Easter Lunch

And then we were back at Alex's class for the second half of the Easter celebration. Alex shared his eggs from the day before with Mady.

Mady absolutely loves spending time in her brothers' classrooms, and Alex and Zachy are always willing to share their desk and treats with her.

The rain did finally arrive, so after lunch the kids had indoor recess. Mady jumped right into the games with the boys and all of the boys were very patient with her.

The Military Child

April is the official month of the Military Child. Coast Guard Island held an event to celebrate. We found out about this at the last minute, but Mady and I were able to squeeze a few activities in.

The Coasties watching over the boat were letting the kids talk over the megaphone. Most of the kids were just yelling "hey!" "mom!" Mady finally gets her turn and starts yelling "don't worry! We're on our way!"

Egg Hunt

Alex's class had an Easter Egg Hunt today. The parents scattered hundreds of eggs all over the playground and recess blacktop. There were so many eggs, it wasn't really possible to hide them, but the teachers had a plan for that. Once the eggs were ready, the kids lined up with their eyes closed and were guided to the yard. At the start of the hunt, they could run out and collect 1 egg and bring it back to their bag/basket. Only getting one at a time definitely slowed them down, and by the end of the hunt, everyone was worn out!

After collecting all of the eggs, they saved opening them for the next day, and the class party. Originally both activities were on the same day, but rain was forecast for Friday so the outdoor activity was rescheduled.

3rd Grade - History Day

Zachy's class finished their study of Bay Area history with games, snacks, activities and a skit. Although I was fortunate enough to spend the day helping out, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked.

First up, the kids practiced their bucket brigade skills to put out the raging fire.

 Let's just say it is a good thing there wasn't a real fire. Quite a few buckets would up in the flames. The fire might still be blazing.

 Making rain sticks, from the Ohlone culture.

 An Ohlone tribe member, pre-mission era.

The kids enjoyed some snacks that got their start in the Bay Area. Of course Ghirardelli chocolates, and local ice cream cookie sandwich It's It. But did you know that the popsicle was first served at Neptune Beach in Alameda?

Spring Break #1

To kick off Mady's spring break, she chose to go to the Little Farm. After we dropped the boys off at school, we stopped by the grocery to pick up lettuce for the animals. At first, Mady was a little bit scared of the animals, but she still wanted to feed them. We fed this nice sheep a lot of lettuce.

 Mady wanted to see the rest of the sheep and offer them some lettuce too. As we rounded the corner of the sheep pasture a couple of turkeys were wandering by.

 A loop around the animal yard brought us back to the goats. The goats are scarier than the sheep because they are much more aggressive. But by this time, Mady was an animal feeding pro.

When we were out of lettuce we went for a hike. Mady has fun collecting sticks and long strips of eucalyptus bark. She turned the bark into a cool belt.

 Look at these tom turkeys strutting around!

To top off the day, we found the carousel. This was the first time we had gone in search of the carousel, and Mady enjoyed the ride.

History Remembered

In 1942, the United States launched its retaliation for the bombing of Pearl Harbor from the Alameda Naval Air Station. The USS Hornet left the pier on April 1 with 16 B-25 bombers on board. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United States' entry to World War 2, a B-25 flew three loops over San Francisco and the USS Hornet, stilled moored at Alameda NAS. (Although this is the second Hornet, named after the original that was attacked and sank on October 26th, 1942.)

While we didn't pick the best spot to watch, it is incredible that we can walk to the site of such an important part of history.