Family Fun Day!

Last weekend the Mr. had the day off. We all had a magnificent day together!

First we went to Liquid Planet, a small family operated water park. The kids went up and down these giant slides. Jayden chose the red slide, Haley's Comet, which is a 246 foot long enclosed slide. Even though it was super dark the whole way down, he went on it multiple times!

Due to height restrictions, Caitlin was only allowed on the green slide and had to be in her dad's lap. The green slide, Trevor's Time Warp, is an open slide and is 272 feet long.

Jayden continued going on the slides several times while this little lady swam in the pool. Without floats! This summer she has worked hard to build up her strength to swim without them!

Cait enjoying the lake

Jayden got on a zip line, 35 feet in the air and 1,000 feet long!!

Afterward we headed off for a couple of games of cosmic bowling. 

We signed Jayden up for football and he has insisted on exercising to prepare himself for the work he has coming up ahead. Here he is after his little workout, reading a book that May bought him.

World History

In the first chapter of our history book, we read about nomads and how they became farmers.

The kids colored a picture of an early farmer using a "shaduf" (an irrigation device).

Caitlin's work

Jayden's work

Hanging on our art line

They also painted their very own "cave art." We started with a brown paper bag and crumpled it up to represent the bumpy surface of a cave. They each painted a picture of what they would be doing if they had lived as a nomad back then.

 They used their fingers, in true nomad fashion.

"Eww mom, the brown paint looks like poop!"

As a female, Caitlin's job would be gathering berries, roots, etc. Cait's painting shows her picking blueberries.

As a male, Jayden would be expected to hunt for meat. Jayden's painting shows him hunting deer in the forest.

Of course, the art work went up on our art line!

Science

This year for science we are using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey: Life. We spent last week gathering the materials for the first half of the book. I am super excited about this book! It is very well laid out, simple enough for the kids to get the gist of, and fun!

For our first unit in science we discussed living vs. nonliving, the characteristics of living things, and the difference between nonliving and dead.

For our first lab the kids had to think about the characteristics that would prove whether a bike, a human, a plant, and a rock were living or nonliving.

Our second lab of the week had us outdoors. We were supposed to find a "wild" area to study. I'm not the outdoorsy type so we chose the huge puddle in our yard. It's drying up but the whole area is muddy and full of creepy wild life. This was as good as it was going to get!

 The kids recorded their findings on their lab sheet.

We came back inside for them to finish off the last couple of questions. Jayden (aka the litter patrol) was disgusted by the amount of trash in the fields.

Jayden told me "Mom, this may not look like much fun to other people, but for me, this is REALLY cool!"

Karate & Two Wheelers

The kids are still in karate, loving their class!

This summer one of the goals on our "Summer Bucket List" included Jayden learning to ride a bike with no training wheels. Well, last Saturday he did it!

He is beyond thrilled and has been riding practically every day since he got the hang of it!

Touch A Truck

Last week we went to a local event called Touch a Truck. This features several vehicles that the children can climb in and explore.

As soon as we got there the children gasped. There were two campers there which, up until I learned the difference a few minutes ago, we all thought were RVs. They have been talking about buying and living in an RV forever now. Naturally, the first stop was to check them out.

 

We spent about an hour there, getting in and out of different vehicles including a police car and firetruck.