Kai is 5!

A quiet backyard party for Kai's 5th birthday. It was a Star War theme. Aunt Whitney came and we had tacos. Kai did his sun ceremony virtually at school.  We got down the globe and he walked around his 5 times around the sun, while Ms. Zayac showed photos. Aunt P even made him a Stars mask! Just like the day he was born, it was Memorial Day and we got the whole day off and had a birthday celebration weekend.

Foster made the cake and the decorations. A Star Wars theme and a 6-minute cake.

3-2-1 Lift Off

One of the bright spots during the pandemic was watching NASA send two American astronauts into space on commercial-made rockets. It was the first time in ten years that this took place. Kai was enthralled and literally watched the NASA coverage for over 5 hours, captivated by the "Doug and Ben" the two astronauts. Their first launch was aborted due to weather, leading to tears from Kai, but the following Saturday it was liftout.  What followed were lots of lots of LEGO rockets, and then even a NASA space ship of his own that Foster painted and he put on his space gear.

The Falcon rocket.

Kai insisted on getting in the proper position, just like he saw the astronauts do.

His NASA rocket.

Camping in Shenandoah

We are not really campers, but the idea of getting away for a weekend seemed so nice and necessary after so much home time. We joined the Shenendoah Valley Trail Club and were able to rent a cabin in the woods with everything except food. No equipment needed but all of the fun of seeing animals and hikes and of course S'mores. We can't wait to do it again.

Foster added his own entry in the cabin's log book about the animals we saw.

On our way home we had to stop at this place!

Foster has not taken a nap in recent memory, but on the ride home he completely zonked out.

The campfire was the highlight of the trip. Starting the fire, cooking on it, the boys were so excited.

Foster's Big Work

Everyday Foster had a 30 minute group call in the morning. Then he worked with Grandma Becky on Math; Grandma Cheryl on writing and spelling; and read to an adult which included relatives and our neighbors. Along the way, he wrote lots of letters to classmates and family and accompany these sometimes potholders or embroidery. This was a challenging time with him away from his friends, but he made the best of it.

He also played lots of LEGOs with Kai, especially Star Wars vehicles. At the beginning we watched a show on LEGO challenges, which inspired the boys and they were off and running, sometimes even Aunt Whitney would give them a Friday afternoon LEGO challenge.

It was fun to see what sparked his interest. One day he was so excited about flesh eating flowers that he spent a day researching and typing up a report on these flowers which he shared with his class.

He created a Washington Memorial out of LEGOs and then wrote a three page report, which he shared and presented to      his class.

One Friday morning Foster came to me with a written list. He said that the day before we had talked about explaining what you need and communicating that to others.  He needed a quiet office with a desk and a chair and supplies, which he had carefully written out in a list. We promptly made him an "office" in the corner of his room.

Embroidery projects were one of Foster's works.

Plans for a tree house that Foster wanted to build with his Grandpa.

He wrote lots and lots of letters to classmates and family.

He learned to make a 6 minute cake. No eggs needed, which was good, as eggs were in short supply at the beginning of April. This was for Grandma Cheryl's birthday,

Foster made so many potholders too!