Poison Dart Frogs

Late in the school year, Logan's class studied the rainforest in preparation for the Olympics (in which his class represented Brazil). He was assigned his very first diorama and research report with three weeks to complete. I had no idea what a diorama was until we Googled it (5 days before the due date) and voila! It's simply the old-school shoe box project that we all did in elementary school! I should have known it would be old school since the sub that took over Logan's class is retired and has difficulty figuring out how to send emails and using her computer (I love her, but I'm calling a spade a spade here). So we spent a little time learning some interesting facts about Poison Dart Frogs. Did you know that although they are as small as a dime, their poison can kill 10 grown men?

After researching the beautiful yet lethal Poison Dart Frog, we set out to make the diorama (2 days before the due date). Having helped Logan write the research paper, I felt that this fell under the "fatherly" category of duties and enlisted Jay's help. Below you have the finished product completed by Jay Logan.

On the day it was due, Jay took the kids to school as usual, but parked in order to help Logan carry it in safely (Jay had put a lot of work into this, after all). As they were getting out of the car at the front of the school during morning rush hour parent drop-off, Logan promptly opened the car door and puked on the ground. Jay, being the dutiful husband and father that he is, remembered that I wanted a picture of Logan at school with his project. So he walked him into class, contaminated and contagious, and took the photo you see below. Of course, when another parent commented on the quality of Logan's project, he replied, "Thanks. My dad did it". Thankfully the child of this mother overheard the conversation and excitedly replied, "So did my mom!"

On one of the final days of school, Logan's class had a Rainforest Party and invited the parents to hear them sing and tell about the animals they had researched. It was quite unfortunate that Gavin's class had their end-of-the-year party at the same time, so Jay and I had to split up. I took the video camera while Jay was left with the still camera. Here's a quick clip with Logan singing about his Poison Dart Frogs. I haven't figured out how to edit my movies yet, so you'll have to watch it till the end to see Logan's monologue.

Terrific THREE!

We returned from our Spring Hill tournament just in time to celebrate Keegan's birthday. Pot stickers, pizza, and cake for everyone! I can't believe my "baby" is already THREE!!!

One of his favorite gifts (from Grandma Cathy) since he loves everything Thomas.

Nemo from Mommy and Daddy. He has literally gone everywhere with us since. Of course, I'm not allowed to have him long enough to wash him, so he's more of a nice shade of brown than he is orange these days.

This was his reaction to the Legos from Gram and Gramps. Score!

Ummm...here he is pretending to be a doggy. This is something he does often. So, here is doggy about to blow out his candles.

Spring Hill TKD Tournament: Allison's Never Quit

It wasn't easy, but everyone knows that Allison's never quit! Logan came home with a second place and a first place medal. He showed quite the little competitive spirit and is looking forward to competing again. Our school did quite well and brought home something like 22 first place medals!

Keegan was a trooper -- the tournament lasted 7 hours or so. It was a LONG day.

Logan ties for first place in forms.

He gets some last minute words of advice from Master Murphy before competing in a tie-breaker.

2nd place in forms after the tie-breaker.

Leave it to 7 year olds to become best friends right after fighting for a gold medal!

And the silver goes to Logan Allison!

Logan really fought the good fight in his sparring competition.

He had a big comeback in the second half of the fight and the entire place was on their feet cheering!

Logan Allison takes the GOLD!

Papa did a great job of watching our "stuff", entertaining Keegan, and taking excellent care of the precious medals.

Celebration time!

I recently blogged here about all the things Logan likes to read. Here he is reading about some type of murder trial and asking too many questions. We traded him for the comics section.

And the Allison's win again!

**smile**

Spring Hill TKD Tournament: Delightful Doubletree

Needless to say, May has been a busy month in the Allison house (Wild Adventures, Olympic Games, end of the school year, and Keegan's birthday). The fun has only continued and eventually I hope to be able to come up for air. Immediately following the Olympic Games, we departed to Spring Hill, Florida for Logan's very first TaeKwonDo tournament (The Florida Challenge). We lucked out on another Hotwire deal and ended up in a nice Doubletree in the Tampa Bay area. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Liz live just across the water in St. Pete so they were able to come over and bring their sweet Mia for a little visit.

Always Papa's boy.

The boys showed Uncle Charlie how to play on their Nintendo DS.

Keegan showed Mia how to play trains.

So pretty out by the pool!

This is Papa's view of our hotel from his lounge chair. You can see the people dressed up for a prom which was held at the hotel while the kids swim in the background. On the second night, there was a poolside wedding while we swam. I was so afraid that the boys would do something "memorable" during the wedding (like splash the bride accidentally or knock a guest into the pool), but it went off without a hitch.

I'm not sure what this is. Gavin is forever finding garbage that he turns into toys wherever we go!

Look at that height!

BELLY FLOP!

I could get used to this.

Can I sleep with Nana and Papa? Please???

A sunset and a kiss.

Feelin' Ducky

Well, it's that time of year. If you know us well, then you know it's almost DUCK TIME! We look forward to seeing you soon, but in the meantime, I'll leave you with some Duck Loganisms.

Yesterday:
ME:  What's the first thing you're going to do when you get to Duck?
LOGAN:  Ask Gramps if I can go to the beach!
ME:  Shouldn't you ask Daddy or me if you can go to the beach?
LOGAN:  No, because I just feel like Gramps is kind of the manager at Duck. Like, he's the Duck Manager or something.

Today:
LOGAN: Can you take us to an extra gymnastics session tomorrow, Mom? 'Cause I feel like I need to get another workout in before I go to Duck.
ME:  Ugh! Don't we all!!! (as I reach my hand into the Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish Grahams bag)

Olympic Opening Ceremonies

Last year, I wrote a post about Gilchrist's longstanding tradition of the Olympic Games (here) . This year was even bigger and better than last year's performance (if that's actually possible). Though I didn't see the tailgating guy again, I did have trouble finding parking (thank goodness I drive a truck and can park anywhere). I really think every single parent was in attendance, including Daddy, because it's really an event not to be missed. The kids paraded down the length of the parking lot dressed in their country's finest. Kindergarten was USA once again, while first grade represented South America. Both boys participated in their grade level dances with Gavin rocking out some Justin Bieber and Logan shaking his tail feathers to some Black Eyed Peas. Sadly, the end-of-the-year work crunch was on and I was unable to attend the following day's field day festivities, but the boys came home excited and happy.

One side of one half of the people seated to watch the parade!

Wordless Wednesday: Tra La! It's May!

Wild Adventures Birthday Bash Day 3: Stand Up On Those Tippy-Toes!

On the third day of our Birthday Bash, the sun beamed and the humidity rose once again in true Florida style.

The boys helped Papa use the rolling cart to pack up our stuff and check out of the hotel.

They took turns holding snakes, petting baby alligators, and allowing birds to perch on their arms.

Keegan, though timid the first day, let loose and rode the Tilt-a-Whirl with us!

More animal petting in the petting zoo.

The sun must have put the ride operators in a good mood. We successfully made it on this ride 4 times (oh, my spinning stomach) despite the fact that you can almost tell from this photo that they're not tall enough to ride.

Some of the height requirements make no sense to me. This ride takes you so high in the air that you can see the entire city. You're at home with the clouds and the birds and if it's even the slightest bit windy, it will feel like a hurricane up there! The boys are plenty tall enough for this one. Fortunately, they listen nicely when I say "HOLD ON AND DON'T YOU DARE LET GO!"