourglasses, one of which I found last night. I couldn't remember if they were both 3 minutes so we did a little experiment to find out. "Blue's going to win because blue's my favorite color."

Next, we check on the fire department to make sure everyone is still there and ruminate over whether there were any overnight emergencies.

Then we head downstairs because Jet proclaims we're going to have pancakes this morning. Blueberry. Except we don't have blueberries, but would strawberries and raspberries do? After preparing the dry & wet ingredients, we decide we're not that hungry and to wait for Erik to wake up.

Time for some pipe construction -- "but you have to line up the 'apc' codes". I say "oh, the UPC codes?" I go on to talk about how each code is unique to the item that's sold, but he kind of ignores me and goes back to the kitchen (probably because he knows about UPC codes from scanning at the supermarket checkout, or mom is boring this early in the morning).

In the kitchen it's "let's make ice cream". We recently got a hand-me-down circa '70s Donvier ice cream maker that we haven't tried using yet, but Friday I put the canister part in the freezer because the box says you need to chill it in the freezer for at least 5 hours or overnight. Yesterday we were busy with other things, but today, we thought we'd make the ice cream for Jet's grandparents, who were coming over for lunch. The instructions were missing from the box, so I found and printed them off the web but didn't spend much time reading them (more on this later).

Erik comes downstairs and we have breakfast. Jet is a bit overzealous with the syrup and ends up with pancake soup. Mmm.

Jet: "Let's play poptropica." (online game)
Me: "OK."
Jet: "Why do they make new islands?"
Me: "So people keep coming back, and they can sell advertising". And we talk about that a bit. The ads are new since the last time we played about a month ago. There are transition screens that used to have just a backdrop, and you moved your avatar across the screen to get to the other side. Now there's a big Sears ad taking up most of that space.
Jet: "I changed my mind. I don't want to play poptropica right now."
Me: "OK. Wanna go outside?"
Jet: "Yeah yeah!"

It's around 9:30 as we head outside. The rain barrel is full from a heavy rain yesterday -- perfect for dredging/working on the evolving dam. Jet asks "Is water very strong?"

I remember to take a video of what our "door bells" sound like, a response to a post by Julie Boerst on familyrun.ning.com.



Some neighbors come back from hiking on the trail at the end of our street. Dad and daughter. Daughter joins Jet in dam-building, then they decide to jump on the trampoline. While they do that, I knit a few rows of my bumblebee socks and chat w/neighbor.


Then it's back to the rain barrel, with a pit stop on the stone wall along our property to play fireman for a bit. Back at the rain barrel, Jet says that they need an "in-charger". I say "oh, you mean someone in charge?" "Yeah." So neighbor becomes the "in-charger" and Jet becomes the "in-spector", the structural engineer whose job it is to make sure there are no "pressure leaks" in the dam.


Neighbor dad goes to his house to get a snack, so it's just me w/the 2 kids. Out of the blue, neighbor daughter (4yo) says, "Jules, my dad has a big penis. And behind the penis is, like, a ball". I kid you not. And this was said not 2 days after a friend of ours was telling us about her 2yo daughter loudly saying "Daddy has a huge penis" in the grocery store.

Meanwhile, Erik is picking up the trash that got strewn around the knocked-over trash can (raccoons). There's even a chunk of leftover mushroom quiche around the corner and up on the patio. Guess the raccoons enjoy dining al fresco too. After some under-the-breath muttering, Erik heads off to the market to pick up some salmon to grill for lunch.

Other neighbor kids come out and they all ride bikes for a bit. Jet gets bored of riding and wants to jump on the trampoline instead, so he and I go jump until we're tired.

Back inside, it's ice cream-making time. Remember, I didn't read the instructions; just checked that we had the ingredients. Turns out you need to cook the mixture, then refrigerate overnight. Doh! We make the mixture but have to wait until tomorrow to actually make the ice cream.

11am - Jet wants to watch Coyote & Roadrunner. Works for me. While he's watching that, I straighten up the house and vacuum. Erik comes back from shopping, marinates the salmon and mows the front yard. I finish cleaning, solve a little more of last Sunday's crossword, and join Jet who's watching a different Looney Tunes, "A Bear For Punishment". He asks "What is punishment?" We discuss for a bit. Then later, he asks "What's instinct?" I ask him where he heard that, and he said in Bugs Bunny, the circus episode, which we hadn't watched recently, but I guess was something that popped into his head.


Oh, sometime during this timeframe he made "cheese and cracker soup" with his snack and drink. Sorry, no pictures of that to share.

1pm - Lunch w/grandparents. Frisbee throwing w/Annie.

Jet is busy in the sandbox, creating a "water demolisher". I tell Jet his "water demolisher" reminds me of Anasazi cliff dwellings.


4pm - Grandparents head out, and Jet zonks out. Sometimes he naps, sometimes he doesn't. Today it's a long one.

6pm - Dinner & Coyote & Roadrunner again. Jet asks "What does TNT spell?" I offer "tint?" We look up what it stands for -- trinitrotoluene.

After dinner we go for a stroll down the path to check for frogs in the bog.


Jet takes a few photos unassisted:


We come back and build a marble run.

Then we read some books. Jet loves designing and making zany contraptions, a la Rube Goldberg, and I found an Arthur Geisert book, "Lights Out", at the library that is right up his alley. The premise of the book is awful, but the contraption is fun. We read that and look at a couple of Goldberg inventions, then move on to the "thin books".

The "thin books" are the "Let's Read and Find Out" series, and we read "Hear Your Heart" and "What Happens to a Hamburger?". This reminds him of the model body we have and so, of course, there goes the man's entrails again.


By this time I'm pretty beat. Jet & Erik build a small train track and wrestle a while; eventually we all crash for the night.