Too old to pick Apples

Silvana and I are not too old but the kids seem to be.
We went on Friday which was a PD day. The weather was excellent. As we arrived at Chuddleighs we found that all the buses and vans that were unloading had kids that were only 3 or 4 years old. Oh yes it was a workday so maybe most of those there were mothers and their little ones but we slowly came to realize that our kids were not into the event. There was a bit of playing in the hay but they were on a mission to get apples and leave.
Luckily for us Silvana had a sense that Apple picking would not be enough and mapped a route to Rattlesnake point. This is where the kids really had fun. Listening to the sounds of nature as well as taking in the sights and smells of fall. We probably did about a 5 km loop and it was just about the right length as the walk back to the van did have a few request for a piggybacks and queries about being there yet.
More hikes and less Apple picking may be what is necessary over the next few years.

BTW, We did see a snake but it was just a garter snake.

Let's Play Ball

Earlier last week we had an event at work and I entered a draw to win some tickets.
The tickets were to a Jays game but also included a 90 minute coaching session following the game for someone 6-16. As you can guess I won.
The game started at 1:07 and we got there just before that. As an added bonus it was Jr. Jays Saturday and we were given a passport. 20 minutes later and three stamps on our passport and we were given a (Gregg Zaun #9 backcatcher bobble head). This alone would have made the day but the festivities continued.
Brian only asked when the game was going to be over after the 6th inning at which point we went for cotton candy and a new baseball cap.

Following the game all the kids in the dome got to run the bases. You can imagine the line up. It wound all the way from field level to the top of section 500. Which is where we were waiting. Surprisingly it was very well organized and it only took us about 15 minutes to get to the field. At this point Brian thought this was it and was ready to go home but the fun didn't end there. He had his picture taken and they made a baseball card. Three coaches came onto the field and took the kids through some baseball fundamentals. The day ended at around 7 with some pizza and pop. We could have skipped getting the baseball cap as they go a free one during the clinic.

BTW, The jays won!

Jays Game

First day of School 2007

I posted about this last year but it's such a significant day that I think I'll post about it each year.

Once again Angela and Brian started on different days. It was to our benefit this year as we wanted to deal with Brian's broken collarbone on it's own. Realizing that the first day back to school is usually quite busy for the teachers we got two notes ready explaining the situation. One for the office and one for the teacher. I think they appreciated this. I picked Brian up during lunch/recess to avoid any potential collarbone mishaps. I worry he may get used to this special treatment.

Angela has 2 other Angela's in her class. So much for a unique name.
Grade 3. I think this is the writing and multiplication tables year. The lack of things to say for Angela is actually a good thing.

Not much has changed since we went to school. Some say that schools need to move into the future in terms of educating kids. As an example if you took a teacher from 100 years ago and plopped them into a grade school class today they would not feel much of a difference. Should they? Not sure. Maybe in high school things should change. A teacher at the front of the class lecturing and handing out photocopies is probably not as useful as it was in the past. More interaction is occurring from what I can see but I believe most of the burden falls on the students. Things are changing very quickly in the real world and it's hard for any institution to keep up. I don't think everyone needs a computer but everyone should be using them regularly and getting familiar with some of the common tools. Moving beyond the common would then be a bit easier.

Update: Sept 7/07
I guess some teachers/professors are making changes. See this article that talks about podcasts, videocast, clickers in the classroom/lecture to make things more interactive. Teachers have always been entertainers. This takes it to a new level. Today's guest speaker will be Regis Filbin and is brought to you by the Redbull. Need to stay alert during a lecture, try Redbull!