Our Roxaboxen Adventures

April 18/19th- Spring Break/Discovery Museum

 
I would normally try to just show you a week at a time, especially since I'm so behind these days on posting. However Spring break week was such fun, there are so many great shots, and I want to remember each day. This year my plan is to begin printing my blog annually to give my girls as gifts when they are older. (Any suggestions of online sites to do this?) .  You may notice that I'm focusing more on things we do as a family than what books we read recently or academics. Those will continue to be a part of this blog as they are integral parts of our life, but when I think about the type of "memory" books I'm hoping to create with this blog- these are the images I feel were most important. Images of love & time spent together.  Anyway, let the day begin....

 

So only one pic. from the 18th and that is Jordan receiving her first birthday card in the mail from her cousin Melvin, stationed overseas. Her birthday occurs later in the week.

 

On the Tuesday, April 19th we went to Charlottesville to play at the Discovery Museum. Here are some pictures of our time there.

 

 

 

I love this shot becuase you can see Alex trying to pose, while little little sister Jordan attempts to whack her a ball :)

 

and they also had a bee hive.....oh la la.  Here's Jordan trying to find the Queen.
 

and a close up shot at them hard at work

 

On this one you can really see the pollen he's collected back to the hive

 

Okay and lastly about the bees, check out this old preserved nest hanging from the ceiling.

 

Alright and back to the kids fun....

 

Then to hang out on the square....playing & visiting quaint shops

 

 
and before we go, a visit our favorite gourmet popcorn shop...every flavor a kid could want.

 


It was a good second day on our family spring break :)

 

Lastly, for your viewing pleasure- I captured the dance of the honey bee. It amazes me how they have this built in GPS system for finding and communicating to others the location of food. Yet I myself, can't even remember which aisle my weekly groceries are in.

 

 

April 18th- Project Wild Class

So Monday was the start of my spring break. I decided to take the first day and just do what I wanted to do. Which meant that I enrolled in a free "Project Wild" training class. It was so great. To be in class, surrounded by teachers, homeschoolers, naturalists, all learning about ways to engage youth in nature. The hubby stayed home with the girls and I had the entire day to myself and my nature studies. Here's a little of what we did.

We looked around for signs of wildlife....do you see the bullfrog?

 

We talked about camouflage and created make-believe animals to hide/blend into nature. Can you see my snake in tree?

 

We learned about different adaptations and created a bird based on it's environment. We looked at types of beaks, feat, wings, claws, etc.. .

 

We also went through about 4 other activities that could be recreated in the classroom or a nature club.

I fell in love with this hive....and spent probably too much time staring at it.
 

 
 

I see a new hobby forming in my mind as I reflect on the day.....any bee keepers out there?

April 16-17th/ Civil War & Emancipation Proclamation Day

Here in  Virginia- April 16th is Civil War/Emancipation Day.  Lots of museums are open and free on Civil War/Emancipation Day  in Richmond and it's a great opportunity to get out and learn about history and celebrate the end of slavery.

We started at: The Black History Museum

learning about prominate local business owners

 
Bust of Oliver Hill.

The actual lunch counter of many "sit ins"

 

Early photographs of students. I wish today's kids dressed up more for school.

 

hand made dolls....each with a receipe for life.

Local art of children

 

Then we went off to The Valentines Museum

 

Slave shackles....

 black memorabilia
 

Sitting in a recreation box of Henry Brown.  We love this beautifully illustrated book which tells his story.

 

Then we went to eat here to eat, the popular winner of a "Bobbly Flay" barbecue cookoff

 
 

 Sunday was Aunt Jenny's birthday and you know how we love our Sunday sweets.

 

and the girls had a leisurely day playing in grandma's backyard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 11-15/ Life in Mommytography

Here's a pretty typical week (evenings) for us. It was actually a fairly quiet one. 

On Monday I played a game of checkers with Alex and a game of Mouse Trap w/Jordan (or atleast we attempted before someone threw some of the parts in the bushes)

 

 

On Tuesday, we stopped by Whole Foods for this spring treat and read Easter books.

 

On Wednesday, we stopped by the library and noticed this kids lego competition going on. Note to self- remove flash when photographing through glass.

 

On Thursday, I watched Alex  from the porch playing basketball w/ Trevor and realized her game is getting a lot better :)

 

On Friday, I heard a lot of noise coming from upstairs and decided to sneak up & photograph whatever my eyes saw.... Jordan on her bed playing this old cat & mouse whistle.

 

and Alex talking to herself as she researched & illustrated the Grey Wolf (completely self-initiated)

 

Does your child like to do research? We have two versions of this series that I think are priceless. One set was my husbands from childhood and the other was a thrifting find. Both are probably early 1980's but you buy can a more recent set for a few shiny pennies. We use these books for everything and right now Alex reading through the science book & I highlight sentences for morning cursive copywork. 

Is there a series or set of books that you  highly recommend?

Wedding Blessings

On Sunday, grandad (hubby's dad) had a blessing ceremony in town for his recent marriage this past winter. Here are some of the pictures I managed to take.

Grandad and Ms. Margaret ( I know, their eyes are closed)

 

Greeting after the ceremony- grandad, hubby & the girls

 

A lovely praise dancer, Alex & her cousin were mesmorized by her beauty & gracefulness

 

Uncle Jonathan (hubby's brother) & Fiance Ivory...the next wedding we'll be attending

Aunt Jenny (hubbys sister) and Jordan 

 
Aunt Novel & Alex (or should I say, Great Aunt)

 

I love this shot of hubby & Jordan
 

and this one of him & Alex dancing...

 

and this one of Kennedy sneaking & eating up all the cake!

 

It was a beautiful ceremony/event. Wishing you all the best grand dad!

 

and now for the riverdancing styles of Jordan.......

Raising Giants......April 9th continued

So if you read the post right before (or after?) this one, you saw that we had our Nature Class on Saturday. We'll after that on the way home, we saw the YMCA was having a "healthy family" festival and we stopped in really quickly....

The girls rode the ponies (and that's one of my former 8th grade students, who I loved- just a very cool kid) now  a senior in highschool.

 

 

 

Alex tried the rock climbing wall...

 

Then home to rest and later out to Saxons for some new sneakers & dress shoes. Which to our surprise- our 6 (nearly 7) year old is now wearing a WOMANS SIZE 8.5 shoe!!!  I mentioned earlier that she's a giant and has always been off the height charts (literally). Her little sister is the same way, so much so that we were looking at tests to make sure there aren't some glandular issues somewhere. Needless to say, she's super excited about getting to wear grown up shoes......and now my troubles really begin.

 

We finished up our day with some dessert while my husband & I tried to figure out how we were going to afford clothing our giant children.......anyone aware of an adult shoe line that has "child friendly" styles?

 

Aprils Nature Class: Trees!

Aprils Nature class was all about trees. In the beginning we listened to stories and explored boxes containing large seeds and leaves previously collected on their grounds. The coolest was handling a huge coconut seed/shell (obviously not homegrown).

Outdoors the girls made rubbings of different kinds of trees to see how their markings were different.

 

 We also talked about the different types of leaves and how to identify them.....before heading out to do a leaf hunt.

 

We took the cards outside (2 sets) and one set was scattered about, while the presenter held one up for the girls to find and bring back

 

Lastly, they made these "tree" vests and I'm posting the directions/cards below.
 

 

 

 

 
 


 

and here's the vest being modeled by Jordan....

 

Lastly, a quick shot of Kennedy. I feel like the baby gets left out a lot on the blog but trust me, she's always right there with us, trying to be a big girl like her sisters.

 

 

So, if you're in the area and want to join us, see the link above :)