Free Stuffs

In attempts to save money for the possible move next summer, we are no longer purchasing the very important items we usually luxuriate in: beer, restaurants, and videos from Vidstar. Additionally, it is now winter in Cleveland, meaning that trips out are few and far between. We're bound to drive one another insane if cooped up too long in the house, however, so it takes some creativity to find the things that are not in our living room, wasting away on the computer or with dreadfully stale activities. Here are some things we've been doing recently:

Long trips to the library, where Bastian plays with the Duplo blocks in the Children's section. Aleks, at 6, cannot have his photo taken without elaborate posing, usually in the mode of Kung Fu.


We worked a bit at the giant paper dragon we've been planning for some months now.
We did not get very far, unfortunately. Just some scales and spikes cut out...
Moonlit walks in the bitter cold help to wear out over-energized children and calm Mama and Papa's frustration...


Standing on fire hydrants scares passing cars, we have found.
Frightening Papa with giant robotic dinosaurs in the a.m. is also a fun distraction.
Building robots out of brothers.
Making foot art.