Maceo's Computer

You may remember Maceo's befuddlement at his gift from Santa this year. It's a toy called a Turing Tumbler, named after famed mathematician Alan Turing.

Hunh. What is it? I didn't ask Santa for this...

It comes with a graphic novel with a space traveler named Alia who is trying to figure out a new world and it's broken down computer. She has challenges that involve moving parts and falling marbles that she has to complete. Well, yesterday, the boys spent over an hour working on the challenges and figuring out the solutions. It was amazing! They really enjoyed it AND they worked well together.

Maceo indicating the path of a falling marble.

There were lots of ooohs and aaahs as they solved the pages and read further into the adventure.

Look at that focus and cooperation!

I am super excited for more rainy days and intellectual games with these guys!

More Christmastime!

Once Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jim returned from visiting the McMurrers up in Amherst, the boys and I went over for our third Christmas. Luckily, Dad and Susan are expert and experienced grandparents, so they had checked in already to find out what presents would be most appreciated and appreciated they were!

Cassius had asked for a remote control motorcycle and for a few days, he had been telling people about this request. At the orthodontists', at Mamy and Maurice's, and just about anybody he got into a conversation with. 

And look what he got! (It's actually an ATV with four wheels, but I think you can tell how he feels about it!)

LOOKIT!!!!

Grandma Sue also picked a great present--floor hockey! Once we got it home, the boys played and played, and it's been a great tool for learning how to get into (and hopefully out of) arguments! They really like it and in fact, refused to go ice skating because they wanted to play hockey at home instead.

We had to have a discussion on the official rules, as well as a round robin tournament.

Because Christmas was at the Loewen household, we had to follow Loewen Christmas rules: presents were opened oldest to youngest and the youngest was responsible for delivering present to the right person in the right order. Here you see the system at work!

Cassius learning how to read has been a real boon!

 As well, there were a lot of great presents from the McMurrers for the both boys, so they got to practice collaborative present opening!

What could possibly go wrong? In fact, nothing! Thye shared very well!

Christmastime!

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional meal: spaghetti alla carbonara! The boys got to open one present, and we chose it for them--stuffed Husky dogs to sleep with. They weren't actually wrapped because they were too big, so Cassius was upset and got to open a small present, which pleased him. The boys went to bed, and soon enough, it was Christmas morning! And by soon enough, I mean 5 am when Cassius came in. I sent him downstairs where Kate was so that he wouldn't awaken everybody, and Maceo came in at about 7 which has become his normal wake up time during vacations.  We piled downstairs and opened the stockings. There was candy galore, including two pooping windup toys that pooped red and green candies. The boys thought that was ever so funny. Cassius opened his first gift and chose the one from Santa--a snowboard!

Nice job, Santa!

 Maceo also chose to open Santa's gift first--a toy called the Turing Tumble which is kind of an analog computer for him to figure out. It's pretty cool.

He was baffled by it since his Santa list was 100% Pokemon cards.

We continued opening gifts--shoes and pants and games and towels and bathrobes--all sorts of great things.

Then, we ate the traditional Loewen family Christmas breakfast: scrambled eggs with bits of bacon in it and pastry. After breakfast, everyone played and cleaned up and had a good time. The boys helped me take scones and gifts to our neighbors the Pughs and the Bigelows. And the Bigelows got the boys two great presents: Amulet 8, a graphic novel series they really like, and a game called Loopin' Louie, which they've been playing every since!

And Lo! The Angel of the Lord gave them Amulet 8!

Eventually, Kate took the boys out to lunch with some friends who are Jewish. So they did the traditional Chinese lunch and playdate that many Jewish families do. And in the afternoon, the boys and I went over to Mom and Maurice's for presents and dinner. Mostly, this involved having the boys open all the presents their realtor gave them. And the boys really liked that.

But they also got their own presents: some airplanes to build and throw, and best of all--hats with built-in lights! 

Our family friends Paula and Richard were there, too, with their German Shepherd Tara. We had a terrific roasted capon, which Maceo liked. Cassius, of course, liked his applesauce and yogurt. And they both loved the bûche de Noël!

Focus, focus!

Maceo was a little more meditative about his bûche de Noël.

 It was a lovely, family-filled day, and the boys were wiped out on our return. Cassius didn't even get to watch a video before bed, as he fell right asleep in my bed.
The next day, we began writing thank you cards to send out. Cassius was very serious about the task.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow..."

Knocking on the Bigelows' door to deliver the thank-you card.

We took advantage of the last remaining weeks of our membership to Port Discovery, a children's hands-on museum in Baltimore, to go on an excursion. At the museum, the boys played soccer (which has been their favorite thing to do these past weeks), 

scooted,

rolled around in the Mr. Potato Head space exhibit,

studied Ancient Egyptian ruins, 

sprayed water at musical instruments, 

and more and more.

We ended the day baking some Christmas cookies. Whew!

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas

The boys and I went on our now annual trip to Watkins Regional Park. I had hoped to visit either the Nature Center or the Old Maryland Farm there, but we ended up spending all our time at the Wizard of Oz playground.

The Tin Man was moving a little too quickly for a quality picture.

My own Flying Monkeys

 As dark fell, we climbed into the car, exited the park, and then entered again to drive through the Festival of Lights. The boys asked to listen to Christmas songs, and then they wanted just to listen to the same one over and over. I refused. I have some limits, at least!

At home, after dinner, the boys were tired. When I tucked Cassius in, he asked me to come back and check on him in four minutes. I agreed, and I went to fold some of the boys' clean laundry. In two minutes, when I poked my head back in, he was fast asleep!

Out on the Town

The boys and I had several trips/activities to do on Friday. First and foremost was the annual trip to the Botanical Gardens to see their yearly train set they have at Christmastime. Maceo had already gone with his grandfather, but the day had been a busy one and not as entrancing as the previous year. We were hoping that going on a school day (Yu Ying was out before the public schools were!) would help. And it was not very crowded.

Braving the crowds and the weather

The boys liked the trains, and there was lots of oooohing and ahhhhhing.

The cinéaste at work.

Getting as close as possible to the trains

Maceo also made a video of the trip, which you can watch below, if you'd like.

Taking a rest with the poinsettias.

Afterwards, we wandered through the indoor gardens, taking part in the scavenger hunt for certain plants and also keeping an eye out for dinosaurs (They have a handful hidden in the foliage in one of the rooms).


Outdoors, we wandered through a garden, looking for frogs and getting a little silly.

Back home, the boys had lunch and quiet time, and then we went ice skating. The rink near our house is super cheap on Wednesdays and Fridays when skate rental is free. So, for $12, all 3 of us can skate for 2 hours. In theory. In practice, Cassius was too tired. While both he and Maceo have gotten much better at skating, Cassius pooped out after each lap around the rink. Eventually, he lost control and got a time out. 

Emotions got the better of him.

We left soon after.

Publishing Party

The kindergarten at Yu Ying today had their publishing party of the stories they've been working on. This morning, a grouchy Cassius insisted he didn't want me to come. However, by the time I showed up at 12:30, he was happy to see me and excited to show me around the classroom. First, we read his three stories. Two were in Chinese: Goonies and Jack the Cat. The third story was  Mister Fox and Mister Rock. He read them all to me, including reading the one in English (the Chinese stories were more paraphrasing), and he is really improving in his spelling and reading!

The Is Mister Fox and Mister Rocks By Mr. Manolakos P. MaGillicuddy (alternate spelling)

He then took some time to do last minute illustrations and editing of the texts for me, and he gave me a tour around the classroom to see some of the work he's been doing and the things he liked. It was very nice, and I was gently swarmed by his friends Blake, Leo, and Oliver.

Cassius drawing a cat for me.

Some last minute editing while kids and parents meet behind him.

Rainy Day Weekend

The DC region received a record amount of rain this weekend, and we can only think of what might have been if it had been a little colder. Instead, we had to come up with activities and ways to get exercise that didn't destroy the house or the Papa.

Saturday afternoon didn't quite fit the bill. Two of the boys' friends from the neighborhood, Parker and Carter, came over, and the first forty minutes of 4 boys under the age of 8 in the house was intense; it was a bit of madness. However, they calmed down somewhat, though both Maceo and Cassius were awfully goofy, making silly noises and jokes the whole time. We have some friends who have 5 boys, and I cannot imagine how they function on the weekends.

Sunday was a little better. In the morning, the boys and I went to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, braving the elements.

The intrepid explorer in his foul weather gear

It wasn't raining too hard, but we were the only folks there. We walked right past a Great Blue Heron, which was pretty cool, and out onto the boardwalk. Both boys had fun throwing rocks and being silly.

Cassius and his favorite coat, which is not so waterproof

From there, we went to the College Park Aviation Museum, which we hadn't been to in years. It's a small place with some hands-on activities, and this time of year, there's a model train running, so I figured it'd be a good diversion. Of course, their favorite activities were the video game flight simulators.

They pretty much just try to crash.

The trains were also a hit!

They also "flew" a plane, a real one. 

We then came home for lunch and quiet time, and, with the rain stopped, we walked over to our old street and visited our friends Daniel and Lillian who were hosting their annual Hot Cocoa Open House. Our boys went immediately to the playroom and I didn't see them for quite some time. 

NEW TOYS!

We ended the evening by riding around the Brookland neighborhood in a trolley to see the houses with their Christmas lights. At the best houses, we would call out, "Ring that bell!" and the trolley driver would ring the bell, a 12 year old boy on the bus dressed as Santa would get out and go knock on the door, and we would sing a carol to the residents. It was a very nice community activity and the boys very much enjoyed it, especially the one house on Newton were a man dressed as Santa got on and handed out candy.

Créches Galore!

On Sunday, the boys and I went whole hog, Christmas style. First, we went to the Postal Museum to make holiday cards.

They just took off!

We even ran into a friend there with her kids, and we sat with a Russian mom and her son while they worked. Cassius just sat there staring open-mouthed as they chattered away in Russian, trying to figure out what magic this was.

There was a two card limit for each kids, so apologies if you weren't one of the recipients! But congrats to you if you were! (Just a warning, Maceo made his two cards for his best friends Dean and Jackson.) 

From there, we went to the toy store so both boys could cash in their good behavior pompoms on, you guessed it, Pokemon cards and tins. (Insert big sigh from the parents here.) But they were happy and well behaved and the cashier quizzed Maceo on how to play. When Maceo passed the test, the man gave him a card from his personal deck! Maceo then kindly passed it to Cassius, saying, "I already have this one." It was very sweet until Cassius replied, "I don't want it, it's weak." The air went right out of that generosity balloon.

We drove home for lunch, had quiet time, and then walked up to the Franciscan Monastery to see their exhibit of créches from around the world.

I believe this one is from Mexico, but it reminded me of those Renaissance paintings.

This is a favorite: Mary and Joseph as hipsters, taking a selfie, and the wise men with their packages from Amazon.

Maceo was our cinematographer. You can see his movie that he made. He even chose the music from my iTunes collection.

 Cassius insisted on riding his bike, which was great on the way, but then he had a hard time maintaining his motivation on the ride home and had to actually be carried for a hundred feet. When we got home, Maceo worked on the computer to make his movie of the event. (You don't really have to watch it, though.)

Then, we went to a living créche up at Catholic University. Unusually for our family, Cassius rushed right up to the animals and petted them enthusiastically. More usually, Maceo hung back at my side.

A donkey!

A camel!!!

It was awfully cold, so we only stayed 15 minutes or so, but it was long enough to help ourselves to some hot chocolate and get yelled at for getting it before we were supposed to.  Cassius, however, didn't have any, and he made sure to tell us that he hadn't broken any rules.