Biting the Bullet

This year, we have three kids signed up for swim team. Peanut was pretty hesitant, but we decided that he just needs to learn to swim well and this was the most affordable option to get him in the pool every day. It took a little bribery the first week, but he's started to accept the fact that he's doing this.

And it helps that Bug is in the water with him as a volunteer each day. It makes me feel a little better knowing someone is keeping a close eye on him, and he feels better knowing there is help nearby when he needs it.

Peanut has been so brave. In two weeks, he has jumped into water over his head, tried diving, and swum numerous laps across the pool (with assistance)--all new things for him. He did his first race at our team's time trials, and while it wasn't what he wanted it to be, it was a learning experience for all of us and now we have a baseline to compare the rest of the season to. I keep reminding him that he is learning something new and it is going to take a lot of work and practice, but that's okay. This is a really important skill to have, not to mention something that is fun, once you get the hang of it.

Signing Peanut up has meant that we now have 3 kids in three different practice times--spanning 3 hours. I don't stick around for the older kids most days, but it's been cool and with tight schedules after school, I've been driving them instead of making them bike, so it is a lot of back and forth. Thank goodness the pool is pretty close! We are all counting down the days until school gets out, swim practice moves to the mornings, and life will slow down a little.

End of Year Swim Party

Peanut's grade spent the morning at the community center pool for their annual swim party. It was a pretty chilly day, but most of the kids didn't seem to mind.

Peanut, however, does not like being cold, and he got cold after about one lap around the pool. 

He spent most of the morning wrapped up in his towel on the grass. I think he still had a fun morning, but the actual pool time wasn't a big hit, haha. We are so ready for some hot summer weather.

Frog Dissection

It's nice when you can provide your homeschooler with some of the traditional middle school experiences--like dissecting a frog. I didn't really want to do it at home, even though you can order the whole kit pretty inexpensively. But when I saw a 2 week class at the Lindsay Wildlife Experience, I signed Bug right up. He enjoyed it, and as I would expect knowing him, was extremely careful and precise. His lab partner's mother stuck around for the class and she was really impressed.

Gaming the System

I started reading about gameschooling and decided that we need to step up our game playing. All games teach something--sportsmanship, patience, strategy, or chance. And then there's the games that fit with some topic that we're studying, or that teach particular subjects. So much we can do through games!

And we have been. Zues on the Loose is perfect for math with Peanut.

Bug and I have been playing different word games several days a week.

And then there's the games that are just crazy, fun games. I don't know that I would argue that Exploding Kittens is particularly academic, but all games are still worth playing if they mean we can spend time together having fun.

We are part of a local game group that meets at a park occasionally to play--the kids learned a new game last time, Incan Gold, that they really liked. Would be perfect when we get to that part of World History.

Bug even got to play X Wing, and seriously intense Star Wars game, when we were visiting friends.

I even figured out how to include game play in my science class--our last week of studying the human body, we played a round of Anatomy Fluxx. I think the kids had fun doing something a little different to finish off the unit.

We are also incredibly lucky that our library has a Library of Things that includes a lot of really great games. We've borrowed 7 Wonders to go with our Ancient History reading, and then Carcassone when we read about French Medieval history. It's really fun to follow up a study with some themed game play. It's just fun to play! I've waited a lot of years to have kids old enough to play more complex games and am finally taking advantage of it.

Exploring the Tidepools

When studying Marine Ecology, a field trip to the tidepools is a must. Several families from my science class joined us for a few hours at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve during low tide. 

I made identification cards with a couple dozen animals they were likely to see, so they went off hunting for the sea creatures we'd discussed in class.

We found purple sea urchins,

mussels,

acorn barnacles, 

and sculpins.

We did have some small setbacks, like when Peanut slipped and ended up in the water up to his knees. Then, when he came running to tell me about it, he slipped again and ended up sitting in a pool of water. He was not a happy camper for awhile. 

But we were mostly just having fun exploring. The kids were able to identify some of the survival techniques we'd talked about, like making home-scars to return to, and being able to clamp down tightly.

We even found a snail who had camouflaged itself with seaweed.

They watched long enough to start to see things move, like limpets and snails.

And they took some breaks, and played and just had fun at the beach.

 

 One of my favorite moments: Looking over to see one of my students helping a random group of people identify what they were looking at. He was hilarious in his explaining, and obvious incredulousness at their ignorance when it came to tidepools. Made me laugh and I had to grab this picture to share with his parents.

Community Service Day 2019

Every spring, there is a service day in Livermore where hundreds of people come together to tackle projects all over the city. This year, our family signed up to help with one of the creek clean-ups. It ended up being encouraging, because there wasn't all that much trash for us to pick up. Way to go, Livermore! 

While we were down there, we got to visit the goats that are brought in every spring to clean things up. Our park day group spends a couple months along this same creek each spring, so the goats are old friends. 

And we also saw thousands of tadpoles. They weren't actually doing that well. The creek was starting to dry up in many places so the tadpoles were concentrated in the small pools that were left. I don't know how fast they can grow legs, but these guys need to hurry if they want to be able to survive the end of the water.

All in all, it was a fun day. We got out in our community and helped clean up an area that we love. We got to be with friends, have a city picnic with local bands playing. It's always nice when you can do some service and have fun while you are at it.

May the Fourth Be With You

When Peanut picked a Star Wars themed party, we knew May the 4th was the perfect date for that.

His amazing big brother spent several hours making this piñata for the party. I am constantly amazed by his ability to take the image in his mind and make it come to life. I was doubtful on this one, and had no time to help him figure it out, but he really came through.

The party consisted of Jedi training for all the boys, run by Bug and Bean. I say it every year, but having older kids who can plan and execute the birthday entertainment has made these parties so much more enjoyable for me.

And the kids had a lot of fun, dodging lazers,

learning how to use the force,

(which was fascinating),

and training with their light sabers.

After their training session, we took a break for dinner.

A pasta bar--with Boba Fett-ucine :)

Then, it was on to the final battle. They had to fight the storm troopers,  

to get to Darth Vader who had stolen the kyber crystals.

Everyone got a chance to take a swing and were finally rewarded with their crystals (and some candy and toys).

Beacause she can't get enough of the sword fighting, in the end, Rey/Bean defeated them all.

Then, it was time for cake and ice cream. Creating Chewy out of cake was my main contribution to the party. I think he turned out pretty well, even if his eyes are a little weird.  Frosting eyes are tough.

But the important thing is that Peanut had a great time with all of his friends.

Happy Birthday, Peanut!