If Your Car Breaks Down, Enjoy the Walk

Our car broke down last week at my mom's house. We were planning on all going to a 150th birthday party of our county at the park, so I had my mom take us to the park anyway. That meant walking a mile home, with 4 young kids, carrying the baby in the wrap the whole way and the 3 year old on my back half of the way. So I got the kids excited about the adventure of walking in the dark, and we enjoyed seeing the moon and feeling the fresh, cool air, and taking back streets away from the busy main road, so we could hear each other talk. 

From sullivanwaterwheels.com.  Not the one we saw, but similar.

When we were almost home, we passed a restaurant that has a water wheel outside. We had seen it many times before as we were driving by, and had talked about making a miniature one. This gave us the chance to stop and see if from all sides. A man who I assume was the owner, maybe the manager, was outside and said we could stop it and let it go again and feel the water, so we did. The man and I explained to the kids how the pump works. Taking a unfortunate situation and turning it into something fun, and being open to the learning that arises as a result, is one of the best things I've learned from unschooling.