Summer

It has been a busy summer so far here in NH. We have had nice visits with family and friends over the past few weeks, and have been enjoying spending time outdoors with our puppies and kiddie pool. Jacob has been working on a rock walkway going to the porch. We have had to keep a steady supply of water for the dogs during the heatwaves. 

We have also had a few viruses run through our family (boo).  I am currently recovering from the latest, but the boys seem fine. C has had a couple doctor appointments over the past couple weeks for other minor issues, and W has a regular checkup next week. In other words, it feels like we are there way too much! 

W has been doing a lot of reading too. Some of our homeschool plans fell to the wayside with being sick, but we have a lot to plan and work on through the summer. 

The boys were thrilled to see a newt that Jacob found in the woods.

They all took turns holding it (*I* chose not to!), and made a makeshift box with leaves, water and rocks to observe it for about a half hour before releasing it to a safer spot away from puppies. 

chillin' at Parker's Maple Barn

C toasting marshmallows

W on the 4th of July

On the 4th, we burned part of our Christmas tree, enjoyed s'mores, lit sparklers and played with pop its (or snappers as I used to call them as a kid). Some of our previous plans were cancelled due to thunderstorm warnings but it turned out to be a relaxing day. 

One of the boys took this photo of Lucy

Sherlock the attention hog :)

Snoopy

One of W's current obsession is all things Peanuts, as in the comic strip. We have a few volumes of the Complete Peanuts which he pores over and enjoys on a daily basis. So of course, he has been asking to Google Peanuts and we discovered a Snoopy's Street Fair App for the iTouch which has been a fun game for him. The only gripe I have with it is there are several features "in app" that you have to pay for, so sometimes I like to keep it on airplane mode so the kids can't make surprise purchases. Within the app there is a photo booth which lets you take snapshots with your favorite Peanuts characters. We've had some fun with this, so here are some of our favorites. 

Frieda and a giant W head at the ice cream parlor

Our dog Sherlock (with Woodstock)

Our own lovely beagle Lucy with Snoopy

C helping Snoopy as WWI flying aces

The Basin

After attending the NH Porcupine Liberty festival over the weekend we didn't have much time before we had to start heading home, but we wanted to stop and see something while we were in the White Mountains region. So, we decided to go to the Basin. There is a small plaque stating that Henry David Thoreau visited there and wrote about it. I bet he swam in it too, although there are "no swimming" signs there now. Pshaw. ;)

The boys were troopers camping during a severe thunder and lightning storm. We had a small 3 person tent which had a rather large puddle and damp sleeping bags the next morning. I assured W that usually camping is not like this and can be a lot of fun, hopefully next time we have better weather. At least during the days the weather was clear and they had fun playing games and on the playground.

a flower from C :)

Another family found a butterfly perhaps affected by the rain, and showed it to the boys

having some fun

a pretty view

A Day at the Zoo

It has been a very busy spring for us so far. We are working on planting our garden and several projects around the yard. More on this soon! We have also fit in visits to the Zoo, a Manchester Fishercats baseball game homeschool night, Brimfield Antique's fair, a moon rise party/bonfire, 2 different birthday celebrations, along with our usual homeschool work, co-op, and church activities. We were very proud to see W sing a song with his Church school classmates in front of the congregation last week as part of a music service. All of the performers all did a great job!

Each of these probably deserve their own post, but for now I will share some photos of Southwick's Zoo from our visit last week.

a kangaroo lounging about

Southwick's Zoo is privately owned and located in Mendon, MA. Some of the animals we saw included: lions, a tiger, kangaroos, camels, zebras, emu, flamingos, various primates, giraffes, rhinos, an alligator, peacocks, and macaws. At Southwick's there is also a tram train ride through the woods and we saw animals local to North America including elk, deer, swans, and turtles. They also had a goat petting area which was a hit with the kids, they wanted to go in twice. 

C and a goat

May was a great time to visit, as it was much less busy than when the boys and I went with their grandparents 3 years ago in August. C was just a baby then and W was 4, so neither one remembered going there. They have several rides, including a skyfari sky ride which was fun, but I think the next time we will skip the added fee for train/sky rides and focus more on the animals, of whom there are plenty to see.

Bengal tiger

Lions

Each exhibit has a world map highlighting where the animals are from, and we pointed these out to W to identify the continents.

thankfully not the real lion ;)

W gave the skyfari a thumbs up

a posing peacock

giraffe exhibit

a colorful mandrill

We had a wonderful time and hope to visit again soon.

Night at the Museum

T Rex model at the MOS

Last week W participated in the Museum of Science Overnight program. We had a lot of fun exploring  the museum, watching the lightning show, and seeing different demonstrations. In the morning there was a short planetarium show. It was a little scary for W when the Moon zoomed in closely! He said he thought it would squish him. I liked hearing all the "oohs" and "aaahs" even from the bigger kids watching the show. The technology has gotten a lot better in recent years and when the presenter zoomed in on the planets and their moons it was neat. Then we went to an Omni IMAX presentation of Amazing Journeys. This was my favorite part. It was amazing seeing the migration of monarch butterflies, Canadian geese and many other animals. 

happy W

W had a fun time sleeping in his sleeping bag. We got to sleep in the dinosaur area. I had brought along an air mattress for us to share after reading that a lot of parents find the air mattress as a "must have". It was a good idea! It was a late night for us, neither of us are used to lights out at midnight, and then an early wake up call for breakfast before the shows. Then we had a little time to see some other exhibits (the chicks and tamarins) before heading on our way. W also hit the gift shop and spent some of his birthday money on dinosaur toys for C since he had to stay home.

First grade is the youngest age range allowed to spend the night at the museum, so W was among the younger kids. There were several school groups, so it was pretty busy although not as packed as a busy day at the museum in general, although since there were hundreds of kids in groups with a ratio of 1 adult to five kids, it was pretty hectic! I would do it again though, when C is old enough to join us it will be more fun. I think Jacob would like it too (really with the air mattress it isn't too bad). ;)

the earth

This week will be a busy one, plus with a warm forecast here I am sure the kids will spend a lot of time outside while we try to squeeze in some homeschool work. W has an eye doctor appointment tomorrow and co-op Wednesday. 

W is on chapter 18 of Math-U-See Alpha, and we only have a few more chapters of Story of the World Ancient History. We went to a homeschool curriculum sale over the weekend and found a used copy of MUS Beta with the teacher book and dvd (score!) I also found the next SotW workbook, Before FIAR for C, and the Prairie Primer. W picked out some geoboards and C got a couple of storybooks. I love curriculum sales! :) Helping out other homeschooling families and getting good deals it is a win-win. W is almost all set for second grade.