Wow. It’s hard to believe, but in a little over a week Sam will be heading to preschool. Amy and I attended orientation night for the Grant Park Cooperative Preschool. Above, eager moms sign up for parent helper days at the school (more photos are here). We were able to meet fellow parents, hear more about solving the delays in opening the Cabbagetown Campus, and learn about the background of the Reggio Emilia approach. It’s a fascinating approach, and more of a philosophy than a curriculum like some other methods. Founded shortly after WWII in the small Italian town of the same name, the approach focuses on exploration, empowerment of even the youngest child, problem solving and expression of all forms. I think Sam’s going to love it. More on the approach on the GPCP web site is here.
Grant Park Cooperative Preschool parents Jack and Kim Sobel graciously offered to donate 15% of the night’s proceeds from their newest restaurant, the Cajun-inspired Redfish, toward the start up costs for the new Cabbagetown campus. Above, our friend Laura tries to entertain her daughter Shoshanna AND eat dinner at the same time. Always a difficult task, alas. Amy, Sam and I headed over for a lovely meal (mmmm, shrimp and grits!) amid many rowdy children. A good time was had by all! More photos are here.
Looking for something to do this Sunday, I discovered there were open slots at the Georgia Aquarium. Wanting to take advantage of our annual membership, we gathered the troops and headed over. We missed Gasper the Beluga, but Sammy had a great time. Being able to stand on his own (unlike our last visit in February), I think he enjoyed some parts a great deal more, especially the big tank window above. I still have to rant about some aspects of the facility, though. First, I booked online, and was supposed to get an email with my tickets. Well, they finally arrived, at 1:30pm for our 11am visit. Second, it’s just far too crowded. The flow of people through a facility like this one is a classic challenge, and I don’t think they’ve done a very good job. Although tickets are for one hour slots, in reality people come and stay most of the day. So the later you come, prepare to feel like a spawning fish yourself! Anyway, it’s all worth it to see Sam enjoying himself. The amazement in his eyes is clear above. Full gallery is here.
A few weeks back I was lucky enough to take a quick trip to Colorado Springs Broadmoor resort. I was attending a conference of DoubleClick clients, and had a great, although short visit to learn about upcoming product releases and confer with other users. The resort has quite a bit of history (Wikipedia), having been founded back in the heyday of the railroads and was at one time the home for major figure skating training and competition, and is just a lovely setting. Have to bring the family back sometime. Gallery of photos is here. I shot the photo at right (click here or on the image to view larger) of a black and white swan on the lake at the resort, and the image quickly reached page three of the Flickr ‘interestingness’ pages on August 2nd.
