By Sun and Candlelight

Wordless Wednesday {Everyday Moments}

{at home}

{at work}

{and play}

{with the cats}

{at the fair}

{:D}

Well, I can't think of trains ...

... without thinking of my EB. :)

(Oh my ... was he really once that little?)

Earlybird is a HUGE train buff (just like his Papa). He loves to read about them, talk about them, watch them on TV ... but nothing beats seeing them in REAL LIFE!

These pictures were taken a few several years ago, on a cold February "Daddy" day. (Daddy Days are those spontaneous adventures that only daddies seems able (and willing) to pull together.)

This is a local transportation museum, and obviously, EB was focused on the old steam train stationed outside.

Trains are so awesome! (As in, "super cool" and "awe-inspiring.") They're big, powerful, and carry with them so many stories, so much of America's history. But I will always see trains through the eyes of a child ... as the daughter of a model railroader, and now as the mom of a train crazy kid ...

More train pictures can be found at this week's Snapshots around the World post. Stop by and check them out!

Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend!

:)

Tree Week!

First of all, I hope you all had a nice weekend, and a lovely Easter Sunday. :)

Today begins "Tree Week" in our homeschool ... and that would be because, A. Friday is Arbor Day and, B. we just ❤ trees!

I kept our "tree" activity for today very simple (since it was rainy and cold and we were all plumb tuckered from weekend festivities). So after dropping Bookworm at the library (where he volunteers once a week) the younger two boys and I stopped at our local supermarket to search for things that come from trees ... 

To this end we found: apples, pears, dates, oranges, lemons, limes, coconuts, bananas, nuts - ETC. - as well as magazines, newspapers, toilet paper, paper towels, tissue paper, packages of copy paper, cardboard cereal (cracker, cookie, etc.) boxes, paper shopping bags, store flyers, and even my purchase receipt ... phew! 

Trees give us a lot, we decided!

Here are a few fuzzy photos we (Crackerjack and I) took on my new phone:

These would be the apples and pears.

This would be me.

This is Earlybird walking (dejectedly) away from a bin of marshmallows. (And he was so sure there were such things as Marshmallow Trees, too!)

Pretty sure "Cheese Puffs" don't grow on trees either ... but we still bought a bag.

And so our Tree Week is off and running! More details to come, but for now I wish you all a happy new week, and wonderful start to the new Easter season!

Have a great night, everyone ...

:)

Poinsettia Day!

Today's Advent tree note read:

"Daddy's home today! We'll bake biscuits for breakfast and read about The Legend of the Poinsettia. Later we'll visit the nursery and bring home a plant for our mantle."

(Officially, National Poinsettia Day falls on December 12th, but as we were busy that day with a family party, I decided to schedule our own "poinsettia day" for one day this week.)

Well, the biscuits were delicious (stuffed with cheesy, scrambled eggs) and EB half-listened to me read TLotP while working on a coloring page I found online ... and after breakfast we all bundled into the minivan for a family field trip to the nursery. (Lol, the older two never know what's coming next. What? Close our math books, grab our coats? Happy faces all around.)

To be honest, Earlybird was more enthralled with the Christmas trees for sale in the lot (and pushing the oversized nursery cart up and down the aisles) than he was with the multicolored* plants inside, lol. (Poor Bill got outside duty with EB while I savored the steamy warmth of the greenhouse inside with the older boys.)

*Oh, and by multicolored, I really do mean multicolored! There were the expected red, burgundy, pink and white plants of course - but also - purple, blue and fuschia! 

Now, maybe I haven't been poinsettia shopping in a while, but this really struck me as odd! I insisted on purchasing traditional red plants, but the boys talked me into one sparkly blue plant as well. Crackerjack said he wanted it for their bedroom - he has plans for a Star Wars Christmas corner I think.

Here's our Earlybird marveling at the pretty Christmas plants ...

... and Crackerjack and Bookworm, smiling for Mum's camera. :) 

As you can see from their garb we're in the midst of quite a cold spell here in New England; the balmy greenhouse was a nice escape from the frosty weather. (A quick weather note here ~ a major snowstorm is predicted for Massachusetts late this weekend. Maybe we'll get a white Christmas after all!)

Well, from there, our day got quite busy as we grabbed a quick lunch and headed out to our December Nature Club meeting (a homemade suet feeder activity hosted by my friend Ketylina at her lovely home - more on that later!).

So we're home again at last, and supper's bubbling away on the stove. Bill's getting some work done, the older boys are playing Wii, and EB and I are watching "Dogs 101" (a favorite show of his). Obviously I'm also working on this post! 

As a final touch to our poinsettia day, I had planned to pull out our sweet little poinsettia fairy to hang on our tree, but - gasp! - we can't find her! I made her a few years back (details in this post) and I just can't imagine where she's disappeared to ~ but if I can't find her, I may just have to make her again. Hmm ... an excuse to stop by the craft store tomorrow? Maybe that's not so bad after all ... ;)

By the way, in a comment today, Lynn B. asked if I'd share all my Advent tree notes sometime - and yes, I'd be glad to! I'll write up a post (possibly this weekend) with the notes we've done so far and my plans for next week. I must say, this has been my favorite Advent countdown yet. :)

Well, thank you very much for stopping by today; I hope you had a nice day too. See you all again very soon!

Morning at the Tree Farm

Bill took the day off from work last Friday so we could take the boys to a tree farm. The visit served two purposes ~ for one, we needed a Christmas tree! (Our brief stint with a pre-lit tree came to a disastrous end last year.) And for another, this month we're focusing our nature study on evergreens - and a tree farm was a great place to kick things off!

I thought I'd share some of the pictures I took of the farm and the kids. As usual, I took lots and lots of photos - we even got a family shot (thanks to the kind farmer) for the Christmas card! 

 As you can see, the day was quite cloudy - and let me tell you, it was cold!

Finally we found our tree:

(It might not look it here, but it's an eight-footer!)

Earlybird was a little sad we were actually taking it down, so he and I walked around the farm (examining evergreens) while Bill and the older boys felled the tree with a handsaw. (All I could think of was that scene in It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown when Linus wails, "You didn't tell me you were gonna kill it!" Lol)

Once the deed was done though, EB was eager to help ...

   

The tree was baled for easier transport ...

Once our trees - we also bought a smaller tree for the yard - were secured to the roof our van we headed home. But first we made a quick stop at yet another farm for a snack.

My three sons. :)

It was a really fun morning ~ and now we have big glorious tree in our dining room, all lit up and adorned with cherished decorations. Best of all, my house smells like evergreens - like a Douglas Fir to be exact (the variety of tree we chose). 

I'll have a post up soon with pictures of our tree all set up, and a few other cozy Christmas spots around the house. In the meantime, I hope you all have a very nice week. And Happy St. Nicholas Day!

November Nature: A Quaking Bog & Solstice Hill

Our Homeschool Nature Club met for its November meeting yesterday and it was truly a fantastic experience! The reservation we explored was breathtakingly beautiful, and the day itself was just perfect for November ~ bright, blustery and brisk. Considering all the dank, dreary weather we've had recently, we really lucked out! 

At this month's meeting we explored a pond, a "quaking" bog and the highest hill in the county. I hope you enjoy these pictures from our day ...

A narrow but sturdy boardwalk allowed us to journey through the bog out to a large open pond. On either side of the walkway the dampness was pretty deep! (See the walking stick below - it had just been stuck in the ground beside the path.)

At this time of year there was not much still growing, but the moss was plentiful. 

As you can see, the afternoon sunlight made the bog shimmer in an almost ethereal way ...

A few things we noticed on our walk out to the pond ...

A tiny solid drop of sap ...

A carnivorous pitcher plant!

Tiny cones/seeds of some kind.

A few mushrooms popping up here and there.

Finally we reached the end of the boardwalk and the quiet pond in all its late autumn glory:

Two of my intrepid explorers. :)

By the way, the reason they call this bog "quaking" is because it is literally a mat of vegetation resting on water-logged muck. When the children jumped on the semi-solid earth next to the walkway, the trees around us trembled (or quaked) in response! As you might guess, this unique site really captured the kids' collective attention!

After thoroughly exploring the bog habitat, our group headed uphill ...

Stopping to climb a tree on the way ...

And take some pictures of the lovely setting ...

We passed through a beautiful, golden wood ...

And finally found ourselves at the very top the hill, the highest point in the county. 

A set of "solstice stones" rests at the crest of the hill, marking the four cardinal directions, as well as the points of the solstices and equinoxes.

The kids mostly enjoyed clambering all over it. ;)

But it was the view of Boston in the distance that really amazed me ...

*Note: This picture was not taken by me, but by my friend, Beth - whose awesome camera I covet. ;)

While the kids ran around and had snacks, the moms chatted and walked about, enjoying the pretty surroundings.

I spied a gorgeous birch tree ...

And a crabapple (?) of some sort. Very autumnal looking, don't you think?

 

But before we knew it, the late day sun was slipping behind the trees and the air was growing colder ...

We piled back into our cars and headed home in all different directions, each family taking home another nice Nature Club memory.

Thanks for stopping by everyone! I hope you've all had a good week ... it was another busy one here! Really looking forward to Turkey Day next Thursday - and there's plenty to do to get ready - but I'll be back here again just as soon as I can. :)

Happy (Sleety, Sloppy) Monday Morning :)

Sorry I've been quiet for several days now ... we've been busy, busy, busy!

The picture above shows you what we did yesterday (with Flat Stanley tagging along). We met some friends at the Wheelock Family Theater in Boston to see a production of  ANNIE. It was wonderful! 

Today is a cold, rainy day - not the nicest of weather, but better than it started out anyways - it was dark and sleeting at 6 a.m.! Our week looks to be a bit quieter than the last ...

Thanks for all the kind comments on our Gratitude Tree - and thank you to The Crafty Crow  for featuring our project in a post last week! A couple of readers asked about the acorn template I used, and to be honest, I'm having a hard time finding the one I used! (I printed out all 25 acorns right away and didn't bookmark the page.) I originally found it by doing a google image search for "acorn template" ... but when I do it now, I can't find the one I used! I'll keep looking and if I find it I will post the site here. I barely looked at the site, I just grabbed the image and moved on.

So that's all for right now ... I'm sneaking a few minutes online while the boys dig into their morning's work (Algebra for Bookworm, Ancient China for Crackerjack and lantern coloring for Earlybird) ...

Be back again - just as soon as I can! :)

Cornstalks and Moonlight ~ Fun on the Farm

We had SUCH fun last night at the corn maze! The weather was perfect for this tradtional fall outing - if maybe a wee bit cold. (OK, make that freezing, lol!) But the Hunter's moon was a hair's breadth from full and it was just rising as we approached the farm ...

I know that photo is a little fuzzy, but I had to post it, if only to remember how incredible it was to drive up to the farm and see this *enormous* moon rising up out of the low purple clouds.

Here are a few scenes around the farm ...

Wasn't the sky just beautiful?

 We met several homeschooling families here, who came from all over to enjoy the corn maze together. After a short instructional video, our large group was split up into bands of 5 or so. Each band received a puzzle/clue map as well as a flag which could be waved if you happened to get lost. Then we all entered the maze ... which was HUGE! It was dark of course, so we all had flashlights ~ though really, with the bright moonlight the lights weren't all that necessary. As it so happened, after all the kids were split up and parent chaperones assigned, Bill and I were left to ourselves! Lol, we were a cozy band of two, so we joked it was like a "date night" for us. (And this being our anniversary - 17 years today! - it was an especially nice treat!)

The maze was bustling in some places, and fairly quiet in others. We encountered a few bats flitting through the stalks, which was quite a surprise!

 

This was the view from the top of one of the bridges somewhere deep in the maze.

Bill and I found the exit in about 30 minutes - we were the first of our group to make it out, so we got ourselves some hot cider and settled in to wait for the rest of our gang. 

It was such a great time - some wonderful memories were made - and let me tell you - after all the (frosty) fresh air and exercise, we all slept very well last night!

The Full Hunter's Moon will be rising once again tonight, so don't forget to take a peek. Try to look close to rise time (5:47 p.m.) because the moon is especially magnificent when it's low in the sky ...

 

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

Through the Woods, Down a Cave, Up a Tower ...

Our field trip on Monday was fantastic! Truly, one of the best we've been on. We followed a ranger through a local forest reserve and learned - not only about the local flora and fauna - but lots of fascinating New England history as well! (A tale that involved pirates and treasure and earthquakes and explosives - the kids were all ears!)

"Ranger Dan" led us deep into the woods, down inside a cave and then way up high in a stone tower! Here are some pictures I took on this glorious October day ... I hope you enjoy them!

Walking by the reservoir ...

A steep climb up to the cave ...

These great boulders were left behind by a glacier during the last ice age ...

And here we have the entrance to the cave itself ... the site of suspected pirate's buried treasure.

 

This is "Flat Stanley" ~ we are escorting him around the area this week. A schoolgirl from California sent him to me!

The ranger led us down in two groups - it was so dark and wet and slippery. To be honest, it was pretty creepy!

Needless to say I didn't go down to the very bottom of the cave. I left that to my braver (and more sure-footed) companions, lol.

After the cave, we walked a bit further uphill to this magnificent tower:

It was built in the 1930s for observation. A steep spiral staircase inside led us to the very top of the tower where we had *incredible* views of the surrounding area.

This would be Boston in the distance.

And the Atlantic ocean ...

 

After we left the tower, we started our descent back to the base of the park. As you can see it was an absolutely idyllic autumn day. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and look at my pictures today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ... I'll be back again just as soon as I can. :)

Fun Times at Lego KidsFest

We took the older boys into Lego KidsFest Boston yesterday and it was a really fun time! Lots to see and marvel over - and lots of inspiration for our Lego-crazy kids. :) Rather than slog down this post with the 30-odd pictures I took though, I made up a photo album with pics from our visit. If you'd like to check it out, it's over there on my right-hand sidebar.

Did you all have a good weekend? Ours was nice - busy but fun. I didn't do a lick of lesson planning over the weekend - or any kind of planning for that matter! - so I'm pretty much flying by the seat of my pants this week, lol ...

Anyhoo - things are off to a dark, rainy start here in my corner of the world. Really feels like Fall today and this kind of weather puts me in such a nesting mood. Flannels for the beds, candles for the windows ... definitely an "afternoon cup" kind of day. :)

Well, that's all I have time for at the moment ~ hope your week's off to a good start!

Class Photo, 2010

September 1st, 2010

The whole world is our classroom ...

A Trip to the American Textile Museum

Last week we attended a field trip to the American Textile Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. The trip included a guided tour of the museum as well as two excellent classes: "Junk to Jackets" and "Technical Tools." Crackerjack took the former; Bookworm took the latter. 

Here are the class descriptions:

From Junk to Jackets (Grades 3-10): Learn how recycling is used in the textile industry to make cloth, and consider its ecological impacts. As a colorful and educational keepsake, students will fill "ecological containers" with layers of materials showing the steps of the scientific process invented to convert plastic soda bottles into knitted fleece fabric. Students will do experiments revealing material characteristics and illustrating advances from nanotechnology research used to make modern fabrics even better!

Technical Tools (Grades 6-12): In a hands-on lab setting, work in teams to problem-solve how to overcome the technical difficulties experienced by the early US cotton industry, and experience the challenge of inventing that transformed the US during the early Industrial Revolution. Figure out Eli Whitney's inventors' success secrets as you engineer your own solutions. A world events timeline provides an international perspective.

This was our first visit to the museum, but I knew we'd get there one of these days (and I have a feeling we'll be back). Our history focus this year is the Industrial Revolution, and Lowell was one of the most important cities at that time. In fact, I believe it is known as the birthplace of the (American) Industrial Revolution.

I have a ton of pictures to share - no really, a ton - so I've made up a couple of photo albums instead of bogging down this post with jpgs. You can find my pictures in the two new photo albums on the right hand sidebar - one is called "ATM Field Trip" and this has the bulk of the pictures I took on our tour and in the boys' classes. The other album is called "Apron Exhibit" and it holds the pictures I took in the museum's special exhibit, a tribute to the 1950's and the apron phenomenon. Sorry these photos are not of the greatest quality, the lighting was fairly dim throughout most of the museum and we were not allowed to use flash photography. 

I hope you enjoy the pictures and if you are in the New England area - whether you live here or are visiting some day - I highly recommend you pay a visit to the American Textile Museum. The people who led us through the day were friendly, enthusiastic and so helpful. I look forward to another visit this spring!

In our Yard this Afternoon ...

... we spotted this magnificent (Cooper's?) hawk! We had just arrived home from a morning field trip when I noticed a large bird swoop through the neighbor's yard and into our own. 

 He's gorgeous of course, but not at all welcome. Just yesterday the boys and I watched 5 (FIVE!) red squirrels playing in the yard, running between our rooftop and the trees out back. I hate to think of them out and about with predators like this hanging around ...

Anyhoo ... we spent the morning at the American Textile Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. I have LOTS of pictures to share from the museum tour and the homeschool classes the boys participated in - but I will have to get those up later this weekend. In a nutshell, it was a fantastic experience - the perfect complement to our current Industrial Revolution study!

Well, that's all for now - just a quick check-in as the week comes to a close. I hope you all have a great weekend - I'll be back here again just as soon as I can. :)

Happy Advent!

I just love this time of year ...

 

There is something especially beautiful about winter sunrises, don't you think? It's almost as if the sky is doing it's own holiday decorating! Or maybe giving  us a bit of cheer on these bitter early mornings. Scientifically speaking, it must have something to do with the weather conditions at this time of year - cold, frosty, dry - but almost daily it seems (unless it's raining) - the sunrise is startlingly intense and varied. I think I take pictures almost every day ...

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! Ours was wonderful - bustling, happy and homey. Lots of good food, family and friends ... and lots of leftovers to indulge in this week!

Right now I am working on a December "plans" post (hoping to post mid-or-late-week), but for today I'd like to share some photos from the past month or so ...

 

One Saturday Bill was breaking down the yard toys and we found this little fella (a salamander) hiding in the folds of the bouncy house! Isn't he gorgeous? We deposited him safely under an old log by the compost pile. Hopefully he'll curl up and enjoy a long winter's nap.

 

The Blue Jays have been especially active this fall. This picture was actually a tree filled with a band of birds, but the best shot was this guy in the middle.

The following few pictures were taken on a recent Nature Club activity - we learned about a local watershed and did some percolation experiments. It was a cool, gray day ...

 

 

 

I really love the woods at this time of year - everything seems so bleak and done-for, so the tiny bits of color really stand out all the more. A flash of blue feathers, a bright ray or light, the punch of a red berry ...

 

Boston on (yet another) cloudy day ... on our way into the Science Museum.

 

Crackerjack and Bookworm making "their" pie on Thanksgiving eve - a lime jello cool whip variety. :)

 

I made the one above - a "Holiday Fruit Pie" filled with cranberries (dried and fresh), orange peel and golden raisins. I thought it came out pretty well. :)

 

And a little taste of Advent preparations underway ... more on the tags and ribbons (etc.) to come later this week!

Have a wonderful week, my friends ~ and Hurray for December tomorrow!

Be back just as soon as I can ...  

Pictures and Notes from the Past Couple of Weeks ...

So, what have we been up to lately? :)

Well, we spent a (cold, gray) morning at the Topsfield Fair:

 

Made friends with a donkey ...

 

... and a sheep.

 

Got fall gardening ideas.

 

Spied the giant pumpkin (all 1,471.6 lbs)!

 

Marveled over the giant sand sculpture.

Enjoyed fried dough with my boys.

***

We took a bike ride through the autumn woods:

 

Watched a gray heron come in from flight ...

... and make his way to his nest. 

 

Spotted a beautiful turtle by the path ...

 

But look what was on his shell (a leech)!

 

We removed the leech and sent the turtle on his way.

 

Watched milkweed float by.

Listened to noisy mallards in the lake.

***

We met Old Frost in the yard one morning:

 

 

 

 

And we added a bit of flash to the night ...

***

We spent some time learning about (and meeting!) wolves:

 

***

And we made stuffed peppers for the Feast of St. Francis:

 

 

 

 

 

Topped with cheese in the final 10 minutes, this was an absolutely delicious dinner!

This promises to be a busy week, too ... on top of all the usual goings-on, we have two field trips this week (Walden Pond and Whole Foods), Bookworm starts his volunteer "job" at the library and I go in for surgery this Friday. Yes ... surgery ... but nothing serious thankfully; I'm just having my gallbladder removed. As some of you know I've not been feeling my best for a few months now, so I'm glad to be getting this taken care of. I will probably be MIA again next week while I recover, but will try to post again this week with pics from our field trips and a few other topics I want to discuss. :)

I hope you enjoyed catching up with our family ... and I hope you and yours had a wonderful weekend. It's snowing here right now if you can believe it! This feels a little more like December than October!

Take care, everyone ~ Talk again soon!

My Weekend in Newport

So, I'm back from my "mums weekend away" and I'm happy to report it was a wonderful time for us all. The weather was fabulous and I took a lot of pictures - but fortunately for you all I am only sharing a portion. ;) You have to remember as much as I write this blog for my readers (or I should say, conversing with my readers), I also use it as a personal/family journal. Someday I'll be glad to remember all the sights and scenes of my trip. Goodness knows when I might do this again.

First a quick bit of backstory. My college roommate Kathy organized this weekend away for the girls - all mums now - who lived together throughout our four years of college. Only six of us could make the trip but it was such an awesome time. We had so much fun catching up, relaxing and kicking back.

And now on to the pictures ...

This is, obviously, a drive by shooting - but I remembered on our way out of town that I never photographed our hotel. I promise the pictures get better after this.

Our room is one of those windows in the second row from the top. We looked out over the harbor and had sliders that opened onto the rooftop. 

Our view:

My view from where we ate dinner Friday night:

And my delicious dinner:

"Georges Banks Scallops"

The next morning, bright and early we headed out to the world famous Newport Cliff Walk.

Special thanks go to my friend Mo who strolled along with me and patiently put up with my shutterbug impulses. :)

Most of these are self-explanatory, but I've added notes here and there ...

I'm not sure which buildings were privately owned and which were part of Salve Regina - but they were all overwhelmingly beautiful. I felt as though I stepped into an Austen novel ...

I know you're not surprised I came home with an awful lot of nature photos. There were interesting bits of flora and fauna all along the walk.

Rosa Rugosa - commonly known as Beach Rose.

This is a seed center (totally made-up term); the vibrant pink petals are more visible and recognizable of course.

Bittersweet nightshade - just like the vine that grows near my back fence. 

Pretty little purple wildflower - not sure what it is.

I'm going to call this a morning glory because that's what it looks like, but I'm not 100% sure. Morning glories are annuals so it doesn't make sense these vines would endure year after year. I guess maybe they do though - to quote Jurassic Park, "Life finds a way."

A tiny little spider web - so beautiful!

I have no idea what this is, but in the glistening June sun it was certainly lovely.

Pretty daisies bloomed all over the cliffside.

 

Cool little shelled creature, clinging to the side of the cliff shown above. That was some jaunt if he came up with the tide!

I recognized the seagulls but the big black seabirds were a mystery to me until my friend D. told me they were in fact cormorants.

I couldn't decide which ocean shots I liked best, so you're getting them all!

 

After the cliff walk we had lunch - during which I saved my friends from a marauding swarm of bees. Ok, story. So we're sitting there enjoying a delicious lunch by the sea when I notice an extremely large swarm of bees hovering over the fence just behind where we were sitting. At first we tried the whole "don't move they'll ignore us" tactic for all of 5 seconds and then we ran - literally ran - to the other side of the restaurant (assuring our waitress we were not skipping out on our bill). A waiter turned the hose on the swarm and it flew out over the boats docked nearby. I wonder if it was a disturbed hive or perhaps a colony relocating? Either way it was one of the more memorable - not to mention humorous - moments of the weekend.

We next enjoyed a one-hour boat cruise of Newport Harbor.

We took the 3:00 tour aboard the Amazing Grace. Our tour guide was funny and full of interesting Newport maritime history and trivia. 

This boat, a lobster boat called the Freedom, is the sister ship to the vessel featured in an upcoming show on the Discovery Channel, Lobster Wars - if I understood the tour guide correctly.

Above you see Fort Adams where years ago Bill and I attended the Newport Folk Festival.

After the boat cruise we stopped for ice cream and then retired to the hotel to freshen up and look over college photo albums. Dinner at a local pub was followed by a showing of Twilight back at the hotel. Chatting and giggling ensued until roundabouts 2 a.m. Good thing we had no kids to wake us up the next morning!

I had to show you our friend, a seagull who seemed insistent on gaining access to our room. Seriously, he stalked us.

Sunday morning we woke to rain and found breakfast at a lovely local restaurant. After we finished the omelets, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice we headed for home and the families that missed us. 

I was pleased to get a shot of St. Mary's before we left town - the first Catholic parish in Rhode Island and the church in which JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier were wed.

 

And then we were on our way home!

Thanks SO much for taking the time to read through my post and take a peek at my pictures. It really was a gift, this weekend away. I thank my family for making it possible and my friend Kathy for making it happen. To all my King House girls - whether you were with us in Newport or with us in spirit - I love you all. Thanks for more than 20 years (!) of friendship and love.

Our Morning in the Spring Woods

First of all, I got your unanimous and uplifting message about the file crate post loud and clear! I'm so glad so many of you find inspiration in those kinds of posts. I was afraid they might be getting somewhat redundant, but I will gladly post about my "system" again. I worked on my new files this afternoon and took pictures while the sun was shining - so look for a file-focused post from me later this week. :)

In the meantime, please take a peek at our pictures from our Audubon visit this morning. It was an absolutely perfect June day - bright, warm - but not hot - and dry. We saw lots of cool things and luckily I had my camera in hand to capture it all (and when do I not, lol?).

And we're off!

Butterflies flitting all around - this is a wood nymph, I think.

The bullfrogs were in fine form, serenading us with their unique morning music.

Earlybird bailed at the last minute - he was afraid to enter the "cave" as he called it. It's actually a pass-through, and part of the trail, but there was no telling him that, lol.

So Bill walked EB back to the boardwalk to toss rocks in the pond while Crackerjack, Bookworm and I climbed up and all over "the rockery."

My "kings of the hill." :)

Ferns were growing everywhere! It felt very "forest primeval."

Unknown tiny butterfly.

This is a beaver lodge that was built directly beside and beneath the boardwalk. Clever little critters.

 

The chipmunks are almost friendly here - in that, if you hold still they will walk right by you or if you move slowly, they'll let you get quite close. There's not much cuter than a chipmunk, except for a red squirrel ...

And speaking of ...

 

This picture is so dark it's hard to see, but this is a little red squirrel who scurried directly over our heads. I'm absolutely convinced he came out just to see me. ;)

I think these are blue forget-me-nots growing along the pond's edge.

Azaleas and rhododendrons were in full bloom. They grow very well in shady wooded areas.

A lone beautiful yellow iris growing alongside the path.

'Tis the season for spittle bugs - this stuff was everywhere.

The lilyponds were lovely.

As were the views:

We found several mysterious trees:

(See the face?)

A throne, perhaps? ;)

There were many kinds of dragonflies and damselflies about:

 

 

On particularly insistent dragonfly kept dashing around me me and hovering directly in front of me when I paused. This was the only picture I got of him - he was huge:

He did let me pass, eventually. :)

Well, thanks for letting me share these pictures with you! I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of late spring in New England. As I promised at the top of this post I'll be back in a few days with an in-depth post all about my file crate system. 

In the meantime, have a wonderful week!

Nature Club Field Trip: The Arnold Arboretum

My apologies, dear readers. I'm still trying to get back on track with my posting. After an illness sweeps through a household it can be several days before all the cogs in the machine get put back to rights. First comes the household itself - laundries are caught up, groceries are replenished and rooms are cleaned. Then come the missed lessons and make-up work. And finally the hobbies fall back into place. I also had a meeting here the other night for my homeschool support group to prepare for ... our topic was "closing up shop" for the school year. I'll post about our conversation as soon as I can. :)

For today, I'd like to share some pictures I took last week while on a field trip with our Nature Study Club. For our May meeting we visited the Arnold Arboretum. It was a glorious - if unbelievably hot - day.

Inside the visitor center:

And onto the path:

Happy Friday, everyone!

Homeschool Park Day #1

Our Homeschool Park Days have begun! Every other Thursday we will meet at a local park so the kids can run around and play. (The other Thursdays of the month are for Book Group and Nature Club.) Park Days will run through the spring before it gets too hot, and we gather in the early afternoon, before schools let out. (Smaller crowds.) Yesterday was an ideal first day - sunny, cool and breezy, about 70 degrees. The kids (from about 10 families) had a blast - swinging, climbing, scootering, playing pop-up tag, etc. 

Earlybird particularly enjoyed playing in the sandbox and on the swings, but for a little while, he and I walked to the river's edge to toss stones and look for neat bits of nature. Here's what we found ... 

A pretty woodland violet.

Tent caterpillar nests. Ew.

Pretty branches that looked like apple blossoms, but I think it was a shrub of some sort.

The River.

Lots of acorns were found (and pocketed).

The last day of April was a breezy, bright day.

A tree covered in some kind of fungus.

Another view of the river.

EB sitting on the riverbank.

We marveled at the river current ...

... and wondered if this was the work of a beaver?

A tiny nest tucked up high in a tree.

And ah yes - the kids on the playground.

May Day is here, and it's a mild, windy, gray day. Beautiful.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Boys' Club at Monsters vs. Aliens

Here we have Crackerjack (second from left) and his friends at the movies this week ...

These four friends, all 9 year-old home learners, see each other regularly at the myriad homeschool activities and social gatherings we attend, but once a month they get together on their own for official "Boys' Club." Two of the boys are the youngest of three and the other two are middle children. These monthly "meetings" (mostly casual playdates) allow the boys time to socialize outside of their older siblings' shadows. Because it was SO hot last Tuesday (the date of our April meeting) we decided to take the boys to the movies. 

We saw Monsters vs. Aliens, a funny, action-packed, beautifully animated movie. Chock-a-bloc full of "boy" humor - aka wedgies, snot and random bathroom humor, lol. As we left the theater I asked the boys to give it a rating; their scores: 10, 10, 8 and 4. 

Average score: 8. Well deserved, I'd say. :)