We had a crazy warm day last week (80 degrees!), so obviously we hit the beach. The water was still freezing, but that's never stopped these girls from loving it! Highlights: We found lots of sea shells this time, including four sand dollars. We also spent some time examining sand fleas (the tin ones are practically translucent) and observing a flock of godwits, speculating about why God gave these birds such long legs and beaks. The girls also spent a lot of time chasing waves, digging holes, and building sand castles. So much fun!
Other Science Topics
In addition to all the science exploration to be done at the beach, we've delved into a number of topics at home:
- Now that the neighbors with their outdoor cats are gone, we have a gopher again! Bug and Goose actually witnessed its arrival when they noticed a patch of heaving dirt, then watched as a rather sizable weed got pulled below the surface. (They named it Cassidy, because they realized they don't know how to tell boy and girl gophers apart, and they know Cassidies of both genders.) Bug almost immediately pulled out her computer and started Googling gopher eating habits as well as their range (She's hoping they're not as prevalent at our next location since we'll get to do some gardening there.)
- We also had a lengthy dinnertime discussion about the layers of the Earth, plate tectonics, and earthquakes (causes and safety procedures). I've no idea what started it, but the girls were fascinated.
- The girls have also been cheerfully researching edible wild plants. Don't worry--they've been doing the research then sampling the outdoors. It's not terribly unusual these days for me to peek outside and see them happily munching away on sourgrass, clover, or dandelions.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by how excited the girls were about this activity: A few times a year our tiny little church schedules church work days where everyone shows up to do some deep cleaning and major landscaping jobs. This time the highlight was planting several new trees in the church yard! Unfortunately, whatever adult was supervising declared Goose too little to help dig. She came to me in tears, but Miss L and I quickly got her involved in helping us wash all the toys in the baby nursery. (She recovered well until she learned that a little boy exactly her size had been allowed to dig. There was quite a bit of righteous anger vented in the back seat on the way home.) The girls also helped scrub the white boards; although they decided that the church really just needed to buy new boards.
Happy Valentine's Day!
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| We love Friday park days! |
Morning at the Pool
This week we set aside our lessons one morning and joined some friends at the neighborhood pool instead. It's been way too long since we went, so I was very pleased to see that the girls hadn't lost any of their swimming skills. We spent most of our time in the kiddie pool, but I had each of the girls practice jumping in, swimming solo, and floating/treading water in the big pool. Bug also attempted to dive for rings (a skill she was working on last time we came), but she didn't think of it til the last minute, so she didn't have much success. Maybe next time!
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| (Monkey got a belt too. She just wouldn't consent to have her picture taken.) |
Yellow Belts!
Monkey and Bug were very excited to promote to Yellow (with white stripe) Belt! They've been working very hard, and they did a fantastic job on their test.
HGTV Fans
We'll be moving soon and are planning to buy a house in our next location, so Daddy's been watching a lot of HGTV to get in the mind set of seeing the potential in houses. The girls have been surprisingly enthusiastic about watching these shows. They've been asking questions about the process of buying a house, and they always have opinions on the various features and renovations being made. They are all excited about helping Daddy with whatever projects we may have in our next new house!
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