Open Symphony

One of the great things about the city (close to the little town where we live) is their free symphony orchestra program for kids.  About 4 times each year, the kids (and their lucky adult accompanist) are invited to meet one of the musicians, learn about the instruments, and attend half of the concert.  It is just the right amount of classical music for kids - long enough to relax into and enjoy, but not so long that they get antsy or bored.  Today we heard Mozart - Symphony No. 40, Mahler - Adagietto from Symphony No. 5, and Wallace - Acacia Street.  And did I mention it is FREE?  This is the third year that we have attended, and although William and Charlie are definitely the oldest kids there, we all still enjoy it.  I wonder if I can still bring them when they are teenagers?  Because, really, free symphony tickets are all good with me.

Raptor Encounter

Raptor encounter at Mountsberg Raptor Centre - a behind the scenes visit (thanks to my wonderful sister Bonnie who works in the Avian and Exotics department of the University of Guelph Veterinary Teaching Hospital and has some great connections).  The boys had a chance to see the housing, feeding, and care facilities of the center, meet some of the staff, and learn about the eagles, hawks, vultures and owls.  The highlight was, of course, being able to take turns visiting up close with a screech owl.

Beautiful Finds

William has been enjoying the time he and Alice (his new-ish puppy) spend going for walks together and today when they came back he had a beautiful little find with him.  He and Charlie spent a fair bit of time sitting at the kitchen table checking out this moth, looking it up in the field guides, noticing how 'furry' it is, and just admiring its beauty.  Whenever something like this happens I am reminded of a study I once heard / saw (can't remember where or who it was by) noting that most people can easily identify over 100 common brands, but cannot identify even 10 species of trees that grow in their own neighborhoods. I am trying to shift that focus a little bit for our family.  How beautiful our world is, if only we take the time to look at it.

Oh, how they grow!

There has been a sneaky little thing happening around our home lately, in the form of the boys growing up.  It doesn't happen all at once, oh no, but everyone now and then I will be caught off guard by it - the little bit of mustache fuzz growing on William's lip, the fact that hugs are still OK, but kisses are only tolerated first thing in the morning and late at night, the look on my baby Charlie's face that is no longer at all babyish, and the independence and maturity that they are both exploring and craving.

One of the ways this 'growing up' is happening is through the boys spending bits of time on their own at home.  It might be just a few minutes while I run into the grocery store, or for an hour or two when Jim is home but sleeping after working a night shift.  The boys generally love it, and I have to admit that it gives me a new level of flexibility that I haven't had in, oh, 10 or so years.

In celebration of it all, the boys spent the day at a St. John Ambulance course called Home Alone - they learned about what to do in case of a fire, snacks that they could prepare themselves safely while home alone, stranger danger, when and how to call 9-1-1, etc.  Although I admit that the day got mixed reviews (my guys are not used to sitting in a chair listening to someone else talk for 7 hours!!) they seem to have at lease been exposed to some good information.  As a family, we are going to be talking next about first aid and how to take care of those inevitable nicks, cuts, scrapes and sometimes burns that come with being a kid.  I certainly hope that they never need to actively use these skills, but I do feel a little more relaxed knowing that they are better prepared.

Now if I could just convince them to slow the whole growing up thing down just a little bit more, I would be happy.

LEGO Mindstorm with friends

William has a LEGO Mindstorm that he plays with in fits and spurts.  He will play with it for hours each day for a week or so, and then it goes back on his shelf for a while.  Today we got together with some other homeschoolers, and some great students from the U of Guelph who gave all of the kids an over view of how to build and program their Mindstorm robots.  I think that it was just what William needed to get him back engaged with it.  Having the university students on hand, who know a lot more about the programming piece than I do, worked wonders.

Kitchen scale...

Apparently this is what happens when you leave a scale out around my house...

 

All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make, the better.

                    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

GeoCaching

The boys love playing with the GPS, especially when there is a treasure at the end of their search.  Today we went with Friday Friends to the Guelph lake nature centre to do a little geocaching.  It unfortunately ended with some grumpy, cold kids (apparently we have been up way too late this week!!) but I thought I would share some links anyway.  This is such a great way to explore the woods with kids...

Official Geocaching Site

Ontario Geocaching Association

Geocaching Kids

Family History

I come from a family of wonderful historians, story tellers, and collectors.  It makes me so happy to be able to read journal entries made by my great, great grandfather,  to cook using favorite recipes from my Grandmother, or to hold the steamer blanket used by our relatives on the ship as they sailed to Canada.  We have hand written copies of family genealogy going back many generations, and a lot of things that reflect our history. 

Unfortunately, after all of these generations, those wonderful things have tended to accumulate into more than can be kept and still have room for ourselves in family homes.

Recently, in preparation for a move, my mother had the great idea of donating some of our family heirlooms to a small museum in the town of Otterville, where my grandfather and aunt were born.  Their family was very involved and well connected to that little town so many years ago, and the little rural museum was thrilled to have some more artifacts for their collection.

Today the boys and I went on a little road trip with my mother to see the museum and their family history now on display.

We also stopped at the town park, which my great grandparents were instrumental in building.  The boys' favorite story was hearing about their great grandfather Papa (my mothers father) being the first one into the river in the spring.  

Lastly, we stopped by the home where Papa was born. What a beautiful day, and a beautiful way to give the kids a real sense of how important their heritage is.

Guelph Lake Hike

Our Friday Friends group went to the Guelph lake Nature Centre today for a water study that didn't end up happening (darn scheduling conflicts!!).  But never fear, we all went for a hike instead and had fun.  There was hiking, birdwatching, fort building, tree climbing...

And, of course, rolling down the side of the really big reservoir hill.

Is it just me, or did this activity seem significantly more fun at 9 years old than at 39?

The Arboretum

Hiking at the U of Guelph Arboretum with our Friday Friends group...

Doon Heritage Village

Doon Heritage Village is a great reconstruction of a 1914 village that we have been wanting to get to for a while.  I look the boys when they were wee little ones, but we have been wanting to go back.

I love going places like this during the week.  There were only about 4 other families in the entire village, and I think that the staff were bored out of their minds.  They were all thrilled to tell stories, do demonstrations, and answer any of the boys' questions.

Dufferin County Museum and Archives

I like to think that is spite of their less-than-traditional education, my boys are fairly normal.  Still, sometimes I am a little shocked when they wake up in the morning and say things like "Hey Mom, today lets go to a MUSEUM!!!!"  Well, I guess you can't really complain about things like that, can you?

Today (at William's request) we went to a little county museum not too far away that we had never seen before.  Although it was not the boys' first choice (some days you just don't feel up to going in to the ROM, right?)  it was a nice stop.

Their main exhibit was called Beauty and the Beast, a look at the portrayal of different animals in art. 

What we're reading these days

I noticed that it has been quite a while since I posted about what we are reading these days, so here is a quick look at what is on our bedside tables:

William: 
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room by: Lemony Snicket.  This is the first series that William has really gotten into on his own (and the first books, for that matter) where he has not gotten bored part way through.  He picked up the entire series at a garage sale this summer and is determined to read each and every one.

Charlie:
Are You My Mother? by: P.D. Eastman

Put Me In The Zoo by: Robert Lopshire.  Both of these are older books (first published in the 1960s) that I remember reading as a little girl.  They are certainly classics though, and a far cry better than the 'early readers' that are published these days.  They have a story that Charlie loves, but are written in simple language with lots of sight words, rather than complex language but with only a sentence or two on each page.

Read Alouds:
Silverwing by: Kenneth Oppel.  This is one that I picked up recently when I needed a'guaranteed' good story after finishing the Mysterious Benedict Society Books.  It has won about a million prizes, and has make bats Williams new favorite animal (after dogs, of course!)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by: J.K. Rowling.  Not that this book needs any extra  advertisement  but we are on our second round through reading the whole series...

Joanna:
The Night Circus by: Erin Morgenstern is a beautifully written drama / mystery / romance that I am thoroughly enjoying.  I know it sounds corny, but I love a book that calls on me to read it with a pencil in hand to underline the parts that I most enjoy...But still, the discontent remains.  Even the ground beneath feels unsatisfying to his boots. ( Don't laugh !!)

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk by: Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish because I really need to read this book as often as I can.

The NEW Nature Table

We have had this nature table in our living room for a few years now, and the boys have enjoyed playing with it on and off through the seasons.  They both love setting it up and changing it over each season, but lately it has been gathering a bit of dust (I guess that is what happens when you leave gnomes out for 9 year old boys to play with!!)

I decided that rather than scrapping the whole thing (which I really love) we just needed to update it a bit, and fill it a less with things cute and magical, and more with things natural, and creepy.

So, here is the grand unveiling of the 'new and improved nature table'. 

They have been much more interested after the re-vamping, and have been on an endless search for magnifying glasses and field guides - perfect!

Farm Camp

This past week, both boys have been spending their days 'playing farmer' at Everdale, a local organic farm / education centre / CSA.  For kids who are not used to other people directing so much of their time, they both came home with nothing but good things to day about their time at Farm Camp.

Brushing the donkeys was definitely a favorite for William.

Charlie loved the sheep,

And they both loved the maze.

They also gathered eggs, made ice cream, picked beets, ground flour that ended up as pizza crust, did crafts, and planted peas. 

And the verdict is...they both want to go back next year.