The Continuing Adventures of Bonnie and Clyde

Geocaching. Have you tried it? It was a beautiful day, so we took the opportunity to go on a field trip with another homeschooling family. We went to a dairy farm that’s local, and even though we’ve been there many many times before, we learned a lot more about the farm in this trip – and had a great time, too!

If you’ve never been geocaching before, there’s a website that has the locations of hundreds of thousands of little treasures that you can find. For this one, we had to walk around the different parts of the farm for clues. For example, at the dairy house, we had to find the date that the farm produced a certain number of gallons of milk. We had to find the blacksmith shop, an ancient threshing machine, the old meeting house and the smoke house. I had to laugh (to myself) because I don’t think the kids ever really connected the dots that the pig in the barn next door was related to what was hanging in the smoke house …

Anyhow, it was really neat, because there is also an 1880s farm house on the property, and it was actually OPEN when we got there (for a change). The docent who was there was thrilled that we were homeschoolers and told us all about the 1920s furnishings in the house, and the kids got a real thrill out of seeing “the way it was”.

Here’s the kitchen. There’s an electric fridge, but that’s a wood stove. The tub next to the stove was for both laundry and for bathing (Clyde was relentless with the “But I couldn’t fit in that!”), and that’s a pop-up toaster on the kitchen table!

Check out that telephone on the dining room wall!

The kids were not amused to learn that there was no bathroom … but the docent did show us where the outhouse was… I’ve walked by it a million times on other trips and never knew it! The kids did wonder what the corn cobs were in there for…

Anyhow, our last stop was the meeting house for clues, and then we deciphered the clues into the GPS coordinates of the treasure. It was soooo much fun! We walked through a buttercup field and then found a nature trail (again, I didn’t even know it was there!) to follow towards the treasure.

It was about a quarter mile hike to the treasure, and thank goodness, we found it! We walked past it once, but we did pretty well getting back to where it was hidden.

The kids picked out some little treasures, and we left something behind for the next folks to find. Finished the outing with a picnic lunch … what a fun, fun way to spend a beautiful morning. Historical, educational, had a nature walk, a treasure hunt, and lots of good old-fashioned exercise (we probably walked a mile through the whole morning). If you haven’t tried geocaching, check it out!

http://www.geocaching.com

It must be the decongestant because the kids are making me laugh today!

We’re talking about the caste system of ancient India. So, as review … “What’s a caste?” “It’s something you put on your leg. Or arm.” That one was Clyde.

Once we got that straightened out, we discussed the Untouchable class … and how we wouldn’t want to be a part of it. Bonnie said, “I don’t want to be an untouchable. I want to be a princess.” Don’t we all?

And the religion of Ancient India? “Hypnotism”. Clyde again. At least he’s stopped calling that ancient Indian philosopher “Bud” “Ha”.

Just a quick entry, as we’re in the middle of Language Arts right now.

Bonnie and I are doing our language arts sheet together (we’re using Sonlight’s LA K curriculum) right now. She wrote the sentence “The sub runs in the tub.” Next, I’m to ask her “What is a sub?”

You know where this is going right?

“Bonnie, what is a sub?”

“It’s a sandwich!”

I showed her some images of a submarine once we were done laughing.

Should it be the Tooth Fairy? Or the Easter Bunny?

My husband told Bonnie that the Tooth Fairy was leaving her an egg tonight, instead of the standard gold coin.

Guess eating corn on the cob is pretty much out for a while!

Clyde has been hot to go on an Easter Egg hunt, and the last few years it hasn’t worked out. So, we were thrilled to go this morning. It was a huge success! The weather was nice – didn’t get overcast until later. It wasn’t crazy crowded, either, and the kids had a great time. We got there a little early, so we were one of the first to have our picture taken with the Easter Bunny.

They had crafts set up, and the kids made a butterfly, and Easter Bunny ears. I have to show you this sequence of Clyde … dancing with his ears on. Cracked me up! So much joy, over a pair of rabbit ears.

Here’s what the field of eggs looked like … they were smart. They had it split into two areas. 2-4yos in one, and 5-9yos in another. And then they lined the kids up by height so the little ones could run out first, and then the bigger ones.

Waiting to go collect eggs …

Since you got the Clyde dancing pictures, here’s Bonnie on the hunt. I have to say that the parents out in the field helping their 9yos collect eggs were a little much. I can understand helping the little kids, but the big kids should be out there on their own!

Apparently, there were golden eggs out there… we didn’t really notice. However, in our group, two sisters had each collected one of the eggs, so one was VERY nice and gave hers to Bonnie. Look what it got us!

We had a picnic lunch afterwards, and the kids ran off some more energy. A fun way to start the day!

Bonnie had her taekwondo belt test last week, and she did great! I snuck around into the office to take some pictures through the window since we’re not allowed in the testing room.

Here she is … good form …

Still doing her form, I can’t keep track of all the moves. I’m glad she can.

Here she is sparring with another kid. He looked … built. He was solid, LOL. And he kept laughing because she doesn’t spar very fiercely (she’s usually laughing)!

Breaking the board with her bare hands. She got a little help on that one- I can see he’s bending it. But this board is twice as thick as the one she did last test.

And with her foot. Hooray! She’s passed her test.