Nature Scavenger Hunt

We went for a walk on a trail near our house today, and did a scavenger hunt. 

We found:
smooth
green (too easy! haha!)
a seed (pine nuts)
a weed
a flower
edible (pine nuts)

 signs of erosion

signs of fall coming
a reflection in the water

 signs of animals being there (see the bird poop?)
I didn't take pictures of the trash that indicated people had been there.

We looked for something twisted, but didn't find that one.

 On the way home, we stopped at Walmart, so they could get a drink.  I had to stay outside with the dog, so E went in by herself to pay for the drink. 

A was on my back in the carrier the whole time, so I didn't get a picture of her.  Here's a picture of her at home.

Banning Technology

I've seen a few things going around lately about banning technology from kids, for all kinds of fearful, hyped up reasons. I just wanted to share a few of the neat things technology has allowed in our lives lately. Last night, my kids got to play a video game with their uncle who lives 2 states away. They do this every few weeks, and it's really neat, because they probably wouldn't know him otherwise. Just talking on the phone can be awkward between a single guy and little kids, but having the video game to connect over meant at least an hour of conversation.
Also, my mom and my aunt are on a trip through Italy right now. The kids and I are able to "follow" them with google earth. Starting from the San Fransisco airport, tracking their path to Germany and then Italy, seeing the B&B where they are staying, the art museum the visited, the walk they went on, etc. has all been really neat. Plus when my kids ask a question I don't know the answer to, I'm able to pull up pictures, videos and answers in 2 minutes flat.
L loves coloring in pictures on an app on the phone and then being able to play it back, so I can see the process she used. We can play board games on free apps without the expense of buying them or the mess of cleaning them up. They can stay connected with family by writing emails back and forth. All of my kids have favorite tv shows and video games that bring laughter, questions, conversations, and a way to unwind into our home.
Could we survive without technology? Well, based on the fact that E played outside with friends for, literally, at least 8 hours today and L and Z did the same for at least 4... yes, I think we'd manage. But I can't imagine why would I want to take away these amazing modern resources for learning, connecting with people, and entertainment.

Taking Initiative

A few days ago we went to the park and while I was getting dressed, E took it upon herself to pack us some picnic snacks. She has seen me do it 100 times, so she knew just what to get- apples, oranges, raisins and water is what she chose. I thought it was neat that she did it on her own, without me saying anything and knew just what to get because she has watched me and helped me.





It was pretty windy, but we had fun!

Mermaids, forts, maps, days of the week, bugs......

On a message board I'm on there's a thread about our unschooling days and I posted this. Thought I'd copy it here too.

Today we made mermaid cookies. Dd watched Little Mermaid last week and had the idea to make these cookies, so I finally got around to it today. They were just sugar cookies that we cut into mermaid shapes, though they looked more like snakes and sea horses. We discovered that no one in the house actually like sugar cookies, so we'll use the left over dough tomorrow for playdough.

I made her a fort this morning by putting a blanket over the table. That was fun! She's been wanting me to play pretend games with her stuffed animals. I do the funny voices and she keeps the story line going.

The days of the week have been coming up more often lately. We just joined YMCA and Thursdays are going to be our swimming pool days. So when she asks when we're going to the pool, I say Thursday. Today is Monday, tomorrow is Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday. Or whatever day it is. We've done this before when she wanted to know when something was happening, so now when I start naming off the days of the week, she can almost say them with me.

She was looking at her map today. It's a map of the US that I have on the dining room wall. I've told her before that she was born in Maine and now we live in Oregon. Grandma lived in California. So, today she was repeating all that back to me and asking me to name other states. Then dd2 started pointing at different states, so I was naming them for her. That was too cute!

We went outside in the rain today and they splashed in some puddles and we threw a football around. Then she went on a bug hunt and found a beetle and a worm. Usually she likes to keep them, but today she didn't want to trek back inside to get something to keep them in. She REALLY likes spiders, but for a few months now we've been talking about how there aren't many spiders around in the winter time. So, she's looking forward to summer.

hhhhhmmm what else today..... she watched Dora, we listened to a Veggie Tales cd, she played on uptoten, played with her sister a lot, we went to our church class and she went to the nursery.

Oh, she helped me clean up the house. It was so funny! She was running around saying "I'm Superman! I'll help you, what do you need help with?!" I wasn't even cleaning the house up and it was her idea. She said, "I'll rescue you! I'll put toys away!" and she did.