Family portrait

For those of you who are curious, this is what we look like.  Thank you, Bug, for the lifelike representation.

Earth science at age 5

I've really got to hand it to the Bug's teachers this year.  She's learning to read (I mean, really read), along with all kinds of other things.  Math word problems, spelling tests, book reports... in kindergarten?  I have loved their social studies-type units: France, Asia, American symbols.  And their current unit, Weather, is clearly making an impression.  She came home from school yesterday and made this:

After correctly describing evaporation, condensation and precipitation, she then (also correctly) called it, "The Lifecycle of a Raindrop."

Bring out the elves!

For the curious, I've circled the elves in the two pictures I posted yesterday.  That might be enough to help you spot 'em!

Detectives in the museum

On Sunday we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to check out the Mammoths and Mastadon exhibit, which showcases the incredible fossils discovered recently at Snowmass.  It's a pretty incredible exhibit - lots of hands-on, videos and things to keep the kids interested.  The life-sized models of all the Ice Age mammals will blow you away.

Perhaps even more interesting, though, was something that we learned about the museums' permanent collection.  Apparently in the 1970s, diorama background painter Kent Pendleton hid tiny elves or leprechauns in his work.  This has inspired the appearance of other elves (in video and ceramic form) throughout the museum.

The visitor's information desk has a list of where these are located.  I'm sure you could try to find them unaided.... But believe me when I tell you they're hard to spot!  I bonked my head on the glass four times trying to find one for which I had the precise location in hand.  The kids loved them... almost as much as the adults did!

See anyone riding the dinosaur's back?

Can you spot one napping on a branch?

P.S. Want to see the "answers" tomorrow??