Gracie and Oreo napping on the couch.

Colin has turned six years old! I cannot believe how fast the last six years have flown by! He invited the Garcias over for cake and presents. It was very fun.
Colin designed and decorated his own cake. He wanted a triangle cake with cupcakes around it. There is a lot of math involved in cake making - like geometry which I swore I would NEVER use in my whole life. (I am so sorry Mr. Smith and Mr. Golightly - I have learned my lesson and I am grateful for all you tried to teach me. Perhaps if we had used more food in class....) Anyway, we traced the cake pan and cut out the square. Then Colin turned the square into two triangles and figured out how to put them together to make a big triangle. We needed a place to put the cake to decorate and serve it so we got a big box to make a serving tray out of. Colin used the big paper triangle and drew circles for cup cakes in the pattern that he wanted to see how big we needed the tray. Then we had to measure the drawing and transfer the measurements to the cardboard we were going to cut. Then we took turns cutting the cardboard until we had the perfect size tray. Then we had to measure the aluminum foil to fit the cardboard and wrap the tray in it to make it all pretty. Then we got to decorate the cake we made. It was fun. I like that kind of math.
Actually we have been having a lot of fun with math lately. We got a math-u-see program for our math curriculum that is a lot of fun.
Colin got a marble run from Discovery Toys for his birthday and he hasn't stopped playing with it since he opened it. He hardly took time to eat his cake and ice cream in his haste to get back to playing. If you want a marble run - go with Discovery toys and be sure to get the Crank it up accessory. We have tried a wooden marble run in the past and the blocks don't stay together well enough to play. We tried a Marble Mania Extreme last Christmas and it was great for about five minutes. It takes FOREVER to build and it is impossible for a small person to even modify slightly by himself. We got it for it's elevator - which is totally cool and the only piece that ever gets played with, but a marble elevator isn't very cool with out a marble run to drop the marbles into. Anyway - go with Discovery Toys. It's easy to build and modify, sturdy and FUN!
The kids have been playing with the marble run all morning. Too many marbles got into the crank it up accessory and they got a bit stuck. Colin said, "The marbles are stuck" and Robyn said, "stuck in committee?" It was so funny. We haven't watched School House Rock in a month or two but apparently time hasn't diminished Robyn's memory. "I'm Just a Bill" is one of our favorite songs and sometimes bills get "stuck in committee." I love listening to their conversations! It is so fun to be a mommy. Oh and the marbles are easy to get unstuck - the kids just turn the crank backwards until the excess marbles get out.

Randy, Colin, and Robyn playing at Planet Kid. Robyn loved having her daddy go with her. Everyone had a blast!

The kids earned a date to Planet Kid with their points from the Miracle Music. We went last Saturday so Randy could go to. These are pictures of Grace jumping into the ball pit - her absolute favorite thing to do at Planet Kid.