At Home

This has been such a busy month! While it's fun to have so many things going on, it was nice yesterday to have a quiet day at home, too. We finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the morning and spent the afternoon in the backyard. Inspired by some faerie toys in a catalog that had come in the mail, we made faerie houses around our little pond. We also played on the swings, hammock, and trampoline; and the kids flowed from one activity to the next, imagining:

• Speaking and understanding "chirp" with the backyard crickets


• Communing with pretend apes


• Being and/or running from goblins


• Being moms and dads and babies


• Being and/or caring for unicorns


• Voldemort vs. Unicorns


• Sword and gun battles


• Faeries


• Monster truck shows


• Amusement park

Earlier this week, we made melted crayon sun catchers:

Here's Riley's

Seth's

And Maya's

Subjects, revisited

As I've been catching up on posting these last couple of days, I realized I really dislike reading back through a post to add the "subject" tags for each post. I initially added subject tags to make it easier for someone wondering "what about math(or history, or reading, or science, or whatever)? There are now some examples throughout the blog for any of the standard subjects, but I'm going to let go of labeling posts into those categories. I'll leave the school stuff to schools!

Salt Festival

Last Friday we went with some friends to the Salt Festival at Big Bone Lick state park. There were a variety of pioneer-themed activities and demonstrations. I love seeing what will attract the kids' interests at things like this. Riley loved the atlatl demonstration and the the various toys and games. Maya loved grinding corn into corn meal. Seth wasn't too thrilled with the whole event but did enjoy the kettle corn our friend, Sara, shared with him!

Shelters

Jewelry making

Spinning wool.............................weapons

Checking out a deer skin.........grinding corn

Playing

Tin punch craft

Cutting wood

Evan's Orchard and Cider Mill

A couple of weeks ago we went to Georgetown, KY to Evans Orchard and Cider Mill with friends from the Lexington Homeschool Families group. We had so much fun there. It was well worth the drive. We learned how apple cider is made, shopped for fresh apples and fudge, went on a wagon ride, picked pumpkins, and played for hours at their awesome play area.

Learning about the orchard and the cider mill



Seth enjoying the tractors





All 4 of us enjoying the slides





Playing on the rolly tubes




Hay bale castle..........................Corn maze




Beanbag toss..................Sharing apples and fudge

Farm Frenzy

Our county's cooperative extension service sponsored this event for free a few weeks ago to help show the relationship between farming and food on the table or in the store. Maya, Seth, and I met our friends, Kelly, Jonathan, and Rebecca. Maya especially enjoyed the "pizza garden" display showing the agricultural origins of various pizza ingredients. Seth loved the tractor and hay ride.

Before we left, we ran into our friends from across the street, Jason, Adam, and Kendall, so we stayed a bit longer and hung out with them, too.

And I have to add this picture because it makes me laugh at my poor picture composing choice. I thought these little nursing piglets were *so* sweet. The fence wasn't very high at all, but for some unimaginable reason I shot the picture right through the bars. And it was the only shot I took! D'oh!

Much Love for the Birthday Boy!

Last Sunday was Riley's 9th birthday! He had such a blast with family and friends all week long, having a party with part of our family the Sunday before his birthday, then two of his unschooled buddies over for a few days and nights during the week, then a couple more friends over to play Friday afternoon, shopping for birthday presents on Saturday, and another family dinner here at home with more family on Sunday. It was a busy, fun week spent immersed in things he loves to do: hanging out with friends, playing lots of Guitar Hero, playing and trading Pokemon and Yugioh (and making a trade for a card he's been wanting for soooo long!), skating, playing his new game (Battleground), and learning to play his and Matt's electric guitar.







Aunt Noelle totally gets Riley's sense of humor. This gift bag was lovingly paired with a b-day card that gave him "the moon" (not the one in the sky!). Both the bag and the card now decorate his room! (And the candles in the second picture are not in a really flat, unfrosted cake -- he asked for birthday brownies instead of cake)

Camping

Last weekend we camped in Red River Gorge with some of Matt's family at the Red River Gorge Campground.

Me, Maya, and Seth at the big tire swing

Matt and Maya on the river

Campfire cooking

Matt and his brother, Vince, attempting the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment

Success!

After camping, we headed to Natural Bridge State Resort Park to hike up to the bridge.

Exploring a cave entrance

Checking out the rock formations along the trail

The wider section of the very narrow passageway leading up to the bridge

The view from the trail below the bridge

The view from the top of the bridge