Mama On The Move

I love to try new things!  I don't know why I've never handled molten glass before, but I'm definitely going to do it again! The girls and I signed up to take a glassblowing class at the Chrysler Museum of Art.  The project was to make a glass egg.  We actually did this on Easter so of course I made an Easter egg.   The girls made DRAGON eggs! The hardest part was picking out what colors to use! The oven was over 2000 degrees! You have to continuously turn the pipe or the molten glass will just drip off.   We had to roll it in the colored chips on a metal table to get the colors in it. The lady who was teaching the course did a lot of the shaping.   They didn't want any terrible accidents with us getting too close to the magma. We didn't get to blow directly into the pipe, we had to blow into a tube connected to the pipe. Once it was ready, another teacher would smooth the egg out with a blowtorch! Katie was ...

 Katie's ballroom dance class had a masquerade ball. She went as a 50's chick.  Fortunately we had a dress from when Emily took ballroom dance. And we had a leather jacket from when Ben was in the same ballroom dance class. She added a mask because it was a masquerade! It was a lot of fun to see everyone dressed up in costumes with the masks! This is only the third week of lessons, but they've all gotten to the point where they can dance and talk at the same time!

They've never experienced this before!

 Katie's taking archery lessons again. That girl's turning into a formidable weapon.

Katie and I got to visit Jamestown! I love this sculpture at the entrance!  It looks like the sails on a ship. With the fountain shooting up around it, it looks really cool! We went with our scout troop and Katie kept the younger girls entertained. We went through the museum, then through the Indian Village, to the docks, and then shot through the fort.  I'd love to go back when I have time to actually look at more of the exhibits in a leisurely manner.  Touring with kids means you don't take time to read or find out what an exhibit is about! We got to pound a giant mortar and pestle in the Indian Village. We were able to walk onto two of the ships. We were able to go on the Susan Constant and the Godspeed.  The Discovery was closed to visitors.

Yes, I know this is a ton of photos.  This isn't even all of them! It was just so much fun I can't find many pictures that I don't want on here! Ben got here last night.  Emily leaves for college tomorrow. Today is our last day with all five of us for who knows how long? So we decided to make sure it was a memorable day and we went to a zip line/tree top adventure!  This is us getting ready to start the course.  The first course and zip line are very low.  You learn how to hook yourself up to the lines while you aren't worried about falling.  We had to walk across a tightrope in this area but because it was low, it didn't feel scary.  The instructors hook you up in your harness, teach you the safety rules and then leave you after the first level.  We were all hooked to the cables by two separate lines on our harnesses.  So even if one failed, the ...