The Badlands

One of the things that I appreciate the most about homeschooling is the flexibility. Today the boys woke up, and Charlie declared it the perfect day to visit the bad lands, some spectacular clay hills that we check out every once in a while. We managed to get a bit of 'table time' done, scarfed down some breakfast,and headed out. It was blaring hot, but the kids enjoyed running around and working up a good dusty sweat while Mama relaxed in the shade.

Rockwood

This is one of our favorite places to explore together, and today's trip was simply wonderful. As well as so many beautiful hiking trails, there are the ruins of an old textile mill to explore. The sun was shining, the weather was perfect, the sights were beautiful, and we were all feeling fine. I may not get too much time these days to do things that I want on my own, but if my time with kids includes afternoons like this, I guess that ain't so bad.

Emergency Preparedness Day

Today the boys and I went over to a local community centre for Emergency Preparedness Day. From an adult standpoint, it is a chance to learn a bit more about keeping the family safe and comfortable in case of emergency. For the kids, it was an all-access pass to ambulances, fire trucks, search and rescue boats, police horses, guide dogs, etc.

Up Close

The boys and I were having an interesting conversation on perspective the other day while we wandered through the wood. We chatted about how we can all be looking at the same thing and 'see' it differently, both physical things and issues or ideas. (as an aside, I love these middle childhood ages, if no other reason than that the boys will engage in this type of discussion with their Mama for hours on end!). Anyway, the physical side of this talk was thinking about how different things look from a distance than they do up close. Here are a few photos...