Strings and Stories

Natalie's school class was lucky enough to take a field trip to The Kennedy Center in Washington DC to see a Kinderkonzert by the National Symphony Orchestra called Strings and Stories. The class spent the entire week beforehand listening to musical pieces and saying what they reminded them of. Natalie told me all she could hear was a bear... :-) She loved playing the viola and cello at the "Petting Zoo" beforehand. I guess now we'll have to read our two favorite music books: The Philharmonic Gets Dressed and Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin.

Rebecca's birthday was Friday. She turned three years old. We did a special birthday breakfast for her of waffles. She also got her birthday song, the pennies, and blew out the candles on her birthday ring. Her ornament this year was a snail. I gave her a gorgeous snail game (called Snail's Pace Race) -- it's a cooperative game where you move the snails forward as you roll the colored dice and everyone gets to guess which snail will cross the finish line first. The wooden pieces are thick and chunky and gorgeous. She also got a tricycle! (Mommy splurged a bit on that one.) I wanted to support a local business but didn't have time to order one online so we went to the local hardware store and now she is the proud owner of a John Deere trike. :-) Her father had her this weekend so he threw her a birthday party. They'll be home soon and I can't wait to hear how it all went.

P.S. There is a really cute birthday poem about turning three in Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry illus. by Polly Dunbar (one of our faves). It is called "Candles."