I hesitate to say we've been blessed with beautiful weather this winter. As much as we enjoyed the past week for all it's warm, spring-like days, it no doubt came with a cost: my East Coast friends are being pummeled with relentless storms. My girlfriend in Boston and I kept swapping pictures of scenes outside our windows. She had a two story pile of snow engulfing her house last week, and complained of all the liquor stores being dry. My pictures were of clear blue skies, and my only complaint was that the rope from our hammock was still a little stiff. Truth be told, us Californians all know deep down inside that this summer will bring a deeper drought awareness than any of us care to acknowledge this month.
So...like I was saying, we've been blessed with beautiful weather this winter.
We spent our winter break in West Marin with friends, observing the local wildlife and digging in the sand...
...we played on Mother Nature's playground...
...and marveled and the wonders, both big and small.
We got to boogie board in the Pacific, 100 feet away from a grey whale that was swimming surprisingly close to shore...
...and we ran through the tall grass, playing tag and hiding-go-seek while the dogs ran free on the beach (until the ranger came and asked us to put them on leash).
We hiked everyone's favorite trail...
...and were kicking ourselves that we'd never done it before.
West Marin was beautiful last week. It's been a tradition in my family for several generations, and we are making sure that continues for at least one more.
"We had another excellent day with the Pup Pack on Monday. We brought our Little Bird song to life by making "molasses candy" pine cone bird feeders for the birds, which the children greatly enjoyed. Along our way we discovered "Otter-Slide hill" where the children experienced the exhilaration of being in a body and picking up speed, and we practiced our proprioception and balance on the low fences near the parking lot. (Who needs playground equipment?)
We did a lot of exploring, near Bon Tempe this time, and were all filled with wonder by the many things we discovered--which cones fell from which trees, what might live deep in the grass, what was making that (croaking) sound, how beautiful are the acorns of the Live Oak tree, and who are all these different birds? Hummingbird was the one to come and greet the children from up close this week in another magical bird encounter.
We played several games and told two stories during the course of our days journey. The children all seem to be becoming quite comfortable and happy with the teachers, with each other and with the land. All in all, we had a wonderful day!"
8yo:
"We had a great morning out. We practiced our awareness tools of fox walking, owl eyes and deer ears. Humans tend to be sight dominant so we tried to train our other senses. We did a blind fold walk as well. The kids set up one for me as well, which was so great :) I ended up blindfolded in a fort after crossing a bridge that only opened by secret password.
When we weren't blindfolded, we continued our search for wildflowers. We have a challenge going with all the dirt time clans for which clan can find the most different types of wild flowers. This week we spotted hounds tongues, milkmaids, wild violets, thistles and more.
We came back early to make a fire and dye out of the Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms we found last week. Unfortunately maggots had eaten through them! Yuck! Though Elena, being the sweetheart she is, was able to think even maggots were cute. Anyway, no dye for us and though we attempted making a friction fire, we ran out of time and that wasn't meant to be either. Oh well better luck next time on that. With the rainy forecast maybe fire will happen this Monday."
10yo: N/A
Came home and had a Poke-Monday where we played the 5yo's game based on Pokemon: "Tiny Buns is on a serious self-directed project. It's been so cool to watch him develop this idea all on his own. It's a Pokemon game. He designs and names the characters, and then he has me write down all their info on the card. Two players each draw cards and select an action for destruction. A third player serves as judge and decides who wins each round. Super cute."
TUESDAY
8:30 - 10:00 Math tutor for all kids.
While his sister meets with math tutor for her 45 minute block, he kicks it up on the couch with the a great history magazine.
10:30 - 12:00 Language arts for the big kids.
Language arts was a semi-disaster today. Beanz did great, 10yo shut down and refused to get creative. It sparked all sort of discussion and thinking. This set-up may not be working for him and it might be time for a change.
1:00 Tiny Buns to prek and the big kids and I do a 30 minute walk. These quick circles around the 'hood have proved interesting. Sparked from a last ditch effort to work more movement into my day, I see it morphing into a time of peaceful socializing for the two of them. Their relaxed chit-chat is not an everyday thing. In fact, it's more of a gift, these days. I love that it has been happening on Tuesdays between 1 and 1:30.
2:15 - 3:15 Music for the 10yo while Beanie and I enjoy a cookie down the street, followed by a visit to the local library for more books, audio and videos.
WEDNESDAY
9:00 - 10:20 Art appreciation for Beanie, where she studies Grandma Moses. The boys go to their *Maker* class where they make these:
Art inspired by her surroundings, just like Grandma M.
10:30 - 11:00 We stop for toast on our way home
11:00 - 12:15 At home, working on math games and cursive
12:30 - 2:30 Shakespeare for homeschoolers, taught out of a neighbors house. Phenomenal instructor! They begin with Much Ado About Nothing, everyone is cast and gets their lines. The production has begun!
1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does prek
2:25 - 4:15 Private art instruction for the 10yo with M. He was jealous of his sister's one-on-one so he asked for some too. He wants to love art, but get discouraged. I hope the hour-and-a-half with this sweet man helps open him up more to his creative side.
3:00 - 5:30 Beanie to her grandma's house for home economics - baking and needlepoint
THURSDAY
9:00 - 10:30 Beanie takes one-on-one down the street with a local personality and artist. Today they study impressionism and paint a bouquet.
All Day The 10yo is doing his second day a week in nature, this one is all boys and they venture out to different areas of the county for hiking and games. While out today, he and his BFF forage for mushrooms which they take home to said friend's house for a dinner of linguine with sausage and chanterelles. It's the first time he admits to enjoying mushrooms. :)
A message from his pack leader:
"This week we made a return trip to Madrone Canyon/Baltimore Canyon. It is a magical place indeed. With snack by the redwood bridges, we enjoyed simply being in the redwoods - moments from the entrance.
The redwood cave we found last time turned out to house a full skeleton which a few boys and Daniel assembled for almost a good half-hour, via flashlight. Out in the light, the rest of us were playing camouflage games in the redwoods and finding staffs. We ate in our still-standing shelter from our rainy day visit, proud of its durability.
Some boys had "itchy feet" ready to run to the waterfall to check it out, so Daniel went ahead with half the group, while I 'sauntered' with 4 boys, looking for newts (finding multiple Ensatina salamanders) and enjoying a slow pace checking out the land and its mysteries - from wildflowers to madrone staffs. We finished our walk with an upstream scramble to the base of the waterfall where it trickled over the edge. I bet it's flowing pretty hard now...
We regathered together and began our journey back to our packs. Some of us stopped in the redwood to check out the work of our osteologists who assembled the skeleton. A closing circle sharing highlights and we headed to the van...
With all this rain we'll continue our exploration of watersheds and the forces that shape them along with the life that emerges out of them."
10:30 - 11:00 Martial arts for Tiny Buns while Beanie and I run to the library to pick up some books. This class is ALSO just down the street from our new house. :)
1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns to prek
1:15 - 2:15 Beanie does French immersion with two other homeschool girls. After, we run errands before
3:30 - 5:15 Another art class for Beanz. Today it's painting a skier using watercolor.
Above - examples set up before class. Below, Beanie's painting
FRIDAY
We have a free day today! No commitments and so we drive south to visit our nana who is recovering from surgery at my SIL's house. Before we depart we watch a great documentary on how modern art saved a small American town: Downside Up
In the car, each kid has their very own Playaway from the library. The 10yo loves his
Coming home late, we sit in hours of traffic to get back into the city. We stop for some high adventure - we stop for an Ethiopian dinner!
Meet three of my all-time favorite people: Mr. Noodle, Miss Frijoles and The 8 year old.
