Fun with homeschooling friends

What a fun Sunday! The weather (can you believe it, we actually got snow last night) resulted in not having a homeschool curriculum yard sale today. Instead we had some of our homeschool friends visit. It was so much fun just sitting around and talking with those friends of like mind while the kiddos played. We got to witness the miracle of a hatching chick. Picture moment!

Decided what type of co-ops to do this summer and upcoming school year-the when, where, what and how's of it all. Going to do a Magic Club on the 2nd Mondays of each month. From 10-Noon will be Magical Science (Harry Potter Science Kits and Magic School Bus Science Kits) and from 1-3 will be Magic Tree House. On the 4th Mondays of each month, we are going to do History Club (it will cover certain time periods and people can use any books from the following series: Dear America, My America, My Name is America, American Adventures or American Girls)from 10-Noon and Science-the Andrew Lost Way from 1-3. The first Mondays of every month the girls do Homeschool Rollerskating and PE at their friends' house (trampoline, climbing trees, etc.), So the 3rd Mondays will be for field trips and nature fun. Looking forward to doing homeschooling fun with others!!!

Lots of Caves in the area

We had an absolute great time on vacation. Friday we drove to the KOA in the Sacramento area. We stopped for lunch at our favorite place in Fresno. The family all ate healthy, yummy food!! Along the way, we all watched for different license plates from other states and mapped our route for homeschooling social studies. We talked about the different state license plates and what was known about each state that we found. Once at the KOA we rode our bikes and had a campfire when it got dark. Roasted marshmallows and went to bed.
Saturday was my birthday so we just spent it relaxing all day. Played at the playground, rode bikes, walked and read my book. We got to do a paddle boat race and the kiddos won a new kite, card game and bag of popcorn. We decided to spend a hour in the paddle boat checking out the lake. Lots of ducks and geese. Supposely there was catfish to fish for but nobody caught anything.
On Sunday we drove to a nearby park and the kiddos swam in the river while Hubbie and I just relaxed and read. We did some more bike riding and playing at the playground. We got a free movie rental so watched the movie "RV" before bed. It had Robin Williams in it and was funny.
On Monday we left the KOA and drove to see if we could visit a local cavern. We got some great pictures of the cave and another homeschool lesson for science. The kiddos also finished their travel journal so language arts and art were lessons for the day also. We stopped at many historical sites (social studies). Found a cabin that Mark Twain stayed at and learned about why the place the cabin was at is called "Jackass Hill." Supposedly at sometime in the past there were 200 or so jackasses on the hill that were transporting picks, tools, food, etc. during the gold rush times and you could hear the jackasses for many miles braying thus the name for the hill. We spent so much time learning about history along with seeing the caverns that we didn't get home till almost midnight.
We got lots of information about other local caverns-there are 4 more in the area and two gold rush towns for us to visit in the future. Thinking about another soon trip on our horizon. What fun to look forward to!!!

Getting Ready for One

I am sooo looking forward to vacation!!! Sometimes I wish that I could just wave my magic wand and all will be packed so we can head on our way. I am looking forward to four days with just the family. No working late, no schoolwork, no thinking I should be doing this or I should be doing that. Just plain and simple relaxing. Now if I could just go to sleep so I can head out (:

New resource

I am so excited that my husband found a new book about fulltime RVing. It's called "RVers-How Do They Live Like That?" He said that the book is written by a substance abuse counselor and therapist. I am looking forward to reading about two people who are fulltime RVing in my field of work. I scanned the resources in the back of the book and found a great website for us www.familiesontheroad.com I have already spent a hour just looking at it very quickly. I love looking forward to all the new adventures in our future! I am having difficulty waiting patiently till that day when we can hit the road. Are five years up yet??

Lazy Sunday

Well, we talked about our options this morning and decided to stay home for most of the day. Youngest and I went to the farmer's fruit and veggie stand then the market. We went home and made pancakes for brunch. Afterwards, I made blackberry bread. We then read some about Marco Polo and helped Youngest read a page in her favorite type of book, Rainbow Fairies. Made some smoothies and popcorn to have while watching a movie. Afterwards, I did some fun reading, Husband cruised on the computer and the girls went outside to play. Had some blackberry bread then got dressed to go out for dinner. The girls and I put on our Ren Fair costumes. We had decided to not drive 2 1/2 hours one way to the Ren Fair today but that didn't mean we couldn't put on the costumes. We then went out to dinner using a $25 gift card that I got from the boss for working 6 days a week for the last two months. I am sooooo glad that I am done with that. Looking forward to having more family time and more fun days like today!

Are five years up yet?

I am soooo ready to sell the stuff, pack up the memories and head out to see the States. I want to send 50 months seeing 50 States. Better yet 50 years seeing the 50 States. I don't want to be sitting inside when it is so gorgeous outside. I want to be able to take beautiful pictures of nature. I want my alarm clock to be the birds waking me as they sing outside my window. I want to chase after the butterflies and see the rainbows over the waterfalls. I want to see the ancient ruins for my Sunday morning church and teach my children all the wonders of other cultures. Are five years up yet??