Sun and Sand

The photos from Vermont keep arriving.  Snow and more snow.  Snow falling at record rates.  Snow piling up to record levels.  Snow, snow everywhere.

The kids are envious, but I can't say the same.  This burning ball of gas on the horizon is what keeps me happy.  So, while they lament the lack of snow, I sizzle in paradise (with sun block of course).

Snow desperation has led to variations on winter fun in the sand.  It began a few weeks ago with sand dune sliding. 


You pretend that you are a penguin on an iceberg and belly flop yourself down the dune. To maximize your fun in this snowless adventure:

1) Keep your eyes closed.  Snow in the eye is cold.  Sand in the eye just plain hurts. 

2) Keep your mouth closed.  Snow in your mouth can be refreshing.  Sand in your mouth is disgusting.

3) Mind your crevices.  Snow down your pants eventually melts and drips out.  Sand down your pants lodges in the most remote nooks and crannies it can find.  It must be dug, chiseled or pried out before taking up permanent residence.

If sand dune sliding doesn't provided adequate winter simulation entertainment, then give sand ball fighting a try.  The rules to this game include dividing into two teams (typically unfairly balanced to begin with), building a sand/mud fort adjacent to the ocean, and stock piling sand/mud balls inside your fort until the battle begins.  Once the fighting starts, all spectators should place bets on how many seconds it will take for someone to start crying.  Two seconds in, someone gets pounded in the face with a sand/mud ball.  Pushing ensues. The tears begin. The battle is over.  Forty minutes of battle prep time. Two seconds of battle.

    

I'm thinking that these kids need to embrace beach activities - the ones that were designed to be carried out on the beach (you know...swimming, sand castle building, boogie boarding, surfing) and just let the winter games go.

In other news this week, it was all about chocolate at school on Friday.  We're testing a new curriculum for next year and the unit is called "chocolate."  Hmmm...I think I'm sold (and so are the kids).

We began by painting acrostic poems with cocoa powder and drawing cross sections of our favorite chocolate treats.  Any guess which one is mine??

Then we went on to taste testing...Lindt, Toblerone, Belgian Chocolate, Milo Bars, Mars Bars, and Chocolate Race Cars.  The kids predicted which chocolate would be their favorite and then took a blind taste test to see if they were right.  The winner was the Mars Bar.  Five out of seven picked it as their favorite. Kids...they wouldn't know a good hunk of dark chocolate with almonds if it bopped them over the head.  Sadly I was left to eat all of the remaining dark chocolate that none of their immature pallets preferred.  The things we do...

That would be the Mars Bar (Milky Way for our Yankee pals)

      

Then it was off to the beach for a warm weekend of sunshine and sea (sun protection courtesy of the Dingo Deli).