Memorial Day at the Museums

We were so happy that Daddy could join us for field trips on Monday.  Today we went to the Dallas Fair Park to explore the museums.  The first museum we went to was the Science Museum which was putting on

 a special "Spy Event."  We decided that we would buy a membership to the National Science/Nature Museum Association which will allow us to get into over 200 museums free.  Now that we are traveling we should be able to put it to good use.

As part of our membership we received a spy kit which Rusty put to good use.  After exploring the spy exhibit the kids went to work on the rest of the museum.  

Here is a sampling of the fun things they did......

We also visited the Children's Museum (which is actually now combined with the science museum which has also combined with the nature museum- so now it's all one big museum- in various buildings :)

Then we took a lunch break by the lagoon.  However I believe that the turtles ate more of our lunch than my family did.  There were so many turtles- red eared sliders, big old snapper turtles, and some that I couldn't identify.  With Rusty's inspiration the kids did "experiments" to determine what type of food each turtle would eat. The conclusion- snapper turtles like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and red eared sliders prefer string cheese- fish will eat whatever the turtles don't.

After lunch we hit the nature museum (see above note regarding museums).  Ben wasn't thrilled here- not enough buttons to push and things to touch- until we got to the "light" room. 

His attention span is limited to physical activity, I'm hoping he will "grow" into learning in other ways as most formal education focuses on other ways of learning, but for now at least his enthusiasm can be channeled at home. 

We finished off the day by coming home and swimming.  We all slept very well that night.

Dallas Texas Temple Trip

On Saturday the kids had a primary activity at the Dallas Temple.  It's about a 45 minute drive to get there so the majority of the activity was driving there and back.  At the temple the kids sang a couple of songs to the temple presidency, read a book about the construction of the temple, took some pictures and explored the grounds searching for the rabbits, ducks, cat, and squirrel that hang out in the area.  They found one rabbit, who I'm sure feared for it's life as a mass of excited kids chased it- which I hope is not a typical experience living on the usually peaceful temple grounds. :)

After the temple we went to a nearby park for lunch.  It's a bit of a challenge being at a park in your Sunday clothes.  Obviously we went home and did some laundry so we would be ready for church the next day.

When the primary activity was over our family went to see the movie Night at the Museum 2- Battle of the Smithsonian, to celebrate accomplishing our scripture reading goal for the month. The kids loved the first movie- in fact whenever we go to museums they talk about what will happen "when" all the displays come to life. This one was fun as well and the kids are already quoting from it.  I guess they inherited that from their dad.

It looks like our next job will be in Philadelphia, PA area so we will get to go see the actual Smithsonian.  I'm getting geared up for studying Early American History and taking the kids to some of the historical sites in the area.  This is something I've always wanted to do so I'm happy we will have this opportunity, even if it isn't exactlly how I planned it :)

Dallin's Great 8 Birthday!

Happy 8th Birthday Dallin

Lauren made Dallin a yummy cake with Banana pudding inside and whipped cream on top.  We forgot to get candles so we had to just light matches for him to blow out. Dallin used his Book of Mormon figurines to decorate the top.
We let Dallin choose what he wanted for dinner and he chose McDonalds- don't figure?
To celebrate Dallin's special day we went swimming. Here is Katelyn all decked out in floaties and Dallin's new goggles.
Here are the big kids!
Dallin got moon sand, pudding, some swim goggles, and the 2nd Fablehaven book for his birthday.  What an awesome birthday for an awesome kid!!  We are so lucky to have Dallin in our family.

Boy Scouts of America Museum

Mondays are free days at the BSA museum in Irving. We figured since Dallin was turning 8 and starting scouts this week this would be a great way to start off.  Unfortunately mom forgot the camera so you aren't going to be able to enjoy any photographic evidence of the event.  

Our favorite activities were the shooting gallery, the pinewood derby track, and the parachute game.  It was fun to learn about the origins of the scouting program. They also had an art gallery of pictures by Norman Rockwell depicting scouts in various situations.  

While we were there we picked up a boy scout shirt and a book for Dallin.  Here's the new scout all dressed up. Man he looks handsome! What is it about a boy in a uniform?? We are excited to see Dallin growing up and learning so much. 

While we were there we met a dad who proudly pulled a pinewood derby car from a box and told us that it was his sons car and that it won all the races last year.  Then he pulled out a new car and said,"This is the car for this years race. I come on Mondays to test them on the pinewood derby track."

Ummm who's car is it?  All of the sudden I had flashbacks of the frantic parents desperately thrusting eggs into their 2 year olds Easter basket.  Hopefully Dallin's troop won't be too competitive on the car thing.  I know in California our ward had a separate race for the dads so they could channel all of their competitiveness into their own cars and let the boys do their own thing.

Father and Son Campout

On the 15th the boys were able to spend some quality time camping with dad.  Of course we didn't bring all of our camping gear, but luckily Rusty was able to borrow a tent from someone in the ward.The place they went camping is the "ranch" of someone in our ward.  As with most ranches they had a manmade pond on their property.  The boys were able to go out and paddle around on a canoe for awhile in the evening.

After some exploring and tree climbing.....

they enjoyed the traditional smores and then headed off to bed.  Unfortunately about 4 in the morning they were treated to a "traditional" Texas thunderstorm.  The tent they were in was not waterproof and they got home around 5 in the morning soaking wet :)

Mom and the girls were glad we missed that part of the adventure.

Lauren's Creation

Lauren is learning to use the photo/video features on the 

computer to create presentations.  

This is her first effort- She'll be blowing us old fogeys out of the water with her computer skills

ENJOY!

Dallas World Aquarium

May 11th we went to the Dallas World Aquarium.  After a little research I discovered that mornings, holidays and weekends are super busy at the aquarium, but if you come after 2pm on a weekday it's pretty mellow- and as a bonus if you homeschool and schedule ahead you get a significant savings on your ticket.  Super Bonus!  This is a beautiful facility with much more to offer than a simple aquarium.  In one area there is a huge waterfall that goes down three stories into a giant aquarium.  You move down level by level enjoying different animals in each level.  At the top there are birds and monkeys, in the middle sloths, snakes, lizards, frogs, etc.  At the bottom there are otters, alligators, and other animals.  Then you can go below and see the tank through a big glass viewing area.  Here there are giant fish, turtle, rays, and even manatees.  

Most of the animals are free roaming (at least the birds, monkeys, sloths, etc) so the kids could get really close.  Here they discovered a Kookabura eating some fish. 

The aquarium displays were so fun.  They had them arranged by country so you could see what a coral reef in the ocean near that country would look like.  They were beautiful, it makes me want to go snorkeling again.  There were some cool seahorses and a tank of jellyfish that were fun to watch.  My favorite part was the shark tunnel.  I'm not much of a video person, but I'll post a clip I took from inside.  This was taken while they were feeding the sharks so we could watch them eat.  What a fun experience!  This is a picture of the kids in the tunnel after the "feeding" crowd left.

Raccoon Eyes

You may have noticed that in some of the pictures Katelyn looks a little beat up. About a week ago she was playing upstairs and came down with a huge goose egg on her forehead.  She wasn't crying or anything. After some inquiry I discovered that she was chasing the boys and fell.  As her forehead healed the blood pooled in her eyes.  Of course she fell again a few days later and hit her head in the same place as before so it got even worse.  We call her a little raccoon.

Spoiled Mom!

Thanks to Lauren (with the support of Rusty) I had a wonderful Mother's Day and was thoroughly spoiled.  I was awakened  to breakfast in bed followed by flowers and cards from the kids. 

Rusty spoke in church-

which was pay back for the time he made me speak in church on Mother's Day a couple of years ago. He did such a good job they asked him to teach High Priests group in a couple of weeks.

After church Lauren made me lunch and I received a new pair of pjs and a couple of books.  That evening we had a picnic dinner at the park.  I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family. 

 

Waco Zoo

As members of the Dallas Zoo we also get free admission to the Waco Zoo (which is about an hour south of Waxahachie), so Saturday afternoon we decided to check it out. 

Since we've been here the weather has been pretty nice.  There have been some hot days, but nothing too bad.  I've been told that the Saturday in Waco was a good indicator of what is to come. It wasn't that the temperature was too bad- mid 80's- but it was the humidity.  After walking 5 minutes the kids said they were "so tired." They've

 never really experienced humidity and that was the only way they could describe how they felt.  I gave them some new words- sweltering,  sticky, and muggy.  Evidently by July it gets pretty miserable around these parts and most everyone feels drained.

The animals were feeling it and pretty much hiding in the shade.  Luckily there were a few fun indoor attractions that broke up the afternoon and a play area with water features to cool the

kids down. Our favorite exhibit showed animals that live in the Brazos river- complete with a huge turtle and a couple of little alligators that liked to go after the fish and turtles.  We spent a long time in the air conditioned building waiting to see if the alligator was going to get some lunch.

On the way home we stopped in the small Czechoslovakian town of West, Texas (also known as the Kolache Capital of Texas).  At the suggestion of one of Rusty's patients we stopped to visit the local bakery and sampled the local pastry speciality, kolaches.  Well worth the visit, and a great way to top off the day.

Dinosaur Valley Park

About an hour from Waxahachie there is a park where "Dinosaurs once roamed."  Although many of the tracks were removed from the ground and sold when this was private property, there are still some remnants in the river bed.  We decided that this was a great adventure for a fieldtrip. 

At the park there are two dino statues- an Apatosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus.  There is a funny story about how two competing paleontologists fought to uncover the complete skeletal remains of a sauropod. One of them

 put together an Apatosaurus but it was incomplete. The other thinking he found a different dinosaur called his a Brontosaurus.  In his rush to beat out the other guy he attached the wrong skull to his dino and released his findings to the world.  Of course the people of the world embraced the model, drew pictures and made sculptures, wrote books and even re-created the skeleton for all their museums.  

Unfortunately in time other scientists determined that the Brontosaurus was actually just an Apatosaurus with the wrong head.  At this state park they went back and tried to change the head of their Brontosaurus, but it just didn't look right, so now instead of going for scientific accuracy they just put the old head back on, put up a sign to notify the public and chalked it up to a cultural learning experience.  The funny thing is that neither of the statues on display reflect the dinosaurs who made the tracks at the park.  I'm sure there is a lesson in this whole thing.

Here are some pictures of the kids and the tracks...

Of course a few muddy indentations didn't hold their attention long and soon the trip to see the dinosaur tracks became a trip to play in the river.  

They found a nice mossy rock bed with a couple spots deep enough to float/swim, some mud, and a floating log.  The day was complete.

Faire Weather Friends

Last week we went to student days at the Scarborough Renaissance Faire here in Waxahachie.  It was quite the event! An entire community re-created with entertainers, shops, demonstrations on trades like glass blowing, blacksmithing, candle making, sword making, pottery, etc.  There were dancers, sword fighters, artists, magicians, jousters, belly-dancers, bird trainers. Obviously it was more than we could do in one day, but here are some of the highlights...

Dr. Kaboom- a Renaissance scientist extraordinaire. Everything you would hope for in a science show - fire sticks, jiggling cow gloves, catapulting bananas, egg flinging, smoke cannons and tons of corny jokes.
Here is Rusty assisting at the Turtle Races- he is the "ooga-ooga" guy, responsible for prompting reluctant turtles to endure to the finish line.
The Duke of Danger did a fun show with stunts, tricks and other feats of "bravery" and show-manship.
As we were leaving we snagged a photo with the Queen and King Henry VIII, and their various friends/court members.  The queen even gave Lauren her rose. Overall it was a productive day. Rusty enjoyed a Turkey leg- he's wanted to eat another one since we ate one at the Iowa State Fair after we were just married. Ben acquired a whistle that looks and sounds like a bird- which he uses constantly, or at least until Mom calls it quits. Katie used her money to buy a pink rose and Lauren bought a glass heart necklace.  

Dallas Zoo Two- The Day of the Deluge

Saturday morning we cleaned the church.  Afterwards we decided to put our zoo pass to use and spend the day at the zoo.  The zoo was having a Cinco De Mayo event so there were fun, free games and activities available.  The kids had a great time in the tiger bounce house and inflatable snake maze/slide. We were able to see the Reptile house and the Ghost of the Bayou. We caught the seasonal butterfly exhibit and as part of our membership we got 4 free passes for the monorail so we went on the tour of Zoo Africa as well.

Unfortunately after 4 hours of fun our trip was cut short by a major downpour.  BUT, never fear, a few days ago I had purchased some emergency rain coats for just such an experience.  I love the rain and actually like walking in a warm spring rain storm, but this was more than just a rain storm.  As we waded throw water up to our ankles we decided to head home a little early. Rusty decided this was a good moment to document our trip so you can see some really sad faces below.

In spite of the rain we had a great time and because we have passes a little rain is really nothing to cry about.  We will go back and see the rest of the zoo on trip three.

The "Do-Nothing" Week

According to Lauren last week seemed to "last forever."  After a week of daily fieldtrips and beautiful weather last week did seem rather dull.  It rained daily- well more than rained- on some days it really DUMPED!  We decided to spend the week doing things at home, which is what we usually did in Enoch so I assumed it wouldn't be so bad.  In spite of the constant plea to watch TV or use the computer we survived.

The little kids (Ben and Kate) discovered that rain brings out a plethora of slimy little friends to play with- snails- YUCK!  Not my favorite of creatures, but they abound in our tiny little backyard.   I'm pretty lenient about my kids "exploring," but I did insist that all gastropods remain outside. I don't like the slimy trails that ensue from snail exploration. If you could see into the little circle of rocks above you would see some 20 of the little critters that the kids gathered.

I'm happy to report that Dallin's little turtle, Slider, is eating and seems to be adjusting well to life with us. I think the problem was that baby turtle's like it to be about 80 degrees, and we keep our home around 74.  Once we figured that out we moved him to our window box during the day where it stays warmer, and then put him in a warm closet at night.  He is so cute and fun, and Dallin is doing a good job taking care of him so far.  Without an adequate aquarium with a filter, heater, and basking area Dallin has to do more work.  He takes Slider outside every other day for awhile to get sun and cleans his container every other day as well.  We are hoping that when we get home we can invest in more equipment.  Slider has been a good distraction for a slow week.

In spite of spending most of the time at home we did get out a few times, in between rainstorms, to the park and library. We made an outing to Bluebonnet Park (above) and collected wildflowers.  We tried to press the flowers, but my flower pressing skills are not well developed and when we tried to make our flowers into bookmarks they all molded. Oops!  

We attended our nature class on Wednesday and we saw two unusual plants I've never seen before. One is an elegant stinkhorn.  I took a picture but decided that because this is a family website I ought not to upload it. Let's just say this is a mushroom from the phallaceae family, and it does stink.  We also found some sensitive briar, which my kids decided is the flower in Horton Hears a Who.  It is a cool looking flower that is pink and puffy with little yellow  tips on the end.  It's fun because when you touch the leaves they pull closed. 

This nature class has been fun, but I've decided that naturalists and homeschoolers don't always work well together.  My kids are real hands-on learners. When we are in museums and stores and such they know they shouldn't touch, but when we are outside in a park/nature I've given them fairly free reign to explore.  Unfortunately our teacher believes that the leave no trace philosophy includes not touching, digging, or handling nature. 

My kids don't get it. Sticks are to dig with. Rocks are to throw into the river (or collect). Leaves, bugs, feathers, flowers, etc. are all to be gathered and shared with others.  I think the teacher might have a heart attack trying to keep the kids (luckily it's not just mine) from "handling nature."  I can't get too enthusiastic about stopping them- other than that they must follow the teachers rules during her class, but when she's gone I'm all about touching and handling.  (I guess I better be careful what I say on here or some conservationist will probably come and get me.) I don't understand how kids are supposed to learn to explore and experiment if they can't touch, move, and handle things.