Katja and I made some snacks
Hors d’oeuvre
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Tag Archives: katja patersonová
Radwagon 4 Collapse
My kids and I started using our Radwagon 4 this year to commute around the Belle Mead area of New Jersey.
Often we make the trip into Princeton. Today we got our things loaded up on the bike and just as I had started the electrical assistance the front tire tore off and we crashed at the end of our long-ish driveway. To be clear our front quick release axle was tight before departure (departure on our 40 second trip). Also we are evidently not alone in this experience.
We are concerned for two reasons.
First we are sad about what happened and desperately want to know how to fix the broken parts. My son expressed it in the moment like this:
Second, we’re not entirely sure how this happened and we are concerned that it might happen again. We travel roads and there are cars on those roads so we want to be sure the equipment we use is not going to fail. Damage to our bodies included scrapes, bruises, and jarring. But the bike sustained moderate damage including a bent disc break in the front, a bent drive wheel, a broken front splash guard and scraped paint in several places including the front basket and back runners.
From what I read on the internet I see that the front axle doesn’t have “Lawyer tabs” which would prevent the axle from moving out of the forks. This seems to be a design flaw but the design around the forks is short and there isn’t really a way to add my own. A newly designed fork, like those mentioned here, would be a welcomed addition.
A List of French Language Resources for Young People
I put this list together for Katja's learning and exposure. The context is that she is 9 and has had 4 years of exposure and two years of bi-lingual education in French.
Bi-lingual stories in classical literature.
Numberblocks in French does translate to French well. Alphablocks in French does not. They speak French while all the visuals are in English.
https://www.youtube.com/c/NumberblocksFran%C3%A7ais
FouFou has some vocabulary building like this one for emotion words.
The Fable Cottage has a set of 5 stories:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheFableCottage
EFBA has a list of French PodCasts for Kids.
https://efba.us/blog/11-french-podcasts-for-kids
French with Elise is a bi-lingual vocabulary building introduction to cultural differences between France and the USA.
https://smalltalk.fm/pod/french-with-elise
Salut l'info! is a short kids oriented radio broadcast of news issues delivered as a podcast.
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-radio/salut-l-info
an example episode:
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-radio/salut-l-info/elections-europeennes-dissolution-et-decouverte-d-un-dinosaure_6604107.html
Radio Canada has a series centered around Arthur L'aventurier who goes to different places and discusses culture and Zoology. Requires VPN to Canada for access.
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/jeunesse/prescolaire/emissions/4124/arthur-aventurier-afrique/contenu/nosvideos
Au Maroc : Grand explorateur du monde, Arthur L’aventurier se rend cette fois-ci au Maroc afin de découvrir ce pays fascinant qui renferme des trésors uniques. En chanson, il raconte sa découverte d’une faune diversifiée peuplée de macaques de Barbarie, de bourricots, de fennecs, de cigognes et de flamants roses. Émerveillé, il relate son expédition dans le désert du Sahara à dos de dromadaire et sa rencontre d’un peuple fantastique qui possède une culture d’une richesse extraordinaire.
Au Zoo de Granby : Arthur L'aventurier part à la rencontre des animaux du Zoo de Granby : girafe, panda, lion, tortue, rhinocéros, lama, hippopotame ou encore tigre, effraie des clochers, rhinocéros et wallaby.
En Australie : Arthur L’aventurier réalise un grand rêve : découvrir l’Australie, ses magnifiques paysages naturels et ses animaux exceptionnels. Le voyageur préféré des enfants rend visite à sa grande amie Jade, vétérinaire au refuge Au bout du monde pour animaux blessés. Il fait également la connaissance de Matéo, soigneur animalier, et de Finlay, 5 ans, qui adore la nature. À travers un jeu proposé par ses camarades, Arthur partira à la découverte des koalas, kangourous, dingos, crocodiles et autres animaux typiques du pays.
Dans les Rocheuses : Arthur L'aventurier transporte les enfants dans un univers d'une beauté exceptionnelle rempli de trésors naturels : les Rocheuses canadiennes. En images et en chansons, les enfants découvrent les hautes montagnes, les lacs majestueux et les grottes.
Au Costa Rica : Être un aventurier ou une aventurière selon Arthur L’aventurier, qu’est-ce que ça signifie? C’est s’émerveiller, se laisser vibrer, affronter ses peurs et être accro au bonheur! Et tout ça, au Costa Rica!
Princton Rec Pool Lifeguards
The first time Katja swam with me at the Rec pool she asked me if this was a dangerous pool to swim at. The question caught me off guard. I asked her what she meant. She said that the life guards were on the same side of the pool and talking to each other instead of watching the swimmers. So today I took a picture of one guard on break behind me and the other two chatting with each other.
Park reviews
We are in the throughs of evaluating parks in new areas.
Hilltop park has a skate park and Hugh rates it 5/5 while Katja rates it as 3/5.
Swimming
Katja, we don’t swim because some coach thinks we have skill, or because some race will be easily won, or because we like some teammate. We swim because the water needs a swimmer like us and deserves the fastest we can give it.
Fencing
Katja has been a big help getting the new fence in place.
Earlier this year I stained the boards
New lights
Katja has been a great help in creating new lights and doing various house projects. It has been a lot of learning about tools.
Blueberries
So I buy blueberries for my kids and they leave them til they mold. The neighbors’ bush goes ripe and they pick three quarts and eat nothing but blueberries all day.
Here is what’s left
Christmas in July
Our original Christmas plans were interrupted this year and we developed new Christmas plans on the fly. We had selected these tricycles for our kids and I didn’t wanna put them inside and I wanted to build a enclosed area for bikes and such but that has not happened. Nevertheless, we waited and waited and waited with the gifts on our fireplace hearth. So we decided to have Christmas in July, probably should’ve had Christmas in June.
