Husband, Dad, Mechanical Engineer, Bass
Player ...
Obsessed with all things Engineering.
AMY
Wife, Homeschool Mom, Webmaster ...
Obsessed with all things Political.
RACHAEL
Daughter, Sister, Sophomore ...
Obsessed with all things Geological.
NICHOLAS
Son, Brother, 8 year old ...
Obsessed with all things Historical.
(especially Egyptian!)
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The Well-Trained Mind Singapore Math Greenleaf Guides Apologia Science AIG Science curriculum Story of the World
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Day 51 - Monet and the lunar eclipse
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
In co-op today, we studied crustaceans in Marine Biology and Monet in Art History. Since we combined the classes, I was able to sit in on the Science class for the first time. I learned so much! Diana is a former high school science teacher, and a fabulous one at that!
The pictures above are Rachael's Monet-inspired paintings. We gave the kids thinly sliced sponges for them to dip in paint and dab on the paper to duplicate the Monet impressionistic style.
This evening, we let the kids stay up later than usual to view the lunar eclipse. We tried to get pictures, but they didn't turn out too well. We needed a tripod to stabilize the camera ...
Rachael's Taekwon-do instructor was a little late today because of another program that ran over. Nick found some boxing gloves and started pounding away on the punching bags. Unfortunately, they "punched" back and he ended up on his face more than once! Another reason that I love Rachael's Taekwon-do is that the instructor, Mr. Nowling, allows Nick to participate in the stretching warm-ups. With Nick's cerebral palsy, stretching is of utmost importance for him. It's usually like pulling teeth to get him to stretch, but in class, he loves to participate!
Today was Nick's first dental appointment. He did really well! The dental assistant was great! She even "worked" on his stuffed dog and wrapped his snout in gauze before working on Nick.
I just bought this and started reading it. Of course, when I Googled it, I came across a lot of negative publicity surrounding the book. Anyone have an opinion as to the validity of the story?
Today was co-op day. The kids studied sharks in Marine Biology. In addition to the lesson, they studied a preserved shark that Diana brought in, and gave oral reports on shark types/characteristics. In Art History, we studied Edouard Manet and they did a still life impressionistic painting of a basket of fruit.
Today was also their Valentine's Day party. They were supposed to bring decorated boxes/bags to collect their cards. Ours were kind of boring in that we just covered a couple of shoe boxes in shiny foil wrapping paper, but some of the kids were really creative! Look at Ross's dog or Thomas's dinosaur themed box!
Last night and all day today we've had a pretty intense ice storm. Of course, it's not New York intense, but intense for Indiana, nonetheless! It took Jeff 2 hrs. and 40 minutes to get to work. Rachael went out and tried to shovel the sidewalk, but the ice was just too thick. She even took the table salt out to melt it! (She couldn't be convinced that table salt wasn't the solution...)
I still haven't gone grocery shopping since our trip, so we're out of EVERYTHING! We ordered pizza last night, but we have no milk, no veggies, no eggs... I think I'm going to have to venture out this evening after Jeff gets home. Tomorrow is our Valentine's Day party at co-op, so I still need to get cards for Nick to hand out (Rachael already bought hers before our trip). The kids are making their boxes right now. They're being so quiet ... I can't wait to see what they look like!
We had continued with our math and switched to a more casual approach with the other subjects while we were gone. We focused on sea life and California history and culture. Now that we're back home, it's time to get back to our "routine." Today did NOT go well! I was trying to get the house cleaned up, laundry finished, and e-mails read. Rachael was doing anything she could to avoid her schoolwork. Nick was being crabby, and the kids were fighting non-stop. AARGH!
They recently opened a Menard's store near us. For those of you who aren't familiar with the chain, a Menard's is sort of like a Home Depot or Lowe's. Jeff has literally been driving by the store on a weekly basis just waiting for it to open. The anticipation was killing him! He was so excited when it finally opened. He'd been compiling lists of things he needed to do around the house in order to put it on the market. Today he bought closet organizers. The kids and I hung out at my mom's house to stay out of his way while he installed them. Unfortunately, he didn't finish. Screwing into cement-like plaster is apparently much harder than working with drywall ;-D
Today we headed home. The seats in the airplane were a little more snug this time, but hey, how can you complain about a $10 airline ticket? By the time we got home, it was about 11:00pm and we were exhausted!
Today we headed to Hollywood. We drove up into the hills and looked at a lot of mansions. We tried to take a tour of NBC, but they were sold out on the tour that we wanted. Jeff & I would have LOVED to have seen a taping of Jay Leno, (especially since Paula Deen was the guest!) but no one under 16 was allowed and we had no one to watch the kids.
We walked down the Hollywood strip and had a leisurely evening. Rachael got her picture taken beside several of the footprints, including Shirley Temple and R2D2
Before we left, we stopped by Victorian Row in San Francisco. This is the backdrop of Rachael's favorite show, "Full House."
We left San Francisco today and headed down Highway 1 (The Pacific Coast Highway) ... the most beautiful road in the world! (We drove down Lombard street in SF today on our way out of town. It's the curviest street in the world...) We stopped in Big Sur to take in the gorgeous sunset over the Pacific ocean. The views were breathtaking!
Rachael & Nick w/ a "living statue" street performer.
Sea lions on Pier 39
Night time in Chinatown
The view from our hotel room...
Today we rode a cable car down to Pier 39. Rachael was fascinated with the history of Alcatraz, so Jeff took her on a tour. We had taken her when she was 3 or 4, but of course she didn't remember it. Since tickets were so expensive, I decided to just hang out with Nick on the pier. He had fun chasing the pigeons and sharing a pretzel. After leaving the pier, we headed to Ghiardelli square where we used to buy huge chunks of the chocolate that were broken. They sold them really cheaply. Unfortunately, they discontinued that about a year ago, and now they just sell their premium gift chocolate ($$$$!) I guess there's no longer any reason to go back...
At dusk, we headed to Chinatown. We found several good deals on souvenirs and took in the unique sights and sounds.
Today we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a LONG walk ... especially when it's so cold and windy! I took tons of pictures of our favorite icon in the hope that I get a couple that are good enough to frame.
We then drove to Muir woods, toured the giant redwoods, and hung out at the beach. I'll have to post those pictures in a separate entry because it's only letting me post 4 at a time...
Today began with a trip to the Great Mall of the Bay Area in Milpitas. Afterwards, we went in search of wildflowers and found a cool park. They usually offered hang-gliding, but it was closed due to weather conditions. (otherwise this may have been a more exciting post!) For dinner we ate at our favorite restaurant, Chatanoga Persian cuisine (http://www.chatanogaonline.com/) for the second time on our trip...
Today we went to the huge outdoor San Jose Flea Market. We used to go there nearly every weekend. Unfortunately, it was really COLD today! The Mariachi bands weren't playing (which was one of my favorite parts!) This was one of my favorite purchases. Nick picked it out. He looked so cute!
Day 32 - Santa Cruz, Chuck E. Cheese, & Mt. Hamilton
Today we went to Santa Cruz. The boardwalk wasn't open, but we had fun driving over the mountains. We also visited several shops and ended up in a huge arcade where the kids had a blast! We ate dinner at the enormous Chuck E. Cheese in San Jose and then drove up Mt. Hamilton. Jeff and I used to drive up there quite often when we lived in the area. It has to be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth. The night-time views are just magnificent! Jeff and I both had major pangs of regret for ever moving away from there...
Name: Amy Home: Indiana, United States About Me: I am a Homeschool Mom of 2 awesome children. This is my attempt at Project 365 - to chronicle our world through daily photos... See my complete profile
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