Cute Kid Pix November 2023

More pictures that didn't make their own posts...

I chaperoned my youngest's field trip to the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. It was fun if a bit repetitive after the same trip last year. My group loved the build zone so much we went there twice.

Generating power

Building with blocks

Science experimenting

More generating power

More building with blocks

Our dance studio held its Renaissance Dance in November, which was fun to dress up for. Our niece came too!

A blast from the past

I donated blood and got a cool pair of socks!

Don't leave this elf on a shelf!

I had a crazy/awesome game of Draftosaurus on Board Game Arena, scoring big without even using any of the highly-valued T-Rexes!

I love it when a plan comes together!

The Scholastic Book Fair came to school, resulting in some cute reading time at home.

Reading is FUNdamental

The weather is getting colder. Even statues need scarves!

Roscoe from Takoma Park

The scouts made some decorations for a future visit to either an old-age home or a hospice. It was fun if not exciting work.

Getting the gingerman together

Working together

Cute Kid Pix January 2023

More photos that didn't make it into their own post...

My church had another volunteer opportunity at the Baltimore Ravens stadium. For the January 1 game, we handed out programs, along with flags and special wristbands that lit up in sync with music at the stadium. The flags and programs ran out quickly but they must have bought lots of extra wristbands. It was a fun night but the game was sold out so no free tickets. Also, the Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-16.

The stadium before the game started

Italian Sausage dinner with the program

My church has an early Saturday morning men's group that I go to most of the time. I got their a little early on the first Saturday and took a picture of the big manger scene outside.

St. Mary of the Mills Manger scene (outdoor edition)

We went to the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore because my eldest won tickets in our local library's summer reading program. It's a bit after summer, so we weren't the fastest getting there. We've been to the museum several times, so not much new to report, other than our children being brave enough to lay down on a bed of nails!

The first child to try it was our last child!

She's pretty light, it won't hurt, right?

Users had to push the button themselves!

One of the side rooms has experiments for small groups. We tried testing acidity of various liquids. It was fun and easy since we followed a step-by-step process.

Doing science!

Another experiment had us seeing how temperature alters chemical reactions. The alteration we were looking at was speed--how fast a liquid changes color when certain mixtures are added. Hot liquid changed a lot faster--17 seconds vs. 69 seconds!

A new donut shop opened nearby, Shipley Do-Nuts. I went one day at 11 a.m. and they had closed half an hour earlier due to running out of donuts! The guys said they are tweaking their workflow. I went the next day at 9 a.m. and stood in line for half an hour to get a dozen donuts. They were yummy but not outstanding.

Outside the shop

Typical counter

The yumminess that came home!

I went to the Dutch Country Market in hopes of finding Turkish Delight. My youngest just finished reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and was curious about it. The lady at the market's candy counter did not know what I was talking about. Strolling through the candy aisle, I was shocked to see this product for sale...

What the Amish?

Cute Kid Pix October 2022

More photos that did not make their own post...

My eldest's marching band kept performing through October. We went to the games but only one picture came out well enough to post.

The October 7th Game

I went on a field trip with the youngest's class to the Maryland Science Center. The first part of the visit was seeing the Imax film Flight of the Butterflies, about the migration pattern of Monarch butterflies across the North American continent. The movie was in 3D. 

Looking cool

The kids went crazy a couple of times during the showing. At one point, a monarch caterpillar is facing off against some ants, which normally would not be a fear-inducing sight. But this was displayed on the three-story tall Imax screen in 3D, which makes the bugs enormous and in your face. It reminded me of those old 1950s radioactive giant insect movies.

After the show, I lead a group of five boys around to various exhibits. The final thing we did was an engineering challenge. We helped a little monster climb up some shelves to various items. The kids worked in pairs (yes, one pair had three boys). My son and his partner had one success and then an even better success.

Up to your eyeballs in monsters!

Getting past the eyeball!

Since it was a field trip, I wasn't taking photos of other kids.

The Friday before Halloween, my wife and I dressed up for a costume dance at our dance studio, That's Dancing. It was a lot of fun.

Cruella and Indy

My eldest is on his high school's debate team and had a Saturday competition. He came in second in his category, which is impressive for a freshman!

My picture was too slow to catch him receiving the medal

The venue for the contest

Closeup of the tower

Near the venue is a field that had the original stadium for Baltimore's baseball and football teams. The area has been turned into housing and a YMCA. The field is still there and is for athletic competitions, but it seems too small compared to the stadiums we have now.

No stands for the fans

Johns Hopkins is nearby, with a statue of the Good Shepherd on its lawn.

Good Shepherd sculpture

Our youngest dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda for Halloween.

The tunic!

Hyrule warrior!

Using candy for spelling

Urban Adventure Quest Baltimore

I saw a deal on Certifikid for a scavenger hunt in Baltimore. Urban Adventure Quest has scavenger hunts in cities all across the USA (Canada and Mexico too!). The hunt requires an internet-enabled device. The company uses their web site to give the questions and clues. Also, sometimes we needed to do some research on trivia or general information that we didn't know off the top of our heads. We tried out the local hunt which starts on Baltimore's Inner Harbor by the Maryland Science Center. The first puzzles involved items in the plaza in front of the Science Center. 

Maryland Science Center plaza

The quest is designed to be done outdoors (though it is tempting to go inside some places, as we will soon see) during daylight hours. We started before ten a.m., so we had plenty of time to finish the quest. We faced two challenges here, one involving the wacky sculpture out front.  

After solving two puzzles, we headed down the brick walkway. One clue (among others) was at the Harbor Fountains, which weren't on because a group was doing a big aerobic dance class. We had to find some information on the ground, so Mom took the hit and pretended to dance along with the crowd (maybe forty others?) and found the longest word. We had to convert the word into a Scrabble score in order to answer the question and get to the next puzzle (we used the internet for Scrabble point values). I didn't take any pictures there because it's weird to take pictures of total strangers dancing in public when they are exercising, i.e. not trying to be entertaining.

View from where the dancing happened

Nearby is a statue of William Donald Schaefer (a former mayor of Charm City) and clues were based on his information and stuff on the statue. Also involved was the time capsule buried nearby.

Schaefer Statue

Time capsule!

We continued around the harbor and took a picture by the USS Constellation, an old Navy boat that is now a tourist attraction (see our visit to the ship here). 

Whoops, my youngest got cut off in the selfie!

Another clue involved a business on the Inner Harbor that has been closed for years! Luckily we have lived here for years so I knew what they were referring to. No evidence remains of the mysterious business so I don't know what out-of-towners will do. I did provide feedback at the end.

The next puzzle had us checking the brick path where the Baltimore Ravens' Superbowl XLVII victory is commemorated. That was fun to figure out and no dancers were nearby. I still did not get a picture.

The next puzzle involved the national flags at the World Trade Center on Baltimore Harbor. Again, this puzzle was easy to do from outside thanks to their big plate-glass windows. Figuring out which flag went with which country required some internet savvy, though we knew more than half of the flags we were looking for.

Ducks near the World Trade Center

The search led us to Pierce's Park, which is a hidden gem. A walkway around the perimeter has a bunch of homophones in it (which was part of a puzzle). A couple of outdoor xylophones were there too, and another puzzle used them for a musical clue. 

Much easier to blend in here

In the middle is a playground where our kids took a break from the search. The other end of the park has an aluminum sign where we picked out individual letters in order to get the answer. My oldest son and I worked together to find the solution.

Pierce's Park info

We continued on to Little Italy, using the pedestal that used to have a statue of Christopher Columbus. The statue was torn down by rioters during 2020 racial riots in Baltimore. We had to do some internet research here too, comparing information on the pedestal with details from the In 1492 poem.

Frescos in Little Italy

Another question refers to Vaccaro's, a famous local Italian bakery. In addition to solving a puzzle, we went inside and got some gelato to sustain us on our way. We were too busy eating the gelato before it melted to get pictures. It was delightful, I assure you.

The final puzzles involved The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House. Mary Young Pickersgill along with her family sewed the large flag that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write what would become our national anthem. It was fun location to explore and hang around.

Searching the USA

A fun picture

That was the end of the adventure quest. We had a good time and made good time, just over two hours, and only lost five points due to a data entry error on one question.

Since we were full of gelato, we headed home for lunch. The experience was a lot of fun and we recommend it for others!

Cute Kid Pix May 2019

More photos that didn't make their own blog post...

While the eldest was out camping, my two younger children went to the Maryland Science Center and had a ball doing some experiments, watching an Imax movie, and playing in the water.

Young scientists extracting DNA

Wonderful water play area

The library had a story time called, "Who is Steve Jenkins?" Well, he's no relation to Leroy Jenkins; Steve writes books about animals and their amazing abilities. He uses painted paper cutouts to make the animal images for his books and does a great job. The children colored their own paper and the librarian used a special machine to cut out animal shapes. The children then glued them on a background, making a fun and different craft much like the author's work.

Coloring paper

Water-themed craft

My oldest son had a simulated congressional hearing at school. The students practiced testifying before a panel of judges. They discussed various constitutional issues and historical events from the 1800s.

SCH with my son (second from left)

He's also been camping about once a month with his Scouting BSA troop. I had to drop him off at the campground so I got to see the beginning of the campout. I didn't stay, though I suppose I will get to eventually.

Camping with the Scouts

I guess it's been a slow month for smaller activities. Maybe we'll be busier next month with school ending...