T minus 10 days

A week from Monday, we start first grade. I have the school room 75% organized (lol, several boxes of stuff still need to find a home). I have our attendance planner prepped for July with general goals for the month, specific things I want to do the first week, and things I need to remember to do next week. I have requested 15 different books and/or videos on archaeology from our county library. (Sorry G, hope you weren't planning on starting yet!) I have reviewed (most of) the hands on projects that will accompany our history studies. I am pretty much ready.

I should still make my list of "courses offered" and "faculty qualifications" for the state (which never have to be turned in, we just have to have) and I would like to preread the SOTW, Usborne, and Kingfisher entries for the first unit/week too. But I really feel ready. I don't think I've mentioned it to Cameron yet, lol. It will be fun that the first day of school will coincide with the first day of gymnastics move ups. Quite serendipitous actually. :)

Another happy coincidence is that the kids have been playing a lot of board games recently... chess, backgammon, and one we got at the 4-H silent auction called Knights and Castles. The game has all sorts of cards with trivia questions on them and one of them asked what game featuring knights was played by the pages and squires. The answer, of course, was chess and Cameron was quite impressed that the game of chess was so old. He said something about it being the oldest game *ever* and that led me to bring out our game of Senet. They LOVE it and have been playing it all the time. They have also been asking all sorts of questions about Egypt and pyramids and mummies, etc., etc., etc. Cassia seems to think that I found the game, personally, in a pyramid and really wants to go to Egypt with me to see, lol. I promised them though that we could go to an Egyptian Museum in a month or two when we are formally studying Egypt. They are pretty psyched about that. But first we need to study prehistory, so maybe a trip to the La Brea Tar Pits is in order?

Spreading the Word

Remember that lady I was talking to a couple months ago who was asking all sorts of odd questions about homeschooling? Like, when do you plan on integrating them back into the system? You know, the one who was thrilled with her son's new school because it had round buildings, lol. Well, I was talking to her again today. He son is due to start Kindergarten in three weeks and she's getting nervous. She doesn't want to have to get up early every day - I can relate! Secondly, she's getting nervous about the whole school system in general and started right up asking me about the particulars of homeschooling. What time of day do we do work? How much do we do? What guidelines do we follow? I answered her questions honestly and enthusiastically, stressing that it is exactly what you make it and finally said, "You know, we meet at XYZ Park on Wednesdays from 1 to 4. You should drop by and chat sometime." She laughed at me for trying to recruit her but I have a feeling that she will come.

It was just funny, the more I talked to her the more I saw how very alike we were. We had the same background, the same ideals, the same eating habits, the same fears and disappointments about the school system. She really should be homeschooling, lol. The only difference is that I've always been keen to buck the system and she's afraid to stray from the norm. Anyway, I just suggested that she come by to reassure herself that there are options if things don't work out at the new school... and that we homeschoolers are not all stark raving lunatics. ;) It's funny though how she struck me as such a spaz when we first met, but once I got past my first impressions and got to know her as a person I found that we are very much the same. It's so hard not to make judgments. Shame on me.

It finally happened!

The following conversation was actually heard in my living room this afternoon.

Cassia: Mommy, can we watch a movie while we eat lunch?
Mommy: Sure, what do you want to watch?
Cameron: Zomboomafoo!
Mommy: Oh, that's a great idea! You can watch that while you eat and then we can read another chapter of Harry Potter afterward.
Cassia: Noooooo!!!!!!! I don't waaaannnnnttttt to read a book. I don't liiiiiiiiikkkke listening to movies that way.
Cameron: But I want to hear about the Quidditch game next chapter!

Yes, you read right. Cameron was arguing for a book. We just needed the right book, I suppose.

T - two weeks

Well, summer vacation is winding up for us. I was a little bored and thinking we should "do something" today, but since we will be out of town for the 4th most of next week, it would be silly to start anything now. We're still making progress on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, so every time I start feeling schoolish I'll start reading them another chapter. We've just finished chapter 10, 179 pages, which I think is a record for us. The only other chapter book we've ever actually finished was Akimbo and the Elephants and that was only 68 pages. The kids will still almost always say "no" when I ask if they want me to read some of it, but Cameron is almost always enthralled when I start reading anyway.

The main reason I am pushing so hard to finish this book though is that I, personally, want to reread them all before the next one comes out - ok, before I read the next one; there is no way I'll read them all before July 21st, lol. I'm not going to force them to sit through 5,000 pages in the next couple months but I really want to reread the series anyway. And I'm not one of those who can simultaneously read two books, especially two that are in the same series, so we must finish the first Harry Potter and we must finish it in a timely manner. There are only 17 chapters total though so we should be finished with it in a week.

But there *is* life beyond Harry Potter, though just barely, so in other news...

My mom's wedding was very nice. She was so happy. :) My brother and his wife flew out from Phoenix to be here and that made it even more special. My sister wasn't able to get a reasonably priced flight from the East Coast on such short notice and I don't know what the stories on his children are, but none of them were able to be here. Anyway, Cassia was the most adorable flower girl ever and Cameron was the cutest ring bearer ever. (I will share pictures as soon as I get them!) I was the Matron of Honor, my mom's next door neighbor (who has been a great friend to her and to her fiance in the time that he's been here) was the Best Man, and my brother gave the Bride away. My DH was video taping the affair for those who could not be here, his brother was taking still photographs and, get this, my SIL (DH's brother's wife) was officiating. She got an internet ministry ordainment (is that a word?) several years ago so that she could officiate at some friends' vow renewal but has never done a "real" ceremony. She did a beautiful job. She and I spent the rest of the night drinking quite a bit of wine though since it was pretty surreal for us both, lol. It was actually a great night. The wedding party came over here after the ceremony for dinner and then after the happy couple left for their hotel room (*shudder*) we played Guitar Hero with my brother, his wife, DH's brother, and his wife until the wee hours of the night. The kids didn't even go to bed until almost 10:00!

The Newlyweds are now on their way to Michigan to start their new life. I am really going to miss having my mom over every week for Sunday night dinner, but I am extraordinarily thankful that my children got this past year and a half to get to know her. Before that, when she was living in Los Angeles, we would only see her for an hour or two once or twice a year. She was a stranger to the kids. Now, she is someone special to them and hopefully they will hold that in their hearts even when she is far away and we are back to only seeing her once or twice a year.

Monday we went to a new park day at a local swimming lagoon. At first, I didn't see the homeschool group so we were just hanging out by ourselves but eventually I saw someone that I recognized and we moved over with them. The beach was so nice. They had the swimming area roped off at the 4-ft level so it was just perfect for my little non-swimmers. We spent all day there and no one drowned, so that was good. ;) Sadly, we are starting Monday gymnastics classes in two weeks so we won't be able to go after next week, but I am glad that we will have been able to go twice. I got to know several people, that I have only met once or twice, a little better.

Tuesday we didn't do much of anything. We watched and read some Harry Potter. We said goodbye to Grammie and Grandpa C. We waited around for our new dryer to be delivered - the old one gave up the ghost on Saturday. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I was getting a little bored after last week's activity-o-rama but we need to appreciate these last two weeks of downtime before I crack the whip for school the second week of July. No unschooling for this family. Not yet. It just doesn't feel right to me. I will re-evaluate my choices next year, maybe, but I think I feel good in my convictions at this point... now I just need my children to agree, lol.

Happy Summer!

Cameron woke up on the first day of summer and yelled, "Cassie! Cassie! It's summer! It's the longest day EVER. We have SO MUCH TIME to play today!" LOL. I guess I forgot to tell them that even though the sun is up longer, their bedtime doesn't change. ;)

Thursday was another day at camp. We dropped Cameron off 10:00 and then had to rush back here to get Cassia to the 11:00 gymnastics class. While there, I moved them both up into the next level of classes for next session. Cassia was so proud of her new red leotard. Cameron is finally in boy/girl segregated classes. I was able to get them in back-to-back classes again, but what I didn't even realize until later is that I signed them up for classes on the day that DH works from home. Hopefully then, I'll be able to get Greyson take a nap during that time and I can leave him at home. Man, that would be great. After gymnastics, we came home for some lunch and then went back to pick Cam up. We had to get there right at 2:00, or even a little before, so that we could get him back (just a little bit late) for a 2:30 gymnastics class.

We get there right on time and walk over to the main area... and there is no one to be found. No one, that is, except another mom looking for her little girl. A minute later, the co-teacher comes running out of the main house to tell us that the group had gone on a little hike and had gone a little farther than they meant to and would be back in 10 minutes. One by one, the moms showed up and were all quite annoyed but I figured it was just payback for me being half an hour late the day before! By the time everyone got back and got situated it was already 2:30. So much for gymnastics! He probably would've been too tired anyway but funny how the one day we needed to leave right at 2:00, they were late. So we just came home and did laundry instead.

Friday was the last day of camp. Thank goodness! Phew, it was tiring. We dropped Cam off and then went to MomK and L4's house. The girls played horses for a while and Greyson played with older sister's pet rats. I know, several of you just got the heebie jeebies but they are the sweetest things! They were nuzzling up to him and licking his fingers. Really sweet animals, honestly. An hour or so later, we all packed up and headed off to the park for Preschool Park Day. Everyone ran off in separate directions and there I was, left to miss my first baby. It really was the first time that we hadn't been rushing around or busy doing something "different" without him. We were doing a routine thing with part of our routine missing. So all I could do was sit there and watch the clock, hoping that MomS and T6 would hurry up and join us with my boy.

When they finally showed up, Cameron and T6 looked like they had been playing in a volcano! They were covered, head to toe, in black dirt. There were even deliberate smears of dirt on their cheeks - I think they were doing face painting on each other, lol. Turned out that the theme of the day was "fire" and the boys had indeed been playing in the ash after class. They then ran off to play with everyone else and MomS and I sat around and talked about how glad we were that the week was over and how thankful we were that we didn't have to do the "school thing" every day, lol. Homeschoolers are homebodies! At least, we don't like to have to be so strictly scheduled. MomS, who is friends with the co-teacher, said that they wanted to only do it MWF, but since it was open to all kids - not just homeschoolers - that it had to be M - F. School kids need daycare.

Maria and G, I promise I will give you a better synopsis of the Unschooler's Potluck next week. Today, I have no time because I must get ready for my mother's wedding! Yes, my mom is getting married again after being pretty much alone for the last 33 or so years. She is giddy and excited and we are all very happy for her. Who would've thought she'd be a June Bride in her 70th year, lol. So I'll leave you with thoughts of wedding cakes and flower girls. I promise to take pictures. Maybe I'll even share them too. ;)

Chickens, Potlucks, Flowers, and Bees

Busy as bees these last two days! Tuesday we dropped Cameron (and his carseat) off at camp and then headed out to the deepest darkest depths of wine country for a playdate with one of Cassia's friends. She's one of the 4-H little sisters and is normally very shy in groups. It was fabulous to be able to see her in a one-on-one situation and really see her personality come out. It also made me realize how incredibly LOUD my daughter is, lol. The other girl kept holding her hands over her ears and saying, "Cassia! Must you be so loud? You're hurting my ears!" LOL. And I thought I was just oversensitive to it.

But we had a great time. The girls played house and restaurant and Jungle Girl on the rope swing. We ate pizza and ice cream. We swam in the cooled down hot tub. It was a really nice time. In fact, we stayed so long that we were almost late to our dinner date! I was very thankful that one of the other camp moms, MomS (whom I've known for over a year), had offered to bring Cameron over to her house to play with T6 after camp and then bring him with her to the Unschooler's Potluck that evening. Camp is in her town and the potluck was in ours. Anyway, we had just enough time to drive home, throw the toddler slide that they had given us into the backyard, grab our potluck dish, and leave again. I didn't even bother to take Cassia (who was asleep anyway, lol) and Greyson (who was not) out of the car.

The Unschooler's Potluck was nice. I felt really comfortable with these people. Of course I already knew about half of them. The kids had a blast. There were so many kids there and there were chickens running around in the backyard and a tree house that Cassia got stuck in more than once, lol. I was so happy to see Cameron again but he barely looked up from his LEGOs to say hi. MomS said that she was shocked that it was his first time alone at someone else's house. She said he's a very secure kid. That's a great thing to hear - I wish I were more secure, lol. He was tired though! When it was time to leave he burst into tears, demanding that he must have another cup of apple juice before we could go. It escalated into one of those things where you just can't help laughing because it's so insane. He just kept repeating his juice demand all the way home - where he finally calmed down. (And no, he never got any more juice.) Phew!

I'm still processing what I got from the gathering. We had a very powerful talk. I'm still not entirely sure what my game plan for next year is... no, I take that back. I think I still have the same game plan I'm just not sure how hard core we're going to approach it. I guess Cameron will end up calling the shots on that one. One thing I did take away from our gathering is that it *is* about what's best for the kids, not what's best for me. The other big thing is that whatever path is chosen, interaction, respect, and purpose are key. Even in unschooling you have to purposefully interact. I have a tendency to just live and let live, so a more formal approach may in fact be what's needed to keep *me* on track. The kids are perfectly happy to just play by themselves all day so I would probably never see them if we didn't sit down for school, lol. Anyway, I left there with a full head and a full heart. I'm not sure if I will continue to go to official "unschool" activities or not. I don't know that they accept half-timers. ;) I may try to start up a Classical get together or two. Since most of my friends seem to be unschooling, I may end up needing more support from the stricter set. Or I'll just keep frantically begging Meesh to call me in the middle of the night to straighten my head out. ;)

Wednesday, Cameron was supposed to get a ride to camp from another local mom, but he refused to go. He said he didn't want to ride in someone else's car two trips in a row. So I drove him. And then we came back home for twenty minutes before leaving again. Cassia and Greyson and I went to the Lavender Bee Farm for a tour. Oh the smell! It was just lovely and we learned so much about bees! Well, I did. She learned which people got annoyed and which people laughed when she poked them, stepped on them, pulled on them, bumped into them, and talked over the tour. *sigh* Just when I got Cameron behaving like a human being on tours, now Cassia has taken over the class clown role. Oh well. Someday they'll all be grown and well-behaved and I will miss their nymphness. At least that's what I hear. ;) Anyway, the beekeeper said that she had "quite a personality!" I think it was a compliment, lol.

We left there (with a jar of lavender honey, a silky lavender sachet, and 4 honey straws) with just enough time to pick Cameron up from camp 30 minutes late. Ooops! Luckily she does aftercare and was already watching two of the other boys. I would've charged me if I were her, lol. Thankfully, we had nothing else to do today so we all came home to relax. It's been a long week already. I can't imagine if Cameron were in school and I had to do this Pack Lunch, Drop Off, Pick Up thing every single day for 9 months. Gah. No thanks. He is soooo tired from it. And I'm already out of good lunch ideas, lol.

Leaving the nest

My little bird has left the nest for the first time... and I survived! LOL. Cameron had his first day of Nature Awareness Camp today. Just a half day camp at a semi-local locale. But it was our first time apart... sniff... sniff. I've never just left him somewhere like that. Yesterday he had a few moments of tearful panic and begged Cassia and I to stay with him all day, but today was not even a backward glance. In fact, he barely took the time to say goodbye when I left!

As far I can tell, they went into the woods on a scavenger hunt for signs of wildlife: tracks, dens, droppings, etc. There was something about finding a den that T6 had made a long time ago (T6 was in their weekly school year homeschool nature awareness program) and leaving the things they found as gifts to the wildlife so that they would leave gifts in return. I'm not sure he completely understood that one, because I'm not sure I understand what the heck he's talking about, lol. They also played games and climbed trees and jumped on a trampoline. It really sounded like a good time though I really wish I could be there too. Not because I don't trust him alone or that I want to control the situation or anything like that... it just sounds like fun and I'm missing it! ;)

While he was gone, Greyson took a nap and Cassia and I watched Disney's The Little Mermaid. Educational, I know. ;) I was considering finding an online copy of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid and reading that to her so that she could hear the "real" version, but before I knew it, it was time for Cameron to come home. Maybe I'll do that later in the week though, now that I've found it.

Once Cam was home, he played an hour of video games (I changed the Game Rules so that he only has to be cooperative with the things I ask him to do to get his game time and is no longer linked to whether or not he does schoolwork) and then wanted to watch a movie! I told him no way. I offered to read Harry Potter. No. I offered to help him read a Star Wars reader. No. I offered to read a Magic School Bus book. No. *sigh* After a lot of whining, I finally made them realize that a book was the only option they had as far as stories go. They agreed to a MSB because "those would be the shortest." Again *sigh*. But they did end up really enjoying the story. It was one we'd never seen/read before and I think it may have been the first one ever written! (The Magic School Bus Explores the Waterworks) Anyway, those are the times that I think that unschooling would be a much more painless way of doing things... but then again easier doesn't mean better. Anyway, I've been thinking lots on that whole topic but I will save my rants and ponderings for another day.

It's Friday!

It's Friday, I guess I should update or something, lol. Now to remember what we've been doing all week! Hmmmmm....

Tuesday was super fun. We spent all afternoon at a really fun community pool. There was a whole section of it that was kind of sectioned off and was completely shallow water - shallow enough that even Cassia could walk through it! They had water slides and a mushroom fountain and buckets that randomly dump on your head, lol. Very fun. The kids had a blast and didn't want to leave. Even Greyson was a little fish and would just splash and play and try to swim right out of my arms. We finally left and headed home for a quick nap before the t-ball pizza party. The pizza was good, lol, but it was pretty much just each family at their own table. Not much of a party. I'm not exactly the most social parent anyway so we just sat there and ate our pizza and then left. Cameron got a little trophy and hist team photos. They came out so good! I tried to scan them in but I need to download some new drivers for the scanner. We got these cute little baseball trading cards too. Adorable.

Wednesday was park day. It was hot, hot, hot but the kids really needed to get out and play. Oh and guess what... more free curriculum and books! LOL. I feel like I really owe something to charity now, we've gotten so much recently. Anyway, this was a HUGE box full of stuff from a virtual school(I think) at the California Academy of Sciences. They're closing the program down and were just giving away the curricula. I got one on measurement. Our friends DadR and MomM got another two that were geared for K - 3, I think liquids and density, that they promised to share. I also grabbed a handful of other science textbooks and teacher manuals. Unfortunately, my science shelf is full so I don't know what I'm going to do with them, lol.

Speaking of which, the school room is coming along nicely. I already need more room. ;) I've rearranged the books three times now and I'm still not happy. I cannot get the right balance of organized and attainable. I need another bookcase. The kids love it in there though. I was on the phone this morning and they were strangely quiet. I went to check on them and they both cuddled into the big chair reading a Magic School Bus book together. So cute. So exactly what I've always wanted them to do. :) They even begged me to read the book to them when I was done.

Thursday was gymnastics day. Cameron got six out of six stars on his skill testing! Woohoo! Of course, he was testing a level behind where he should've, I think, because he was sick the last testing day but it doesn't matter. He also received a little diploma and was "graduated" on to the next level of classes. Out of the preschool classes and on to the boys recreational classes! Just when I thought that I would be able to get he and Cassia into the same class and save myself some time, lol. I guess I could keep him in this class for a while (the age is 4 - 6), but they really like the kids to move on the summer before they start 1st grade. I guess the good news there is that it is more of a drop off class so I technically don't have to wait around for him with all the kids, but I probably will anyway. Cassia has been given the go ahead to move up too (to the class that Cameron is leaving) so I'm going to have to totally revamp our schedule. There are no back to back classes for them now. I'm also faced with Maria's problem of late afternoon or evening classes. Blech. Cameron's class will most likely be at 3:30 but that's still pretty late for us. That's right about the time that I lose all patience with everybody, lol. Maybe being out of the house then will be a good thing.

Friday was grocery store and Harry Potter. Yes, they are still obsessed with Harry Potter. Cameron is LOVING the book though. WooHoo! We were watching the first movie this afternoon and he kept coming up with all these details and background information that is only in the book. "So if someone other than a goblin tries to unlock that vault they get trapped inside, huh?" Why, yes, they do! And there was our reading comprehension portion of the day. ;) Add in the Magic School Bus book on bugs (science) and the quick Roman Numeral lesson that came up while we were reading the Grandmother Clock (math and math) and we've had ourselves a pretty educational 24 hours.

Do you want to know my secret or should I make you wait until next week? LOL, ah the power. OK, I'll tell... I'm going to an unschooling potluck next week! I kept reading the invitation on our e-list and couldn't get Meesh's voice out of my head, lol. Come to the Dark Side!! Anyway, I told them I would only come if I could continue clutching my copy of Well-Trained Mind the entire time. ;) They said ok. I really need to find some sort of mental balance between Classical and Unschooling before I lose my mind. I'm hoping someone there will be able to help me out. Besides, pretty much all of my real life friends are unschoolers so I basically want another excuse to go hang out with them, lol.

And that was our week.

School Daze

"School Daze" was the theme of a back-to-school bulletin board when I was in second or third grade and for some reason the phrase always stuck with me. I thought it was clever at the time. Now, I find it just sad that a teacher would promote lethargy in her students like that. At the moment I am simply using it to refer to the year-end whirl of activity that we have going on!

Friday night was Family Night for our 4-H club. We had an exceptionally good potluck so, with my being the recipe hound that I am, I had to beg everyone for the recipes and compile an e-recipe book. Maybe by the end of our 4-H years I'll have a huge collection that we can sell as a fundraiser. There was also a silent auction going on throughout the night and Boy Howdy, did we score! We came home with a big pink horse, a pull-and-go truck, a music box, a Unicef book on children of different cultures, a knight-themed board game, an animal alphabet themed board game, and 29 Magic School Bus books. All for only about $14! Homeschoolers sure know how to donate items!

The rest of the weekend was spent rearranging our house. Our house has three bedrooms: one for DH & I, one for the kids, and one for DH's computers (mine is in the kitchen). Well, DH's new job has made it possible for us to move all but one of them out of there and turn that room into... drumroll, please... a schoolroom! We were able to move the huge, heavy table that was supporting the three monitors out of there and into the dining room where such a grand table belongs. (Our previous dining room table is being donated to a homeschooler in need, because like I said, homeschoolers appreciate used items.) The mammoth computer desk has been replaced by a much more modest one and several bookcases. With all the books I've been buying lately I really needed some more shelf space! Now my biggest challenge is organizing all my books into something workable. So far, I've got reference, science, and history in one bookcase and fiction on the other. The non-fiction case is much fuller though so I may have to rearrange some. Or I could move some of the books from the kids' room into there so that both cases will be overloaded. Yeah, actually I think that will be the way to go since I have several poetry and fable collections that will definitely be a part of our schoolwork.

I couldn't finish organizing our schoolroom without a trip to the local office supply store too! I bought some window stickies of the planets, some new pencils and pens, a pad of story paper, a couple cute pencil sharpeners, some magazine holders, and a school planner. You should see what I put back! ;) I was going back and forth on the planner. I'm going to need something to keep track of attendance - it's the one record that our state requires we keep - and I kept debating how much more than I needed. I looked at traditional grade books but kept thinking that the ones at Donna Young were so much more appropriate and I'll probably never use them anyway, lol. Finally, I settled on a small weekly planner that ran July to July - perfect for year-round school.

Speaking of school, no, we haven't done any. LOL. We did read three chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone yesterday. The kids have been watching the movies lately and really loving them. They're casting spells on each other left and right. That will be really fun once we start studying Latin and they know what they are actually saying! The good thing about Cameron having seen the movie first is that I can use it to hype what's coming up next in the book. Like, don't go yet, it's almost time for them to drop Harry off on the doorstep! Or, don't you want to read the next chapter? The part where all the letters come through the chimney is coming up soon! I have noticed that the parts that are in the movie hold his interest much better than the more boring background-y parts. I'm not sure if that's just because of the amount of action or because he can visualize it better since he already has that mental image but I'm going to keep taking advantage of it.

Did I mention that I did pick up a bunch of DK readers last week? We started reading What is a Wookie the other day. It's hard for him but with my help he's doing pretty well. He's remembering words like "alien" and "talking machine" which never would have happened before. I can't believe what they are calling "Level 1" though. I don't know, maybe I'm just being a Phonics Nazi but it drives me crazy that they're asking kids to guess at these words that are so far above their decoding level. But he *is* interested in the story so that's a good thing. We also got one on space flight, Spiderman, and a couple on dinosaurs. The dinosaur ones I mostly got for history next year.

This entry is all over the place, so let me conclude by saying that we have a busy day ahead of us today! We have both the 4-H end of year party and the t-ball end of season party with only an hour and a half between the end of one and the start of the next. I just know the kids are going to fall asleep in the car on the way home from the 4-H Pool Party and then I won't be able to wake them for the T-Ball Pizza Party! Ah well, at least they'll sleep good tonight. I better go get them out of the bath before the bubbles take over the entire house. ;)

We're Back!!!

We're back and I am so far behind on everything. Phew!

Let me just say that we had a fabulous time. We did some shopping, some sight seeing, some visiting. We saw the Workman-Temple Homestead. We visited The Pixilated Palace. We stopped off at DH's aunt's house and picked up three boxes of books and other random materials about Ancient Greece, Ancient China, and Ancient Rome. She still has Ancient Egypt at school but promised to bring that home for me to take when we're there for the 4th of July. She also gave me a math unit study based on Gulliver's Travels, as many sets as I wanted (so far just one, lol) of Algeblocks, and a box full of cassettes (books on tape, multiplication table raps, etc). Have I mentioned how fabulous it is having a relative who teaches a GATE 4th/5th/6th class that is retiring next year??

We finally arrived home about 9pm on Wednesday. Thursday we went to a birthday party for Cameron's friend S5, now S6. That officially marks one year that we've been friends with them. We had a playdate with them once long ago but since I was pregnant with Greyson at the time (and we all know how flakey that makes one), we didn't see them again until S's 5th birthday party. We didn't know a soul there that time. MomJ and I were both struggling with finding compatible friends at that point. This year I knew about three-quarters of the guests from other homeschool functions. Funny how MomJ and I ended up friends with the same people even though we have been going to completely different homeschool events.

It was a great party. There was a swimming pool and a snake handler and cake. Unfortunately, we had to leave a bit early to make it in time to Cameron's last t-ball game. We still ended up about 10 minutes late but DH, who had arrived there on time, said that he hadn't missed a thing. Our team was first up and Cameron turn hadn't come up to bat yet. We arrived just as they were going out into the field. Tuesday we're having the end of season pizza party which should be a great end to a really fun, but short, season.

Friday we were supposed to go to Preschool Park Day, but had to ditch it because tonight is Family Night for 4-H. Family Night is a big potluck extravaganza with a silent auction and presentations and the works to show off our accomplishments to all of our friends and family. I have a couple quiches to make so there was no way I could get that done and go to the park without making myself absolutely insane, lol. Speaking of which, I should get busy. ;)