There's No Place Like Home

We just got home from our family reunion in Wyoming. It was nice to see everyone but being gone for five days was tough on everyone. The drive home took nearly eight hours on that long, boring, state wide ribbon we call I-80. We were all exhausted and went to bed without unpacking.

The next morning I woke my daughter up for our homeschool field trip. She peeked out of one sleepy eye and told me she just got out of the car, she didn't want to get back in it. It wasn't easy(understatement) but I finally got her up, fed and into the car so we could head to Blair, NE to meet up with a couple of our homeschool friends which is about 30-40 minutes away.

As part of the Blair Library Summer Reading Program they had a storm chaser who gave a great talk about storm chasing, tornadoes, radar and safety tips. He had slide show for the kids with terrific pictures of different tornadoes. He told all about his storm chasing team and his chase truck named Dorothy. The kids loved it and I learned a few new things too. Afterwards Laramie reluctantly admitted that it was worth getting out of bed and driving for.

Dinner With A Side Of Science

Last night we went out to dinner with a friend and her two children. With kids in tow you are in better shape if you pick a kid friendly place. Red Robin is a good choice for us. Kind of noisy but they have kids meals, menus, crayons and my daughters favorite part is they give you a balloon when you leave.

Usually I am rather annoyed by balloons when they are bobbing around and the weird sound when they get near my ears freaks me out. Last night though my daughter was intrigued by her balloon and so we spent about an hour discovering what the balloon can and cannot hold and still stay aloft.

We kept a log and discovered that the balloon would carry one dime but not a nickle, penny or quarter. It would not carry Daddy's wedding ring or six paperclips but it would carry five paperclips. After we were done we weighed the string down with a glass on the table so we could see if it was still floating as high in the morning. It wasn't. Today it couldn't carry the things it did yesterday.

This sparked a whole new realm of questions from my daughter and necessitates another trip to the library so we can find the answer together. This is what is great about homeschooling. You never know when a learning opportunity is going to float by.

Hot Stuff!

Educational opportunities seem to be everywhere if you keep an eye out for them. Earlier this month I was trying to find some unrelated information on our city's website when the words ''Fire Safety Camp'' caught my eye. Then the word FREE jumped out at me. Educational and free? That is like winning the homeschool lottery!

Perhaps this is one of the perks of living in a smallish Midwestern town. My daughter definitely thought it was a perk and could not wait until July 9th. She was giddy with anticipation.

Finally camp day rolled around and I dropped her off from 8:00 to 12:00pm. Free, educational AND I get a break? I am loving it!

Our local fire department outdid themselves with this free camp. The kids all obviously enjoyed learning about fire safety, calling 911, touring the safety trailer, putting out pretend fires, seeing the fire trucks and being fed pizza. Wow. They fed them lunch too! To top it off each child got to take home a sticker, lollipop, certificate, t shirt and a tie string gym sack to put all their take home goodies in.

I always try to find unexpected learning experiences for my kids and this one was one of the best. We will certainly sign up for this next year!

Make sure your curriculum adds up with a math placement test.

Make sure your curriculum adds up with a math placement test.

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ROYAL BREAKFAST

It is not always easy to convince my six year old that not only is breakfast the most important meal of the day but it must be a good breakfast. She would much rather munch on cereals made for (but certainly not in their best interest) kids. High School Musical cereal made it in to our cart once in a moment of weakness. Once in awhile stuff like that is ok but with all the sugar, chemicals and artificial whatevers I try to not even bring it home. (Reason 134 for not bringing kids grocery shopping)
This morning I made my daughter a breakfast princess. Sliced bananas for the tiara with grapes as crowning jewels. Whipped cream for eyes, strawberry mouth and a peanut butter nose. I threw a couple dashes of sprinkles on there too for more jewels.
My daughter loved it. She ate it without realizing how healthy it was for her.

FIELD TRIP - HENRY DOORLY ZOO

Today was perfect weather to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Laramie loved the carousel. The brightly colored animals made it difficult to choose which one to ride on.

The llama did not seem to be too interested in us and certainly did not seem to appreciate my attempts at finding words that rhyme with llama. (Silly momma!)

The baby goats were adorable. Just two months old. Laramie was fascinated at how they ate straw right out of her hand.

PARK IT

Warm spring days can be hard to come by in Nebraska so when a sunny, calm day presented itself the books went on the shelf and we headed to one of the neighborhood parks.

One of the many gifts of homeschooling is not only the flexibility of our schedule but the flexibility to learn in many different ways.

An afternoon at the park brings so many opportunities to meet other people, learn about nature, weather, conservation and just about any subject can be incorporated.

Some days the best thing about being a homeschooler is not always having to school at home!