Puppet Workshop

Our local library had a Puppet Workshop this morning. [Finally, an activity I could take the kids to on one of my days off - usually, they're scheduled on the days I work.] We had SO MUCH FUN!

A man from the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta brought all kinds of puppets (shadow, hand, string, rod) from around the world - including a couple he'd made himself. After his hilarious puppet presentation, we then made our own puppets. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

UP

We saw UP today. Pixar has done it again. Absolutely joyous movie to watch - especially in 3D. I was crying 20 minutes into the movie.

World Barista Championships

Richard and I took the kids to the World Barista Championships in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. [Can I count something as a field trip if the kids have absolutely NO interest, but Richard and I are having a blast? LOL]

This was an almost spur-of-the-moment activity. I read about it online on Saturday and mentioned it to Richard, jokingly saying that it sounded interesting. I had no IDEA such a competition even existed! So we went the next day.

A HUGE coffee seller, roaster, supplier, etc. convention was going on in connection with the WBC. To get into the convention one had to pay a "nominal" fee of $125 ... per person. Not for us. The WBC was free! We made it to the final round - the top 5 baristas from around the world (champions in their own country - 52 countries represented) making and explaining 4 coffee drinks in 15 minutes. It was a bit hard to hear and kind of strange to see - there were to big screens, but it was almost easier just to watch the competitor in the flesh rather than on the screens. It was fascinating though. I think part of the judging hinged on the barista's explaining his or her concoction, the process in developing and making it, and the flavors one was to experience - and the accuracy of that flavor description.

There were 4 tasting judges and I also believe there were 2 other people judging technique, but I'm not sure. There was also one guy who drank the remnants of the judge's drinks! Think about it - 5 competitors, 4 drinks each, and 4 samples of each drink... that's (calculating here) 80 half-consumed coffees and backwash. Ick!

Other than that, it was fun to watch. And... best of all... there were FREE espressos and cappuccinos - the kind of cappuccinos with fancy hearts made from the froth!

Oh! The winner? Gwilym Davies of the UK.

And, of course, since we were in Atlanta, we dropped by IKEA for 3 hours or so.

Our Camping Trip

Friday afternoon, we loaded up the car with 1 cooler, 2 tents, 3 kids, warm clothes, and smiles on our faces as we headed out to go camping.

Once we got there (2 hours after we left home - although the place we went camping was only 40 minutes away - errands, you know), we unpacked the car and set up the tents - the little tent for the kids goes inside of the huge tent.


We headed out for a brief hike, then came back to our site to build the fire, roast some hot dogs, and make s'mores.


BTW, the area where we camped was located relatively close to the restroom (using that term loosely as it had no running water, but instead uses a lever system to run the blue scented "stuff" to wash the toilet bowl). It was also beside a stream which was a very pleasant sound.


While making the s'mores, Casey insisted that we tell "spooky stories and play spooky games." We told the stories - still not quite sure what she meant by "spooky games."


The kids turned in around 9:00 and Richard and I read ourselves to sleep around 11:00. Some time later, Tricky started screaming - as she usually does - so I put her in bed with us and grabbed the down blanket she had been wrapped in. I slept quite well once Tricky was with us. *NOTE TO SELF: A down blanket over two thermal blankets make for VERY toasty sleeping.*

Yesterday morning, after breakfast, we headed out for a longer hike - much longer than we had anticipated. We found an unmarked trail and decided to follow it. [When I say "unmarked," I mean it had no trail blazes - however, it was a very well-traveled path.] We walked up, up, up - over (or under) fallen trees, dodging poison ivy, looking at all of the various mushrooms along the way.


We eventually reached a waterfall - not the waterfall we had seen before, the waterfall the camping area was named for - this was a neat little waterfall set back from the unmarked trail. We spent quite some time there, went a little further on the trail, then decided to head back.


We packed up our things and headed out. It was so much fun! I only wish that we could have had company for our camping adventure.

Our trip to the museum

The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University has started a program for young children called Mondays at the Museum. Once a month, on a Monday morning, the museum will sponsor a storytelling activity - the story being set in a particular period - located in an area of the museum with a collection relevant to the story told, and followed by an art activity.

Yesterday's story was Rain Player by David Wisniewski. An ancient Mayan boy challenges the rain god to a game to force the god to send rain so his people won't starve.

After the story, the children (ages 3-5) were given a brief tour of the Mayan collection. I wish it could have been a little bit longer since Casey and I had spent the weekend studying the Ancient Americas.

Then, we made a paper craft, cutting out shapes of jaguars, rain gods, quetzals, and corn. The book was illustrated using beautiful paper cutouts; that was the inspiration for the craft.

Nana went with us and we all had a GREAT time!