Home Depot for Art

We do art on Fridays in our home school. When I saw that Home Depot was doing a free kids class, I thought it would be something Ben, Maddie, and Jon would enjoy. I was right! They had a lot of fun hammering nails and painting a wooden helicopter.

Spring Travels: Days 4 and 5

Today was another fun one, but flipping through the photos reminds me that some of the best moments were the non-events ... like watching three ten-year old boys having a blast being silly while washing the breakfast dishes... or seeing all ten kids' jackets hung across the playground and listening to them play a game together. We did have a few eventful hours today, too, but the kids have ALL made it clear it is the unstructured playing and unplanned fun that they like best.

After breakfast, the kids all played at the playground until we all decided to finish the hike we started the first full day. We did the back part of the trail that led to a natural bridge, and the kids all enjoyed climbing through the cave-like feature.

After lunch, we all talked about taking a long hike, but several of the younger kids didn't like the idea, and I wasn't crazy about hiking with several complaining kids. The best plan was the one we went with: I took Maddie, Ben, and Benjo (also in first-grade) on an adventure while the other five adults did the big, steep hike with the big kids and Jon (who doesn't back down from ANYthing the big kids do). So... I don't have any photos from the others' adventure, but I got several from the one I was on.

The three littles and I headed on a smaller hike with the naturalist backpack. First we headed over to some metal statues of bison that were near an amphitheater and right next to a letterbox (that we DID find!) We stamped our letterbox book, then spread out on the pavement and some benches at the amphitheater and painted and colored pictures of the canyon around us.

After we were ready for more walking, we headed down to the prairie dog area and playground. Before I took Maddie in for a restroom break, I explained to Ben and Benjo that they were to wait at the corner of the restroom for us. When we came out, the boys were gone... but not far. My Ben had his arm in a prairie dog hole all the way to his shoulder! NOT a happy mama. I sat and watched the kids play on the playground for awhile, then we slowly made our way back to camp.

The other kids all had a great time on their adventure. Ben, Benjo, and Maddie told me they loved the one we did, so I think everyone was happy... and exhausted! After dinner, Allen and I took five of the boys on a night hike with the park ranger. Since it was open to everyone in the park, it was pretty crowded and it didn't have the magic that I usually love about nighthikes. Nonetheless, the boys thought walking around in the dark listening to coyotes and watching for snakes and bats was pretty cool.

Saturday morning, we got up, had breakfast, and started packing up. While I was loading the car (a great puzzle in itself) Ben brought me a few paddles of a prickly-pear cactus. He was SO proud of his "catch," but as he tried to hand them to me, he asked if I would help him get the new splinters out of his hands. That cactus put up a good fight, and I pulled out nearly two dozen pricklies. We eventually got everything back in the car and headed to the ranger station to check out. A lone bison was right there in the grassy area next to the door, so I got some closer photos.

 As we backed the car out to head for the exit, the sky opened up and poured on us most of the way across Texas. We were several hours behind our expected schedule, and the rain was just getting worse, so we stopped at Allen's parents' for the night and had a nice, but short, visit with them before heading home Sunday morning.

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!