Fun In The Sun (via Mowser)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Fall Disney Trip Day One

No one is really surprised by that title are they? Yes, we are back from yet another trip to Disney (3rd this year!) No, we are not made of money lol. We buy season tickets so for the cost of one trip we can take multiple trips. Plus we use dh’s hotel points to score free nights. And these trips are our only vacations…seriously, anyone will tell you we only ever go to Disney World. :)

We didn’t stay on property this time, but at our favorite non-Disney hotel, the Embassy Suites. We had a pool-view room.

The front desk had a cute Mickey ghost decoration. Yes, Disney celebrates fall/Halloween very early.

The boys almost immediately hit the pool. The days were nice and sunny and not overwhelmingly hot. But still hot. :)

Ds3 and I outside our room.

We weren’t really planning on going to any parks that first day, but after the pool time we all felt pretty refreshed and decided to go to Epcot.

Right when we walked up to Spaceship Earth we were greeted by an RC Mickey, with stickers to share with ds4.

Next up was the Living Seas. The place was practically empty, we just walked right in with no wait.

We spent a good while watching the sea life, including rays and really big fish. The dolphins were also pretty playful that day, and I snapped this possibly indecent pic of one up close.

Me and the little guys.

We got to sit up front on Living With The Land so I got some pretty good pics.

Ds4 didn’t want to go on Imagination, so we played with the jumping water outside the attraction.

Now get this. We actually parked our car in the MK parking lot, not at Epcot. Here’s why. Dh loves the long monorail ride from Ticket and Transportation to Epcot. So we parked at MK, rode the monorail to Epcot, rode it back, hopped over on the resort monorail and went to the Polynesian. Why? Because I am a resort mug freak, and I had to have one lol!

The boys in the Polynesian lobby. Then we rode back to TT and ended a rather long but fun first day. Tomorrow it’s Animal Kingdom!!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Homeschool 2011-2012 Week 2

Getting into a good grove. We got all our science books in the mail and started our study of Earth and space. Our first experiment helped to illustrate why the Earth’s heat level remains constant (to better understand the role our atmosphere plays in temperature control.)

We put a thermometer inside a small plastic bag filled with air and secured the opening with a twist tie. Then we put the small bag in a larger bag, also filled with air and secured with a twist tie. Then we placed the bags in direct sunlight and put a thermometer nearby.

After 30 minutes the temperature outside the bag was 120 degrees! The inside bag was 131 degrees. Yikes.

Next the bags were placed in a dark closet. Hmm, the towel shelf looks low, need to do a load soon. And while it looks bright and shiny, it’s just my flash, the closet is indeed dark.

Don’t know what this has to do with our experiment, but it was part of the pics ds3 took. Look at the cute markings on her belly. :) So, after 30 minutes in the dark closet, the thermometer outside the bag read 69 degrees (prompting me to seriously think of moving into the closet for the remainder of the summer) and the bag inside was 78 degrees. I then had the boys narrate their findings and observations to me and I filled in their worksheet. As the year progresses I will have them write these narrations on their own.

In geography, ds3 has been learning about using scales to measure the distance between cities. When he is actually doing the worksheets it seems like he isn’t interested, but he surprised me with a homemade map, complete with scale, of some place in his Legend of Zelda video game. Stuff like that is always reassuring to homeschooling mamas.

We spent the week doing school mainly in the afternoon, which I have never liked. I guess it’s all those years of going to school for me that has ingrained in my brain that the morning hours are for work and the afternoon hours are supposed to be free. But there were various reasons everyone slept in a lot this week and it was just easier to start school after lunch, when normally we are done before lunch. I was surprised that we did actually get school done, and I guess we can keep afternoon schooling open as an option, but for the record, I still don’t like it. :) Week 2 is through. Now excuse me while I pack for my move to the closet (now known as Mom’s Summer House.)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Cats On Tuesday: Ellie’s First Week Of School

Ellie is fitting in very well with our homeschooling. She’s been very busy with her school work.

Checking the school supply shelf.

Emptying out the contents of ds’s magnetic letters and counting cubes containers. (She takes this task seriously and performs it many times a day.)

Watching as ds explores our ocean theme (she’s on the bottom right.)

Naptime! We really lucked out, getting a kitty that matches our furniture so well.

We’ve had Ellie for over a month now and boy has she grown.

Then Now

Pretty soon she won’t fit in the bed. Sigh. To see more cute kitties visit Gattina’s and Happy COT!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Homeschool 2011-2012 Week 1

Hello, and welcome to week one.

I am surprised at how well our first week of homeschooling has gone so far. My boys were so resistant and complaining all summer at the mere mention of the “s” word (school, people, school) that I thought there would be much more teeth gnashing and fit pitching. Instead they both cooperated and even seemed to enjoy themselves. Fancy that.

I’m using Carissa’s themed calendar fact cards this year. The theme for August is oceans. I’ve set up a little cubicle area for resources related to the theme, such as books and discovery bins. I love how we spend just 10-15 minutes tops discussing the day’s card but the boys’ learn so much.

We started up our SOTW lessons right where we left off last year and it was like there was no break at all. The boys’ retention of what we had covered so far was impressive. This week we are covering China. After we discussed the Great Wall my guys made their way to the legos and started creating their version. They also made lego versions of an execution. At least it’s less bloody.

In geography ds3 is learning about map scales and how to measure distances between cities on a map. He is also continuing his states study (up to #39 I think) and has begun a vocabulary word a day program. Ds4 has started the Explode the Code series but seems to have made more progress in reading when we used a more sight/whole word approach, so we will be doing both. He also picked right up with his First Language Lessons.

We are still reading Fantastic Mr. Fox and learning some new vocabulary with it as well. I’ve also introduced a classical music study which both boys LOVE. It floored me, how enthusiastic they were with Hadyn’s Surprise Symphony. Of course, they both played their unique versions on their ocarinas.

Now we can put a big old checkmark next to week one. Done!