Thursday, May 17, 2007 ;
3:39 AM
Preparing for the trip...
Need to download and clear my SD card so I hv a totally empty one for the trip.
Here are some pics from in there:
The rose from the rose bush in the backyard is not totally yellow after all.
I saw the rose buds today, a lot more sprouting out now.
Got some reddish tinge (see below right).
However, when the flower is in full bloom (see below left), the colour fades... interesting.
Baked a batch of "Mrs Fields'" cookies for the trip, so that kids can snack and not fidget too much. Added a lot less sugar than the recipe required though, so that kids will not be on a sugar-high and give us grief during the 15-16 hour drive!
I also am packing a whole lot of things to occupy them should they be restless: Magna Doodle (the one we bought in Spore for their flight here); a couple of small noiseless toys: figurine, toy car, toy dino; a small book; markers for drawing/ scribbling, some rough paper; and this Monkey Magnet below.
I like it very much, so decided to share, not sure if it is sold in Spore, cos I am not much of a shopper back there too. Bought it online for $9.95. I think there shd be similar stuff ard, may not be the same brand, but this concept is age-old, I guess.
It consists of a tin box and has foam magnets within, about 100+ pieces of different shapes. They have transparency sheets to lay out on the tin cover and then the child can follow the template and make some animals or robots. But ds1 never liked following templates so he always creates his own weirdos.
So far he always makes bugs, monsters or robots. It manages to occupy him for quite a long period of time each day, so I am bringing that, hoping it will give us some peace and quiet in the car too. :-)
Read a travel tip on ParentCenter that's similar. Very creative and cheap:
Get a baking tray that's flat (the cookie kind) 9x12 inch size, then bring along some alphabet and numbers magnets, and let toddler play with them on the tin tray.
At least the pieces won't keep dropping on the floor and I don't have to keep bending down to pick them up. Doing that for 16 hours won't be funny.
That same baking tray can be used as a base for colouring or drawing too. Or even to play LEgo...
To Angeling: this is another quiet activity that can be done during the sermon in church I guess? :-)
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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