Being Productive

Looking at my day today, I was feeling a bit down that I hadn't gotten more accomplished. I managed one small work meeting and an errand to the bank. OK, I also battened down the hatches at the dock as the lake began to flood- this time, *before* the boats floated away. ;) . . . but that's pretty much it. I didn't even make the kids do all their chores. My miles-long to-do list looks pretty much untouched since yesterday.

But wait, I realized: today was extremely productive on the homeschooling/kids front. I started my day with an extended wrestling/tickling/cuddling match with my oldest, who seldom wants to do that anymore. Then he asked to make us waffles from scratch for breakfast, and I said "yes". I walked him through the recipe. . . which meant a lot of concentrated instruction on fractions. (I even used the math manipulatives!) Julian worked on an alphabet puzzle and asked me to help him with flash cards, which we used to work on number recognition, counting and beginning phonics. This video (shared by a friend) then led to a discussion about genealogy:

(I wonder if she's right?!?)

Both boys had some outside time to run in the rain and gawk at the flooding.

While we were out running errands (including a stop at the post office so Simon could mail his first letter to his new pen pal in Japan) I stopped at the bookstore, where they browsed. Simon chatted with the saleslady, she helped him find what he was looking for, and he made his own purchase. On the way home, I spotted something interesting and turned around to check it out- it turned out to be a whole parking lot full of restored antique working steam engines! Apparently there is an annual 4th of July steam engine parade here. Who knew? We walked around and looked at them all, and smelled the wood fires burning, and listened to the (VERY LOUD) train whistles blow.

(photo credit Nicole Gustin)

Back at home, Simon volunteered to make dinner (frozen pizza and fresh fruit), and spent some time reading his book. Then we had an impromptu detailed exploration (sparked by a small query) of astronomy topics, in which I answered questions, explained, and we looked up answers together on the internet. Some topics covered include:
- What is a light year?
- How do you say 6,000,000,000,000?
- What does the sun sound like? (This was the golden question of the night, which led us to this very cool 10-minute documentary about a project to sonify solar data, which sparked many more interesting questions)
- What is a sunspot?
- Can solar flares and coronal mass ejections harm the Earth?


- What is Earth's "magnetic field", and why does it protect us from solar wind?
(Did you know other planets don't have a magnetic field? I feel like I should have known that, but I don't think I did.)


- If we could be right next to the sun without burning up, what would the sun *really* sound like?
(The answer, of course, is that we wouldn't hear a single thing. Which of course leads to the question,
- "Why?" Which leads to a discussion of sound waves and how they are transmitted.)
We both loved all these explorations and questions, and dug into our ice cream tonight feeling energized and inspired by our learning.

I read Jules his new Scooby Doo book for a bedtime story, and after tucking the boys in I thought about my day and what got done. I've realized I feel pretty darn good about it, actually. :)

Homeschool Snapshot

In a sort of continuation of my last post, I am still mulling over various aspects of my homeschool techniques, and the criticisms that are directed at me for them. One difficulty of Unschooling is that, particularly with younger learners, there is very little concrete evidence that learning is actually occurring. By "concrete", I am speaking of something that one can hold and read, that can be seen and filed away, that represents tidy, direct evidence that certain (specific) skills have been mastered.

This is a real problem for me, because I am expected to deliver concrete evidence that I am doing my job well. One way that I have addressed this issue is through yearly standardized testing, but that's not enough. I also try to collect art work and examples of writing, to file away in a portfolio of sorts. It can be hard in the chaos of normal life, but I do hope to get better at it. Still however, the incidental byproducts of our adventurous unschooling existence are seldom tidy little examples of a narrow definition of learning, that I can collect and file away for later scrutiny.

One suggestion that has been made to me very earnestly is that I carry a notebook with me, and every time something of an "educational" nature occurs with one of the boys, I am to note it down. This will enable me to show some sort of record of learning, to keep track of the boys' interests and curiosities, and make it possible for me to test them later on things we have covered.

This sounds very reasonable unless you've lived the unschooling lifestyle. Are there any unschoolers reading this? Am I right? I'm not sure. I know, for me, the thought of carrying a notebook everywhere with me and keeping track of every "learning" moment throughout the day sounds like a gargantuan task. I have a hard enough time meeting everyone's constant needs, without trying continually to put things into words and take notes. Not to mention, much of their learning happens independently. And ultimately, I don't think this task has any value for increasing the efficacy of their education. It's value lies solely in reassuring detractors. Is such a huge effort, then, worth the sacrifices it would entail?

When presented with this idea, I thought of a recent incident of "learning" (they're really learning all the time, not just when the topic is "school"-related) that occurred just a few days ago. We were visiting Charlottesville, Va as a family. Billy was combining work with pleasure, and he was busy for several hours recording while I entertained the three boys. I had walked with them to a nearby playground.

In addition to fun climbing equipment and swings, the playground was abundantly equipped with spinning devices. There was a spinning "Nest" which the boys had no end of fun in, twisty poles, and several "spinner bowls", like these:

The bowls are set into the ground at an angle. Littleman sat down into one, and looked a little bemused.
"How do I make it go?", he asked me.
"You have to use gravity and your own weight to make it spin.", I replied. "Lean forward."
He did, and the shift in weight immediately caused the cup to spin him 180 degrees so that the greatest mass was on the downhill side.
"Good", I said, "now lean back."
Which of course resulted in another 180 degree spin back to where he'd started.
He grinned.
"Now just keep doing that, in rhythm, until you get spinning really well.", I told him.
"Why does that work?", he asked me.

This then, was one of those "teachable moments" when I find myself doing my best to distill a fairly complicated answer into something that will satisfy Littleman while still accurately explaining the concepts at hand. Funny how such a deceptively simple question can really be tough to explain. So I launched into a brief description of rotation, momentum and centrifugal force. . to the best of my ability, because my understanding is admittedly hazy and I did not have my laptop handy for quick research.

Littleman experimented with shifting his weight, spinning, trying different rhythms and trying to speed up or slow down. Those bowls get going very fast! It was perfect for experimenting with rotational physics. Even though my explanation was imperfect, it was enough to plant seeds of knowledge in Littleman's head that he will be able to build on very well. That, combined with the very concrete knowledge of what these forces feel like, will make it easier for him to fully understand when the subject is visited again.

While all this is going on however, I am monitoring Babyman's activities all over the playground, and simultaneously eavesdropping on the conversation that the Pirate is having with a man that we don't know. I am in an unfamiliar place, trying to remain aware of our surroundings. I'm tired and my brain is sluggish from an 8 hour drive the previous day and a persistent head cold. Before I can finish, I am interrupted by Babyman who needs me to push him on the swings. Then the Pirate wants to swing. Then Littleman and Babyman start fighting over the Nest. Next Littleman is introducing me to his new friend. . .

I have trouble imagining myself, with all the other things demanding my attention, simultaneously taking notes in my mind as the conversation unfolded, and then stopping everything to locate my notebook and write my notes down. Then, multiply that by the many, many times that such moments occur throughout the day. This assumes that I even recognize these moments when they occur. . . learning is so seamlessly integrated into our lives that I'm usually not pigeonholing our experiences into "school" and "not school". It would require that I view all my interactions with my children through this lens of "education". I think the ramifications for the kids and me would be far-reaching and mostly negative.

Then again, maybe I am the one being negative. I just don't know.

Unschooling

Wow, it has been a long time. There are many reasons for my blog absence, and perhaps I will go into them in a later post. For now though, I want to write a few things about homeschooling. They are, of course, merely my own thoughts and experiences. I don't presume to say this applies to anyone other than our own family.

As I've probably mentioned, I homeschool our three boys- now aged 8, 6 and 4. I do not believe in doing "school at home"- if I wanted to impose timed classes and pre-written curricula on my children, I would seek a good school for their education. It would certainly be easier on me. Instead, our learning is very fluid, completely integrated into our daily life. We do not have separate time for "school", or even designated "school days". I do not have an external curriculum for my children to follow. I do not write lesson plans, administer pop quizzes, or assign projects. Instead, I actively seek to create an environment for my children that is varied, interesting and enriching, full of exciting and challenging experiences. I listen to them, and I seek to answer their questions as accurately and completely as I can, at the level (or just slightly above) they can understand.

I often ask questions and introduce ideas or experiences that might spark curiosity or further questioning from my children, but I do not force them to memorize facts in order that they may spit them out accurately later. If, after answering a question, the child is still interested in a topic, I will continue the conversation and often seek media to help me illustrate and expand on the topic. I have been pleased with the information that they retain, but the real payoff is in making connections between ideas and developing a less quantifiable, but more fundamental understanding of how the world works.

My approach is based on the ideas and theories of the educational researcher John Holt, who wrote extensively about education from the 60s until his death in 1985. He is considered by many to be the founder of the "Unschooling" movement- a term he coined to describe learning that did not take place in a school or a school-like environment. (As I recall, despite the fact that he came up with the term he said he felt it was rather inadequate, as it is based on what the method is NOT instead of describing what the method IS. He said it was the best he could come up with in one word. But don't quote me on that. I don't feel like hunting up his exact words right now.)

Unschooling, while still a young and controversial movement, has continued to grow since John Holt first introduced the idea. It is a difficult movement to pin down, since it is still defined more by what it does not practice, than by what it does. This is because the unschooling approach is extremely individualized, responding to the interests and needs of individual children and families, rather than imposing a standardized external model. It's hard to define something that looks different for every practitioner. In addition, unschooling is, in practice, often nearly inseparable from parenting methods, making it that much more difficult to study the effects of the practice without being influenced by the widely varying personalities and familial experiences of the unschoolers themselves. Are positive or negative results of unschooling due to the philosophy and educational practice, or are they moreso the result of parental practices? Is it even possible to separate the two? I don't have the answers to these questions. My concern is, "Is it right for my children?" I think, at least in the realm of "education", that it is.

I am often questioned, sometimes vehemently, about the advisability of using such an untested and controversial model for educating our children. "How can that possibly work?" "Kids don't know what they should learn!" "How will unschooled kids ever adapt to the real world?" "They will have huge gaps in their education." "They will grow up and feel that you failed them." "They will not be equipped to compete in a changing and extremely competitive, cutthroat world." "Show me evidence that this method works." "You aren't challenging them enough." "I need proof that they are learning." And so on, and so forth.

I have been tasked with finding evidence that Unschooling "works". That Unschooled kids can grow up to be successful, productive adults. That they can adapt to a world which seeks to impose external requirements and frameworks, requires one to be on time, and often requires one to work hard at something one does not like, in order to reach a goal. That Unschooling will not leave kids struggling to compete in a world that does not cater to their individual interests. Unfortunately, there has been little (if any) standardized research done on Unschooling and its results. I am continuing to seek and read what information I can find, and I am compiling a list of links relevant to this research. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I welcome the help. :)

* * *

PS- I should note, that I am not strictly an Unschooler in my actual homeschool practice. I do require my children to complete some "educational" tasks, even at their sometimes objections. The older they are, the more likely I am to impose some "forced" "learning" activities. My 8 yr old is in second grade this year (his birthday is in October), so I require him to complete some coursework in an online curriculum called "Time 4 Learning". My 6 yr old is in first grade, and I "force" him to sit down with me and work on reading from time to time. I question them occasionally on topics (such as money value, geography, or subtraction for instance) to see for myself how easily and completely they seem to remember and understand those things. I also administered the standardized CAT test at the beginning of this school year, which is not very "Unschool" of me. ;) I plan to administer a standardized test yearly, to help me keep track of "expected" learning and to help reassure my relevant detractors.

Little Boy Projects

I'm afraid I have not been very good at making a note of all the various projects and adventures all our boys have got up to in the last couple weeks. I can't remember them all, but here is a small sample:

- The kids turned the mulch pile at the end of the driveway into "Mulch Mountain", a replica of Stone Mountain complete with buildings and a functioning cable car, all fashioned of gardening tools and assorted paraphernalia gleaned from the garage.

- Many insects have been captured, followed each time by impassioned petitions to be allowed to keep said insects as "pets". If they survive long enough, they are released back into the wild backyard.

- The kids have planted a garden, set out avocado pits to sprout, and planted several flower pots' worth of seeds.

- One kid has learned how to ride his bike. He also lost a tooth. The tooth came out when another boy sat on his face.

- Many forts have been built and deconstructed. One of the forts was a radio station. Sample playlist: Queen, That 1 Guy, Evanescence, Rush. . .

- Three boys decided to play "Robbers", and to that end began building a ladder with which to climb into Mama & Papa Bears' bedroom window. They were wearing helmets and life vests, which apparently somehow made this idea OK. THAT project was halted post-haste.

- One boy created a calendar on the dining room wall out of sticky notes. "ESTR" Sunday is clearly labeled. The month started out with 30 days, but now April has 44 days, divided into 13-day weeks. Nice of them to give us the extra time, don't you think? I could sure use it to get this blog back on track. :)

Make A Father's Day Picture Frame!

So this is a little belated, but I do want to share the fun craft we did for Father's Day this year. We made this for Billy:


It was simple and really fun to do!

You need:
- Fimo, Sculpey or a similar polymer modeling clay in whatever colors you and the kids prefer. Babyman chose green. We used about 3 1/2 packages for three handprints.


- A suitable unfinished wood picture frame- it needs to have a wide flat surface for decorating. I found this one at a craft store for a few bucks.

- Liquid Nails Small Projects adhesive glue, or a similar permanent bonding agent.

- Thin strong wood scraps- I used a paint stirrer.

- Utility knife or small saw to cut the scrap wood (paint stirrer).

- Rubber stamps in designs suitable for layering. I found a set of 4 stamps that depicted pinecones and evergreen branches, perfect for overlapping and layering. The set was on sale, plus I had a coupon. Score!

- Stamp inkpads in whatever colors you want. They can match or contrast with the clay colors. Also remember that the stamps will be overlapping, so keep this in mind when choosing ink colors. Some blending will occur.

- A rolling pin, small knife and a baking sheet. (Optional: baking parchment paper)


- Some fine sandpaper, if necessary.

- A permanent marker and a pencil.


Ready? Let's get started!

First, the polymer clay needs to be softened up.

For the Pirate's, we tried blending equal amounts of light and dark green, thinking we'd get a nice medium green. Instead the dark green was much stronger than the light, so The Pirate's handprint looks the same color as Littleman's dark green one. Oh, well!

The kids pushed, rolled and squished to their hearts' content. It's really hard at first!

But soon it was ready to be rolled out.

We rolled the clay to a thickness of approximately 1/4". Try not to get bubbles! Then one at a time, the kids pressed their handprints into their color of clay. The clay is still hard, so I helped by holding their hands still and pressing them down firmly to get a good clear impression. Next, I cut around each handprint carefully.




Next it was time to bake the handprints.

I used parchment paper on my cookie sheet, and followed the Fimo package instructions for baking. Meanwhile, we cleaned up our clay mess.

When the handprints were baked hard and cooled, I sanded a few edges that I'd missed smoothing out before baking. Then, we arranged the handprints on the frame until we liked the arrangement.

Try to keep as much of the handprints on the actual frame as possible, without obscuring the place where the picture goes. Some overlap off the outside edge is OK. Lightly trace the hands with a pencil.

If the handprints hang off the outside edge of the frame much, they will need to be reinforced. You don't want to lose a finger sometime later! This is where the paint stirrer (or other strong, thin scrap wood) comes in. Cut small pieces of the paint stirrer and glue them strategically onto the picture frame, where they will support the outside edges of the handprints but remain hidden beneath them.
Like this:

Be sure to rearrange everything just the way you want before gluing, so you can be absolutely sure you've got it right!

Once all the supports are glued securely and the glue is dry (it takes awhile- you might want to leave it overnight) then you are ready to decorate the frame! Give the kids the stamps, inkpads (and some scraps of paper for blotting in between colors) and let them go to town.

Remind them that a lot of the decoration will later be covered up with the handprints, but it's OK to stamp in the hidden spots just for fun.

"Wait- why are we doing this, again?"


Once the stamping is completed to everyone's satisfaction, it's time to glue the handprints on permanently! Again, leave plenty of time to dry.

Next the kids get to sign their handprints with a permanent marker (well supervised, of course!) and "Happy Father's Day" is added with the year. Finally, put your chosen picture into the frame and voila! A fun little gift for Daddy on Father's Day.


(Of course, this can be modified as a gift for anyone- Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, even from one friend to another.) Enjoy!

Our Plan for Household Chores

Like lots of parents, I have struggled to find a good way to get my children to help out with household chores. Sometimes I felt like I was expecting too much, other times like I was being too lenient. Almost all the time there was resistance, arguing and resentment over doing chores. It gets very old very fast. (I hazard a guess here, that you know exactly what I mean.) I have been feeling my way along for some time now, looking for a system that will be effective: that will get my kids doing necessary chores with a minimum of fuss but without violating some of my parenting philosophy. I have recently implemented a plan I've been brewing for some time, and so far I am very pleased.

First of all, I wanted the boys to have some chores that they simply must do. There is no reward, it is simply their responsibility as members of this family. I wanted the chores to rotate, and to be spread out as fairly as possible. However I did not want to spend a lot of time each week writing out a chore schedule. At some point I stumbled upon Chore Buster, which I have been using ever since. It takes care of the "have to" chore charts automatically, and even allows me to key in all sorts of variables that refine its methods for our family. (For instance, I can mark chores as only for certain people, I can rate the relative difficulty of each chore, and note which family members should do more or fewer chores in general.) I tweak our system often so the computer generates just what we need.

So, each day at breakfast (except Tuesdays, their day off) I look online and see what the kids' chores are for the day. Generally it's just one or two things for each older boy, besides "brush your teeth". (Babyman doesn't really participate in chores yet.) As soon as breakfast is done the boys are supposed to complete the day's chore list. We've been doing this for some time, so by now the whining is minimized. We are still struggling with focusing on the job at hand, so it can be completed in less than oh, say, all day long. Two things have helped speed things up a bit: first, that there will be no computer time until chores are complete. Second, they cannot earn any points for extra chores unless their daily "have to" chores are completed first. These are the only two positive incentives I've found that actually have motivating power.

Now, on to those "extra" chores. I created a long list of chores that are within the abilities of the boys. Each chore earns a certain number of points. For instance, "Pick up and sweep the kitchen" is worth 12 points, and so is "Sweep the deck and porch". "Dust the bookshelves" is 10 points. "Brush the dogs" is worth 5 points, "Fold laundry and help put away" is worth 5 points per 1/2 load, and "Clean your bathroom sink, counter and mirror" is 10 points. "Comb your hair" is worth 3 points, and "Pick up and vacuum your room and the hallway" is 10.

I chose points based on how much the kids hate the chore (thus hated sweeping is worth a bit more than fun vacuuming), how difficult or time-consuming the chore is, and how much I will need to be involved- the more I have to be involved, the less the chore is worth. (Thus folding laundry isn't worth a lot because I have to "help" so much- but it's on the list because they need the practice.) I tried to keep each chore of a manageable size, breaking them up by room or task when necessary. Also, some tasks are worth less but can be repeated several times to earn more points- brushing the dogs and folding laundry, for instance, and also "Pick up toys".

Underneath each chore is an explanation of what needs to be done for it to be completed to my satisfaction. For instance, to earn 5 points for brushing the dogs, the kid has to fill the dog brush with hair. "Clean the bathroom floor" means pick everything off the floor and put it away, shake out bath mat, sweep well, put all dirt and hair in the trash and replace bath mat. (It's an easy job, worth 5 points per bathroom.)

I pretty much stuck with just household chores. "Comb your hair" and "Read a book to Mommy or Daddy" (5 points for Littleman, 10 for the Pirate) are the only exceptions. This is because personal hygiene is not optional, and I don't want to tie our "school" tasks to a rewards system.

Finally, I made a list of rewards that the boys may redeem their points for. Here it is (subject to plenty of future revisions, I'm sure):

* Play with Play-doh - - - - - - - 15 points
* Get one fruit roll-up - - - - - - 20 points
* Make popcorn - - - - - - - - 20 points
* Earn $1.00 - - - - - - - - - 25 points
* Go to Sonic for a slush - - - - - - 30 points
* Go to the library an extra visit - - - - 35 points
* Get 30 minutes of computer time - - - - 40 points
* Watch a movie of your choice - - - - - 50 points
* Make cookies with Mommy - - - - - - 60 points
* Go to our favorite playground - - - - 70 points
* Buy a book at the bookstore - - - - - 80 points
* Go out for ice cream - - - - - - - 85 points
* Visit a new park with [their Grandmothers] - 90 points
* Have a friend spend the night - - - - 100 points
* Go play mini-golf with Daddy - - - - - 165 points
* Get a family field trip to the aquarium! - - 200 points

So far this seems about right- some things may be more or less "expensive" than they ought to be, but we will see. I tried to keep the list heavy on the "activity" rewards as opposed to "give me" rewards. This puts a greater burden on me, but I feel better about it. As you can see, earning money is still an option. If one of the boys wants to save money to buy a toy (or whatever), they may do so by earning dollars. However if they want to buy a book, they only need to earn 80 points and I will purchase a book for them. I wanted books to have a distinct advantage, here. :) Each boy has a chart with days of the week, in which I use tally marks to record how many points they earn each day. They've been using a lot of math skills keeping track of their points, and figuring how many points they still need for various goals.

Obviously if you choose to try something like this in your home, the lists can be customized every which way to fit your family.

I realize this is a bit complicated, but it combines a lot of elements that I really like:
- there are daily chores that are not optional, but the list is short
- there is an incentive to complete non-optional chores quickly (so they can have time to earn points afterwards)
- if they choose not to do any chores beyond the daily list, it's OK. The burden does not fall on me to force the issue
- if they choose to do extra chores they are rewarded
- the more they do, the more they are rewarded
- they can earn money, but the focus is not on money in particular
- saving points and patiently working toward goals is encouraged (a good habit), but there are faster rewards if needed
- they practice their reading and math skills (and more!) while interpreting the charts
- the system is very flexible for our busy schedule
- it is also easily edited as our needs change or problems arise
- I now have the ability to occasionally reward points for unrelated things, at my discretion
- other family members can get involved by offering prizes or outings the kids may choose to earn
- and probably more benefits I'm not thinking of right now :)

The boys are actually enjoying it thus far (though we've only been doing the "extra" chores and points system for a few days, so we'll see how things progress in the future.) The Pirate has only earned a few points, but Littleman has enthusiastically racked up 31 points in a couple days. His goal is a trip to the bookstore to buy a book about Legos.

Sorry for the long explanation- I know several of you were interested in finding out more, so I hope this helps! :)

Elephant Field Trip!

Have you ever pet an elephant before? I mean, a real, live 8,000 lb African elephant? Thanks to our homeschool group and one awesome mama (and her Dad), we have!

Last week I took the boys down to Zoo Atlanta. They'd never been before, and the last time I'd gone was when I was a little girl. Despite mobs of screaming school groups in the morning, we enjoyed strolling around to check out the animals. (And the crowds cleared out a bit by afternoon.)

(photo by The Pirate)

I brought The Pirate's camera as well as my own, and it was sure a lot of fun seeing things from his perspective. The animals were great but so was the company. We love our homeschool group!


(photo by G)




(photos by The Pirate)


(photo by G) * (photo by The Pirate)


(photos by The Pirate)

Before long it was time to meet up for our elephant experience! It was so cool to meet an elephant up close, to pet and feed her. The zookeepers were wonderful, keeping things calm and organized, answering questions and generally making this a really fun visit.

(photo by A)

One by one each child got to go up and pet the elephant.

(photo by A)
Littleman says she felt wrinkly and looked like dry brown paint. The Pirate thinks she felt like a hairy rock. They both say she felt weird. At first when I asked Babyman what the elephant felt like, he said "blue". But after explaining what I meant with my question, he thought about it and decided she felt like "just a elephant".

(photo by A)

After petting her side, each child stood back and offered a cracker, carrot or apple slices for the elephant to take with her trunk.


(photo by G)


(photo by A)

Everyone LOVED the elephant! Besides that, the Pirate's favorite things were the meerkats and the naked mole rats. Littleman's favorites were the giant pandas, flamingos and the lemurs. I think Babyman's favorites were the handwashing stations (just his size!) and feeding the birds in the parakeet room.
(last 7 pics, except the panda and the parakeets, are by The Pirate)

It was SUCH a great field trip! I hope we get to do it again. Thanks to everyone for making it so wonderful!

Yes, my boys are on the blog bandwagon

A couple of my monkey men (namely, this guy

and
this guy

with maybe a little help from me and
this guy)

have started their very own blog.

It's about these little plastic bits of magic

(called LEGOs, of course)
and what they build with them.

The blog is Simon & Griffin's Lego Blog. Check it out, follow if you're interested and drop my boys a comment! They're enjoying it.

Camping with the 5 Bears

(photo by a friendly bystander)
We've just returned from a 4 day camping trip in the North Ga mountains. We arrived at Unicoi State Park on Wednesday, and got home Saturday night. Sharing the experience this time were my good friends from our homeschool group and their children (and dogs)- it was a great combination! Everybody got along really well and helped out.



The weather went from gorgeous, to wet and chilly, back to gorgeous. It was colder than I expected, but we managed just fine. The kids had a blast, of course! They ran all over the place, played in the creek, rode scooters and the trike, played ball, and had secret adventures in the woods with a "bear trap". We roasted marshmallows every night over the campfire. The older kids helped watch the younger, and though camping with kids isn't really a relaxing experience, we certainly found the trip to be a rejuvenating one. I'm looking forward to planning the next one. :)

(photo by Billy via iPhone)

Wednesday was warm and gorgeous. Everyone arrived and got set up, and before we knew it we were relaxing around the campfire with full tummies and plenty of happy, excited kids. Thursday dawned cool, grey and misty. Billy got our big tarp up just in time before rain began to fall, and it continued lightly off and on all day. After breakfast the older boys all went to play in the creek. They were having a great time building a dam, when just before lunch someone accidentally dropped a large rock onto Littleman's hand. The results were surprisingly gnarly, and after some hurried triage Billy took Littleman to the nearest ER.

(photo by Billy via iPhone)
Littleman ended up with 8 stitches, a bandaged splint and antibiotics to prevent infection. It was rough on him of course, but he was a real trooper and bounced back quickly.

The rest of us hung out around camp in the light rain, relaxing (OK and maybe worrying a bit) and playing Mancala and Canasta while the younger boys played or read comic books. Billy and Littleman got back in time for our big shared dinner: a traditional Low Country Boil. It was delicious! Billy and I were the last ones awake as the skies opened and dropped a ton of rain. We had fun rushing about to batten down the hatches before turning in for the night.

Friday morning:

(video by Billy via iPhone)


Friday we drove up to Anna Ruby Falls for a short hike. The double waterfall was looking pretty spectacular from the previous night's downpour!



Everyone had a snack before Papa Bear and Brother Bear took one of the dogs and joined Billy, myself and Babyman for a 4 mile hike back to camp. Mama Bear bravely took charge of the remaining 4 boys and one dog, and went back to camp for the afternoon.

The hike was wonderful! It felt amazing. I carried Babyman, who napped most of the way, so I'm pretty good and sore right now! It was just what I needed.

(video by Billy via iPhone)

Saturday we packed up and said goodbye to our friends, with promises to plan this again soon! Billy and I took the boys into Helen so we could visit our favorite rock shop and eat at the Troll Tavern. We stopped at the hospital for an Xray on Littleman's hand before heading on home that night. Whew! What a great trip! And now, it's back to chipping away at the resulting mountain of laundry. (FYI, Oxyclean does a fantastic job on bloodstains.) ;)



P.S.- Find Mama Bear's excellent account of the trip here:
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4