Last night, instead of proceeding to bed time as usual, we tried to destroy the earth:
http://www.purdue.edu/impactearth
Larkin and Finn really wanted to explode it into lots of bits which would drift off into space as you would expect from sci-fi cartoon explosions. The best we could do was cause the whole planet to melt and re-solidify as a result of a direct hit from a fast moving chunk of iron the size of Asia.
It would be nice if there were visuals to go along with the results, but we had a lot of fun reading about the theoretical destruction we were wreaking and tweaking all the variables. Also discussed metric vs. english measurements and I made a first attempt at describing the meaning behind Joules, Megatons and (the kids' favorite) Megatons of TNT.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Crime and Punishment
Last week, we were having a lunch break at a local indoor play space. Larkin was describing an interaction between "watcher" and child (she's very careful with language and wasn't sure the adult was actually a parent) that she had been disturbed by. She said the watcher kept scolding the child about trivial things like buttoning their shirt. She thought having someone treat you that way would make being at the play space less fun. The following conversation ensued:
Finn: What is "scolding?"
Me [struggling with a definition for some reason]: It's when someone tells you that they don't like something you're doing. There are usually patronizing connotations. [insert definition of patronizing]
Finn: Oh! So, like, if someone kills someone else they would be scolded.
Me [guffaw]: Well, there are usually more serious repercussions for murder than a scolding.
Finn: I think people who kill should be executed. That way other people will know it's wrong.
Larkin [without even a moment's hesitation]: Wait! It doesn't make sense to kill someone to show people that killing people is wrong!
Me: Holy shit! You guys just outlined the quintessential arguments for and against the death penalty! This is a debate that has been going on for a *long* time! [insert more definitions, a long conversation about states rights and the death penalty and some funny looks from our fellow diners.]
Finn: What is "scolding?"
Me [struggling with a definition for some reason]: It's when someone tells you that they don't like something you're doing. There are usually patronizing connotations. [insert definition of patronizing]
Finn: Oh! So, like, if someone kills someone else they would be scolded.
Me [guffaw]: Well, there are usually more serious repercussions for murder than a scolding.
Finn: I think people who kill should be executed. That way other people will know it's wrong.
Larkin [without even a moment's hesitation]: Wait! It doesn't make sense to kill someone to show people that killing people is wrong!
Me: Holy shit! You guys just outlined the quintessential arguments for and against the death penalty! This is a debate that has been going on for a *long* time! [insert more definitions, a long conversation about states rights and the death penalty and some funny looks from our fellow diners.]
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Belated Seasons Greetings
[email sent to friends and family... I'm not sure I have everyone's email addresses so I'm copying it here as well. If you didn't receive it, and you would like to in the future, please send me your email address.]
I have once again failed to mail seasonal cards and now The Season has officially passed, but I wanted to send a note wishing you the very best with the official Year In Review that seems to become obligatory when we achieve family status. :)
Larkin turned 8 on Dec. 24. This year she got her first pocket knife, decided to subject herself to Crazy Whole-Mouth Orthodontia, graduated from training wheels to 16 mile bike rides in the space of two weeks, started her first business and broke her second bone.
Finn turned 6 on Dec. 30. This year he got an ear pierced, wholeheartedly embraced long form books, discovered that his parents were too slow in Super Mario to be suitable playing companions, developed an interest in games requiring considerably more strategy than Candyland and explored his artistic side.
Emile and I turned 37 in 2012. Man, that looks like a big number. I gave away the book exchange to a new set of board members and attained my dream position of volunteering with no administrative responsibilities, went sea kayaking in Alaska, radically altered my diet which has effected a profound improvement in my health and discovered some deepening wrinkles.
Emile finished the beautiful floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in our living room, became a founding board member of Rogue Hack Lab (apparently we're not satisfied without a start-up non-profit in our lives), built a bamboo bike, improved on his burgeoning bald spot and continued his 9 to 5 slog that makes this all possible.
As a family, we went on our first group plane trip to Wyoming, where we went to an awesome dinosaur museum and even visited an active dig. We hatched chicks in an incubator in our utility room and now have a flock of 11 laying hens and one blind rooster. Needless to say, the prospect of scrambled eggs is not greeted with quite as much enthusiasm as it once was. We joined the local rock climbing gym and Emile and I took a class in belaying so we're now certified to dangle real live humans from the ceiling. We read the Harry Potter series and The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (the latter being pivotal in both my and Emile's childhoods and particularly gratifying). Spell casting in pretend play started out sounding like fake Latin a la Rowling and ended up with a decidedly Tolkien elvish flair.
As always there are more tales and pictures of our exploits and adventures available here: http://hamsderhijinks.blogspot.com
and here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenny.hamilton
Thinking of you all and wishing you the best,
jenny
I have once again failed to mail seasonal cards and now The Season has officially passed, but I wanted to send a note wishing you the very best with the official Year In Review that seems to become obligatory when we achieve family status. :)
Larkin turned 8 on Dec. 24. This year she got her first pocket knife, decided to subject herself to Crazy Whole-Mouth Orthodontia, graduated from training wheels to 16 mile bike rides in the space of two weeks, started her first business and broke her second bone.
Finn turned 6 on Dec. 30. This year he got an ear pierced, wholeheartedly embraced long form books, discovered that his parents were too slow in Super Mario to be suitable playing companions, developed an interest in games requiring considerably more strategy than Candyland and explored his artistic side.
Emile and I turned 37 in 2012. Man, that looks like a big number. I gave away the book exchange to a new set of board members and attained my dream position of volunteering with no administrative responsibilities, went sea kayaking in Alaska, radically altered my diet which has effected a profound improvement in my health and discovered some deepening wrinkles.
Emile finished the beautiful floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in our living room, became a founding board member of Rogue Hack Lab (apparently we're not satisfied without a start-up non-profit in our lives), built a bamboo bike, improved on his burgeoning bald spot and continued his 9 to 5 slog that makes this all possible.
As a family, we went on our first group plane trip to Wyoming, where we went to an awesome dinosaur museum and even visited an active dig. We hatched chicks in an incubator in our utility room and now have a flock of 11 laying hens and one blind rooster. Needless to say, the prospect of scrambled eggs is not greeted with quite as much enthusiasm as it once was. We joined the local rock climbing gym and Emile and I took a class in belaying so we're now certified to dangle real live humans from the ceiling. We read the Harry Potter series and The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (the latter being pivotal in both my and Emile's childhoods and particularly gratifying). Spell casting in pretend play started out sounding like fake Latin a la Rowling and ended up with a decidedly Tolkien elvish flair.
As always there are more tales and pictures of our exploits and adventures available here: http://hamsderhijinks.blogspot.com
and here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenny.hamilton
Thinking of you all and wishing you the best,
jenny
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Addendum to Finn's Rennaisance
I'm afraid I may have colored the world slightly unfairly in shades of sweetness and light in my previous post regarding Finn's recent artistic explosion.
In the interest of fairness in reporting, in addition to the copious love notes that Finn leaves around the house, we also found this gem:
For the record, this note was left as part of a game and does not in any way reflect Finn's true feelings for Larkin.
I also feel a need to share this drawing of a birthday party.
Note the streamers along the top and the stacks of birthday presents to the right. The large item on the left turns out to be a cake atop a three legged table. I had to ask Finn about this one as I was fairly convinced it was a drawing of a raven-haired beauty leaning over from behind.
In the interest of fairness in reporting, in addition to the copious love notes that Finn leaves around the house, we also found this gem:
I also feel a need to share this drawing of a birthday party.
Crater Lake
This is yet another overdue travel post... I figure if I get to things chronologically eventually I'll catch up, right?
In October, Larkin and Finn and I made a quick mid-week trip to Crater Lake. I had only been there in passing (long ago, on the back of Emile's motorcycle) and they had never been.
On the way, we stopped at the headwaters of the Rogue River where the whole river squeezes itself through a 20 foot wide gap in the rock.
That is the closest, by far, that Finn ever got to the railing-- he was suitably impressed by the awesome force of nature. And that was before we saw the notice that someone fell in last summer and their body had never been found.
Emile wowed us when we got back with a memory from his childhood of a local kayaking celebrity making quite a splash (ha! I kill me...) when he shot the headwaters. Hard to believe.
Our next stop was at the ranger station just inside the Crater Lake monument-- although still about 9 miles from the lake itself. They had a small theater set up where they were playing an 18 minute (rather dry) film on the history and geology of the lake that the kids were very excited to watch.
We were there well after the big summer rush, and met up with a park ranger who clearly had more time on his hands than he knew what to do with. During the course of our half hour conversation, it was revealed that there was a junior ranger program which, if the kids jumped through certain worksheet hoops, could result in a junior ranger badge. This became the obsession of the trip.
From there, we went to check into our swanky room at the Crater Lake Lodge:
I mean, really, check out these views!
Before dinner, we did a short hike to several viewpoints on the rim from the lodge. At one stop I discovered just how much Larkin and Finn had actually learned from that film when they had a long conversation with a grandparents-age couple and answered many of their questions about the lake... including several things that I didn't remember from the video. This Grandpa Jim (no relation) also shared his binoculars which I had been kicking myself for not remembering.
Back to the lodge for our fancy schmancy dinner reservations, at which I was clearly (by far) the third youngest person in the room after Larkin and Finn. Our behavior was terribly proper, regarding which several grandmother-types were kind enough to complement us as we left.
After another short hike around the rim of the lake in the opposite direction, we retired to our room for Larkin and Finn's first ever experience of homework, although they didn't realize it. The park ranger had given them each a packet of 12 worksheets, and they had to complete at least 8 to receive a coveted junior ranger badge. We ended up having a lot of fun and learning more about the park, but it was the first time this unschooling adventure has included staying up until 10:30 studiously completing worksheets.
Those dang ranger packets were nearly our undoing the next day. The ranger station at the rim was closed for the season, and Finn could barely tolerate staying long enough to do my coveted longer rim hike before heading back down the mountain to the entry station and the promised badges. As it turned out, we *did* need those steenking badges.
We ended up doing a slightly shorter hike to "Discovery Point" where we were suitably affronted at the eurocentricity of the name. The volcano cone, Wizard Island, could not have been more aptly named at that point in our Harry Potter obsession.
After consulting my maps, I found another hike through a section of old growth forest further down the mountain that we could hit *after* a stop at the ranger station and were on our merry way.
It's hard to see, but here is Finn, wearing his badge and lagging behind on the hike while he discovered he could use its reflection to cast spots of sunlight all around him. This paired well with the spells he was periodically casting from his walking stick.
At the end of the day, we had gotten our badges, many fabulous views of the lake as well as a nice visit with some grand old trees.
We just barely made it to the fish hatchery during daylight hours on our way home where Larkin and Finn were suitably impressed by the writhing mass that was the fishy feeding frenzy caused by the pellets they tossed into the tanks.
The four foot long sturgeon were pretty darn impressive, too.
It was a nicely action-packed trip considering there was less than 4 hours total drive time. :)
In October, Larkin and Finn and I made a quick mid-week trip to Crater Lake. I had only been there in passing (long ago, on the back of Emile's motorcycle) and they had never been.
On the way, we stopped at the headwaters of the Rogue River where the whole river squeezes itself through a 20 foot wide gap in the rock.
That is the closest, by far, that Finn ever got to the railing-- he was suitably impressed by the awesome force of nature. And that was before we saw the notice that someone fell in last summer and their body had never been found.
Emile wowed us when we got back with a memory from his childhood of a local kayaking celebrity making quite a splash (ha! I kill me...) when he shot the headwaters. Hard to believe.
Our next stop was at the ranger station just inside the Crater Lake monument-- although still about 9 miles from the lake itself. They had a small theater set up where they were playing an 18 minute (rather dry) film on the history and geology of the lake that the kids were very excited to watch.
We were there well after the big summer rush, and met up with a park ranger who clearly had more time on his hands than he knew what to do with. During the course of our half hour conversation, it was revealed that there was a junior ranger program which, if the kids jumped through certain worksheet hoops, could result in a junior ranger badge. This became the obsession of the trip.
From there, we went to check into our swanky room at the Crater Lake Lodge:
I mean, really, check out these views!
Before dinner, we did a short hike to several viewpoints on the rim from the lodge. At one stop I discovered just how much Larkin and Finn had actually learned from that film when they had a long conversation with a grandparents-age couple and answered many of their questions about the lake... including several things that I didn't remember from the video. This Grandpa Jim (no relation) also shared his binoculars which I had been kicking myself for not remembering.
Back to the lodge for our fancy schmancy dinner reservations, at which I was clearly (by far) the third youngest person in the room after Larkin and Finn. Our behavior was terribly proper, regarding which several grandmother-types were kind enough to complement us as we left.
After another short hike around the rim of the lake in the opposite direction, we retired to our room for Larkin and Finn's first ever experience of homework, although they didn't realize it. The park ranger had given them each a packet of 12 worksheets, and they had to complete at least 8 to receive a coveted junior ranger badge. We ended up having a lot of fun and learning more about the park, but it was the first time this unschooling adventure has included staying up until 10:30 studiously completing worksheets.
Those dang ranger packets were nearly our undoing the next day. The ranger station at the rim was closed for the season, and Finn could barely tolerate staying long enough to do my coveted longer rim hike before heading back down the mountain to the entry station and the promised badges. As it turned out, we *did* need those steenking badges.
We ended up doing a slightly shorter hike to "Discovery Point" where we were suitably affronted at the eurocentricity of the name. The volcano cone, Wizard Island, could not have been more aptly named at that point in our Harry Potter obsession.
After consulting my maps, I found another hike through a section of old growth forest further down the mountain that we could hit *after* a stop at the ranger station and were on our merry way.
It's hard to see, but here is Finn, wearing his badge and lagging behind on the hike while he discovered he could use its reflection to cast spots of sunlight all around him. This paired well with the spells he was periodically casting from his walking stick.
We just barely made it to the fish hatchery during daylight hours on our way home where Larkin and Finn were suitably impressed by the writhing mass that was the fishy feeding frenzy caused by the pellets they tossed into the tanks.
It was a nicely action-packed trip considering there was less than 4 hours total drive time. :)
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Who Is That Unmasked Man?
And why are Larkin and Finn kissing him?
Last week, Emile was called down to Irvine for one of his very occasional work trips. Apparently, one of his co-workers was trying to convince him to shave off his beard. When he offered $10 as motivation Emile demured, pointing out that Larkin and Finn had already been asked if they wanted to see what Emile looked like without a beard and declined. So co-worker proposed to give the kids the $10. Emile called us to see what they thought. Larkin and Finn decided that, as long as they could split the reward money, the plan was a go.
Amusingly, when we dropped Emile off at the airport, Larkin had mused that if Emile returned with no beard we might not recognize him.
24 hours after his return, we all still do a bit of a double-take when looking at him (as does he when presented with a reflective surface). The general consensus is that we are all ready for the beard to come back. Here is the 5-second-later follow-up to the above photo:
Not big fans of the stubble.
Amusingly, when we dropped Emile off at the airport, Larkin had mused that if Emile returned with no beard we might not recognize him.
24 hours after his return, we all still do a bit of a double-take when looking at him (as does he when presented with a reflective surface). The general consensus is that we are all ready for the beard to come back. Here is the 5-second-later follow-up to the above photo:
Saturday, November 3, 2012
A Very Harry Halloween
We recently finished our mad dash through the Harry Potter series of books. I think it took about 3 months to read all seven. Phew. We watched the associated movie as we completed each book. The movies would have absolutely been too scary for Finn (and maybe Larkin), but because he knew what was going to happen it was not a problem.
I was not expecting the experience to be a lesson in literary critique and film analysis, but it did seem to work out that way. Every movie was paused and discussed exhaustively, comparing the movie's treatment to the book form and arguing the relative merits of each. I was amazed at the details Larkin and Finn remembered as we watched the movies... there were countless times that I was thinking, "wow, they really followed the book exactly in this section" and one of them would point out a subtle difference in the phrasing of a particular piece of dialogue.
Naturally, when Halloween rolled around, Finn decided to dress up as Harry Potter and Larkin as Hermione. I attempted to dress as the strict professor McGonagall, but Larkin informed me that even with a bun and cloak I failed in the stern department.
Emile figured he was already a pretty hairy potter so he didn't need to dress up at all.
In related news, our local co-op carried Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer this summer (very similar to cream soda). Pretty much as close as you can get to the Harry Potter Butterbeer without infringing on copyright issues. Finn, who normally doesn't like carbonated beverages, drank a whole bottle rather quickly, although he decided halfway through that it was actually the other Harry Potter beverage: Fire Whiskey.
Finn had been talking about wanting to pierce his ears for several months, so just before Halloween we took him to the good ol' Piercing Pagoda at the mall. He chose dolphins jumping over sparkly stones. After getting the first one done, he decided that one earring would be enough for now. A few hours later he was ready to turn around and get the other one done, but we haven't actually gone back yet. He had a brief moment of panic when he realized that Harry Potter didn't have a pierced ear, but we convinced him that since earrings were never mentioned in the books in any capacity it was entirely possible that he did. Otherwise, he has been *thrilled* with his new accessory. So now, in the spirit of '80s punk:
Larkin was super excited to design and carve a jack-o-lantern All By Herself this year. She was nervous about carving any curves, so she created an all-straight lines design. Finn designed his own and drew the lines on the pumpkin, but wanted me to make the actual cuts. Larkin's is on the left, Finn's on the right:
Their costumes were a success, although they heard a lot of things like "Hey! It's Harry Potter! And... that girl one!" One house had a party of teenage girls who were big Harry Potter fans and they all had to come out and hug Finn and Larkin. We left to pointed fingers and shouts of "Expelliarmus!" and "Avada Kedavra!"
All that, AND I got to stick my head in their bags of candy and inhale the scent of Halloweens past. Aaaaah, bliss.
I was not expecting the experience to be a lesson in literary critique and film analysis, but it did seem to work out that way. Every movie was paused and discussed exhaustively, comparing the movie's treatment to the book form and arguing the relative merits of each. I was amazed at the details Larkin and Finn remembered as we watched the movies... there were countless times that I was thinking, "wow, they really followed the book exactly in this section" and one of them would point out a subtle difference in the phrasing of a particular piece of dialogue.
Naturally, when Halloween rolled around, Finn decided to dress up as Harry Potter and Larkin as Hermione. I attempted to dress as the strict professor McGonagall, but Larkin informed me that even with a bun and cloak I failed in the stern department.
Emile figured he was already a pretty hairy potter so he didn't need to dress up at all.
In related news, our local co-op carried Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer this summer (very similar to cream soda). Pretty much as close as you can get to the Harry Potter Butterbeer without infringing on copyright issues. Finn, who normally doesn't like carbonated beverages, drank a whole bottle rather quickly, although he decided halfway through that it was actually the other Harry Potter beverage: Fire Whiskey.
Finn had been talking about wanting to pierce his ears for several months, so just before Halloween we took him to the good ol' Piercing Pagoda at the mall. He chose dolphins jumping over sparkly stones. After getting the first one done, he decided that one earring would be enough for now. A few hours later he was ready to turn around and get the other one done, but we haven't actually gone back yet. He had a brief moment of panic when he realized that Harry Potter didn't have a pierced ear, but we convinced him that since earrings were never mentioned in the books in any capacity it was entirely possible that he did. Otherwise, he has been *thrilled* with his new accessory. So now, in the spirit of '80s punk:
All that, AND I got to stick my head in their bags of candy and inhale the scent of Halloweens past. Aaaaah, bliss.
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