Family Schooling Summary

We found some great Disney phonics workbooks at the thrift store and have been having fun with those.  I bought a magnetic shapes game for our trip and we have been using that this week. We continue to practice reading, time, and money.

Garden Progress: Berries by the Pint

We are bringing in (or eating) about a pint of black berries and raspberries from our bushes each day, with no sign of an end in sight. Deliciousness!

The cucumbers were going great too, but the beetles are attacking now, so I am not sure how many I will end up with.

I made a huge pot of borscht with our first beets of the season.  The cabbages seemed like they were not ready yet so I replaced that with kohlrabi. I also used venison instead of beef.  It was so yummy. Big sister A gobbled it up and little brother S liked it, but mostly appreciated the sour cream.

Next Stop -- St Louis, Missouri

Since I had never seen the Gateway Arch up close, we decided to stop and let the kiddos get their wiggles out walking around there.

There is a museum under the arch. It features all the different types of explorers, pioneers, and politicians who helped settle the land West of the Mississippi.

Another Week, Another Family Reunion -- First stop, Kentucky

A few days after the other family reunion ended we drove to Nauvoo, Illinois to visit with hubby's side of the family and see the sights.  On the way, we stopped to visit Aunt C in Kentucky.

The day before we left the kiddos and I picked a big basket of strawberries.  Aunt Sunshine and I made 14 pints of strawberry and strawberry rhubarb jam late into the night.

Not to be outdone in the area of last minute projects, the morning before we left my ambitious husband finished the detachable chicken run.

It has a hinged front door for easy access to the chickies.

We had an uneventful drive to Kentucky and arrived late Wednesday night. Thursday we spent the day doing fun activities with Aunt C and Cousin J. Aunt C has a great park near her house with tons of play opportunities including a couple sprinkler fountains.

We had a delicious BBQ (with mint marinade) and this yummy corn tomato pie.

Family Reunion: Day 6

On Friday we went to the National Air and Space Museum out by Dulles Airport (not to be confused with the smaller one that is downtown on the Mall). 

My favorite part was seeing the Space Shuttle Discovery up close.

The kids took turns sitting in and "piloting" a little Cesna 150. They got to move the ailerons, rudder, etc.  Too bad neither of their pilot Grandpas were there to show them how it is really done.

This is good picture capturing the busyness of kids at the museum. All in motion, some climbing up, some trying to climb up. Fun times.

After a packed week of adventures, Saturday morning we said good bye to most of our visitors.  Aunt Sunshine and Uncle T will be here until August.  He is doing an internship on Capital Hill.

Family Reunion: Day 5

Thursday we went to the National Building Museum.  They have two great kids exhibits right now -- Play, Work, Build  and  The Building Zone.  Just like at the American Indian exhibit, both of these kid areas are separate and gated so the kids can explore freely without the moms and dads having to worry too much. 

First: Play, Work, Build (Closing in November 2014)

 They have a giant light table and tons of blocks that the kiddos can use to build things.

They have giant screen that you can stand in front of and it builds your shape out of blocks and then they all fall down.

There are life size blocks that you can use to build a little house or jungle gym.

Second: The Building Zone   The Building Zone is first come, first served.  The Museum opens at 10am and we were standing in line for our tickets by 10:30am.  Our reserved time in the Building Zone started at 11:15.  So we went to Play, Work Build first and then had 45 minutes to play in the Building Zone before the kiddos started to get tired. 

On one side they have large blocks for building life size stuff.  They have a cool metal/magnetic wall for putting pipes together that a ball can go down. They had these magnetic building blocks called Picaso Tiles, or maybe these PlayMags? that cousins C and K had a blast playing with. 

They have really cute playhouse that shows the kids how houses are put together. One wall is clear plexiglass so the kids can see the plumbing and electric wires running through the walls. Big sister A spent most of her time making friends and playing house in there.

They have extra large legos and another magnetic wall of gears that can be put together in different configurations.

Aunt Sunshine and I had fun playing with these different shaped tiles, trying to make a playhouse. 

Family Reunion: Day 3 and 4

Tuesday was a very exciting day for cousin C -- we found out that he had broken his arm falling off the slide and he had to get a cast on it. We spent the afternoon at the pool near Uncle P and Aunt H's house.  

Wednesday we road the metro downtown.  The kids loved it and had a great time looking out the windows and trying to follow where we were on the metro map. 

The main dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History is closed! Aside from that disappointment we had fun looking at all the other taxidermic animals from different parts of the world and the skeletons.  The best part is always the bug zoo, where they can pet giant cockroaches and hold stick bugs. 

Here they are choosing which bug they want to hold.

Then we went to the Museum of the American Indian, which is relatively new. They have a great kids section which is set apart so that it is easier to let them have a bit of freedom to run around.

 They have different stations where the kiddos can practice doing things the indians did like basket weaving, kayaking, or living in a teepee.

Here the kiddos are practicing balancing in a canoe.

Cousin C checking out how cozy it would be to sleep in a kayak.

In the reading nook with Aunt Sunshine.

Family Reunion: Day 2

On Monday morning we went to the National Zoo.  The kids did great until around noon when everyone was ready to go home and take a nap. 

Huge male tortoise

 The gorilla family gave us quite a show -- right in front of the glass, and even making us jump by pounding on it once.

Following the elephant tracks down the elephant trail. For some reason, there was no elephant show that day, so we just looked at him and ate some lunch in the elephant exploration zone.

Getting up close to watch the Sea Lions do their tricks.

Monday night we took everyone who wanted to go on a night tour of the monuments. It is a great time to go because it is not too hot, there are plenty of free parking spots, and not too many other people.

We started off walking through the Korean War Memorial and on to the Lincoln Memorial.

Then we walked past the Vietnam Memorial where Uncle C demonstrated how to make a rubbing of one of the names.

Next we walked down to the WWII memorial.

Then we walked through the new Martin Luther King Memorial and along the tidal basin until we got to my favorite memorial, the FDR Memorial. I love all the quotes about self reliance (during the depression) and peace (during/post WWII).  The way the waterfalls and rock formations are lit is beautiful.

We were all good and tired by the end of running around all the monuments.