Sean’s Birthday
August 18, 2008
This week is Sean’s birthday. The young boy will be turning 12. Having kids birthdays in the middle of the week are always rough, especially given our hectic schedule. We always have to decide whether to celebrate it the weekend before or the weekend after.
Well, we sort of punted this year and kind of split it. We throw the kids a big party every other year on the birthday with their friends. On the alternate years, we have a nice family day, usually going into town and doing a bunch of things and getting dinner out. We decided to go into Sierra Vista or Tucson the weekend following his birthday and see a movie, play some putt putt and grab some dinner.
We did however, allow him to open a few gifts this past weekend instead of waiting until the weekend after to open all of them. We let him pick two gifts and open them. He happened to open two new board games. They were Balderdash and Simpsons Battle of the Sexes. Thus, we spent the weekend playing these new boardgames and watching the Olympics.
Balderdash is a very fun game, especially for larger groups. The dasher (the person whose turn it is), looks at a card and has a weird word, strange acronym, odd movie, crazy law, or strange name. These are typically things you have never heard of before. Everyone makes up the definition of the term that is read aloud. The dasher then reads all the answer and everyone votes for the one they think is correct. Based on the answers, points are awarded. Its pretty funny what folks come up with, not to mention what the real answer might be.
The Simpons Battle of the Sexes isn’t really my cup of tea. Its another variation of a trivia game. Trivia games are not my favorites. The kids and Suzanne did enjoy it though. The girls managed to win by one point.
I will update you on the actual birthday festivities next weekend.
PowerPoint Info Overload
August 10, 2008
Yesterday was the deadline for the kids to complete their summer reports on Barcelona, Malaga, Madeira, the Canary Islands, St. Maarten and San Juan. Those are all the destinations we’ll be visiting on our upcoming Trans-Atlantic Cruise. Since the kids will be missing two weeks of school for the trip, I required them to complete an extensive research project on the history, culture, and attractions of each destination. They put together the reports in the PowerPoint application, which also required them to learn specialized functions in that program like animation schemes and slide transitions.
Last night, Mr. Papa held a contest to see who put together the best presentation. The kids were judged on quality of research, knowledge of material, presentation skills, and utilization of the effects in the PowerPoint application. Both of the kids clearly demonstrated that they had learned a great deal about the history and culture of the destinations that we will be visiting. Clearly when we visit these interesting destinations they will have greater appreciation for what they are seeing and experiencing. However, they both need to learn to do a presentation without reading directly off the slide. Mr. Papa was so impressed with the presentations, that instead of awarding a single first place prize, he gave them both a cash award to spend on the trip.
After their presentations, it was time to get down to serious business: What are we going to actually do while in Barcelona and in our different cruise ports. We’ll be spending three days in Barcelona prior to the cruise. The city has so much to offer that is hardly enough time to fit in everything. The current weak Dollar against the Euro also presents some budgeting challenges. We also plan to avoid public transportation, which leaves us with some challenging walking distances if we want to try to get in everything that we want to see. Once we begin the cruise, we have to balance our desire to see some of the attractions with our desire not to over spend and also relax. With a family of four, a cruise excursion can cost over $400 for a day of sight seeing.
My job last night was to follow up the kids presentation with prices and schedules. Once everyone saw the prices it was clear to all that we are going to have to pick and choose our attractions and excursions carefully, focusing on our highest priorities and cutting less desirable options.
I still have a collection of travel videos that I’ve found on YouTube for everyone to watch. We also need to view the Celebrity Cruise tour options and see if they have some particularly affordable options that allow us to see some of our top attractions.
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