Playing Legos at 4H

I'm very enthusiastic about 4H - it costs $10/year to join and they have so many clubs to choose from! Ziggy is in the club that does Lego robots. Super fun times!

Legos and Slinkies

I love the robot and his pet dog. I know I should be making a book of all these miniature designs Ziggy comes up with.

Trick or Treat!

Zig went trick or treating for the first time in his life this year. He and his friend Harry Potter were so busy playing up and down the sidewalks that we had to remind them to go up to houses and get some candy. Looking at this photo reminded me that I have to wipe that scar off his face before he goes to school in the morning. Hope his teacher had a restful weekend!

Chebuki

This is a map of the continent Chebuki.

Zig worked out his own alphabet and named all the countries on Chebuki. At the bottom it says "Sergei" in his fancy new alphabet. I can't keep up with my boy, but I like how he thinks. :)

School and Stuff

So far school has been a success. Today was crazy hair day:We're bonding with our sweet little hedgehog. Last night Ralph took a bath with Zig. He's an incredible swimmer but was ready to get out pretty quickly. Here's how Zig holds him:

The wonders never cease

Leave the kid alone for half an hour and see what he does:

This is a taxi built using instructions from the website, plus a big fan modeled on the Dyson (sort of) that he just made up. He's been on me to buy a Dyson fan. I think he just wants to take it apart. As you can see here, I don't think he believes in airfoil technology. For the record, his dad doesn't, either.

You won't believe this one...

Ziggy came racing into the kitchen today with his latest creation:

A lawn mower, no more no less. As usual, I'm speechless.

First Grade!

Sunset

Legoland Again!

We made the grueling drive from Los Angeles to Carlsbad in 100+ heat, but it was worth it!

Zig and Marishka rode every roller coaster in the park and got their Volvo driver's licenses:

Marishka was very patient while Zig did the Build and Test car challenge:

At the end of the evening we did the little boat tour past some fun Lego creations:

Quote of the day: "We aren't tired at all! We want to stay here all night!" (Marisha went to sleep as soon as we got on the freeway, and about five minutes later Zig joined her with his head back and mouth open.)

Alchemy

This is what Zig spent the evening working on. It's the blueprint for a machine to make gold.

Klyazma River

The Klyazma River is everywhere. We crossed it six dozen times on our trip to Suzdal. Zig took his first dip in the Klyazma with some friends today.

It was a hot day, but the water was mighty cold so they kept going in and coming back out to warm up and play with bugs. On the way home we parked our bikes and indulged in some ice cream. Fun times!

Creativity

Zig got creative while I slept in this morning:

He used gouache paints to put flames and other cool stuff on some of his favorite cars. I was so excited until I discovered (several hours later) that he had cleaned his brush on his bath towel. But that's minor collateral damage.

Here's Zig's commentary:

"The company of all the cars is Ziggy.com/hotrod_painting" (He made that up, so don't click it!)

Suzdal

Random

Here's Zig and his second cousin Alina beating up on Arsen's cousin David. They were racing around making noise and he was trying to calm them down. Fat chance.
Here's Zig and his second cousin Dima posing with the lovely Armine, the wife of Arsen's cousin from Yerevan.
And here's a giant snail Zig discovered on a nature walk in the woods:

Kremlin

Masha and I took the boys to the Kremlin last Friday. We didn't go in - just played in the park outside the walls, ate ice cream, had dinner at a very nice restaurant, checked out a playground and met up with the boys' dads for the ride home.

Random

The batteries in my camera are dead again. Zig and I had a long conversation about batteries. Made me remember a song he used to sing - "Double A batteries, double A batteries, power, power, DOUBLE A BATTERIES!"

So since the camera is out of commission, here is a picture by Yurets, a man who knows his way around a camera much better than I do:

Teeth!

Big day today! Arsen and I took Zig and little Robert to Moscow today. The first stop was the pediatric dentist, who pulled Zig's baby tooth so the permanent tooth can grow in straight (it was coming in behind the baby tooth). He was a champ, and Robert got a ringside view of the whole procedure. Tough kids. My mom knows I would have been in the parking lot before they could catch me when I was that age.

Then we went to the Polytechnical Museum and gawked at a fantastic display of bicycles, cars, trucks and motorcycles from the 19th and early 20th centuries. From there we walked up to MuMu, the best family restaurant in town for my money. Zig chewed carefully.

Graduation!

Today was the end of the year party for Zig's kindergarten. When we got home, he told me he felt something funny in his mouth. I looked and OH MY GOODNESS! He's got permanent teeth coming in! Big times...