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Sunday, September 21, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Bus update
After Travis got home we asked him about his bus ride from school to daycare.
He said the bus driver drove to our neighborhood and stopped to drop him off at the end of our street. However, since no one was there to get him, they went on. And the same thing happened with the other girl on the bus with him. Then the driver apparently made a call and figured out they were supposed to go to the daycare, which both kids had evidently been telling him.
But it didn't seem to matter to him, because when asked what the best part of his day was he said "Riding the school bus".
And the second best part of his day was going to mom's school.
He said the bus driver drove to our neighborhood and stopped to drop him off at the end of our street. However, since no one was there to get him, they went on. And the same thing happened with the other girl on the bus with him. Then the driver apparently made a call and figured out they were supposed to go to the daycare, which both kids had evidently been telling him.
But it didn't seem to matter to him, because when asked what the best part of his day was he said "Riding the school bus".
And the second best part of his day was going to mom's school.
Travis and the school bus system
Today was Travis's first day to ride the school bus. Since he's going to the nearest bilingual school, as opposed to his neighborhood school, his busing is somewhat different then most other kids. In the morning a school bus picks him up at April's school and transports him 1/2 mile or so to his own school. At 11:15, a school bus takes him from his school about 5 miles to his daycare. Given the bus fiascoes that occurred last week at April's school, both April and I weren't entirely sure where he'd end up this afternoon.
So at 1:00 or so I stopped by the daycare to see if he had indeed successfully arrived there. The lady at the desk said the bus with Travis and another girl from his school had indeed arrived, although they were about 15 minutes late. There were evidently some issues, as she also stated that Travis had told the bus driver "You don't know what you're doing. We know more than you do; we know where we're supposed to be going." And she added that the bus driver said he was correct.
So at 1:00 or so I stopped by the daycare to see if he had indeed successfully arrived there. The lady at the desk said the bus with Travis and another girl from his school had indeed arrived, although they were about 15 minutes late. There were evidently some issues, as she also stated that Travis had told the bus driver "You don't know what you're doing. We know more than you do; we know where we're supposed to be going." And she added that the bus driver said he was correct.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Biking to the mall
Today we rode our bikes to the mall. The mall's only about 10 miles away, but all our previous trips there were by car on the interstate so we weren't quite sure how to get there on bikes. However, on our last trip we did see a bike trail paralleling the interstate in places so we just needed to figure out how to get on it and were it went.
After some internet research, we located a page which lets you super-impose all the portland area bike routes onto google-earth, and then get a view from above and fly over the route like a bird at 50 feet. Pretty cool.
So, we loaded up the bike,tag-a-long, and trailer and headed out. The first 3 miles, being downhill, were fast. The next 7 were a slight uphill all the way, so those were much slower. When we got there we ate at Noodle's & Company, mom did some shopping (while Hailey, who's the slowest eater on the planet, finished eating), and then we headed home. When we got back to Oregon City, mom took the kids, the tag-a-long, and the trailer up the elevator while dad took the tandem up the nearest hill (the tandem won't fit in the elevator and the first 100 feet of the hill is too steep for us to pull the kids up).
When we got home Travis took a nap. He was very tired.
After some internet research, we located a page which lets you super-impose all the portland area bike routes onto google-earth, and then get a view from above and fly over the route like a bird at 50 feet. Pretty cool.
So, we loaded up the bike,tag-a-long, and trailer and headed out. The first 3 miles, being downhill, were fast. The next 7 were a slight uphill all the way, so those were much slower. When we got there we ate at Noodle's & Company, mom did some shopping (while Hailey, who's the slowest eater on the planet, finished eating), and then we headed home. When we got back to Oregon City, mom took the kids, the tag-a-long, and the trailer up the elevator while dad took the tandem up the nearest hill (the tandem won't fit in the elevator and the first 100 feet of the hill is too steep for us to pull the kids up).
When we got home Travis took a nap. He was very tired.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Mom's Home...the Real Scoop on Kindergarten
Now that I'm home, I've had an opportunity to talk to Travis about what he actually DID at kindergarten. As opposed to how he was transported to and from. (Though for full disclosure, Rich claims he did ask Travis what he did, and didn't get any answers.)
After Dad left, Travis read books "while the teacher did work," had calendar and circle time, and did "free play" (he reports he played legos and housekeeping, by himself and with friends). Next came art (they drew pictures of themselves, likely for a developmental assessment. Hopefully Travis remembered not to do such an anatomically detailed version!). Finally they had recess, which I think was the highlight of his day, because he reported that he played soccer with FIRST AND SECOND GRADERS! Group sports is a new thing for Travis; it would be interesting to know how it went. He reported that he made "9,082" new friends (those must be the first and second graders, since only 6 kids came to kindergarten today). They ended the morning with lunch, and Travis was excited that I had put some gummies in his lunch box for a surprise.
All in all, it seems to us (the adults) that they didn't really do a whole lot, but he was happy and quite pleased with himself. Monday he will ride the school bus to daycare after school, and we're a little nervous about that given all the busing issues that have happened this week. But that's another story.
And for the record, Mom ALSO rode her bike to school today. My school is about 1/2 mile east of Travis', so I have the same elevation graph. But instead of kids, I hauled home two bags of books and the school laptop.
After Dad left, Travis read books "while the teacher did work," had calendar and circle time, and did "free play" (he reports he played legos and housekeeping, by himself and with friends). Next came art (they drew pictures of themselves, likely for a developmental assessment. Hopefully Travis remembered not to do such an anatomically detailed version!). Finally they had recess, which I think was the highlight of his day, because he reported that he played soccer with FIRST AND SECOND GRADERS! Group sports is a new thing for Travis; it would be interesting to know how it went. He reported that he made "9,082" new friends (those must be the first and second graders, since only 6 kids came to kindergarten today). They ended the morning with lunch, and Travis was excited that I had put some gummies in his lunch box for a surprise.
All in all, it seems to us (the adults) that they didn't really do a whole lot, but he was happy and quite pleased with himself. Monday he will ride the school bus to daycare after school, and we're a little nervous about that given all the busing issues that have happened this week. But that's another story.
And for the record, Mom ALSO rode her bike to school today. My school is about 1/2 mile east of Travis', so I have the same elevation graph. But instead of kids, I hauled home two bags of books and the school laptop.
First day of School
Today was Travis's first day at Kindergarten. School actually started on Tuesday, but the kindergarteners just went in one day this week, a few kids each day, so they'd get to see their classroom and meet their teacher in a smaller groups. Today was Travis's day!
Travis was pretty excited to be going. He was up early, got ready, and ate breakfast without problems. At 8:00 he and Hailey piled into the car and dad drove them the six miles to Travis's school (no buses for kindergarteners this week).
A nice lady at the front door lead us to his classroom, where he was met by his teacher and unloaded his supplies. Then dad and Hailey left.
At 11:15 (right on time) dad and Hailey showed back up at the school on the bike, tag-a-long, trailer combination, and Travis was waiting at the front door with a few other kids and a teacher. He was smiling like he'd had a great morning. We rode over to Burgerville, had lunch, and then headed for home.
Since it's around a 500 foot climb to get home, we decided to try taking the Municipal elevator to knock 100 feet off the climb. We weren't sure we'd all fit at the same time, but while eating lunch we'd decided that if necessary Travis would go first with the tag-a-long and wait at the top for Dad and Hailey to come on the next trip.
We arrived at the elevator, disconnected the tag-a-long and trailer, and when the doors opened Travis asked the operator if we could all come aboard. She said whatever would fit in she'd take up. Travis and the tag-a-long went in first, and another lady who was already on the elevator (operator-in-training?) volunteered to hold the front of the tag-a-long. There still seemed to be plenty of room so we loaded the trailer (with Hailey) aboard, followed by my bike and me. Everything just barely fit!
Except the top of the tag-a-long flag... which nobody noticed was sticking partially outside the elevator doors. The doors closed, the elevator headed up, and the flag headed down the crack between the doors for about 2 seconds until the flagpole snapped in half in the middle. The elevator lady and I both apologized to each other as I pulled the part that was stuck in the door out.
When we got to the top we unloaded everything, hooked it all back up, and headed up the hill towards home. We had to stop once to rest, but made it shortly thereafter.
Below is the elevation graph of the trip. We start off at 108 feet above sea level, and go down slightly for 2 miles, where we cross the Willamette River. Then we have a slight climb for a little over a mile where we catch the elevator, which takes us up 100 feet. Shortly after that we start the long climb to the hilltop. The last mile and a half is relatively flat; our house is at about 480 feet above sea level.
Travis was pretty excited to be going. He was up early, got ready, and ate breakfast without problems. At 8:00 he and Hailey piled into the car and dad drove them the six miles to Travis's school (no buses for kindergarteners this week).
A nice lady at the front door lead us to his classroom, where he was met by his teacher and unloaded his supplies. Then dad and Hailey left.
At 11:15 (right on time) dad and Hailey showed back up at the school on the bike, tag-a-long, trailer combination, and Travis was waiting at the front door with a few other kids and a teacher. He was smiling like he'd had a great morning. We rode over to Burgerville, had lunch, and then headed for home.
Since it's around a 500 foot climb to get home, we decided to try taking the Municipal elevator to knock 100 feet off the climb. We weren't sure we'd all fit at the same time, but while eating lunch we'd decided that if necessary Travis would go first with the tag-a-long and wait at the top for Dad and Hailey to come on the next trip.
We arrived at the elevator, disconnected the tag-a-long and trailer, and when the doors opened Travis asked the operator if we could all come aboard. She said whatever would fit in she'd take up. Travis and the tag-a-long went in first, and another lady who was already on the elevator (operator-in-training?) volunteered to hold the front of the tag-a-long. There still seemed to be plenty of room so we loaded the trailer (with Hailey) aboard, followed by my bike and me. Everything just barely fit!
Except the top of the tag-a-long flag... which nobody noticed was sticking partially outside the elevator doors. The doors closed, the elevator headed up, and the flag headed down the crack between the doors for about 2 seconds until the flagpole snapped in half in the middle. The elevator lady and I both apologized to each other as I pulled the part that was stuck in the door out.
When we got to the top we unloaded everything, hooked it all back up, and headed up the hill towards home. We had to stop once to rest, but made it shortly thereafter.
Below is the elevation graph of the trip. We start off at 108 feet above sea level, and go down slightly for 2 miles, where we cross the Willamette River. Then we have a slight climb for a little over a mile where we catch the elevator, which takes us up 100 feet. Shortly after that we start the long climb to the hilltop. The last mile and a half is relatively flat; our house is at about 480 feet above sea level.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Visiting the Oregon Zoo
Yesterday we all went to the Oregon Zoo to see, among other things, the new baby elephant. The new baby elephant is a pretty big deal right now, so they were recommending everyone take the train (the Max) to the zoo to avoid parking problems. Unfortunately for us, the train runs East-West through the middle of downtown Portland and out to the suburbs, and we live South. No train runs south right now, although one is being constructed.
So we piled in the car, drove 2.5 miles to the main bus depot, and caught a bus that runs to downtown Portland. Then we got off the bus, walked two blocks, and got on the light-rail train headed west. The trains are only about 4 cards long, and the tracks run ON the roads in downtown Portland, making frequent short stops. Then it heads underground, picks up speed, and stops at a very nice station located 400 feet BELOW the zoo (I think the ground went up because the train didn't seem to be going downhill). After a high-speed elevator ride to the surface, we were 100 feet from the zoo entrance.
We had to wait in line about an hour too see the baby elephant, but the wait seemed to go pretty quickly. Then we walked around and looked at lots of other animals, including, but not limited to, bears, monkeys, hippo's, giraffes, gazelles, birds, jaguars, penguins, and sea lions. Just about everything except lions and tigers, who's habitat is undergoing reconstruction. While eating lunch at the cafe it started raining, and it rained lightly on and off the rest of the afternoon, but there were lots of covered areas so we didn't get very wet.
At 2:00 or so we reboarded the train and headed home. Hailey fell asleep on the train and slept until she was being placed back in her car seat. Travis also slept a little on the bus.
It was a very nice zoo. We couldn't get any good pictures of the baby elephant because it was indoors with it's mom and they didn't allow flash photograph; hence our pictures of it didn't turn out well. But here's a link to the zoo's baby elephant page which has photos.
So we piled in the car, drove 2.5 miles to the main bus depot, and caught a bus that runs to downtown Portland. Then we got off the bus, walked two blocks, and got on the light-rail train headed west. The trains are only about 4 cards long, and the tracks run ON the roads in downtown Portland, making frequent short stops. Then it heads underground, picks up speed, and stops at a very nice station located 400 feet BELOW the zoo (I think the ground went up because the train didn't seem to be going downhill). After a high-speed elevator ride to the surface, we were 100 feet from the zoo entrance.
We had to wait in line about an hour too see the baby elephant, but the wait seemed to go pretty quickly. Then we walked around and looked at lots of other animals, including, but not limited to, bears, monkeys, hippo's, giraffes, gazelles, birds, jaguars, penguins, and sea lions. Just about everything except lions and tigers, who's habitat is undergoing reconstruction. While eating lunch at the cafe it started raining, and it rained lightly on and off the rest of the afternoon, but there were lots of covered areas so we didn't get very wet.
At 2:00 or so we reboarded the train and headed home. Hailey fell asleep on the train and slept until she was being placed back in her car seat. Travis also slept a little on the bus.
It was a very nice zoo. We couldn't get any good pictures of the baby elephant because it was indoors with it's mom and they didn't allow flash photograph; hence our pictures of it didn't turn out well. But here's a link to the zoo's baby elephant page which has photos.
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