Meet Jumpy! {by R}

For my birthday my dad got me an RC airplane, a type of glider called the Zagi 5C. Unlike the Jettiger, that we tried last year, this plane is easy to fly. My first airplane, the Jettiger, only got one flight before it was demolished in a crash. 

We got to build more on the Zagi 5C.

  I even got to design the colors myself. I used my favorite color for the main part: yellow!

A few days after I got the plane, me and my dad started building the Zagi 5C. We started by getting some materials like the 3M77 spray adhesive. Then we set up the GoPro for a time lapse. We then glued the two airfoils together and glued in the carbon fiber spars. That glue was extra strong.   

We took it out for its maiden voyage this week. My dad is still working on the video. Stay tuned! I can't wait to get more time with Jumpy. You'll see why I named it Jumpy soon.

 

The Best Camp Ever {by D}

When we picked D up from his day at Ventana Wildlife Society's Condor Camp last week, he was ecstatic and gushed, "Mommy, that was the best camp eveeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" Awesome. So, naturally, I had him write about it.


June 12, 2014 -
Today I went to the best camp ever, Condor Camp!

First we went to Laguna Grande Park to meet everyone and get in the van. But, while we were waiting, we played aquarium tag, which is pretty much Snakes and Minnows except you have to think of an animal and one of its adaptations. When the person who is It calls on your adaptation, you run to the other side.

After the game we introduced ourselves and told what our favorite animal was. Mine is a wombat!

Then we got into the van and drove all the way to Big Sur. We passed Bixby Bridge and went all the way to the Ventana Wildlife Society's Visitor Center and learned about animals. Here are a few facts I learned during that presentation...

Mountain lions lick their babies' butts to keep them clean. California condors live in the Grand Canyon, too. They can get killed by electrical poles. Baby condors eat plastic and get poisoned by the DDT, but sometimes they have surgery to remove the poisoned plastic from their stomachs. I also learned that condors can change the color of their skin, depending on how they are feeling. Finally, I learned that the California condor population was down to 22 in 1970.

Then we climbed into the vans and drove to Seal Cove because seal is one of condors favorite foods. So, we set off. When we reached Seal Cove, we didn't find any seals or any condors. We did find a bunch of ants and a turkey vulture was flying overhead in the sky.

Then we drove to private property in Pfeiffer where the condors usually hang out and we heard beep! Beep! BEEP! from the  tracking device. It was Condor #204. He flew through the trees and down the cove. We got out the telescope to see if there were any more condors. We did this for about ten minutes. Finally we packed up, ate lunch, and went swimming.

Best. Camp. Ever.

Condor Camp {by R}

My brother and I went to Condor Camp last week with Ventana Wildlife Society.

We started off the day playing a game of adaptations. I was a cone shell snail. Then we introduced ourselves and shared what we wanted to get out of condor camp in a group circle. I wanted to learn more about thermal gliding and I also wanted to see a condor. 

Then my brother and I climbed into the 'Great White Shark' which was actually a large van that could hold 15 people. The other van was called the 'Lone Gray Wolf.' The adults drove us all to Big Sur.

We stopped at a visitor center on condors. And, even though it was closed, we got to look around it. Then we got a quick presentation on condors. 

I learned that lead poisoning is the biggest threat to California condors today.When a hunter shoots an animal with a lead bullet, lead scatters all around the flesh. If the kill is not found by the hunter, a condor could eat it and it only takes a miniscule amount of lead to kill a condor. And I definitely did not know that the condors get electrocuted on power lines because they are so big that they easily touch two wires, completing a circuit. 

We got to see how the condor tracker operates. Almost all the condors are tagged with radio transmitters. If you see a condor without a radio transmitter, it means that they were likely raised in the wild.

As you can tell, I learned a lot from Condor Camp!

Summer Camp: Learning About Condors

Summer camps are expensive, typcially. No doubt about that. But they also provide great enrichment. So, we pick and choose camps for the boys carefully. Last year, they did kayak camp and were out on the bay for several hours a day for a week. It was a fantastic experience. And they gained so much confidence on and in the water.

Today, they're off on a one day condor adventure with Ventana Wildlife Society. Click to read more about their work with condors. And, in the range of summer camps, this one is a good deal.

The boys carefully followed the packing list, making sure they had swim trunks, sunblock, and the other items; I loaded up their lunchboxes with carrot and celery sticks, lychee, cheese, granola bars, and wraps with turkey meatballs.

D was up at 5 o'clock. "It's time for condor camp, Mommy! Condoooooooooooor camp! Mommy, get up."

Not yet. Go back to bed, please. Jake pulled the blanket over his head and groaned, "Why is he awake at five?!" He's really excited.

Stay tuned, they'll report back tonight about what they learned!

Have fun, boys! Learn lots.

Time to Build {by R}

6/10/14
I woke up this morning ready to build. After we all ate breakfast I thought up a design for a robotic plant. It was going to have solenoids to grow when the robot was placed in water and then it would face and follow the sun with photovoltaic panels.

Later, the Nonni picked up my brother and me. At their house I drew the schematics and the design for the robotic plant on paper. I also had to clean up my room in the Nonni’s house. The problem was that it was full of my inventions. I had to throw a lot of stuff away. Then we planned for the summer. Soon it was lunch time.

After lunch my dad picked us up and took us home. I decided to build an ROV. My 5th grade teacher gave me enough parts to build one. I would have to build the control box first. I drilled three holes in a small plastic box to insert the three switches. This would allow the ROV go up and down, back and forth, and turn right and left. It was hard to figure out how I would wire the whole thing correctly. Then I drilled holes for the connection wire and the power wire. The connection wire would connect to the ROV. I took wire connectors and I started working on the circuit.

Finally it was late and time to clean up.

Avoiding the Summer Slide

Our family's philosophy has always been: work hard, play hard. And summer vacation is no different. We have lots of fun planned. Lots. But we also want to avoid the summer slide. You know, when kids do no academics for more than 2 months and go back to school with some rusty skills.

While I am not a parent who is score obsessed - far from it, actually - I cringe when I see the boys losing basic arithmetic skills because they are unused for a summer.

So, the boys will do some writing (think fun blogposts about their adventures), reading (never a struggle for us), science (think mad-scientist adventures with Daddy), typing (D loves the free BBC typing program we used last year) and - for the first time - I didn't buy math workbooks for them. We're giving TenMarks Education a try. It was recommended by R's 6th grade teacher. And so far, I like it.

The boys did the assessments last week and D spent about 20 minutes last night on the first lesson. I liked that it was only 10 questions. He went through it once. Then he was able to go back through on the ones he missed. And if he still didn't get it, the website had an easy-to-understand explanation of the correct answer. So, it wasn't just about getting the right answer, it wanted him to understand how to get to the right answer.

R tried his first lesson this morning, but I had already left for work. Not sure how it went, but I'll get feedback tonight.

Do you make your kids do summer work? If so, what kind? If not, why not? Would love to hear. Comment below. Or email me at constantmotioncamills[at]gmail[dot]com.

Crabby Manns

The boys' first day of summer vacation was spent on a boat with Captain Dan, pulling up crab pots. Such an awesome experience for them. And, of course, I got crabs out of the deal. Sweet!

We all tell our stories a different way. For me, I head to the kitchen. In case you need to know, click: how to cook fresh crabs.

Here is the video Jake put together...



Here's what R had to say: "One Crabby Day."

And here's D's post: "Going Crabbing."

What a great way to start off the summer! 

Thanks, Dan.