Loopy

This is what happens when I wake up at 4 a.m. three days in a row. I start finding the patterns on apples fascinating.

This apple reminds me of those paper fade art projects we use to do as kids. You would cut out a complicated pattern from one paper and lay it on a dark colored paper out in the sun. After a few hours, you would lift up the patterned paper and the dark pattern would be left behind.

I just thought it was kind of neat that we could tell that this apple had a leaf laying on it at one point.

You Just Can't Get Good Help Anymore. . .

Charlie wanted to help clean. I told him to mop the front hall. He grabbed the Swiffer and set off.




He came back after 15 seconds and said he was done.

It's All in The Comma, Baby

Just so we are clear, I can't have glass beer, but I can have regular beer?

The HAZMAT Suit Was Actually a Good Idea

The other day in class, there was this weird thumping in the vent above our teacher's desk. It sounded like an animal had gotten stuck in there. One classmate got up on a chair and tried to see in, and discovered a pigeon was trapped in the piping. After a while the thumping stopped, so we assumed the pigeon had gotten out. We assumed wrong.

We walked into our math class today and were met with a horrible smell. The classroom doors were propped open and there was a fan going. The pigeon had died in the ventilation system.

The truly funny part of this whole thing was that our instructor started the class with the following sentence: "The maintenance people have asked me to tell you that they will be setting off a Lysol bomb later, and that you are not to put anything in your mouth since things may get contaminated." I asked her how I was ever going to truly understand the math manipulatives (math teacher speak for toys kids play with to help them understand math) if I couldn't put them in my mouth? Her response was that I had been hanging around 3rd graders too much. Very true.

Meeting Up With Kerri

We ended up eating at the cafe at the Bellagio. (Thanks for treating, Kerri and Erik.) I know we have more pictures of the event because Charlie would not stop taking pictures with Shawn's iPhone. I think he took 108. I wish I was kidding.



After lunch, we went outside to take some pictures and document the occasion.





And then we headed over to a hotel that had a bunch of carnival games so that the kids could play. Kerri and I did sneak away and go to the real games upstairs. And I guess while we were gone, Aimee and AJ got very competitive about just about every game there. I wasn't there to take pictures, but I did get a picture of Aimee and Erik playing air hockey.

Free Entertainment

While we were waiting to meet up with Kerri, we walked around the outside of the Bellagio. At each post of the railing around the fountain, there was a speaker playing music. Charlie stopped at every single one and did a little jig. He had people laughing as they walked by. AJ wanted no part of it- until I started recording. And then he hammed it up with his brother.

Not sure if you will be able to view this video. I had my IT department look into it and even though the way I uploaded videos in the past has worked, some things have changed. And it appears to be no longer working the same way.

The Bellagio

One of the big highlights of the trip was getting to spend some time with Kerri and her family. We hadn't seen each other in a very long time. In fact, she had never even met Charlie. It was fun to see Aimee too. I think the last time I had seen her was when she was about 6 years old. They were in town for a soccer tournament, so it worked out great.

Kerri and Erik were staying at the Bellagio. I had never seen it, so we got there a little early before our meeting time and walked around. Some pictures, like the butterfly garden and the chocolate fountain pictures, did not come out. But trust me, it was gorgeous. Especially the chocolate fountain.

Dale Chihuly ceiling!!!!!!!





Are these poppies? And if so, whose idea was it to plant poppies in Vegas?