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!)
Favorite Books/Curriculum
The Well-Trained Mind Singapore Math Greenleaf Guides Apologia Science AIG Science curriculum Story of the World
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More creek pics
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Rachael's love of playing in the creek is directly proportional to Nick & Alex's hatred of the swampy water. They both lasted about 30 seconds until they were finished. Alex dozed in the grass while Nick played in the van. No nature lovers there!
This afternoon, Darla, Diana, & I met at the creek near our church to let the kids play and hunt crawdads. Fortunately, I took the old van because by the time we left, Rachael was drenched!
Yesterday, Diana & I took the kids to the Chinese restaurant for lunch. With us having been on the run for the past few weeks, it seemed like we haven't had much time to talk. After lunch and a few errands, I invited Thomas, Ross, Gracie, Josh, & Julia over to the house. I hid out upstairs while I finished folding the laundry that has been sitting in our room for several weeks. After about an hour, I heard the fire alarm go off. As I ran to the stairs, Rachael yelled that it was just the oven, and that nothing was on fire. (Our oven is notorious for setting off the alarm.) When I came downstairs, she showed me what she had made. It seems the kids wanted to have a tea party, and wanted some dessert to go with their tea. I guess Rachael's hours of watching Food Network have paid off!
The last time we went bowling, Ross had baseball and couldn't join us. Since Diana had a quilting class to attend, I decided to take the kids back to Mr. Gatti's & bowling. Rachael won the 1st game, & miraculously, I won the 2nd!
We had a co-op field trip to the Children's Museum to see the King Tut exhibit this afternoon. It's the same exhibit that we saw a few years ago in Chicago, but it's amazing how much difference a few years makes. The last time, Nick was just a toddler, but it was the event that sparked his passion for all things Egyptian. This time, he asked questions, absorbing everything that he could. The last time Rachael meandered through the rooms, taking only a cursory look at each item. This time, she read every description, watched every animation, and studied all of the background information surrounding the items.
The kids loved that Jeff took off work to come with us. He misses out on a lot of our field trips, because most of them are scheduled during the workday. Another bonus for Rachael was that Claudia was able to join the group. We hadn't seen her for ages!
After the museum, Jeff & I took the kids back to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Always a good meal!
Rachael actually got a bit braver today, riding a few of the rides that she wouldn't have even considered yesterday. Then again, she is noticeably absent from the clown picture - yet another phobia that we'll have to work on!
We met Heather and her girls for a day at the fair. We bought all of the kids $20 wristbands which are good for 3 days of rides. Still expensive, but a much better deal than $1.50 per ride or an $18 one day band! Rachael, ever the chicken, didn't ride many of the rides, but she had fun nonetheless. Nick was a little upset because I didn't let him ride some of the larger rides (the ones that went upside down). I was afraid that, being so small, he might hurt himself. With the price of admission, rides, and food, we spent a small fortune, but it was nice being able to just hang out and have a fun day with friends.
After leaving the hotel, we took advantage of our Children's Museum membership by visiting for a little while. The kids & I have been there numerous times, but Jeff hasn't been there in years. Of course, we'll be heading back later this week for the King Tut tour, so I didn't want to get him too sick of it before next week!
The kids enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool the next day. As irritated as I get with my kids bickering, it's always nice to see how sweet they are to each other when they need to depend on one another. Rachael was incredibly patient with Nick while swimming. He is somewhat afraid of the water, and with his CP, his fear is often displayed as total muscle rigidity - his entire body becomes as stiff as a board - not an easy condition to try to work with in the water! It all worked out, though. She was able to coax him into relaxing, and they had a great time.
We went with a group of homeschool families to the local fireworks display, which happened to be on the 3rd of July (go figure!) On the afternoon of the 4th, we were trying to decide what to do that evening. Jeff asked me to look on Priceline to see if we could get a cheap room in Indy. We ended up staying at the Hyatt Regency in downtown for $45. We've stayed there before, and it's one of Rachael's favorites due to the waterfall elevator. Upon check-in, the gentleman asked us if we had a floor preference, so Jeff chose the highest available - the 19th. Most of these photos were taken from just outside our room looking down on the lobby below.
We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner, and drove to a perfect spot to see the fireworks that were to be set off atop the Regions Bank building downtown. Unfortunately, due to the rain, the fireworks were cancelled...but not until half an hour AFTER they were supposed to have begun. Grrrrr...
I signed the kids (Thomas & Ross included) up for free bowling throughout the summer. We've only taken advantage of it once so far, but the kids enjoyed themselves. Rachael won, having scored two strikes in a row. Since Nick was there, they put the bumpers up in the lane. Of course, even with the bumpers, I still couldn't score over 100!
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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