Maine State Museum

On Saturday we planned to go to Augusta and do some swimsuit shopping for the kids, and maybe go to the high school cheerleading championships that were being held at the Civic Center. The shopping went well, but afterwards we found out that it cost $7 per person to go see the cheerleaders, and that was a little too much for us.

Instead, for $2 each (and the kids were free) we visited the Maine State Museum!

Mama estimates that she has been here over 100 times (her father worked in this building for 40 years as the State Librarian), and the kids have been here plenty of times too, but this was only Mom's second visit.Mama really loves the "Made in Maine" display, as you can see below.This museum is full of lots of great stuff. The kids like to go through in a whirlwind sprint, so we didn't get a lot of good photos, but there was a lot to see. We started out in the animal dioramas....(this one has a beaver lodge in it).......and this one has a chipmunk underground (which the girls thought was real).There is a great gem display (Kate particularly likes the pink one, of course)....

....and a cool shipbuilding exhibit, which used to be a big industry in Maine.

Check out the neat fisherman overhead! The girls thought that some of these fake people were real, and they were a little bit afraid to get too close.This is Mama's favorite--it's an old wood sailboat called the "Imp".There is also lots of restored machinery to look at, from the days of logging and heavy industry in Maine.You gotta love any sign that tells you that it's okay to toot.It's amazing how many different types of food grow naturally in Maine!And lots of different types of fish, too. Kate thought the swordfish was really cool.......while Emily really liked this giant lobster.We had a good time at the museum on Saturday, and we definitely recommend it to anybody who is thinking about visiting Augusta!

A Badger and a Bear....

Kate has been singing this snippet of song over and over for the past week. She really likes to belt it out!

We finally figured out (by googling it) that it's from a folk song called "The Fox and the Hare". We're still not really sure how she learned it though....Has anybody else's KMS kid been singing this song?

Home Depot Run

Tonight after dinner Mom had to make a run to Home Depot, and Pop Pop, Grandma, and the kids all came along to help out.

Believe it or not, Home Depot can be very fun for the kids (especially on a Friday night when the place is practically empty). They really enjoy pushing the heavy cart.......and they like to wear their aprons, just in case any of the other customers need any assistance.The big wide aisles are excellent when they get that urge to run.......and of course they like to help Mom load up her supplies.It sure is nice to have all this help when Mom makes a Home Depot run!

High School Basketball

Tonight we tried something a little different--Mom took the girls over to Waterville High School to watch the girls varsity team play Winslow.

It happened to be the last home game for Waterville, so there were lots of signs, balloons, and flowers. It was very festive!

The girls were excited and confused at the same time. They wanted to know why all the people were being introduced before the game. Mom wanted to know too, since the game ended up starting 20 minutes late. The place was packed--it was neat to see the whole community turning out for this event.Mom particularly liked this sign, which should be posted in every high school gym.Grandma and Pop Pop joined us for the fun, which was good because Mom needed lots of help navigating the bleachers with two preschoolers. The Waterville gym is pretty old and the bleachers don't have any stairs, so you have to climb over and around people to get where you want to go.We finally found some seats (and broke out the popcorn) and we were ready to watch the action.Waterville and Winslow are cross-town rivals, so the game was hard-fought. There also seemed to be a lot of hassling of the referees by the fans (despite the posted sportsmanship sign). Both defenses were playing tough so it was a pretty low-scoring affair--only 12 to 19 at halftime.The kids kept an eye on the game, but also enjoyed watching the cheerleaders do their stunts during time outs.They also enjoyed eating some game-time snacks, which Mom employed to keep the wiggling and squirming to a minimum.Emily being Emily though, she could not sit still. She sat on each of our laps in turn.Kate, meanwhile, focused on drinking water, which was needed because the temperature in the gym was pretty warm.By halftime the girls had had enough, so we got ready to leave. When we saw the cheerleaders rolling out their mats for a halftime show though we decided to stay and watch that.They were pretty good! Mom is not usually a big fan of cheerleaders, but this performance was very athletic and entertaining.Mom told the girls that when they grow up they will be able to play for the team in the black uniforms (Winslow High School) if they want to. But both Em and Kate were adamant that they prefer the purple uniforms instead. Maybe we should move to Waterville?

Valentine Production

We have been in full-on valentine production for the last few days, with Mom leading the charge. Mom got an idea from a website for a particular craft and thought the girls might want to try it--it's called "Thumbprint Hearts".

Here she is demonstrating: You dip your thumb in red paint and then press it down on the paper, making a nice heart shape. After the paint dries, you add eyes, arms, and legs and it looks really cute.The girls loved the red paint (and the whole idea of finger painting) but nice neat hearts were not exactly what they produced.The painting phase didn't go exactly like Mom had planned, but at least the kids enjoyed it!After the valentines had dried we moved on to the next phase. First the kids had to sort them all out (Kate's are pink, Emily's are green).... ....then they got to put on the stickers that we got at the craft store........which is a very serious job (as Kate is demonstrating with her Serious Face below)........and then the girls' favorite: Glitter Glue! Mom put newspapers down for this part, because (as our blog readers probably already know) glitter glue can get pretty messy.The glitter glue is lots of fun--they squeezed it on then spread it around with their fingers.The valentines were looking pretty good by this point (at least the girls thought so, and that's the important part).Tonight we put the finishing touches on them: Each girl signed the back of her card, and Mom wrote the recipient's name on the front.

Making the valentines has been quite a team activity!
So here is a picture from the crafty web site that shows what the "Thumbprint Hearts" are actually supposed to look like:And here is a representative example of what most of our valentines look like:Not too shabby!