Starting the Funschooling Year at the Academy of Sciences

Just one of the many wonderful things I love about homeschooling is the flexibility. While schools around us were starting up in August, we decided to hang on to summer and start our homeschool year in September. That just felt more like fall to us. We were thrilled that the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco offered a homeschool family day at the start of the month which was the perfect kick off for us. I love visiting popular museums on homeschooling days for a number of reasons, mainly that the adult to child ratio is nice and high. The crowds are usually smaller, the pace is slower, and no one is blowing whistles and trying to herd large groups of excited children on school field trips from place to place. Plus, they usually offer a smoking deal on admission, in this case, it was about $5 each instead of about $25.

I hadn't been to the Academy before, but I have been hearing all about it since it reopened after a huge remodel. Well, it was amazing! Having listened to the tips from friends who had been in recent months, we knew to try to hit the rain forest exhibit early before the lines got too long. It was an impressive three story walk through with birds, butterflies and plants that reminded us of visits to family members in Costa Rica. Next was a show at the planetarium. We took my mother in law, who had grown up in the bay area, with us on this trip, and she had fond memories of taking her own young boys to shows at this planetarium many years ago.

The kids and I had scoped the Academy out online before we went so we could know which exhibits we were most interested in. I've been having my kids do a bit of pre-travel research for most of our adventures this year, and it's the best idea ever. It's really paid off in a number of ways. First, they are more excited about the trip, and second, they make sure they don't miss what they really want to see. In most larger cities and museums, it's pretty easy to just keep turning corners to the next exciting thing, and end up missing an entire section. In places we aren't likely to be back to for a while, we don't want to be disappointed to find out that we walked right past something we aren't going to see next time. When we got home, I asked a friends' child, who had gone to the Academy a few months before us, how she liked the penguins, and she replied, "There were penguins?" Yes, there were adorable live penguins, and they even had a wetsuit made for an old one who had trouble keeping himself warm. They were one of our favorite exhibits, and we spent some time watching them playfully hamming it up for the camera. We were so glad we didn't miss them.

With my Girl Child's awesome planning skills, I think we managed to catch about everything though. The Extreme Mammals exhibit was a fun look at the wide variety of fellow mammals there have been in the world from the largest to the smallest ever. The African dioramas were so incredibly life like. Of course, that is probably because they used to be alive, but unlike the obvious stuffed road kill samples you see in some smaller natural history museums, these were pretty darn good examples of taxidermy, and the backgrounds were great too. None of us had realized that zebras were so large, and there were a few animals we had never seen at all before, like this super long necked animal, whose name I don't remember, but who looked a bit like a deer with a half giraffe neck.

Another thing I'm glad we made sure to see is the living roof. I guess the Academy is one of the greenest museums out there, and all sorts of cool technology and design went into making them so. The roof is covered with native plants, sky lights and solar panels, all of which contribute to the museums goal of self sufficiency energy wise. My kids love the idea of burying our own house under a hill of dirt with little pop up windows in the ceiling. It would be fun, but isn't on the remodel schedule for this year anyway. I'll have to keep it in mind for a far in the future big building project. This living roof though, offered wonderful views of the city on an unusually clear San Francisco day.

The albino alligator would have been hard to miss, as he was a pretty popular exhibit. He didn't interact playfully with guests, like the penguins. In fact, he was so still that my Boy Child thought he was stuffed like the animals in the dioramas, but then he moved a finger and blinked, confirming he was still alive. He wasn't exactly cute like the penguins either. His pink eyes and long claws were kind of freaky, but boy was his hide fancy. I know it's a terrible thought, and I would never actually purchase an item like this, but I couldn't help but thinking he would make a gorgeous a handbag and boots. Of course, I would be appalled if I actually saw a purse made of real albino alligator, but I could see the inspiration for something similar in pleather. This poor guy is probably lucky to be housed here because I don't think he'd last long in the wild.

The aquariums were great, with both fresh and salt water tanks of all sizes. Some of our favorites were the beautiful jelly fish and the bizarre gator gar fish. I had ever heard of them prior to our happening to catch a documentary about them the night before. Girl Child gladly informed us that she remembered from her research that we could see live specimens on our field trip the next morning. They looked much more docile and peaceful in real life than they did in the movie, which dramatically played up their razor sharp teeth.

All around, it was a great field trip, and a day packed with the wonders of science and natural history. It was also a great way to kick off to our funschool year. I can't wait to see what other  fun learning adventures await us. Any exciting field trips you all are planning or have taken so far this year?

Enough with the Dire Predictions

Maybe I'm just feeling moody these days, but I have been really annoyed with other peoples' dire predictions concerning children lately. The negative outlooks start even before babies are even born. I teach Childbirth Classes, and so I talk to a lot of pregnant women. It is just awful how many horror stories about birth that people choose to share with women who are about to go through it. I don't know if it's therapeutic for the teller or what, but it sure isn't kind or necessary, and here's a news flash...it isn't the least bit helpful!!! 

The negative predictions grow as the children do too. It really bugs me how often so called experts slap labels on  kids, saying they won't succeed in school because they have ADHD, or that they'll never learn to read or speak well, but they need a bunch of formal interventions anyway because they have "special needs." I'm not saying that special needs don't exist, but it seems to me that people tend to live up to the labels put on them. How about focusing on a kids strengths rather than constantly pointing out their weakness? If you tell someone they aren't capable, and don't treat them like they are, it's going to awfully hard for them to learn to be. It also seems that when you give someone an excuse to act a certain way, they will probably feel justified in going for it.

It's like the attitude that every teen will go wild and become disrespectful and obnoxious, so we should just accept it. The fact that there are rude teenagers out there doesn't make them all rude, nor does it make it acceptable when they are. Sure, they have more hormones than they know what to do with, and they are stretching their wings for independence, but aren't we supposed to be helping them grow into adulthood? Giving free reign to idiotic and unpleasant behavior doesn't seem like very good training. And, what about all the awesome kids out there doing amazing things? Why don't people point out how many "good" kids there are instead of just looking for "bad" ones?

For some reason, the media, the experts and the world sometimes seem intent on forecasting gloom and doom. This frustrates and saddens me in general, but, when the dire predictions concern my children in particular, I get really miffed. In fact, I sort of almost made someone cry recently when she made a comment insinuating that I just enjoy my son now, because he would surely just grow up and make the same stupid mistakes her grown son was making. Well, this just struck me the wrong way, and I let her have it (I kind of sort of went off on her about the whole thing.) Sometimes, the mama bear in me is not so easy to control.

But, it seems just plain wrong to me to lump everyone into one category and then pronounce a bleak future on them. Just because one person, or even lots of people do a particular thing doesn't mean everyone else will- even if you yourself did it. I hear parents talking all the time about things they did when they were young, often with an acceptance that their kids will also do them. This attitude is usually more prevalent if the parents themselves and those close to them made it out of the teen years without any long term consequences. The parents I know who actually paid for their youthful mistakes with drug problems, jail time, abuse issues, or having babies before they were ready seem to be much more intent on trying to educate their kids not to make those same mistakes instead of laughing about or accepting the inevitability of it.

But it's not inevitable. Not all teens are doing drugs and having sex, and they don't all drive like maniacs either. I'm not delusional enough to think that my kids will never make mistakes. Of course they will, but their mistakes will be their own, not mine or anyone elses. I know there is no magic formula that will make sure kids always stay out of trouble or always make the right choice. Sadly, I've seen some really good and loving parents go through some really hard times with their kids' behavior. Frankly, that's a scary enough thought as it is, especially since my oldest is wrapping up her tween years. But, she's a good kid with a level head, and I'm thinking it's more productive for me to focus on the positive things we have going on than to panic about what may or may not ever come. I don't need people giving me dire predictions or bursting my bubble, so I'm making a conscious choice to avoid negative people and their doomsday forecasts. I prefer to surround myself and my family with joyful people and positive examples. I think I scared the poor woman who made the mistake of implying that my son would be irresponsible since hers was. She probably didn't mean to upset or offend me, just as I didn't mean to almost make her cry, but at least she'll probably be less likely to put labels on my kids again. Next time though, when the negative messages slip by, as I'm sure they will, I'll just breathe deeply while a little voice in my head blocks out their comments and says "I can't hear you and your bad news, I can't hear you."

Footing Across the Golden Gate

Ever since my youngest sister told me that her entire class walked across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as part of their 8th grade trip, I've wanted to make the trek myself. I've driven over it dozens of times, but I guess the idea of crossing the monumental landmark on foot never occurred to me before that.
So, when we were headed to San Francisco on a recent fun trip, and I heard that the weather forecast called for a sunny, warm day, I mentioned walking across the Golden Gate. The kids had no idea you could do such a thing, and were all over the idea.

As we pulled into San Francisco, I noticed that while the sun was shining all around us, the bridge was shrouded in fog. But, we weren't that easily deterred, and figured that a little fog wouldn't hurt us.

The bridge really is the icon of the San Francisco skyline, and its' outline is plastered all over mugs and sweatshirts in gift shops all over the city. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was built in the 1930's, the project came in $1 million under budget (which is pretty rare with public works projects) and it seems to have withstood earthquakes better than many of the bay areas other bridges. Seeing the construction up close and personal, it really is an impressive structure.

We parked on the San Francisco side of the bridge near the Presidio, and bundled up in sweatshirts, even though it was still technically summer. Plaques and statues near the base give some history of the architectural beauty. Apparently, many experts of the time didn't feel a bridge could even be built in that spot because of the harsh conditions there. The tides are strong, the wind is fierce and the fog is blinding, but humans are determined, and while only one person, the chief engineer named Strauss, got a statue of himself erected, many, many people worked hard to design and construct the bridge.

It may be a beautiful spot on a clear day, but since it's usually cold, damp and beyond blustery there, I can only imagine how miserable the working conditions must have been. And, as is often the case, many of the people who did all the work, didn't even get any credit.

Apparently, some of the steel workers who built the bridge did get to accidentally test the movable safety net below them. As you can imagine, in the 1930's the safety regulations were probably a tad bit more relaxed than today, and it was pretty much their only protection from an over 200 foot fall. The net worked for nineteen men, but sadly, failed on another eleven of them.

These days, even on the foggiest days, the bridge is full of traffic- cars, pedestrians and bicycles. By the time we made it across, our lungs felt very full of car fumes, and we were almost run over a few times by racy cyclists. But, then, miraculously, the sun made its' way through the clouds a few times and we were treated to some lovely views.

This led to spontaneous skipping and singing, which might be considered slightly embarrassing in some places, but no one even blinks an eye at such behavior in this city. So, we were free to rejoice out loud in the beauty of the sunshine.

At a little over three miles round trip, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on foot is a pretty easy walk. The weather seems a little unpredictable, and could have certainly made it unpleasant, but we lucked out and saw bits of blue sky before we hit Marin County on the other side. On the way back, we checked out the gift shop, and learned a little more about the icon that we, along with several hundred other tourists, had just crossed. The black and white pictures and film of the construction give a feel for what a huge task those men had taken on. Despite having had more than our weekly quota of carbon monoxide in the short time it took us to walk across the Golden Gate, I'm glad that we did it. It's just one of the fun and free things to do with kids in a very expensive city, and I'm pretty sure they'll remember it.

I love when everyday life inspires us, and after this walk we were inspired to learn a little more about the building of suspension bridges. I found some fun activities to explore. The kids are busy at work and making bridges now and I'll post the results soon. So far, they've passed by me with straws, tape, dental floss, and marbles. I have no idea what else will go into their creations, but I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

Family Camp

When I was a kid, I remember a few summers spent away at camp. I recall the silly campfire songs, the cafeteria food, and the large number of children with very little adult supervision. We made plastic lanyards, rode horses, slept in cabins with teenagers in charge, wrote letters home and rarely showered. My mom came and visited on weekends, and we were away for weeks. Since I lived in the city, and my mom is not a woodsy fan, this was probably my main childhood exposure to the woods.
While I had fun at my childhood summer camp in the mountains, my kids have not yet had the overnight away camp experience. They've been camping dozens of times, and lived in the woods most of their lives, but they've never "been to camp." Someday they might, but the right opportunity just hasn't come around yet. I am one of those overprotective mothers' who wouldn't just send young children off with strangers, and the low number of adults in charge that I loved as a kid isn't so much of a selling point for me now. Besides, we've always been too busy enjoying summer as a family to have any time to pack them off.

They did however, get a taste of the camp experience recently when group we know rented out a YMCA campground at the end of the season, and we "went to camp" as a family. It was a church group, and my dear husband is always afraid they are going to try to convert him, so he opted not to join us. The kids and I had a great time though. We had our own family cabin, and while it was probably the most recently painted structure, the wear and tear of dozens of kids over the summer really showed. There are so many things you never notice as a kid, like how tiny the cabins are or how trashed everything is when so many other kids use it. Regardless, we didn't come for luxury, we came for for fun, and we had it.

 We did the evening campfire, complete with smores, skits and silly songs.
We went out in a canoe on a lake, and despite the fact that it leaked and took on a bit of water, we had a nice paddle. There were some heavy patches of lake weed which sort of freaked us out when our paddles started getting stuck in it, and of course the kids came up with lots of scary things that could be in those reeds. After learning to steer clear of lake weed, we found some geese and plenty of fish. We observed the beauty in nature and breathed in the fresh mountain air.

We also made camp style arts and crafts like pine cone people with mossy hair and googly eyes and leather bracelets with designs that we punched into them. We ate cafeteria style food. There was ping pong and archery, and even though we have both of these at home, and in much, much less worn condition, playing with them under the pines lent a different feel to the experience. The same for basketball, and tether ball. There was also a game where you rolled a pool ball down a long table and tried to knock the rest of the pool balls in a slot. We played a lot of it, but I never caught what it was called.
Our couple of day family trip to camp brought back lots of fun memories for me. I was able to look up my old camp on the internet and see how much has changed and how much is the same. I was also able to see how outrageously expensive kids camps are. That makes me even less excited about the future prospects of my kids heading to one. I think I'd rather save for a trip to the tropics, and when I mentioned the fact that we could almost buy a ticket to Hawaii for the cost of a week at camp, they agreed the tropics were the way to go. Whether they go off to camp on their own in the future or not, I'm glad we had this camp experience as a family for now.

Not a Chicken

This is the sight I see out my kitchen window as I make my morning coffee. It's Miss Tequila Puffy Cheeks trying to find a way in to join her family for breakfast.
I love this chicken dearly, but she just can't seem to accept the fact that she is a chicken. Maybe that is what endears her to me. It certainly isn't the fact that she refuses to go in the coop with the other chickens, and instead hangs out on the porch napping in the dogs beds, or that she peers in the windows, startling me when I look out, or that she tries to come in the house if we leave a door open. She definitely has more personality than any other chicken I've had, and I've had a LOT of chickens in the last 5 years.
When I come home from a long day in town, I'm greeted at the end of the driveway by two happy dogs, but as soon as I pull in front of the house, I have another fan- Miss Tequila runs full speed at me with what I imagine is a smile on her beak. If you've never seen a chicken run, the stance is similar to the way dinosaurs run in movies, with the head tilted forward aerodynamically. She comes at me with amazing speed, and then stops right in front of me as I open the car door and looks up making a low cluck until I stop and pay attention to her. If I try to just walk by, she'll keep running in front of me until I stop. It's hard to read a chicken, because their faces aren't exactly expressive, but she has a pretty intense way of staring into your eyes like she's trying to hypnotize you into giving her extra grain. She also does a lot with body language, and I'm pretty sure that if she had more of a tail, she would wag it.

Besides the tail, one difference between Miss Tequila and the dogs is that the dogs usually save their super excitement towards me for when I get home, or they hear me say the word "walk" or when I have food. Miss Tequila runs up to me with an adoring look just about every time I walk out the door. And when I don't walk out, half the time I can see her looking in at me someplace.

Another big difference between the dogs and this chicken who doesn't think she's a chicken, is that she isn't potty trained. That is not at all endearing of course because as you may well imagine, a chicken on the front porch means chicken poop on the front porch. We've all learned to look carefully before we step, but we've still had a number of accidents. A particularly tragic incident involved Boy Child dribbling his brand new basketball. He was not at all impressed, and had a chicken loathing moment, but he got over it. I realize that there is such a thing as a chicken diaper, and I am actually probably crafty enough to make some, but I've already done my cloth diaper washing days with young humans. I can't seem to muster the enthusiasm for repeating it with a bird. I just rely on the hose, frequently.

We've tried training her to go to the coop with the rest of the chickens, carrying her down there daily. While she seems to enjoy being picked up, as soon as we round the corner near the coop, her entire body stiffens. Sometimes she tries to escape, and other times she just hides her head in a nest box as soon as we put her in, as if she can't bear to look at us or those other chickens. But, no matter how many times I put her in the coop, she never, ever goes there on her own, nor does she stay once the door is opened.

My husband is not as sympathetic nor as bonded with animals as I am and suggests turning the BBQ on and roasting her when she hops onto it as a perch, or literally serving chicken for lunch when she tries to join us at a picnic. He sees her as being stupid for not going in the chicken coop, but I see it as a sign of intelligence. I mean, who would want to hang out in there? I was telling a friend about this chicken who thinks she's a part of the family, and they put a terrible thought in my head. What if reincarnation were real, and Miss Tequila was a former human trapped in a chicken body, and now I keep locking her in a filthy coop? So, I quit trying to force her into socializing with chickens. I do shoo her off the porch, but otherwise I just let her hang out where she pleases.

Of course, I do get pretty frustrated myself when I find her relaxing on my rocker on the porch, but not exactly angry enough to eat her. I'll just have to make sure to keep looking before I step or sit while I'm enjoying the affection from my favorite feathered friend.

Houseboating, but not like Huck Finn

After our recent little raft trip down the Sacramento River, my kids and I were all in Huckleberry Finn mode, and ready for more free floating water fun. We could hardly believe our good fortune a few days later when one of our awesome and friendly neighbors invited us to go spend a couple of days on a houseboat with them on Lake Shasta. We did a big happy dance, well, all except dear husband who had to work, but kids and I were jumping around for joy because we weren't about to miss out on that fun. And, if you're wondering how fun houseboats are- they are very, very fun. In fact, I can totally imagine living on one for months (except for a few small problems like my 4 goats and 20 chickens, and the fact that a houseboat is not very likely be in my budget any time in the near future.) Despite obstacles and odds, a girl can still dream, right?

Lake Shasta is a man made lake, created for both energy production and water storage, but it's recreation value is huge in this hot part of the country. Drought in recent years lowered the lake substantially and the muddy, rocky shorelines really reduced it's appeal. Since a lot of tourism dollars are dependent on the lake, draining it to irrigate golf courses and farms in the lower half of the state is a controversial topic. This year however, late spring rains filled the lake to the highest level in decades, and it was simply beautiful during our visit.

We made the trip with some other neighbor friends in their big truck which we all loaded with food, supplies, and people ready for a big adventure. Our friendly hosts had been out on the lake for a few days before us, and they met us at a launch ramp in a ski boat. These people are not only super nice, they also have super cool toys. We took the short boat ride to our fabulous, private little camping cove where our floating weekend home was waiting. After checking out our lodging and all the cool little spaces it had, the kids couldn't wait to go tubing and were really trying hard to restrain themselves from begging. Instead, boy child dropped what I imagine he thought were subtle hints until he roused the adults into taking them out.

Next, we all had to try wake boarding, myself included. Our hostess gave us lessons and made it look totally easy, smiling and waving and holding the rope leisurely with one hand. I wouldn't be surprised it she could do triple back flips, but didn't want to make us feel bad. I gave it 3 tries and held the rope with a death grip because it felt like my arms were going to be pulled out of their sockets. I never managed to stand up, but I got a very thorough and uncomfortable nasal flushing. On day two, Boy Child was able to stand on the wake board, and was quite proud of himself. Girl Child and I decided that we prefer tubing because it allows you to sit while having your fun. However, it too can have it's downside. After quite a bit of tube fun, Girl Child was involved in a rather spectacular multi-tube crash. Her hair somehow flew wildly out of her French braids and she got some very painful looking rope burns in her armpit. I asked if I could get a picture of her wounds, but she refused.

After that, we were in the mood for food and a quiet and mellow paddle. Kayaks are a wonderful way to explore on water. They are stable and quiet, and easy to maneuver into shallow and small spaces. We watched a beautiful eagle soar overhead and a family of geese on the shore. We also found dozens of fish and a really strange looking, dead snake floating in the water. On my list of homeschooling items, I think kayaks would be a fabulous addition to our nature studies.

In reality, while we started out thinking about living on a houseboat like Huck Finn, our trip was actually nothing like it. We were totally pampered. We lounged in cozy chairs. We ate large quantities of tasty food like roasted chile peppers that were stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. We sipped ice cold beverages, and we talked whole a lot more than Huck and Jim did.

We did however go to sleep on the rooftop under the stars and wake up to beautiful sunrise views like Huck, but I won't use a page to describe the sunrise like Twain did. My wake up included fruit and chocolate and coffee, and I don't think Huck had that. I did find that our days on the boat flew by, or as Twain put it, "I reckon I might say they swum by; they slid along so quiet and smooth and lovely." It was great wrap up summer kind of trip, even though we are no where near ready to say goodbye to the season. As a homeschooling family that is pretty much learning all the time, we don't put much stock in the official school calendar, but still, fall does have a different flow. It starts to feel more bustling and busy as we head into winter, and we're in no rush for that. We'll be hanging on to the lazy lounging days of summer as long as we can.

Bricks and Brains

Sculpture by Nathan Sawaya

Last year, when we first learned about an artist named Nathan Sawaya who created life sized masterpieces entirely out of Lego bricks, we were immediately interested. We were fortunate enough to meet him during a museum demonstration, and I think I was as impressed as my children. First of all, his art is amazing. Second of all, he seemed like a very nice guy when he was talking to the kids.

Apparently, he had been a corporate lawyer in New York, and he gave it up to follow his art. Now, some people would frown upon a grown man deciding to let go of a lucrative career in law to play with Legos all day, but I personally thought it was a wonderful example of living life in a way that makes you happy. And, it seems to be working out pretty well for him. My Boy Child was very inspired to even imagine that such a career was a possibility. It sure makes growing up sound more fun and exciting than a job in a suit!

Art by Nathan Sawaya

We bought Sawaya's book Art of the Brick, so we could be inspired more at home, and because I wanted to support the idea of following your dreams even if it seems risky to the rest of the world. I probably never would have given thought to conveying feelings and struggles or making statements with Legos, but he has certainly managed to do just that. In talking with Nathan, we learned that he is more than a tad more organized with his Legos than we are though. He has drawers separated by color, shape and size, while we have a huge mixed up bin. Obviously, he buys in bulk too, since he uses thousands of pieces in his sculptures and they are glued down as he goes. I requested that my kids use the camera to preserve their sculptures. For one thing, the glue Mr. Sawaya was using was really stinky and probably not very good for young brain cells, and for another, we don't have the customers, display space or budget to handle large scale productions at this time, unless we re-use the pieces. His exhibit and book did get some very large scale productions going when we got home.

A Lego Duck by my Boy Child

As an eclectic homeschooling family, we're quite a bit more flexible with what we consider valuable educationally than some people are. To me, if a person is interested, engaged and learning- it's educational. Since building with Legos uses problem solving and creative skills, it qualifies in my book. Apparently, the folks at Lego seem to agree, and are marketing products specifically to the education market. At first I thought we were just way ahead of our time- we've been using Legos in our homeschool for years, but I guess the Lego Education Academy has been around since 1980! I had no idea there were educational experts out there to back up the validity of our creative building. Part of me wants to giggle, and the other part wants to roll my eyes, but I guess mostly, I am glad that it will open up the door for lots of other kids to try some fun school projects, and that many teachers will be getting interesting ideas of ways to tie Legos into those standards they are bound to.

Favorite Chicken inspects Lego Duck

A few months ago I signed up for Lego Smart Challenges, and was sent a kit of 20 bricks. It hasn't been easy keeping those 20 bricks out of our mainstream mixed up Lego population, but we've done it. The reason is because we've been getting sent emails with challenges to make with those specific bricks. I let the kids take turns, and they time each other and photograph the results. It's interesting to see how differently the solutions from two different kids can turn out using the same materials for the same problem.

Blind Replica of a one eyed robot by my Girl Child

One particularly cool challenge involved one person making a sculpture, and committing it to memory before taking it apart. We also took a picture for future reference. Then, sitting back to back to back with the other person, the original builder tries to explain how to recreate the piece, and the new sculptor tries to follow the directions. This little exercise was a challenge on several levels- planning and building, memorizing, explaining clearly, listening, and following directions.

The Skyscraper by my Boy Child

We also found a bunch more educational Lego activities online, where we can use a lot more bricks, and spend a lot more time. The projects that require moving parts seem to really get them thinking. All of the challenges have been great if I have a little bit of work to do, and need some uninterrupted time because the kids seem to be pretty focused and self sufficient at them. Plus, they're having fun and using their brains.

We'd be doing lots more brick building / brain building projects this year anyway, but now that I know I have an authorized stamp of approval on it as an educational activity, maybe I'll mention that to all the grumblers who condemn the way we combine learning and fun- "Kids need to learn to work hard, that learning and life isn't always fun, blah, blah, blah.."

My kids of course do work hard on lots of things in life, and while I know that no one can enjoy everything they have to do, I do hope my kids are able to have a good time with most of what they do. I'd rather encourage them to live and enjoy life than just endure it. These same people will probably also tell me that having kids who are inspired by the possibility of being a Lego artist is a bad idea because "it's not very likely that your kids will be able to do that when they grow up." Well, it's not very likely that I'll someday be a Picasso or a Mozart, but I'm still inspired by them.
Do you have other fun ideas, activities and people that inspire your family? I'd love to hear about them...
And for some Lego activities you might like to try, check these out.

Slow Water Float Trip

My Boy Child has been interested in going river rafting for quite some time now. He was, of course, imaging a white water adventure with Class 5 rapids, because that is the crazy sort of kid he is. I am not sure if there is an actual official age limit on insane rapids, but I sort of implied there might be. Although I'm fairly sure we'll be doing a fast river run at some point, I thought it might be wise to start on something a bit more mellow before my children hit the white water.

So, when a group we know told me they were taking a day trip down the Sacramento River, and invited us along, I told them that we were all over the chance. The Sacramento River is just a wee little mountain creek / river thing above Lake Shasta, but below Shasta Dam, it is a wide and flowing mass of really cold water. And, I do mean really, really cold. The water comes from the bottom of the lake so it is more than a might bit brisk. But, that worked out fine, as the air temperature was in the high 90's. I wouldn't recommend submerging in the frigid water, but for splashing and water fights, it was fun and refreshing. The pace of the river was also leisurely and relaxed, with only a few semi-fast moving sections to keep you paying attention- perfect for taking a bunch of kids down a river.

Before we even put the rental raft in, we were treated to a dismal and monotone safety talk by a very bored and fairly grumpy young man who told us at least 15 things that could cause us to die during our trip. It went something like "If you take off your life jacket and fall in the water, you'll probably get hypothermia and die... There's a big log in the middle of the river, and if you don't steer around it, you'll probably flip your raft over and die... If you hit one of the bridges when you go under them, you'll probably tear a hole in your raft and die..." I think he also had a few possible scenarios where we wouldn't actually die, but we might just end up paralyzed. We did our best to follow his safety suggestions, but truth be told, it was a little hard not to laugh at his lack of anything that resembled happiness or fun. Come on buddy- we were going river rafting- it was supposed to be a fun trip! We couldn't figure out what caused his gruff unpleasantness, or what he disliked about his job, but we decided it was probably better that he was at least just renting rafts rather than spreading his non-cheerfulness at a summer camp, or in customer service at some other venue. We were also glad it was a non- guided trip, so we wouldn't spend our entire afternoon being lectured on ways we could die.

In any case, we did keep our life vests on, and we managed to avoid the tree in the river and smashing into bridges. We didn't flip the rafts, and best of all, no one died. We did have a small problem when we tried to get ahead of the other raft in our group and hide in a cove in order to attack them with water cannons as they rounded the bend. We failed miserably at making it into the first few coves because our team paddling skills were not very advanced, and the coves happened to be at one of the few faster flowing sections of water. Then, when we finally got over into a cove, we underestimated how close the branches would be to our heads, and we sort of briefly got tangled up in tree branches and blackberry bushes. Thankfully, we didn't pop the raft and die.

But, we did run into a bazillion HUGE orb spiders in those bushes. It was like something out of a scary movie, only it wasn't dark. We got wrapped in the webs and, several spiders boarded the boat. We kept finding them as we floated downstream, and had to send them for swims. Although they are apparently non toxic to humans, they are just too freaky to share a small boat with. I tried my best to at least fling them as close as I could to the side of the river, but we weren't good enough paddlers, or calm enough with huge scary spiders up close to take them all the way to shore again. I felt slightly bad that they may or may not be good swimmers, but at least they would be fish food and there really were lots of them.

We were able to harvest a few tasty and fresh ripe blackberries, although most were hidden behind thick spider webs, and none of us wanted to reach past the glaring occupants. We were also treated to some fabulous views of nature and the fancy riverfront homes.

One big home we floated past had a friendly little sign facing the river that said "Warning- We DO NOT call 911."  Nice. Apparently, had we gotten into any of those situations we were warned about, those people wanted us to know that we'd better get ourselves out of the trouble, because they were not going to be of any help. We wondered what they would say if we did need help? "Too bad for you! It's not my problem you're drowning! Maybe, next time, you should listen to the raft rental guy...if you don't die." Who knows, maybe they were related to him. Our whole boat had a good laugh at their shared bad attitudes anyway.

It took us a couple of hours to reach our destination. We had plenty of time to observe fish, birds and nests, plants and trees along the river, as well as to have several water fights with our rival boat. All that sunshine and water naturally made us hungry, so we laid in the shade along the river bank at the end our trip eating snacks while waiting for the raft company to send the bus to take us and our gear back to our cars. The driver was a chatty fellow who actually seemed to like his job and his customers, and told us all about some local birds and other wildlife. His happiness was refreshing, and a nice finish to a very peaceful day. We saw a completely different side of the river and much more of its beauty while floating leisurely down it in a boat instead of driving past it on the highway at 65 miles an hour.

My husband has been talking about taking a several day raft / camp trip sometime, and now the kids are even more excited about the idea. I have a feeling we'll be reading Huck Finn again soon, and that more water adventures will be in our future.

Any ideas or suggestions for kid friendly water fun?

Burney Falls

On a recent weekend, we were sick of the heat, and had fallen behind on pool maintenance, making our pool an odd shade that did not appeal to me for swimming. While we dosed it with chemicals and waited for the color to magically move into the blue scale, we decided to take a little road trip up into the mountains to cool off. We headed to Burney Falls State Park in the Cascade region of north eastern California.

Burney Falls  may not be one of the biggest waterfalls in the state, but it is definitely a sight worth seeing. The park and falls are named after Samuel Burney, a pioneer who settled in the area in the 1800s. Burneys' descendants later saved the area from development by buying the land, and giving it to the state as a gift in the 1920s. I am always thankful for the people who came long before my time, but had the foresight to see things they wanted preserved for future generations. I am also thankful they had the resources to pull it off.

The first time I took my kids to Burney Falls, they were probably between 3 and 5 years old, and I was so proud of them for hiking the entire loop trail to the falls. It seemed like quite a feat for such little legs. Like all kids, they grow like weeds, and when we went back a few years later, they blazed through the same trail in no time as if there were nothing to it. This time we went, the usual trail was closed, which at first annoyed me as I thought that was the only way to get to the falls, but instead, we discovered a few other trails I never knew existed. We hiked along beautiful Lake Briton, and a scenic creek, which are both fed by the falls, past some very rocky and very dusty hillsides, and through some lovely mountain forest made up of mixed age trees.

The trail was easy, and the scenery was fabulous. The park itself was rather crowded I thought, especially for being in the middle of nowhere, but the trails themselves didn't seem overly packed at least.

The trail led to the base of the 129 foot falls, where we briefly considered taking a swim, then after dipping our dusty toes, we decided that we are not freezing cold, snow melt, mountain type swimmers after all.

We were starving by the time we got back to where we started, so we had a picnic lunch on the beach at Lake Briton. It was ridiculously packed with people, and although the water there might have been more appealing temperature wise, I am easily grossed out by the thought of submerging in water with way too many people in too small an area, especially since many of them were small children without swim diapers. So, we just ate, and tried to discourage the overfed, overweight squirrels and chipmunks from trying to steal our meal. They looked as though they were more used to Cheetos than fruit and salad anyway, and they weren't exactly speedy in their attempted thefts. But, we did have to make sure to watch our food and our ankles as they were definitely eyeballing us and chattering at us in angry tones.

Oh- and I should mention, there were more plague warning signs. They weren't quite as dire as the ones I saw a while back in Hat Creek, but this time I did get a picture. The rodents at Burney Falls looked like they were more likely to suffer from heart disease or diabetes from their human junk food diets than plaque though, but nevertheless, I had no desire to have them scamper across my table.

After lunch we picked up Junior Ranger packets and went for another hike. Portions of the Pacific Coast Trail pass through the park, and along some of the trails we hiked.

The view from above the falls gives a different view of the beauty of the site. The trail led us to the spring that feeds the fabulous waterfalls, and we were amazed that a practically dry creek bed can lead into such a massive amount of water. Apparently, over 100 million gallons per day goes over the side of the hill. We sat in awe for a while, imagining what we would do with 1/1000th of that amount of water at our parched and dry little homestead.  

Unfortunately, the visitor center closed before we finished our hikes and got back there, so the kids weren't able to finish their Junior Ranger packs and get their badges. But, I'm sure we can make it up to Burney Falls again sometime. They have a Pioneer Heritage Day in the fall that sounds fun, so maybe they can wrap it up then.

That night, I chatted with dear husband about how much fun our kids are right now. They are ages where they can keep up on hikes, and are interested in nature, history, science, and time with their family. Life is good, indeed.