We're Boundary Waters bound!

We are leaving early Wednesday morning for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We'll be camping on an island in the middle of Fall Lake near Ely, MN for 5 days. Sounds heavenly, huh? Wish us luck though, this will be the first real camping trip either of the kids of been on. I think it will be fun for them. Lots of fishing, playing, hot dog roasting, swimming, sand castle building, nature walking, smore eating, scavenger hunting... We're hoping to see some wildlife... moose, bears, deer, loons, wolves...

I'll take lots of pictures to share!

Book reviews and recommendations...

I thought I would share a few of the books we have been enjoying recently...

We just finished reading A Bear Called Paddington as our bedtime story. Tyler really loved this story about a silly bear. His favorite part was when Paddington was trying to perform a magic show and he smashed Mr. Curry's watch with a hammer... only he forgot to read the instructions through, which would have told him to have a spare watch before doing the trick. Oops! I enjoyed reading this with Tyler as well, it really brought back memories of my childhood when I was reading this very same book.

Tyler read a couple of Reader books as part of our Toad Study...

First up was Frog and Toad Are Friends. His favorite part was when Toad came out of the water wearing his bathing suit. He also giggled over Toad trying to come up with a story to tell Frog when he was sick... he tried everything, including standing on his head and banging his head on the wall! Tyler loved this one so much that I went ahead and got him a couple of the other books in the series... Days with Frog and Toad and Frog and Toad Together. They just arrived today, so he can't wait to dig into them later.

He also read Toad Makes a Road. His favorite part of this one was the very end when the truck came down his road with all of his friends in it.

As for me... I am plugging away at Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series. I'm almost finished with Volume 1, Home Education. I am really getting a lot out of this book. It pertains so much to regular life as well as school life. I am looking forward to moving on to Volume 2, Parents and Children. It may take a long time for me to get through all 6 volumes, but I have a feeling it will be worth it!! Charlotte Mason was so wise... so wise.

I am also reading Watchers at the Pond as part of a book club on one of the Yahoo groups that I belong to. This book is simply amazing! It is a glimpse into pond life that you could never get elsewhere. From the skies to the land to the pond itself... and all year round. Since we got our microscope we have developed an interest in pond life. This book is teaching me a lot of what I need to know to help Tyler learn about the amazing things that go on in and around a pond. I highly recommend this book.

I recently acquired a copy of Drawing with Children. I have just started with this book, but it looks promising. Tyler struggles with drawing and gets a bit intimidated when I ask him to draw things. I am hoping that by doing some of the exercises in this book he will become more confident. He has a wonderful imagination.

I've also been flipping through Project Wild and Aquatic Project Wild. These two books have some wonderful nature activities and experiments in them. I think I will be referring to these quite often in the coming years.

Another one worth mentioning for nature activities and experiments is Botany for All Ages. Lots of great ideas in that one as well.

I think that's all we have on the burner right now. I will let you know if we find any other winners in our search for great reading material! Also if you have any suggestions please fell free to comment here or email me. I have been trolling the blogosphere for book reviews and recommendations... I would love it if a few would come right to me!!

P.S.
Don't forget about PaperBackSwap.com when you're looking for books. I have found a lot of great books there... in fact most of our little library is from there! Its fun and its recycling too!

Happy Belated Fourth of July

Hope you all had a wonderful and SAFE holiday!

We've had a lot of fun the past few days. We went to see the fireworks at the Red, White, and Boom celebration in downtown Minneapolis on the Fourth... after dinner at Old Chicago. Then last night we ended up at one of our regular catfishing spots... which happens to be right across the river from the Taste of Minnesota where they set off fireworks every night! So we got to enjoy fireworks TWO nights in row! Fun stuff. Add in a little fishing, friends, food, and sparklers and you have the makings for a great time.

Tyler has been at his friend's house ALL day today for a play date. I'm sure he is having a blast but, to tell you the truth, Emily and I are missing him big time! I'm sure he'll have lots of stories to tell us when gets home about his fun time. I know they ate lunch and then went to the Dog Park to see the dogs and catch bugs... and now they are eating supper before I go get him. Not sure what else they had on their agenda. I'll let ya know!

UPDATE:
Well, Tyler had a ton of fun today with his friend and his Dad. They ate hot dogs and chips for lunch and then they headed over to the off-leash dog park where they petted dogs, caught some bugs, and swam in the river. They also stopped at Dairy Queen for cones while they were out. They played at the house a bit, inside and out in the yard. They had sausage, eggs, and toast for supper before they brought Tyler back home. He got back home around 7:30pm!! Talk about a full day of fun! Tyler said he had a lot of fun... he also said he didn't miss Emily and I. In fact he said he forgot all about us! :( Oh well, I guess that means he truly did have an awesome time. *sigh*

Fun and Learning at the Zoo

The kids and I had an errand to run near the Minnesota Zoo yesterday, so I decided to make the most of the gas and pop in at the Zoo while we were there. They remodeled the Zoo recently and added a play area with sprinklers for the kids to play in. Tyler was excited to get to play this time... last time we weren't dressed appropriately.

As a part of the remodel, they also added a new exhibit called Russia's Grizzly Coast. This is the second time we have visited the zoo since it opened and the crowds are horrible! Its really hard to get close enough to see the animals. I am hoping things will change as the newness wears off.

We did find this interesting bubbling mud pot without a crowd though...

It was illustrating how, since the area is alive with volcanoes, sometimes cracks and heat just below the surface mix with volcanic ash from recent eruptions and cause these boiling mud pots. Interesting!

This photo is from a couple of weeks ago when I was able to crowd and stretch my way into the crowd to get a photo of one of the stars of the exhibit, the bears... I didn't even try this time.

We were excited to see that the Butterfly Garden is open now (its a seasonal exhibit). Tyler loves to go in here and see all of the beautiful butterflies and moths. They give you a card with photos of all of the species in there and the names so that you can identify them as you walk around.

Julia


Queen


Zebra Butterfly

Spicebush Swallowtail

Ailanthus Silkmoth

They had signs throughout the exhibit telling interesting facts about butterflies. Here are a few we thought were neat:

• Butterflies taste with their feet!
• Butterflies can't hear but they can feel sound vibrations.
• Adult butterflies typically only live two to four weeks.

Tyler was fascinated by how they feed the butterflies...

We also visited the Tropics Trail and the Minnesota Trail while we were there. Tyler was really happy when he saw the baby American Toads... he has a fondness for them since we did our Toad Study. He also thought the baby Painted Turtle was cute!

We had a great time at the Zoo... fun and learning. What more could you ask for!?

Thursday at the Park

Today was our weekly playdate with the SMpls-HUG (Home/Unschool Gatherings) group at Lake Nokomis Park. Once again a fun time was had by all! After playing at the park for a bit we ended up hitting the beach. The kids had a blast swimming and splashing. Tyler and some of the other boys found a huge log and they floated around on it a bit, pushing each other around on it. Even Emily enjoyed her first visit to the beach by wading and sitting in the water. My guess is we'll be spending more time at the beach over the Summer... it was THAT much fun!

Here are a few photos that I snapped with my cell phone...

Sharing our view...

live in the basement so our view is a bit limited. We also live in the city, so wildlife is a bit sparse. But I thought I would share a few of the things we see from our window on a regular basis. (Keep in mind these photos were taken through the screen on our window.)

This is a normal, and fun, sight from our window. Tyler and Daddy made this funny Squirrel feeder that looks like a table and chairs. We have had lots of fun watching these cute guys this year. This particular Squirrel is one of several babies that were born in our eaves earlier this Spring.

These little House Sparrows are plentiful outside our window. There always seems to be a crew of them nibbling on the seeds in the feeder and on the ground around it. Tyler and Daddy made this bird feeder as well.

We also have plenty of these guys outside our window... in a wide array of colors and patterns. Pigeons galore!!

That's about it for our view.... other than a glimpse of a Cardinal now and then. I hope you enjoyed looking out our window with us!


In other news:

• Our socks did not sprout. Disappointing, but we'll try it again in the Fall!

• We got our microscope today!! So far we have looked at paper, salt, human hair, tap water, cheek cells, a dollar bill, and a penny. I can't wait to get out and get some pond water to peek at! Until then we'll be running around the house like crazy people looking for things to look at under our microscope!

• We discovered Minneapolis Public Radio today. They have a Classical music station! If you live in the Twin Cities it is at 99.5 FM. We are loving it in the car!

Meet Mr. Question...

Let me introduce you to Mr. Question...

Yes, that's my Tyler. Here are just a few of the questions I have had to ATTEMPT to answer out of the blue over the last couple of days...

Why are Flamingos pink?

Why do things cost money? Its just paper.

How do Chameleons change colors?

Why do girls shave their legs?

How do things look different through 3D glasses?

How do fans make air?

Yard Sales, here we come!

The kids and I were able to get out yard saling today, for the first time this year. I love sales! We didn't find a whole lot though. There were a ton of sales yesterday but not today, figures. We were able to find this shelf though. At $3 I thought it would make a nice plant shelf below our window. We live in the basement so I figured the only way to successfully grow a few plants would be to have them right in the window.

The two little plants on the shelf came from the sales today too... one is a Spider Plant and the other a Bloodleaf (or Chicken Gizzard). Eventually there will be more plants, but these little guys are looking cute up there for now.

Those are Nature Prints made from Sculpey Clay hanging down from the quilt rod. We made those with our homeschool group a few weeks ago. I got the idea from Melissa over at In the Sparrow's Nest.

Now to decide what else to grow!

Weekend Update from Aquarium City

This weekend has been a fairly calm one. Tyler had his best friend over for a sleepover Friday night and he was here most of Saturday as well. They had fun and got to go for a nature walk. Last night we ran to the store for a few things we needed. I found the cutest little "Ladybug Playground"... basically a little plastic cage to keep a few Ladybugs in to study. Oh and we got some new colored pencils too! Yay!

Today we put into action something we've been planning for awhile. I wanted to switch our aquariums around to allow for a "critter tank" so that we could bring home a critter every now and then to study. We decided to get a bigger "fish tank" and use our 10 gallon one for a "critter tank". I came across a bigger aquarium today on Craigslist, so off we went!! But first we had to stop and drop off Daddy's gas can and weed trimmer where he was. Tyler decided to "help" Daddy out a little while we were there...

In the meantime Emily was checking out the Dandelions in the yard...

But back to the aquarium situation.... I have a plan!

So our little 10 gallon aquarium has been cleaned up and it now has a screen cover on it so that we can put critters in it to study. Snakes, frogs, toads, turtles, salamanders... whatever. Just for a few days and then we go release them and get somebody else to study.

The big 29 gallon aquarium that we picked up today is going to turn into a Mississippi River scene, with fish found in the River. Sounds cool, huh?

We also have a 10 gallon aquarium here with our Hamster, Killer, in it.

Talk about aquarium city! But I am excited about the changes and looking forward to the fun we will have enjoying nature here.

I'll leave you with this...

Hope you had a "cool" weekend!

Meeting the HUGgers

Yesterday the kids and I met up with our SMpls HUG (Homeschoolers/Unschoolers Gatherings) Group for the first time over at Powderhorn Park. What a fun group they are! Tyler and Emily both had so much fun. They can't wait till next Thursday so they can do it again! We plan to make this group part of or weekly schedule. It felt good to get out and meet some people... and the kids LOVED playing with all of the other kids. Here's a little photo mosaic I made with a few of the photos I took...

Tyler got to play Baseball (Thanks, Peter, for working with them on that). Emily got to swing a little. Some of the kids showed Tyler how to play their version of Dungeons & Dragons. Emily made a little friend and they had fun teeter tottering, playing in the sand, and playing with a big ball in the grass. We also made some Nature Prints in Clay like Melissa over at In the Sparrow's Nest did (Thanks, Amanda, for organizing this!). We painted ours and they are drying right now... we plan to make a mobile out of them. I will post a pic when we get it all finished up.

We also had a little visitor at the park...

This Little Brown Bat came to show off a bit. We thought it was sort of odd that he was out during the daytime... and so close to people. He sat on the tree for quite some time while we checked him out. I guess maybe he knew we hadn't been out for a nature walk yet this week and decided to bring a little bit of nature to us. :)

Happy May Day 2008

This year the kids and I had the chance to experience the amazing May Day Parade that In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre puts on every year. They work on this parade literally all year round. And it shows! This year's theme was A New Bridge...

A New Bridge Infrastructure for the Future Beings On August 1, 2007, we witnessed the fall of the 35W bridge. During the profound Ecumenical Memorial Service for the 13 citizens who perished in the river, Hamdy El-Sawaf of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council of Minnesota offered these words: “If a bridge made of iron, steel and concrete can fall down, then a human bridge of faith, trust, confidence and hope must be established.” These words challenge us to receive the tragedy of the fallen bridge as an opportunity to consider the infrastructure we are building for the present and future beings. Are we building toward depletion and collapse as consumers and conquerors, or are we building a path to sustainable, reciprocal harmony with the rest of the earth? Let us turn together with trust, faith, joy and ingenuity toward the work of building a bridge for safe passage through our transition to a glorious, sustainable, healthy life for all the future beings. Happy Mayday! Enjoy! In The Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre Creator and Producer of the MayDay Parade, Ceremony, and Festival

One of my favorite parts of going to the parade, though, is the people watching. This event brings out people from ALL walks of life and it is so fun to watch and experience them all. While we waited for the parade to arrive we saw a lady juggling beside us and a man across the street with a huge parrot on his shoulder. Not to mention the variety of hairstyles... and the varied tastes in clothing! It was amazing.

Then there's the parade itself. So full of color and happiness. People on stilts, people riding unusual bikes... masks and amazing costumes... music of all genres. People just having fun and spreading joy. Here are a few photos...

Note: You can see bigger, more detailed, photos in my Flickr Photostream.

Now you may wonder how in the world this craziness could be educational... but it actually was. There was the multi-cultural experience... including Native American dance and costumes. The wide variety of music and dance. There was the display showing butterfly cocoons. There was a group of people marching holding endangered animals made from paper mache. There were anti-war groups, which prompted some discussion. One group handed out flowers along the way... we got Baby's Breath, which we looked up and identified when we got home. It is now being pressed so that we can enjoy it for a long time to come. So we did learn. I am discovering that everything in life can be a learning experience! There was a lot to soak in here... I'm sure discussions will spark for a long time to come.

After the parade we walked the few blocks to a nearby park. This is where the parade ended and they had a May Day Festival going on. The Festival may have been fun... if you could actually make your way through the sea of people to see anything. We were disappointed in the crowd, which made it impossible to have fun. We did get to see the canoes they had decorated for May Day... I believe they were doing canoe rides on the little lake there in the park. We probably made it a few feet before we decided to leave. We did stand in line long enough to grab a hot dog and a pop. We enjoyed watching a couple of guys do tricks with a frisbee while we ate. Then we headed out to play at our usual neighborhood park. All in all a fun day!

Happy Earth Day

Tyler's new baby Red Pine - Planted in observance of Earth Day 2008