Spring Travels: Day 3

Today we headed north to Palo Duro State Park for the day. We headed out after breakfast with the plan to eat an early lunch when we arrived, then explore. Before we got out of Caprock Canyons State Park, we were able to get close enough for a few pictures of the buffalo at Caprock. There were several calves, but they hid behind the adults and were hard to photograph.

At Palo Duro, we saw a wild turkey as we headed toward a picnic area.

After a quick lunch, we took enough Junior Naturalist booklets for each of the kids to fill them out to earn the park's ranger patch. We hiked into the canyons and enjoyed the beautiful rock formations.

Throughout the trails, we would stop to read about the geology or history or natural history and the kids would fill in the blanks of their booklets.

Every day of our trip needs to have some sort of adventure, right? Today, certain unnamed adults thought it would be a great idea to take the kids up the side of the mountain. (That was NOT my idea, and I kept my feet firmly at the bottom.)

photo by Ben

After all of them descended, we hiked some more. After a few minutes of walking, I heard glass shattering and saw that Ben was standing in a pile of broken glass. I told him to get away from it so he didn't get hurt, and the crazy kid reached into his pants pockets and proceeded to pull out handfuls of glass shards from both pockets. I grabbed him and shook him upside down to get it out faster -- it didn't work. We eventually made our way back to the scenic overview at the visitor center and museum. The kids filled in the rest of their booklets at the museum and turned in their work to the Ranger and they each got a beautiful patch.

We drove a few miles into Canyon (the town) for dinner at a Thai restaurant. On our way out of Canyon, the Kaiser crew detoured a few blocks to show the kids the first house Allen and I bought. It looked mostly the same, but different enough that we didn't take a picture. We got back to our tents at Caprock Canyon in time to get ready for bed. Somehow, all the kids stayed awake for the hour and a half drive home, but it didn't take long for all of them to be snoozing.

Spring Travels: Day 2

Last night was rough! The wind was powerful and really hard to sleep through. At times, it blew hard enough that the tent was flattened and hitting Allen and me in the face (the tent is usually tall enough for even Allen to stand in). A few times, it bent enough that a pole popped out of position, so Allen and I shoved our feet in shoes and hobbled out in the dark to fix it. By morning, we were really fast at taking care of it.

Our major event of the day was horseback riding. Maddie, who was terrified to do it several years ago, had been telling us for weeks she was ready to participate this time. She insisted she was brave... right up to the moment we saw the horses we would be riding. Then she parked herself behind Allen and refused to get on a horse. Since it was just one family riding at a time, she didn't have a choice because we all planned to ride and no one would be left to be with her (the others were not at that part of the park with us). The guide picked her up and put her on a white horse and pointed out to her that her jacket matched the saddle blanket. That calmed her a little bit.

The boys all LOVED being on the horses. Ben didn't stop talking for awhile, and Will was beyond thrilled that he didn't have to have an adult holding his horse on a rope.

The guide led our group down hills into the canyon. Every time Maddie's horse went down ANY hill, she squealed or screamed. Every. Time. ... And each time she let out a squeal, MY horse was startled. Allen and I tried to explain that when she was a bit nervous, she should talk gently to the horse instead of squealing in terror. She eventually understood and did that. After about 30 minutes, Maddie was calmer and enjoying the ride through canyon.

the only photo of ME riding

As we started the ascent, she was still pretty calm, but she relaxed a bit too much. On the last big hill up, she relaxed enough that her heels went over her head and she landed behind the horse on the dirt. She cried a little bit -- more scared and startled than hurt, then she rolled out of the way so she didn't get trampled. Again, my heart stopped a bit when I watched her fall and not move or speak for a few moments. Again, she turned out to be fine. Though she refused to get back on the horse, the guide picked her up and plopped her on again, telling her, "You ALWAYS get back on after you fall off." Since we were the first group to ride, we swore the kids to secrecy -- telling them NOT to tell the Browns or Brodys about Maddie's fall until AFTER they rode (we didn't want to frighten the kids or moms.) Sure enough, as soon as they got off the horses, Jon and Ben ran to tell the other kids what happened. The Brodys rode next, then the Browns did. Our crew headed back to camp to change out of our sandy clothes and to let the kids play. After lunch, all of us were back together. The kids played some, then we all headed out for a trail hike.

It wasn't too long into the walk that Will and Kaleb started slowing down. They weren't bored or tired... just curious. I walked with them for awhile, and, after stopping to investigate some paw prints in the dirt, we got the Track and Scat guide out of the Junior Naturalist Backpack that we had checked out at the Ranger station. They worked together to identify the print (coyote), and then they read through the guide a bit. Afterward, I think the three of us stopped at every pile of poop we came to -- a lot! We learned to look at the scat and determine if the animal was carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore... cat or dog family... big or small animal. Before we caught up to the group, we knew many animals had used the trail for more than just walking -- coyote, fox, mountain lion, bobcat, wild pig, raccoon, deer, and more! When we caught up the group, there was plenty of "Why are you guys going so SLOW!!" from the other kids. As we walked together, though, we found another pile of doo and Will and Kaleb we anxious to teach the others all they learned. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the learned it all. We may have been moving slowly, but I know they learned a bunch that day!

Spring Travels: Day 1

Our spring break trip officially started yesterday when we headed to West Texas. Our family headed out a day early so we could visit extended family in Lubbock. We had dinner with Aunt Kathy, my cousin Mike, and his daughter Elizabeth.

Today is Allen's birthday, so we had a few celebrations throughout the day. This morning, we got up and took our time getting ready, then we faced the wind and showed the kids the Ranching Heritage Center -- an outdoor museum that is focused on history in the Texas panhandle. All was fun on the INside of the museum. We all wandered and read the signs or the touch screens.

Outside was not quite as easy as the wind and dirt were really blowing. Allen and I were reminded of the years we lived in Lubbock, but the kids were amazed at the wind power... and that it just wouldn't stop! They learned to face out of the wind to keep from getting a mouthful of dirt, they figured out how to lean into the wind so they could walk, and the boys enjoyed "hunting tumbleweeds!"

Successful Tumbleweed Hunt

We wandered through the acres of old buildings and homes learning about the hidden doors to protect families from Indian attacks, about how life changed when fences were put up, and about the different styles of homes and how they worked well for the area. All was happy and the kids had fun until we got to the train ... then we lost Maddie. Allen and I didn't panic right away, we figured she just went around the corner. Nope. I'm not sure at which point we were fighting back the panic, but we soon moved into the "yelling her name till my throat hurt but acting calm so I didn't worry the boys." She was nowhere to be found, so I headed to the main entrance to find a guard to help. The museum staff searched high and low, near and far, and using all the cameras they could. Someone eventually found "the lost girl with a pink jacket" on the opposite side of the grounds from where we had been. Though I was so thankful to find her, I was mad and still shaking from the fear that had set in and couldn't really snap out of it. I think Allen was the same way, so we left.

We headed over to the campus and were amazed at the changes at Texas Tech. Thankfully, one of our favorite restaurants -- One Guy from Italy -- was still there, so we introduced our kids to the best calzones! Will was happy... well, they all loved lunch, but I only got one picture without chewed-up food. This was a great birthday lunch :)

After our lunch break, we headed north toward camp. We arrived at Caprock Canyons State Park just a little bit before the Browns and Brodys arrived. We set up camp and worked on dinner, but then the wind REALLY picked up. Dessert was a yummy flourless chocolate cake and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Allen, Barbie, and Chris who all had birthdays within days of each other. We rushed through dinner trying to keep our plates from blowing in our faces, then we all went to bed early -- just to avoid being in the wind!

February Art projects

We have been studying ocean life in science, and when I found instructions for these under-the-sea paintings, I was really excited about trying them. Most of our Friday artwork is done in one day, but these took some more time and planning. The first week, the kids each painted two sheets white tissue (art grade, not gift bag filler) paper. On one sheet they painted different shades and mixes of blues, and on the other, they painted sea life. The following week, they used black Sharpie to outline the fish. While the marker dried, they tore or cut the blues into chunks, strips, and blobs. I helped them use a clear varnish to attach the blues to paper canvas. They also used some pieces of turquoise tissue paper to fill in some of the holes. Since some of the blue paint they used was transparent and some was shimmery, the collage overlapped beautifully, with some colors peeking out from behind, but making the water seem that much prettier. The fish were cut out and decoupaged to the water, and a final layer of varnish sealed the "painting". The kids LOVED assembling them and they are SO proud of how their art turned out -- they are so pretty that I'm trying to figure out where I can permanently display them!

by Ben

by Jon

by Maddie

After the bar was set so high, it was tough to come up with art for the end of the month. I asked the kids what they wanted to do, and they all chose something different. The only common theme was paint, so I helped them choose something they could paint with oil pastels and watercolor. Jon and Ben each chose a landscape picture from a National Geographic magazine that they wanted to paint, and Maddie wanted to paint a bowl of fruit. The each pencil sketched parts of their designs, then used oil pastels to draw and color parts of their pictures. The boys chose really tough things to draw, but doing the snow with the oil made the resist-technique more effective. Each of them learned something a bit different. I dared Ben to make the night sky without using black paint, I showed him how to paint water horizontally instead of following the edges, and I worked with him to paint and draw the hills and mountains downhill. Jon learned to make all his browns with complementary colors rather than using the brown paint, he painted the shadows with cool colors since the mountains were mostly "warm", and he learned a lot about depth perception. Jon was especially amazed at all the different brown colors he could create. Maddie learned a lot about layering the objects and realizing that although part of the fruit might be like a circle, it looks different when something is in front of it. She learned to see other colors that she hadn't noticed before -- for example, the apple was mostly red, but had oranges, yellows, and even greens in parts of it. The kids were all really happy with their one-day art project, and they still continue to impress me with how they see things when they are being creative.

Ben's art with the NatGeo page that inspired his picture

by Ben

Jon's art and the NatGeo mountains photo

by Jon

by Maddie

We will be taking a break from Friday art at home for a couple weeks because of Spring Break and a Home Depot kids class that is coming up after that.