Dylan - Night of the Arts

Dylan's middle school held their annual "Night of the Arts" last week. Along with the various art displays, there were choral, dance, and band performances. There was also a basket auction fund raiser. Can I just say that I'm the luckiest basket auction participate? Ever? It seems like every time I go to one of these things, I win way more than my fair share. It's the only time I ever win anything. And, does it really count as winning if you have to PAY for it???

At least Dylan is reaping the benefits and is continuing to get better with her clarinet playing. We always enjoy getting to hear her play in public since she rarely plays for us at home. We're very proud of her progress over the past few years!

(2nd from left)

(closer up)

Scouting in the Science Museum

A few weeks ago, Katherine's Girl Scout Troop had a real "Night At the Museum" experience. The museum doors were locked at 7:00 p.m. and weren't unlocked until 7:00 a.m. Doesn't sound so bad until you consider that it's a science museum. Every corner you turn, you're face- to-face with a bear, a mountain lion, a t-rex, snake, or, even worse, a loin-cloth draped native American.

Here, the girls have just arrived and are well-rested and all smiles.

And then, we were assigned our sleeping quarters. I was hoping we wouldn't be camped out under some hungry looking grizzly towering over us, but lucky us...we got the Native American Exhibit. Yeah, the one with the life-sized, loin-clothed sporting Indian brave taunting us with a spear pointed at our heads. (Since the lights shut off at midnight, and we had only flashlights to use after that, it was worse than it sounds.)

Of all the planned activities they did, the girls enjoyed the fingerprinting activity the most. First, they were fingerprinted and got to study their own prints. Then they learned how to dust for prints on different objects.

And then Katherine made her most exciting discovery of the night. In the pirate exhibit, she found a story about Thomas Tew, a real American pirate. She took the following pictures detailing his career:

While it was not at all a restful night, it was really a lot of fun. It's a night Katherine won't be likely to forget any time soon!

Our Little Alfalfa