Monday was ice skating with the homeschool group. We all ended up skating. W is doing really great now - even with the rented skates. We all used to have our own, but outgrew them, except J who used K's old ones. It was a nice afternoon and I had a lot of fun with the kids. Tuesday, W had a solo dance lesson. I videotaped it so he can practice at home. The studio owner wrote out all of W's steps for me to go over with him. She said he is really smart and has excellent timing, in that he really *hears* the music and that's not something that can be taught. She seems pretty excited about him and says he may be ready for an optional December competition. I'm not so sure. But we'll see.

Today the kids and I went to the American Museum of Natural History. We stopped for some hot chocolates and pastries to eat on the subway and were actually on the way to the American Indian Museum when all 3 decided they really wanted to hit the other one instead. It wasn't a big deal since we just need to go one extra stop in order to change trains and head uptown. They have a new special exhibit called Lizards and Snakes Alive that was cool. Their favorite room was the Hall of Biodiversity and the Ocean rooms. I'm pretty sure I saw several homeschooling families there, but was too chicken to go up and ask them.

After we left the museum, we got some hotdogs and pretzels and watched some museum workers create a dinosaur Christmas tree. Christmas is a huge deal in NYC and every place decorates - big. We walked around Central Park for a while after that. It was gorgeous with the red-, orange-, and yellow-leaved trees and leaf-littered walkways. We stopped in one of the playgrounds and W ran around with a new friend he met. Then we walked from the West Side or the park to the East Side to ride a different train back to Queens.

Here are some pics from today: