Just Keep Swimming

The kids loved swimming this summer, but our busy schedule and cooler weather kept us from getting to the pool as much as we would have liked. To make the most of the hotel pool, we tried to go swimming everyday over our Labor Day trip (only got rained out one day). The kids had lots of fun- it is amazing to see how much confidence they have gained in the water, especially Degen who didn't trust the life jacket at all last year. This year, he bobbed on a noodle and raced his sister across the pool. Kyrie jumped in the pool over & over, glided underwater like a torpedo and won all the races across the pool. Our independent swimmers let us hang-out poolside while they swam, which was nice for two, travel-weary parents! A great end to the summer!

Kyrie loved this photo that looked like she was walking on water!

Love his face!

I love the way she is looking at her daddy in this pic!

All aboard the daddy-boat!

Kyrie loved jumping off of Darren's legs to rocket into the water!

National Air & Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy

We try to visit one of D.C.'s museums once a year, and this year we decided to do the Air & Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy, located near Dulles Airport. It was a fabulous choice! The museum is located minutes from where we were staying, which made the travel a whole lot easier than our usual Metro trip downtown. We also lucked out with a beautiful day and an uncrowded museum. Our first stop was the ticket counter to get our tickets for an IMAX show and a simulator ride for Darren and the kids. Then we headed for the elevator to the observation tower. 

The observation tower is 17 stories high with a near-endless view in all directions. Within close proximity to Dulles airport, we were able to watch several commercial planes make their descent. Then we headed down to the exhibit about air traffic control. 

Right after our trip to the observation tower, the kids got to land the space shuttle (via simulator). The kids really enjoyed this and took their instructions very seriously! 

Then it was time to see some planes...lots of planes! And the space shuttle! We broke up our time with a trip to the simulator, an IMAX movie about space and some lunch. I liked that the museum has planes on the ground and at different levels in the air with walkways to view the suspended planes at eye level. One of our homeschool units for September is transportation & space, and this museum visit gave the kids lots of information to think about ahead of that unit.

Love this pic of my little spaceman!

A Walk In the Woods

After some tree climbing, we hit the trail to explore our favorite little patch of Maryland. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the forest. The kids find adventure over every log and around every tree. We marveled over the plush, green moss and imagined tiny worlds in which toadstools stood tall like umbrellas. As always, it was a pleasant respite not just from the road, but from our busy lives. 

Up A Tree

At our usual rest stop on the road to Virginia, the kids spent some time climbing a tree after lunch. They have both become such monkeys lately that it seems they are always climbing on something. Hard to believe just a few short years ago the closest they got to climbing a tree was Daddy putting them on a low branch to sit. Now if you turn your back for a second they are making their way up, up, up...even in flip-flops, which can hardly be considered appropriate tree-climbing foot gear! They are both getting so big and so strong... all those weeks at the gym paying off in muscle. Kyrie made working on her upper-body strength a goal this summer and has spent hours climbing the monkey bars and trees in the 'spooky forest.' Love our little monkeys!

Homeschool: America

We have (mostly) finished up our study of animals & the natural world as our focus shifts to our lives as members of a community. Our first unit with this focus is about America. Our America unit is about: our country's symbols & songs, money, voting and Presidents Washington & Lincoln. There are also a few brief discussions about early events in American history and the government, but the bulk of that information will come starting in 2016 when Kyrie begins an in-depth study of our country's history spanning more than a year.

This is a great unit! The kids are natural patriots, and the historical stories are just as exciting to them as ones found in their favorite storybooks, especially for Kyrie. She seems to have an innate curiosity about where we came from and why things are as they are today. In casual conversations, we have already spent much time discussing concepts surrounding: the Revolutionary War, slavery & the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the Holocaust & WWII. It's a lot of war, but that's the exciting stuff, I guess, or at least the stuff that requires more explanation because war is a crazy concept to kids.

Love it when the kids work together!

Degen's folder. Both kids love playing the Stack the States game on the IPad, but Degen only knows them by shape and not by name. 

A flag Degen made during his free time. Kyrie also made a flag, but I didn't get a picture of it. 

Kyrie's folder. She will wrap up her state study this year and begin a study of  some of the major countries of the world starting in 2015.

Both kids get such a kick out of making their own money. Degen did one, too, but no photo. (I was bad with the camera this unit.)