Little Bear Goes Camping

Anders's preschool goes camping twice a year. We didn't make it to the fall trip, but for the spring trip, we joined in the fun.

Hammock!


Playground!


S'mores!


Trees!


Sleeping bags!

In-N-Out

Burger...

...fries...

...and a shake.


Yup, it's a father/son road trip.

School's out for summer

Today was the last day of Anders's first year of pre-school. We brought all of his art home including these two fine selections from May (bug month) and June (boat month).

LBS goes to Angel Island

This Friday is the last day of school at Anders's preschool, and the whole school went on a field trip to Angel Island.

We ate pretzels on the ferry...

(with milk, for one of us).


We went on a short hike.

(Anders and Agreen got so far ahead of me, so quickly, that you'll just have to take my word for it that they hiked.)

And then we hit the beach!



We had lunch on the beach, too.


Soren fell asleep at the end of the hike, but later joined in the fun until he was pooped out.

Hair and tummy

Soren's been able to do this for ages, but has resisted performing on video.

Father's Day

From Anders:


...and Sigrid:

Big bellies

If you've got it, flaunt it.

He can feed himself...

...but it ain't pretty.

Found a panda

Golden Gate Park Picnic

We went to Golden Gate Park for a picnic. Look what we found at the Conservatory of Flowers.


It's part of the Plantosaurus Rex exhibit.


We had our picnic nearby.


Post-picnic, someone conked out.

the latest thing

I'll admit I'm not exactly up to date with what the kids are listening to these days...

Art Studio Opening

Peacock with a P.


Sabertooth Tiger and Flower.


Woolly Mammoth in Field of Grass.


Interested parties may contact the artist. Serious inquiries only.

This is what Soren loves most about music class

His teacher!

Drumheller: Let's go!

Please excuse Agreen and Anders from school on Friday...

(That's my dino drawing, by the way.)

In what has to be a record for Anders, we were out the door at 6:30 am. "When is our plane leaving?"


Three or so hours later, we were in Calgary, but we still had a 90 minute drive to Drumheller. But we got there. And Drumheller was ready for DinoFest.

Drumheller: Saturday morning wakeup

The Saturday morning wake-up was not nearly as difficult as these photos would suggest:



The breakfast was great.


It was billed as a continental breakfast, but really it was much more. In addition to coffee, tea, bagels, toast, English muffins, and cereal, there was a waffle iron (and, on Sunday, an automated pancake maker), and bacon (Saturday) and sausage (Sunday). Not bad.



In the afternoons, there was fresh popcorn in the hotel lobby, which was definitely a hit.

The hotel also had a pool, hot tub, and water slide. The slide in particular was pretty spectacular—the slide actually exited the building, went around a corner, and then back into the building. Anders only went down a few times, because he's a bit of a scaredy cat, but Agreen went down many, many times.

Finally, we were about two minutes away from a 24-hour grocery store/pharmacy. Very handy if you, say, forget to bring contact lens solution. Or need milk. Or want to buy your wife Coffee Crisps.

If you're ever in Drumheller (and, really, why wouldn't you be?), we recommend the Ramada Inn.

Drumheller: Royal Tyrrell Museum

We spent a good chunk of Saturday at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, and liked it so much we went back for more on Sunday.

Given that it was DinoFest weekend in Drumheller, we expected the museum to be packed—and by mid-afternoon it was. But when we got there at 9:15 on Saturday morning, it was practically empty. (Tip: if you're going to hit the museum store, do it in the morning.)





This is an Albertosaurus, a smaller, more agile cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex that lived two million years earlier.



I think this was an Albertosaurus, too. Or perhaps a Gorgosaur.


T-Rex!


Dromaeosaurus!


Saurornitholestes!


Um, dinos!


Another T-Rex!


Woolly Mammoth being attacked by sabertooth cats!


Trippy time tunnel!


Trippy play room!


Dimetrodon!


Compsognathus!


RAWR!


What if Soren had been twins?

...or triplets?


Baby Hadrosaur!


Ankylosaurus!


That's a big leg.

(Children shown to illustrate scale.)

Eryops is a funny looking guy (and a carnivorous amphibian).


The 21-meter-long Shonisaurus!




At lunch on Saturday, I interviewed the big boys.


If they're going to sit there, mouths agape (well, at least one mouth), I suppose it's better that it at least be an educational video.



(Sharp viewers will note that their outfits are not consistent in those photos—yes, they watched this video on Saturday and Sunday.)

Soren liked the museum, too.