Cientifico

Ever since Uncle Alu told him he was a scientist, Evan has given up plans to be a "cooker". So when they made paper bibs at school and his friends picked astronaut and fireman and teacher, he stayed with cientifico. And proudly showed us the zipper and the test tube ad flask in the pockets. 

Since Evan figured out, more or less by himself, that different things all fall at the same minus the effects of air resistance, he thinks of himself as some sort of a scientific pioneer. So, often he asks a question like "Daddy - I wonder what the inside of trees look like?" and then follows it up with "Am I the first one to ask that question?"

Evan is inevitably rushing towards grow-up-ness. As the last bits of his funny talk start to vanish, I feel there is a pressing need to re-document it. Three years and a couple of continents away he left several people speaking Evan. They would only say "Foo" if they were hungry. Or "Dow" if they say a dog. Cow was given the prestige of extra syllables "cow-uu". If you more really hungry, you might say "Mo foo". Then came the first multi-syllabic words - "aw-sage" for sausage and "chokit". The only ones deemed important enough for the effort.

Later, he would add an extra "M' " in front of arbitrarily selected words, or replace the first sound with an "M" as if he were west african. The only remaining one still in frequent use is memember. As in "Do you memember that time when I got a snow cone for my birthday?" And he still calls one of his less favorite veggies saparagus. And his favorite gelato place in town is P' Teo's.

Jeweled Shoes

Vivian hates to throw anything away. Least of all her favorite pair of jeweled shoes. But they had gotten too small and were too grungy to give to anyone. So last week one evening after she took them off at the front door, Jo gently but firmly said "Honey, put those in the trash". With a couple of tears in her eye and a trembling hand, my brave girl squared her shoulders, picked up her jeweled shoes, and deposited them in the trash.

And didn't look back.

Decade

Because of that party for my 50th and then travel during the kids' fall break - all in the past three weeks, Jo and I had decided that we wouldn't leave town or throw a party for our 10th anniversary. I scrambled and got us a reservation at LaV for dinner for Thursday. Not bad.

At 4pm on Thursday, instead of Jo's car, Carol's truck pulled up into the driveway. Two kids, three dogs, Carol and Jo tumbled out. "Get dressed" Jo said and I saw her zip up an overnight bag. We drove downtown and I found that Jo had booked us into the W for a day. Twenty four hours of doing nothing. Champagne and strawberries on the balcony with the setting sun (and soaring cranes). A nap after breakfast next morning. A stroll along the new boardwalks at Town Lake.

So, dear Jo, a decade is a long time. For anything. Especially for putting up with me. And my "let's take the handles off the fridge" moments. When we met, the city used to disconnect the electricity at home because I hadn't paid my bills. Now we have children who can spell home in two languages. Not much has changed and so has everything. And you have been the constancy and the change. Thanks for everything, big and small. I love you.

And it's a lot better than sitting in a dark house alone....
Here's to the next 10. 

Throw Back Sunday

Why can one only throwback on a Thursday? 

I found this when I was looking for that baby photo for my birthday. Due to second child syndrome my parents didn't take many photographs of me. Our family albums are filled with smiling dimpled pictures of Alu. 

 But every once in a while I find one. I think this is from the fifth grade, "prize distribution" ceremony on the steps in front of the main building at HPS. That's Kuljit Singh towering on my left and Kanchan Pant and Sanjay Handa on my right. Kanchan and I were in Vijaynagar house. Handa was in Nagarjuna. Red red piss in bed. Kuljit was in Taxila. Green green bathroom queen. We graduated together in the 1981 ISC batch.

Vivian and Evan - your lives are, for the better or worse, much more carefully cataloged than my generation's.

Santa Fe and Clovis

From White Sands we drove up the stark but beautiful Tularosa basin through the tiny town of Carrizozo (love that name) not far from the original ground zero, up towards Santa Fe arriving there well after it got dark. At the start of the four hour drive, Evan repeatedly asked "When will we get there now?"

Jo warned him "Evan, the next time you ask that, I'm going to ask daddy to stop the car and take you to the side of the highway and spank you".

Evan (small voice) "So how will I know when we get there?"
Jo "You will know. Don't ask again till it gets dark"
Evan (a couple of hours later, smaller voice) "Is it dark now?"

At the hotel in Santa Fe, the kids got to share a room with Grandma, which was great for all of us, except probably Carol. But everybody slept well - after the previous day's morning hike in Cloudcroft and the afternoon rumpus at the White Sands dunes. Early next morning, Carol texted "My male room mate is hungry". By the time Evan got to our room he was so hungry he was crying. We practically ran downstairs for breakfast. He ate everything in sight. Then we warmed up at the outdoor hot tub and ventured forth. Our first stop was the Santa Fe children's museum - a small enough affair that the children could run around and do what they wished. Nothing came with instructions, which was an interesting way for the kids to explore. Here you can see Vivian building something big and complicated and Evan demolishing it almost as fast.

Then we ate lunch and the kids and I left for a park while Carol and Jo shopped the plaza. Later that afternoon we drove out towards Clovis. We drove past the Bosque Redondo memorial and Billy the Kid's gravesite near Fort Sumner along the mostly desolate Route 84, past Canon Air Force Base and into Clovis, our very last destination. Along the way Evan asked Vivian (many many times over) what the names of his cousins were and how old they were and other details ("And what is their Daddy's name?"). The next morning we met Aaron and Beth for breakfast and spent the day chatting away till Peyton, Gage and Logan came back from school and the five cousins played together. Then Peyton had to retire to do her homework and Gage to soccer practice and Logan and Evan bonded. By the time it was time to leave, Evan was calling himself Logan Jr. The next day, as we drove back to Austin, he said "Logan is my best friend ever. When can I meet him again?".

It took us eight hours to drive back to Austin. The entire road trip was about 2000 miles long and we took seven days.

The kids spotted Ava on the trampoline as we drove up and were out of the car before it came to a stop. Vivian and Ava hugged as if they hadn't seen each other in years. They played. Evan went to poop at Ava's house (that's what friends are for). Carol headed back to Canyon Lake. Jo went to meet her Lift friends at Arro.

Later I took the kids to China Cafe for dinner. Cecil scooped up Evan and carried him around while Mariam asked Vivian "Where is Mommy?".

"Mommy's at Happy Hour" Vivian announced, loudly enough for the whole restaurant to hear.

White Sandy Beach

From Cloudcroft we drove down into the pancake flat plain between the Sacramento and the San Andres mountains and drove past the Holloman Air Force Base into White Sands National Monument past a giant sign that read "Road closed when light flashing due to missile tests". The park is nestled inside about 5000 square miles of land (four times the size of Rhode Island) belonging to the army between it's two largest bases, White Sands Missile Range to the north and west and Fort Bliss to the south and east.

Once you are inside the dune area, you get this uncanny feeling that you are at the beach. The brain relaxes. The mind imagines the ocean behind the next dune. The ears almost hear the rollers breaking on the beach. Vivian and Evan went crazy. They ran up and slid and rolled down the dunes. They played in the pure white soft gypsum sand. The covered themselves and their hair and clothes in the stuff. When it was time to leave, it was obvious that they could have stayed for days.

Cloudcroft

What the hell is Cloudcroft? I wouldn't have been able to answer that till last week when Nina recommended it to Jo. And bam here we are. The drive westward from Carlsbad climbed slowly as the high plains gently rose (past a run down village called Hope) till we reached the Rio Peñasco - a very picturesque mountain creek and it's valley, and followed it all the way up to 8600 feet and the township of Cloudcroft whose claim to fame is that it was named by Fodors in 2002 as the Number 3 "Most Overlooked and Underrated Destination Spot". Yep.

We stayed at the lovely Lodge Resort - built in 1898, and then rebuilt after a fire in 1911. In the Tower room (right under the sun in the photo below), you can find graffiti engraved supposedly by Judy Garland and Clark Gable. When we woke up next morning it was 30 degrees. After an excellent breakfast I coaxed everyone to hike down to the Mexican Canyon trestle of the now unused Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway built in 1900 to carry tourists up to the lodge and timber down for railroads. The railroad eventually ran from El Paso to Santa Rosa, New Mexico and provided the shortest route from the east coast to Los Angeles via Chicago and El Paso.

The short hike was excellent and the Lincoln Forest was at it's Fall best - the Aspens had peaked but the oaks were on fire. 

At an elevation of 8700 feet, walking (running) for two and a half miles proved quite strenuous for at least one of the participants.

Mountains and Caverns

From Marfa we drove to Fort Davis and spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for our lunch at the General Store. However, their most excellent chocolate fudge made up for the wait. Then we headed past the McDonald observatory down the Davis mountains towards Van Horn and from there towards the Guadalupe mountains. We took a detour at the salt flats below the Guadalupe mountains. Then we pulled in to the Guadalupe mountains national park visitor center for a short stroll to the ruins of the Pinery, a stop at the Butterfield Overland stagecoach route from St. Louis to San Francisco (22 days of travel day and night, $200 per head) which was last used in 1859.

Here's Vivian doing her happy dance as she watches Evan base jump off a stone wall. Exciting stuff.

As there are no accommodations around Carlsbad Caverns, from the Guadalupe mountains we drove on to Carlsbad town. Due to the huge boom in the oil and gas business around Carlsbad we paid over $300 for a room for one night at the Fairfield Inn and tried unsuccessfully to find a table at a Chili and then IHOP, before finally giving up and driving to McDonald's where the rest of the town was already waiting in the double drive through lanes. Vivian and Evan were predictable happy to eat their Happy Meals.

The next morning we drove back to the caverns and descended 750 feet into the Big Room to view one of the world's largest underground caverns. It was about a mile and a quarter walk down and neither the kids nor Grandma complained too much. We took the elevator back up, ate lunch at the park headquarters and drove on westward to Cloudcroft, our next destination.

  

Boxed in Marfa

We woke up in Alpine and headed up the highway back to Marfa in the morning. We drove through town and past some concrete structures beside the highway towards Presidio and got curious and made a u-turn and came back up for a closer look. It turned out to be "Chinati Week" in Marfa - which is why all the hotel rooms in town were booked up last night. As we drove up to the Chinati Foundation, we saw these sculptures outside and that piqued our interest.

So I dragged the kids and Carol and Jo through the Judd collection. It was amazing. Or at least Vivian thought so.

This is the look on Vivian's face when she found the "perfect" box from among the 100 in the Judd collection.  Evan on the other hand wasn't interested. He got a splinter in his foot and demanded to be carried around.

Marfa Lights

Carol saw the lights. Evan thought he did but he wasn't sure what he was looking for. Vivian enjoyed herself on the viewing deck. Jo took a lovely photo of the dusk sky. And we drove back to Alpine for the night.

Road Trip

Jo wanted a road trip for the kids' fall break. We didn't exactly know where till we started driving yesterday morning. We slowly left Austin in a rental minivan and headed west for Frederiscksburg though the morning downpour and carried on west till 290 ran into I-10. As we drove through small towns Jo commented on the abundance of taxidermists and churches.

We stopped for lunch at Coopers soon after crossing the Llano river at Junction where I bought too much brisket and not enough peach cobbler. The skills of the many taxidermists were on view at Coopers. If they hadn't been killed and stuffed, there were enough animals and birds hanging on the walls to fill a zoo.

We continued west on I-10 till everyone fell asleep and I took an exit back to 290 and down a steep canyon to the wilderness of the trans Pecos region. A road sign read: "Warning Flash Floods Next 78 miles". Just that. No thoughts on what one might do. We passed a "School Bus Loading and Unloading" sign without a house or street in sight for at least ten miles in either direction. At the bustling metropolis of Sheffield, we turned south on to 349 and then to FM 2400  and drove through some of the remotest places I've seen. We stopped for gas and a snack at Sanderson, the county seat for Terrell county, less than 20 miles from the Mexican border. Terrell county, a chunk of land about 2400 square miles has a population of less than 900 people. Sparse but ruggedly beautiful. From there we picked up 90 and went west with amazing views of the Big Bend National Park to the south. We drove on through Marathon to Alpine, had dinner at the famous Reata, and continued on to Marfa to look for the elusive Marfa Lights.

Zinnia

Something so momentous has been brewing next door that I have not been able to wrap my head around it and reduce it to letters and spaces for this blog. I can only approach it obliquely, even after a week.

Jo doesn't have this problem. On Monday morning last week (my birthday) she filled a slow cooker with a large whole chicken, potatoes and spices and asked me to unlock Tim and Karen's front door so she could cook it in their kitchen while they were away. I raised an eyebrow, for so many reasons. She does not buy chickens. Certainly not whole ones. She doesn't cook. Definitely not at the neighbors. "It will fill their house with the smell of cooking food and you know how Karen likes that", she said.

Earlier that weekend, as we hurriedly assembled a car seat / stroller combo in the Valby Delasandro front yard, Jo asked them which car they would be driving. Karen pointed to the Subaru. "Its safer". Tim gestured to the Prius. "Better milage". "So you'd rather save a few pennies than be safer?" was Karen's response as they stood there pointing at two different cars. And Jo and I crossed our fingers, not because they wouldn't be great at it again but hoping that there would be an again.

I hear pregnancy is difficult. Adoption - when you don't know when you will be blessed with a child and you wait and wait and wait, must be like pregnancy with no end. Jo bought flowers and a card. We waited for a call or a text. Waiting for the papers to be signed. Vivian made a card for Ava. "Welcome to be Big Sisters' Club". She came up with that all by herself and it was probably the awesomest thing she could say to her friend.

The wait is over. Congratulations, Karen, Tim, Ava, Tulip, Nala, Cashew, Moosie and Pizza. Welcome to the neighborhood, Zinnia, you tiniest most beautiful morsel of humanity. Yes - you better get used to it. We will all be up in your grill all the time. 

Teachers

Earlier this week, Mrs. Qadar, one of my favorite teachers, went up to the great classroom in the sky. Rest in peace, Ma'am.

Mrs. Qadar had turned in to a bit of a recluse. It took some coaxing from Mrs. Hussain - another of my favorite teachers (class teacher, 7K, maker extraordinaire of sock puppets) to get her to join us for dinner one day (or was it lunch?) a couple of years ago. Pictured here are the two ladies, three proud alumni (including Partha from the next generation -not yet Head Boy 2012-13) and Vivian and Evan. Jo was behind the camera.

Mrs. Qadar was a rare person. Good looking enough at her age to catch a classroom of high school boys staring slack-jawed at her occasionally while she debated the finer points of history, she did not treat us as children. She pushed and shoved us to think beyond where we normally dwelled - whether it was during an analysis of early independence movements or a question of 14 year old male personal hygiene. Mrs. Qadar, you will be missed by many but not forgotten. I hope Vivian and Evan are lucky to occasionally meet a teacher like you.

Boots

We went to this quaint little pizza place close to home for dinner. They have white paper all over the table and the kids go to town drawing. I looked down and noticed that Vivian's drawings are getting anatomically accurate. Hmmm....

After dinner as we were walking through the parking lot, Vivian remarked (again) that she really needed boots for her Halloween costume. Before Jo or I could say anything, Evan jumped in, surprised.

"Vivian - why do you need boobs?"
"Boots!"
"Oh - I thought you said you needed boobs to be a pirate" he said laughing. He hadn't misheard. He was joking. About boobs.


Folks, can we slow it down? You are growing up way too fast.

Evan at the Dentist

On Thursday it was Evan's turn at the dentist. So I wouldn't disturb the other kids during their nap I went and picked him up at 1pm. The appointment at the dentist wasn't till 2pm. I was hoping he'd fall asleep in the car. We drove around. I swear he never took a breath because he never stopped talking. For the whole hour. He explained what a trial was. And a judge and a lawyer.

So I was relieved when we walked into the dentist's office. He's going to have to shut up because his mouth is going to be full of tubes and scrapers and grinders I thought. Wrong! People came out of neighboring rooms to hear him. He told the dentist his dad is an engineer. But he's going to be a scientist - like his Uncle Alu. Who is named after a potato. And he's going to be a vampire for Halloween. A scary vampire. Like the bunny vampire that sucked all the juices out of vegetables in the fridge at night. His sister is going to be a pirate. And on and on.

He score a mustache in one of those vending machines in the dentist's lobby. He stuck it on and we went and picked Vivian. I think he looks like a handsome Telegu movie star. His mustache is at least as luxuriant as Chiranjeevi's.

Darth

Evan occasionally likes to pull on his Darth Vader helmet and run around the house and terrorize any one he can. On this day it was Vivian and Ava. He looks so funny. And top heavy like he's going to fall over.

But the other afternoon when Jo went to pick him up from school, his teacher informed Jo uncomfortably that there had been an "incident". Apparently he and another boy had been showing each other their penises. "Where?" Jo asked, thinking it was probably in the boy's bathroom. "At the end of the line when walking back into class from recess" was the answer.

Evan, you are going to have to learn to keep that light saber in your pocket till you need it.

Too Old to Know Anything

Here was yesterday's google doodle on my browser. It freaked Jo out. "How the fuck does google know it's your birthday. It's creepy."

The party went off very well. Alu came in for it. Drinking Austin's best margaritas while meeting so many old friends (I was having too much fun - I never ate a bite but I hear the food was great). And dancing to ABBA with my dear wife who arranged it all. And dragging home tones of fine single malt, including the one that was hand carried back from Scotland last week. It required a couple of Scots to talk their way into a secret Scottish whiskey society so they could procure a 29 year old single cask.

Turning 50 is a blast.

When I dropped Evan off at his school, one of the teachers up front asked him something. He said "Pepe quatro Ce". I waited till the teacher was out of earshot. "What the hell was that?" I asked.

"Daddy - she asked what class I was in. I told her PP4 C"
"Oh"
"And you don't know how to say that in Spanish because now you are 50"
"Hmmm"

Teeth and Math

Vivian had an appointment for teeth cleaning and a dental checkup this afternoon. It all went smoothly. Her dentist asked what Vivian wanted to be for Halloween.

Her plan, as explained to Jo yesterday was "I have red cowboy boots. Ava is going to be a cowgirl. She should take my red boots. They'll look so cool on her. And I can use her boots. They are perfect for pirate boots".

She wants to be a pirate.

But then Jo told her that it was unlikely that Ava would part with her boots, and that perhaps the main reason for Ava wanting to be a cowgirl was so she could wear her boots. Much distress. So Vivian has been working me since, blatantly canvassing for a new pair of boots. So she can be a pirate.

She explained all this to the dentist who just wanted Vivian to shut her mouth - or actually, hold it open long enough so she could say "It looks fine" and charge me an exorbitant amount for those pearls of wisdom.

When I went to get Vivian from the school earlier, I found her in the library. I was about to quietly exit with her when Ms. Mara caught sight of me and said in her lovely lilting accent that she asked Vivian this morning "Did you eat brain for breakfast?" Apparently because Vivian was brilliant in math this morning. Then she took me back to class so she could show me Vivian's notebook.

And said "Vivian has a new strategy for adding. It's the first new strategy in a long time. Everyone loves it. The whole class is now using it. We are calling it the Vivian Strategy."

Here's the strategy. Nothing amazing. Certainly not an asteroid named in her honor. But I love that Vivian is being creative. And that she has a teacher who is so darn excited about how one student adds two small numbers. Ms. Mara earned half a semester's tuition right there.

Why Evan Will Rule the World Someday

First I have to explain the chocolate situation carefully. Otherwise this post will make even less sense.

Alu came to Austin yesterday for my birthday (what a sweet bro!). He came bearing gifts (thanks, Michelle). In the chocolate department, the kids got chocolate pops from Sweenor's of Rhode Island. They also got a nice box of halloween themed chocolates. Jo and I got a similar box, but it had fall themed chocolates. Vivian got to eat her chocolate pop yesterday. Evan ate his after he got back from school this afternoon. I wanted something sweet too, so I asked Jo where our (her and my) chocolates were and I took one (and then two and so on) and popped it in my mouth.

Evan: "Daddy can I have one?"
Me: "No, you just had chocolate. Later may be"

He started bawling. Jo sent him to his room. He bawled his guts out for a while. Meanwhile Vivian played away unconcernedly, close by. After a while, still bawling,

Evan: "Vivian - this is something you should be concerned about too. Daddy is eating our chocolates."

Jo explained to him that we grownups had a similar box of chocolates and I had eaten from that box and not the kid's box. He went from bawling hysterically to "Oh" instantly. Then came over smiling sheepishly, and gave me a hug.

From friend to foe to rabble rouser and back to friend in less than five minutes. This guy could be a tyrant.

110010

Dear Vivian and Evan,

32 in hex. L in roman. Not impressive.

But 50 conjures up images of rectal exams and AARP (my card showed up last week, no word on the exam - yet). I was at a party a few weeks ago. This guy was turning 40. "ITs all over, isn't it?", he asked.

Yesterday evening you and your cousins called me. I went and found y'all outside the front door with carefully made and decorated mud pies. You wished me a very happy early birthday. The smiles on your happy faces will keep me going for another 50 (or 5 or whatever).

I woke up this morning in a tent (itself about 25 years old) with the two of you. We were camping in Grandma's back yard. Vivian woke up and she and I whispered for a while till Evan jumped up with a start and asked where the Ninja turtles were. It was still dark outside. I told him he was dreaming. He went back to sleep for a few more minutes. Then we read Harry Potter till the it was almost sunrise and we wandered back to the house.

A little bit later we drove down to Sweeties in town for our customary Sunday morning breakfast of donuts and kolaches. I spent the rest of the morning puttering with a chainsaw. Vivian did some homework. Evan pretended to do homework. Then y'all played outside. Mommy and Grandma looked crossly at a medicare web site.

We drove back to Austin in time for a bubble bath for y'all, a hurried lunch and a trip to the Scottish Rite Theater's production of "Bunnicula" - a story about a Dracula themed bunny. Vivian sat up front with the other kids on the carpet and laughed the loudest (and often the only one). Evan sat on Jo and had his hands over his eyes or very close by in case he should need them suddenly. After the show Vivian went up to the stage and got her program autographed and met the actors. Evan stayed close to Jo.

In the evening we went and got dinner at China Cafe. Then another short bout of Potter and then you hit the sack. And that's what I did on the last day of my 40's. About as tame as can be. And about as much fun.

There's no denying that more of my life is over than is left. That's not a bad thing in itself. Gerhard's favorite quote about living too long was "Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben" (Dogs, would you live forever). There is something to be said about quality over quantity. Specially in this regard.

And thanks to the people around me, mine has been excellent. I wouldn't re-live these years any other way. And in the end (or the beginning or the middle or anywhere else) time is what we have, and yet we never know how much or how little of it is left. Spend it so you don't regret it and that will make you happier than any thing else.

The Big Fifty is a state of mind (isn't everything?). You are as old as you feel. Love. Laugh. Don't take things seriously. Specially not yourself.

your Dad
Oct 5 2014
(That's a picture of me when I was just shy of three. Snappy shoes).

The Man

Evan lives life extra large at Vivian's school.

A word of explanation. They go to the same school - but different campuses - an effect of a fast growing new school. Evan is in the pre-school campus. Vivian's campus has the rest of the school. They are a five minute drive from each other. For convenience, the pre-school campus starts and ends a few minutes after and before the other campus. We get to enjoy a quiet and reflective chat with him after dropping Vivian off in the mornings. And an excited rant of how the day went in the afternoons when he gets picked up first.

The other day Jo walked in the house with Evan after school. He was clearly unhappy about something. Turned out that Jo had picked up two bags of snacks from a lady at school that I needed for Vivian's class the next morning and Evan was angling for some of it.

"Evan - why are you grouchy?" I asked.

He considered the question carefully. Then he said in a small voice "I'm not grouchy, Daddy. I'm sad". I had to give him extra points (but alas no snack) for being so precise and clear (he got the snack the next afternoon).

So Evan gets to run around Vivian's school and playground when we get there. He seems to know everyone. One day he was chatting with the coach. Another time the librarian and he were in a long conversation. Yesterday he was sitting on some lady's lap. When I got there, she was saying "Ok, Evan - have a nice play date tomorrow". I don't know who she is.

Several of Vivian's girl friends seem to be among his fans too. One calls him "Gumball". They ask where he is on Taekwondo days when he doesn't come over. They run around and chase him and he tickles them in turn.

He usually runs up and gives Ms. Mara, Vivian's teacher, a huge hug. And Ms. Mara scoops him up. She's already told him that she's waiting to be his teacher - in three years.

Virtual Reality

The last speaker for this unit at Vivian's class was Natalie's dad. He told them about 3D and started them off with glasses and the classic two-color version. Then he took them one at a time and showed them how to use the Z Space immersive virtual reality setup.

Here is Michael helping Vivian hold up the stylus which, in the screen in front of her, becomes a twig that a hummingbird sits on, but only if she holds it still. Then, as she moves the twig towards her, she reaches out to pet the hummingbird. The display constantly adjusts the 3D image according to her position and gaze using sensors on her glasses and cameras on the screen. It was pretty neat, specially the look on the kids' faces when they discover this fake 3D world materialize in front of their glasses - a lot more enthralling than their actual (and immersive) physical  3D world..... 

So, as this unit of enquiry comes to a close, Vivian knows her five senses. Evan is trying to not get left behind. Today he drew her a picture of his senses. "And here is the stomach that has the sense of eating food".