Dentist
So, not exactly a fun time, but always educational! We did plenty of talking ahead of time, so the girls were well informed about what to expect, and I think this may be the first dentist visit that didn't involve the dentist and I having to cajole at least one panicked little girl into cooperating! Sadly, we didn't come away with a clean bill of health, and two of them are heading back to get cavities filled.

They were actually able to fit Goose in to get one of hers filled this week, and Bug (the more anxious of the two) was looking forward to finding out how this process works exactly. Unfortunately, the dentist is of the "ignorance is bliss" philosophy and made the big girls return to the waiting room and not come back in until the tools had all been cleared away. Little did the dentist know that telling Bug  she couldn't watch would be much more upsetting for my little information sponge than watching her little sister take a snooze during the procedure. I made it up to her by digging up some very thorough YouTube videos about fillings. The Surgery Squad has a great one called Composite Dental Filling. Note, if you choose to show this to your child: This isn't a kids video. There are no "sugar bugs" or "Mr. Thirsty." It uses all the real medical terminology. She feels much better now.

Beach!
Everybody loves a trip to the beach! The waves seemed smaller

the garden in Sector 3

than usual this visit, and the girls were feeling fearless. Goose, for example, was facing off with breakers that hit her in the chest. I stayed close by, so I could help haul her back to her feet if necessary. She'd spit saltwater and run back in again! Eventually, they got all the shrieking, running, and jumping out of their systems, and settled in to build things in the sand. At some point, Bug declared that they were "aliens planting a garden in Sector 3" and her sisters joined her in "planting" bits of kelp. Monkey and Goose also seemed to be trying to build a pond, but gave up when they couldn't get the water to stay on the surface of their hole instead of soaking in. Good times.

We need more water!

A Bit of Living History

After the beach, we returned to our house to discover there had been an emergency water shutoff for our street. 15 hours later we still don't have running water. We have, however, had lots of good discussions about what life was like before anybody had running water. (Now we're heading to the rec center to swim, shower, and pray our water works when we get back.)

The Three Rs

We took a walk to a nearby play-
ground, and Bug brought a book
to read instead. (I think I may have
cloned myself.)

The formal lessons continue nicely (for the most part--we all have our days). Goose is moving slowly through the Alpha-Phonics book (we just completed lesson 9). We've had a number of days when we just use flashcards to review letter sounds, and some days she pulls out a Bob book to actually read (both activities at her request). We've done lots of manipulative work for math focusing on simple addition and subtraction, counting, tens & ones, and shapes (e.g., what other shape can you make with these triangles?).

The big girls are making great progress in Khan Academy (Monkey's at 80% and Bug's at 89%), and of course, we're still doing addition and subtraction drills.They're adjusting well to their upgraded writing assignments, and this week we've been working on thank you notes. Both girls are reading to me and to themselves everyday. Bug, in particular, has taken off! They received the Magic School Bug chapter books for their birthday, and Bug has read at least 8 of them in less than a week! I think our stack of library books may need to get bigger.