The countdown to Nationals has begun. We leave in 4 days. I bought some cute luggage today for us - better than the crappy decade-old duffles we always use. I got 2 big rolling suitcases, 3 smaller ones, 3 totes, and 3 accessory bags all for $100. I'm happy. I think we're all set for the trip. I still need to pick up some snacks and drinks at Costco for the ride and the hotel. J has everything she needs for the semifinalist part: an outfit for the interview, leotard and tights for the audition, and her production costume, accessories, and shoes are all ready. Her 5 studio costumes and shoes are good to go and we have plenty of safety pins, bobby pins, hair elastics, hair spray, extra tights, and sewing stuff. Of course as I type this I'm remembering about a dozen more things I need to buy before Tuesday. Sigh. But the good thing is that this year we'll have the car with us all week (we flew to Orlando last year and didn't have a car) and we can pick up last minute things up there if we need to.

I came across some chemistry sites this morning, printed out a periodic table of elements, and watched short videos on chemistry experiments. This brought J and W right over to watch too. J grabbed the periodic table and started asking what all the letters and numbers mean. I gave a brief explanation about metals, gases, mass, and how they're grouped. The video we watched mentioned several elements and she proceeded to find them in the table. We talked about sodium and others abbreviated using their Latin name and we discussed how they could be used together to form things she recognizes (H2O is water, NaCl is table salt, etc). W was fascinated by the whole thing and listened and asked questions.

W is still loving the readalouds. This week's favorite is "Tikki Tikki Tembo". That's another one I loved as a child. I think I read that to him 3 times today. After work I stopped at Target for some detergent when I saw a big Dylan and Cole Sprouse life story magazine. I knew J would love it and I was right. She started reading it right away. The articles are long and there's lots of them. This is exactly what I was hoping to find for her. It's something I know she will keep a long time and read over and over again.

It was way too hot to go out much today. J was practicing cartwheels, roundoffs, and back-walkovers in the living room a lot. She's trying to master something called "aerials", which is a no-handed cartwheel. I told her to wait til after Nationals please - we don't need any broken limbs or other body parts right now. W joined in for a "dance-off" with J. I jumped in with my own awesome dance skills - which of course blow everyone away thankyouverymuch. As long as I don't dance in front of anyone, J will tolerate it for about 2 minutes. hee hee.