This happened...

..and tada!

cheese(ee)!

In their spare time, they have been making iPhones, laptops, wallets and cameras

 

 

The Lord of the Rings, Junie B. Jones style (a collaborative post by L., A.and BR)

Hi, my name is Frodo son of Drogo, but I just like Frodo and that's all.

At first, I didn't want to be the ring-bearer and I was really scared and complained.  But Gandalf rolled his wizard guy eyes up at the ceiling.  I looked up there, too, but I didn't see anything.

Gandalf the wizard-guy told us we had to spare this guy Smeagol 'cause he had a roll to play in our journey.  I hoped it would be a cinnamon roll 'cause my tummy was rumbling, I tell you!  I just wish Sméagol would stop saying "precious" all the time.  It's so annoying.  It's almost as bad as when I don't get to have my favoritest nephew Samwise come over and play!

I runned to Mordor speedy quick with the ring of power.  And that Sauron didn't like it.  He sended the orcs to catch up with us (not "ketchup" silly!) but we runned away.  That Sméagol guy bited off my finger and falled into the really super duper hot lava of Mt. Doom.

 

 



 (For more strange and comical super-impositions, take a look at Gollum singing "Let It Go."  Kinda creepy for kids, preview first maybe)

No tsunami

This afternoon we felt the earthquake that rumbled off the coast of Guam.  The kids and I were at home and I felt my chair shudder and roll under me and my first thought was, "Am I really dizzy or something?" because nothing else was shaking that I could see and no one else reacted.  It turns out A. felt it too and wondered why the coffee table she was resting her drawing pad on was all wobbly!

the Internet is so cool

We learned about some strangely-named ocean creatures in a book and we wanted to look them up to learn more about them.  The Internet did not disappoint.

 

These guys are territorial and press their mouths up to rival males, as if they are kissing, to show who is dominant and has the larger lips:

 



"sarcastic fringehead"



Whoever named this was the sarcastic one, if you ask us.  Though L. found it "cute."



"sea mouse" also known as "beautiful bristle worm"



Some underwater creatures look like muppets:

 

These odd looking worms feed by drawing water into the tube and eating whatever plankton it might contain.  "Fan-shaped flaps in the middle of the worm's body create a water current.  Food is trapped in a slimy net, which is rolled up and passed toward the mouth.  A new net is then made and the process repeated."  (Eyewitness Ocean) 

Be sure to keep an eye out for the evil starfish in this video.

 

Or, an alternate title (as proposed by L.): "Let's study worm boogers"

If you take a large can and pull off the lid and the bottom, cover one end with plastic wrap taped around the edges with waterproof tape, you've got yourself an "aquascope" for tidal pool viewing:

 

 

And behold: a sea snake!

 

 

sea cucumber

And if you get into deeper water, you can always use the old snorkel mask

 

 

And...tada!  That's what we call school! 

Sure, there's writing and reading and math work, too.  But so far, it has been very science heavy, thanks to plenty of experiments coordinated by our resident Scientist:

 



Here, they were preparing the plumb the depths of the ocean floor. 
They took measurements, they graphed their results--it was fun.



"submarine" experiment

 

 

And now he hath a lithp

School has been happening, blogging has not.

We had a short week for our first week and the kids had one assignment: a research project to learn more about where we are! 

 

L. was to research the CNMI and find out what a U.S."Commonwealth" is and how it is different from Territories, Possessions or States.  BR and AM collaborated on a joint project on the history of Saipan.  

 

We spent a morning at the public library one day and unfortunately found very few resources there, and none geared toward children of their ages.  However, there were some non-fiction books available about Puerto Rico and, as the only other current commonwealth possession of the U.S., those ended up being pretty useful for L., though she ended up mostly relying on the Internet for her information.  As to the history of Saipan, the local CNMI Museum ended up being much more interesting than the library for the kids, and we were happy to have tagged along with another class for a fieldtrip there (no photos, too bad). 

 

 

 

Otherwise, we read some good chapter books, did some Math review and tried to adjust to a new groove at home.  Swim class for P.E. is pretty great.

Lunch on the balcony

 

PE!

Here is a peek at A. and BR's final project, a timeline of the settlement of Saipan:

(It was supposed to look like a traditional Chamorro canoe, like the pictures on display at the CNMI Museum)

 

L.'s assignment was to make a short video of her findings:

 

BR started soccer last week, too, and we found a piano teacher for L.  Hey, so far, so good!