Geocaching

A couple of weekends ago our family had the opportunity to go on a Geocaching scavenger hunt... Well, the rest of the family went trekking through the woods as I sat in the nature center of at Blacklick Park. I just didn't think taking off for a 4 mile hike through the woods would have been the best decision for someone almost 8 months pregnant. Let me tell you about the wait. I was forced to sit either inside or out and take in the horrible view while park rangers forced drinks and chocolate into my hands. It was nearly unbearable.

So, what is geocaching? According to Wikipedia, "is an outdoor recreational activity... in which the participants use a GlobalPositioningSystem (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world."

The metro parks system has a set of hand held GPS systems that it shares amongst it's 18 parks. These little ditties are used about once each season per park to conduct scavenger hunts which are open to the public. The geocaches in this week's scavenger hunt were plastic zipper bags with stickers and/or little trinkets like a plastic ring. You can find a list of each parks' schedule here.

If you don't live close to a Columbus metro park there are several organizations out there that also have these little hunts and also ones that just randomly have little treasures for anyone to pick up at any time. You can grab one of these hand held systems for anywhere between $60 and $6,000 off amazon or just pick up an app for your smart phone. One of the fellow participants downloaded a free app while everyone was waiting to get started. He siad it was accurate enough to find the little treasures.

Here are a few pictures I snapped at the nature center before everyone headed out.

A Quick Trip Home

When I think of home, I think of my husband's childhood home back in our hometown. His family moved into the house when he was in middle school. I love waking up in his old room. I should add here that shortly after my husband and I got married, my mother-in-law redecorated my husband's and his brother's old bedrooms. I'm fairly certain she did this so I, Nia, and future grandchildren would feel more comfortable and welcome in her house. The reason I'm certain of this is because she asked for and then used my all of my opinions on how to decorate the rooms. Also, now that I have known her longer, I realize the colors I picked out are some of her least favorite. My husband's old room is for grown ups and his brother's old room is set up for the kids. So, to set the seen for you at waking up in my mother-in-laws house...

The house is located on the Little River (actual name of the river) which winds through our little hometown. On the other side of the river is farm land and the river's bank has several large, old trees. As I wake up in the morning the sunlight dances through the lace curtains in only the way light can dance off water and through lush tree leaves. I'm in a room that has been loving decorated to specifically make me comfortable by the sweetest women in the world. The lace curtains came over with my husband's family from Germany. Although we didn't know each other at the time, my husband and I grew up in the same area of Germany, so the curtains add another touch of sentimental value. If I look out the window, I see the back yard and the river. If I stand up, I can see over the trees to the acres of farm land. If it's a Saturday, everyone will wake up to the smells of my mother-in-law downstairs making breakfast. Maybe it's becoming clear to you exactly why I think of this when I think about home.

This trip only lasted 4 short days, but we were able to pack plenty into that time. Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley are not far away, along with Ft. Campbell Army base, Nashville, a zillion caves, and a ton of fun (and educational) things to do. We spent a day at the lakes and a day on Ft. Campbell.

The view from the pic-nic shelter where we stopped to eat lunch

The recycled glass counter top inside the planetarium. The planetarium at the lakes runs shows for only $2 a person on the hour, every hour. Because of it's rural location and frequency of shows, it's very likely to be the only ones in the auditorium for a show. When this has happened in the past, the person giving the show has always asked if there is any certain show we would like to see. He is also extremely happy to answer any and every question I've seen many kids through the years throw at him. I'm not sure if there is more than one person that runs the projector, but it has always been the same man when I have gone.

Daffodils also known as buttercups to many Kentuckians. We picked these on the way home for both grandmas.

A creek the girls played in and got water for the daffodils from.

Photos I snapped on the way back from the lakes. If you look into the water of the bottom picture, you can see a little crescent shaped island. As a kid, my dad would take me camping on that island. We would head out on a little boat and set up camp for a night or weekend.

At the lakes we also went through the antelope and bison reserve. We went just after lunch time, which we already knew to be the worst time of day to go. The best times are morning and dusk. Animals sleep during the warmest parts of the day and head to the areas of the reserve that humans can't see. So we were only able to a few antelope and they just weren't in good spots to get a good photo of. We saw many horse back riders at the lake and had to promise Anara that on our next trip to Kentucky she would get to ride. John has actually never been riding. Not exactly sure how one grows up in Kentucky and never rides a horse, but somehow it happened.

John's father worked on helicopters when he was in the Army, so no trip to Ft. Campbell would be  complete without viewing at least a few aircraft.

This amazing drawing Nia did is of a friend that she has known for many, many years. The friend lives a few houses down from John's mom.

All of us began this month with some icky respiratory crude which quickly turned into pneumonia and RSV for Cameron, Bronchitis for John and me, and a sinus infection for Anara and me. The warm southern air was just what we all needed to clear out the last bits of what was lingering in our lungs.

How We Roll, Err... Our Homeschool Style

My very first year of homeschooling I was given a small tidbit of advice from a veteran homeschooling momma,

“Focus on math and reading and the rest will fall into place.”

Ok, at the time, I thought she was a nut job and didn't take the advice at all. I was new to this experience and wanted stone solid answers on curriculum, schedules, and running the home like a school. I had spent nearly a decade working in public schools or pre-schools and gosh darn it, I was good at it. At some point I realized that if I thought the way regular school is done was the right choice for my kids, shouldn’t I just send them there. So, what we do now is focus on math and reading and let the rest fall into place. If someone would have just told me... oh wait, they did.

We like to get in as many trips as possible. Days that we are out and about (generally one to three times a week) we also try to get in math, reading, and spelling. I try to be a stickler about getting these 3 in everyday, no matter what. If it’s a long trip to our destination the kids watch a documentary on the way. My theory on this is not to let book work get in the way of an educational opportunity. How much can you remember about your 2nd grade social studies book? What about the trips you took?

The day after a field trip we throw in a  journal about the outing. We get in most of the remaining subjects with projects. My kids always have something they want to know more about or an idea they want to execute.  If someone is under the weather, it's documentary day.