January has been loooonnnng. Part of that may be the extreme frigid temperatures, the fact that we are in a small apartment in a new town, or that Luke's school can't decide what to do about the weather. There are two hour delays for wind chills, early dismissals at the threat of a snowflake, and snow days called when there's not even a dusting on the ground. Our house in SC is still on the market and we don't have any immediate home prospects here in Greensboro, so we're trying to be patient... and waiting... and waiting some more. We're craving consistency all around, and trying to make the best of what has seemed like an endless month by finding fun activities to keep us occupied.
One of our favorite January discoveries has been the Greensboro Science Center. It is an incredible facility for families that includes an aquarium, zoo, science museum, and Omnisphere theater. We received a membership for Christmas, and we've been there every week since arriving in NC. There are live shows, an outdoor animal discovery area, and something new to see each time we visit. Here are some of our favorite things at the Science Center:
Mommy's favorite exhibit is in the herpetarium, and is a rare, two headed yellow-bellied slider:
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L&L indulged me by imitating this creature in the turtle shell outside!
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Leah's (and Clayton's) favorite animal is "Frank", the baby alligator:
One of Luke's favorite exhibits is the "Wild Weather" room. He can now spout off facts about all types of natural disasters and recently stumped me with a very specific, scientific question about the formation of tornadoes:
Thankfully, our future meteorologist does still remind me that he's just a kid as he and Leah play for hours in the Children's Alley, which includes this fun teeter-totter plane:
We all love the prehistoric area, which includes life-sized exhibits of dinosaurs, including this T-Rex (who actually roars as you walk by!):
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| This teeny tiny girl doesn't seem frightened at all by the giant behind her! |
The SciQuarium at the Science Center includes a penguin exhibit, five brand new baby otters, a hands-on petting area for the sting rays, and a large shark/ocean tank which we love. We're excited to have this fantastic facility that we can visit over and over again this year!
In the spirit of trying new things this month, we attended our first Cyclo-Cross bike race when our friends were in town for Leah's birthday. We cheered on our friend, Rick, as he braved the yucky freezing rain to compete in the race, while we tried to find shelter wrapped in garbage bag ponchos and huddled under trees:
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| Yes, we were as cold and wet as it looks! |
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| Our first (and possibly last) experience as die-hard fans. |
On the few days that it's been nice enough to be outside, the kids have played at the playground at the apartment complex and even joined in a few games of impromptu tag football. I've been pleasantly surprised at how welcoming and kind the big kids are to my children. Luke stood on the sidelines watching one day, eyes big with wonder and longing, and the older boys invited him to play. They were so nice to him (even when he ran the wrong way with the ball), passed him the ball repeatedly, and allowed him to score multiple touch downs. Of course, Leah saw no reason why she couldn't play as well, and despite my attempts to distract her, she jumped right in the game, and truly believed she was a vital part of the team. The boys let her run with them for the entire time, and I said a small prayer of thanks for little unexpected blessings, and for girly girls who are tomboys at heart.
Leah made me laugh last week as she independently posed her Curious George monkey in my bathroom. The next time I walked into the room, I saw this sight, and started giggling.
"What is George doing?" I inquired.
"Mom," Leah sighed. "He's just hangin' around."
The literal and figurative pun cracked me up, and made me hopeful that my daughter inherited her Daddy's funny sense of humor and quick wit.
And it's a good thing that she is cute and funny, because Leah is NOT doing well in the sleep department lately. Many times this month, she's been up for hours in the middle of the night, and almost every night, we all play musical beds as she wakes up and can't fall back to sleep. We're exhausted, but know that Leah has never been a good sleeper, and this is her way of adjusting to the many changes in her routine and life right now. The below pictures partially redeem this horrendous nighttime behavior with their adorable-factor, as Leah recently insisted that George sleep with her, and that there must be baseball hats for one and all:
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| A baby doll was added the next night. |
Luke is adjusting beautifully to our "life in limbo" and I found this certificate in his backpack last week. After much prodding for information, we found out that Luke was selected out of all the kindergarten classes to be Student of the Week at his school, and was recognized by the school principal during morning announcements. We are so proud of our big boy and how he is taking our transition all in stride. He met his lead kindergarten teacher this week as she returned after being out with a knee replacement, so Luke has now had five teachers this year (between his two schools). Phew!
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| Student of the Week posing beside his Lite Brite excavator. |
This picture of Leah on the rock wall at the Children's Museum sums up our January- it's been a month of navigating new experiences as we look ahead to all that is to come!
