Busy Fall break!

Busy, busy, busy!!! Friday we dashed about town, visiting, finishing laundry, cleaning and packing. Saturday morning we headed out to Jeff Busby park for an overnight camping trip! It was a bit of a drive (little over 2 hours) but all we had to pay for was gas...no fee for camping sites! We got all set up, went on a nature walk, ate dinner and then headed out to the Rainwater Observatory/Planetarium in French Camp. It was about 15 minutes away from our campsite. The kids had to endure a bit of boring lecture on what NASA hopes to accomplish in the next 100 years, but then the kids and adults were given the opportunity to roam thru the building looking at meteorites,tons of gemstones and other interesting models and artifacts. There was also this curious blue substance called 'aerogel'...never heard of it before in my life. (When we came home I googled it...the www shows loads of info and cool pics, check it out!)

After purusing the barn, we headed outside. The scientist in charge had a light pointer that went clear into space...that got the kids' more attention than just about anything. To have someone point out the constellations and North Star was very education for me at least! We also got to peer thru telescopes set up around the landscape...one aimed at the moon, one at Jupiter (a few children, who shall remain unnamed lost interest at this point and I had to remove them from the scene). This I might add was all FREE!
After that "fun" (or I would call torture for a 7 and 2 year old) we came back to the campsite to roast marshmallows, keep Kimberly out of the fire and then retire for the evening into our respective tents (girls tent vs. the boys tent). Kimberly awoke in the middle of the night wanting her bed and blankie, but then fell back into a deep slumber within 5 to 10 minutes. We just went for one night as a "test" and it worked out well. Next time we just need to find a campsite that had more amenities for little ones, like a sandbox and playground....
We arrived back home a little after noon on Sunday and spent the afternoon cleaning up and then heading to Mass that night. We were surprised to see so many people we knew! It was nice to chat and catch up with everyone!

Monday I enforced school...even for those who "go to school"and a little shopping. I picked up a few new board games for the kids and they must have played scrabble over and over again for about an hour or two before the Creativity Co-op people showed. We get together with some other families in town and pool our creative resources. I teach about an aspect of art, or an artist and then we start in on a project to support what we learned. We do this for about 55 minutes, then switch to the next mom who teaches a 10 minute segment on Creative movement and then switch to our Creative writing mom who leads us in a subject related to the art and gets the kids brains thinking of writing! I must say I feel embarrassed at how good the other moms did and how lousy I was! I feel like a hermit that is just starting to get out into public again and I feel a bit uneasy and awkward right now. Since I was covering the beginning of art starting with the Greeks, Cari taught a little on Greek Mythology and got the kids to create their own myths...it was super! Becca won't share hers with me as she was still in the drawing phase, but Lauren, who was really struggling with the creative aspect (the cattail is a cattail....)I encouraged with some bits and pieces of info and she managed to draw it out to a full blown myth. Her fine motor skills aren't caught up with her brain yet though, so I am probably going to have to play secretary as she tells me what to write. Stephen's piece was very detailed, but I didn't catch the gist of it, other than he was explaining how ant hills came to be. I'll probably submit copies of those as they become available.

Tuesday we decided to catch the "free after 1pm" deal at the Pink Palace and then swooped down on Paul's sister, Julie for a quick, "hello!" Now it is Wednesday and I think everyone is exhausted. I am hoping tomorrow that I don't have to go anywhere!!! Katherine and Megan had to go back to classes today, but I did end up getting Megan as she was crying with a sore throat and slight fever. I think she is fine though, so I am sending her back tomorrow. My homeschoolers had to stay busy with work as well...no breaks for the weary!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for keeping up with our busy life! Pictures will be forthcoming when I get the film developed....a new digital camera is on the way though!