Bright and Early Adventures: Day 5 (8/24/12)

Today I woke up all the kids early (our four plus Will's friend Kaleb). We ate breakfast and got in the car for about an hour's drive to Longview. The whole way there, at least three of the kids were complaining that the ride was so long. I kept the music on to keep my mood light, but I was a bit frustrated before our fun even began. Once we got to the park, the kids all ran to the playground and told me the ride was definitely worth it!

After the kids played for awhile, we all worked together to fill a trash bag with litter we found around the park -- calling it our good deed for the day. The kids played until lunchtime, while I read and tried to keep up with them.

We headed to the Garden for the Blind for our picnic lunch. The garden was interesting -- it was next to a pond with a fountain (which had sound), there was a small babbling brook (sound), one section of the garden had fragrant roses and other strongly-scented plants (smell), another section had different textured plants like lamb's ear (touch), and another had herbs that I let the kids pinch to taste (taste). We talked about how many gardens are visually-stimulating, but that this was created for the other senses so that blind people could enjoy it. After lunch, the kids were exhausted... getting grumpier by the minute... and some had trouble keeping their eyes open. I changed our afternoon plans and skipped the museum. They needed naps -- all five of them! We got back in the car around 1:00pm, came home, and the kids played nicely until dinnertime.

Bright and Early Adventures: Day 4 (8/23/12)

I suppose it is only normal that one of our days wouldn't work out quite like I planned. I took the kids to the space museum and planetarium today. The plan was to get to the museum about forty minutes before the dome-screen movie began so we would have time before lunch to see the exhibits. What I didn't know was that the museum was deconstructing the exhibit and building the one that is supposed to open Sunday night. Thankfully, it was a pretty day, so the kids got to run around and see the sundial and planetary pavement art while we waited for their friends to arrive for the movie. We watched a movie in the planetarium -- it was about two kids who built a cardboard rocket in a refrigerator box. The kids spend the night in the box and end up exploring all the planets. Though our kids enjoyed the movie, when we got in the car afterwards, the bad attitudes began so I cancelled our afternoon plan (which was to go with our friends and get several appliance boxes for the kids to play in and redesign.) We headed home and tried to rest for a bit before I took Will back to his friend's so I could take Ben, Maddie, and Jon to meet their teachers.

The little kids were so excited to meet their teachers and visit their new school. Since Allen was out of town for the day, I was really glad to have the Browns help with Will. It took several trips from the car to get all the school supplies inside. The first classroom we came to was Jon's class. He has Mrs. Sprague this year. He found his desk and read the other kids' names. He, Maddie, and Ben set about to explore all the stations in the classroom, but the kitchen are seemed to be their favorite. Mrs. Sprague offered to keep an eye on them while I unloaded the supplies from my trunk. They all got pretty comfortable with her classroom.

Right next to Jon's classroom was Maddie's. Mrs. Maschal is her teacher this year and Maddie loves her already! Maddie read a parent-note to her teacher, and she was invited to be the teacher-helper since she is already reading so well. Maddie beamed!... then talked about it all...day...long!

Right next to Maddie's class is Ben's. He was a little bit nervous at first, but Ms. Dillard is really nice, so I'll bet it all goes well. He warmed up a bit more when I pointed out that his clothes matched his teacher's. Somehow, I lost Jon as we walked the few inches from Maddie's class to Ben's, and I left Ben and Maddie playing with mini dinosaurs while I searched for Jon. I eventually found him back in Mrs. Sprague's class -- he was confused why I expected him to be in Ben's class when he had his own.

We spent about an hour at the elementary school, then I went to get Will from Kaleb's home. I brought Kaleb home with us, since his siblings had meet-the-teacher later that evening. Will and Kaleb were excited to get a bit more time to play together since he stayed overnight.

Our adventures are still fun, but this week is wearing all of us out! I hope that we soon adjust to the new wake up and go-to-bed times. One more day till the weekend...

Bright and Early Adventures: Day 3 (8/22/12)

We up bright and early for the third day in a row. We started the day at the grocery store just getting our food for the week. At 7:30 in the morning, our store is incredibly UNcrowded, so we could wander around and I wasn't paranoid that the kids would crash into someone (they sometimes forget to watch where they are going.)

We took the groceries home and everyone helped put them away. I packed a picnic lunch, a couple towels to sit on, and the watercolors, markers, and sketchbooks, then we headed to the other side of Tyler to do art at the Rose Gardens. The gardens are really such a beautiful place to be for a picnic or a walk, but this was the first time we brought art supplies. We found a mostly-shady spot where the kids could sit on rocks or on a bench, and we had plenty of inspiration all around us.

I enjoy watching the kids draw when they are looking at something and trying to put it on paper. Maddie did a great job on these yellow and purple flowers.

Everyone used the markers for awhile, but eventually, the art world surrendered to nature for Ben and Will. Those two boys played for hours -- running through the paths, crawling under big leaves, watching all types of bugs, piling acorns, pinecones, and pecans. 

Jon eventually joined the other two boys, and he was immediately drawn to all the green pecans. He arranged several in a circle and spent about twenty minutes keeping his siblings from casting shadows on the nuts he was "sun roasting." He finally realized he was getting nowhere on his chef-project and gave it up. 

After a couple hours of drawing and exploring, we settled by the fountain for lunch. Why does food -- the same lunch we eat almost every day -- taste so much better in a pretty setting?

The library was our last stop of the day. The cool quiet was enjoyable, and I let the kids stretch out the time until some started getting restless. The ride home was quiet -- it always is when they all have piles of "new" books to read.  

What a day! Three really busy -- and early -- days in a row seems to be taking its toll on the kids. They are getting pretty tired and cranky by the end of the day. On a great note, they have all fallen fast asleep immediately after they get their good night kisses. I won't complain about that one!

Bright and Early Adventures: Day 2 (8/21/12)

After the fun we had yesterday, the kids reluctantly got up early, but then they raced downstairs to see what was posted on our adventure board. I don't tell them the night before what is coming up, I just write it on the dry erase boards by the kitchen table. They all want to be the first to see what we are doing. I was surprised the curiosity caught on so quickly, but they did have fun yesterday.

Today was a BLAST! First we took about a forty-minute drive to the Caddo Indian Mounds, a state historic park. We waited at the gate about five minutes because we got there just before it opened at 8:30am. The morning couldn't have been prettier, and, except for the park ranger running the museum, we had the whole place to ourselves until we left a couple hours later.

When we were ready to go, we were still the only ones there. By then, the kids had already asked the ranger a lot of questions and were fairly comfortable talking with him. He asked me if he could show them the atl atls -- basically: spear throwers. He not only showed the weapons to the kids, but he demonstrated them then let each of the kids try a few times. They all thought that was pretty awesome!

Our second stop was to a small village museum in Nacogdoches. Normally, the kids really enjoy seeing these type of places -- especially when there are demonstrations. Today, we were lucky again, because there were demonstrations, hands-on activities, and were were the only ones there. The docent taught the kids to haul water from the well, how to wash laundry on a wash board in a tub, how to wring them dry and hang them on the line. Will was excited and asked why we couldn't do laundry like that every day since it was so much fun.

After the first round of outdoor chores, the guide played some fun music on a pump organ, then she let each of the kids pump the pedal and pound the keys.

We walked through the "village" and stopped at the barn for some corn cobbing. First, the kids raced to see who could push all the kernels off a cob the fastest. After their thumbs were a little bit pink, she showed them the machine that they could crank to do the same thing. They finished that stop with a couple rounds of corn cob dart (lobbing feathered empty cobs trying to hit each other from a distance.)

Our next stop was at a log cabin. The kids learned to hand-plow the dirt -- a couple of them had to re-plow because they walked through their plowed dirt. They "planted" corn, pumped water to wash their hands, went inside to fluff the feather bed and learn about night-time potty habits before there was indoor plumbing.

Maybe it was because school is about to start, maybe it was just the novelty of a one-room schoolhouse, but the kids (especially the youngest three) loved the school house. They donned hats and bonnets, found their seats, and were told how to sit properly and greet visitors. After a few lessons in old-fashioned etiquette, our guide cut some feathers and made quill pens. She helped the kids dip the quills in ink, and we all wrote our names until the feather ran dry.

We finished the tour by ringing the church bell, seeing the church, trying a change-maker, and shopping at the old fashioned general store.

What a day! Though it was only our second day of outings, I think today may have made it to the top summer days list. The kids all had such a good time ... and they learned a lot, too! I really enjoyed it all, especially seeing the joy of them learning and trying new things. I. Loved. Today!