Weekly Wrap Up- We're Back!

  

I have been reading on other homeschool blogs their "Weekly Wrap-Up".  It's a weekly meme hosted by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers  where homeschoolers can share the happenings of their week.  It sounded fun and thought we would join in too. 
This was our official first week back since the big move across the Pacific Ocean.  It went pretty good!! It is   a great feeling for normal life to begin again.  
Anywho...Silly Guy started studying flowers and plants this week in Christian Kids Explore Biology. We don't have many plants or flowers at our new house.  We did find some snapdragons along the fence.  Perfect for a little science dissection!
He dissected this guy here...


After taking the flower apart he made a page for his science notebook labeling the parts he found.

One project we created this week...planting a fall garden in front of the house by the entry.   

We bought some mums, pansies, and kale.  The kids worked very hard and were so proud with the end result.  It added some color and life to the house.

What started out as Silly Guy's "Science Project" turned into a family project.  It was great fun!!

 In art this week we studied John James Audubon's "Blue Heron" from the Birds of America collection.  Click here to check out the website we are using for the picture study.  I hadn't prepared anything ahead of time since I'm still unpacking.  We always enjoy picture studies.  Not only do we learn a lot from studying the art of others but it's a great last minute lesson. 

   

(Sweet Girl's "Blue Heron")

In History we are at about the middle of A History of US Book 3, getting into the American Revolution.  The kids and I are captivated by the brave American's who paved the way for our freedom.  It is truly inspiring.  I am so glad I decided to teach  them American History together.  It's sparking great discussion.  Moments like these I feel so blessed to be homeschooling them:)

Silly Guy finished reading And Then What Happened Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz.  He loved this book and the story of Paul Revere.  Today he started reading a great book The Sign of the Beaver  by Elizabeth George.  We are currently reading aloud Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes.  When we pulled it off the bookshelf Sweet Girl's eyes lit up(she remembered reading it a few years ago).  I have to say I am loving this story as much as Silly Guy:)
This week Silly Guy has been writing a business letter.  He chose to write to The Trash Pros.   They pick up our rubbish and don't have a recycling program.  So, he is writing hoping to persuade them to start a program.
                                                                             (Working hard on math)

This week Sweet Girl started reading Traitor The Case of Benedict Arnold by Jean Fritz for her independent History reading. She has also been reading Indian Captive The Story of Mary Jemison by Louis Lenski for her Literature study.  She is enjoying this book. For her writing assignment she continued working on(week 2 of 3) an 18th century American themed newspaper. The topics included in her newspaper are News, Sports, Entertainment, Editorials, Weather, Obituaries, Cartoons, Advertisments, and Classifieds.  The assignment has had her researching the time period a lot in order to stay authentic.  My husband is always telling her she is a natural reporter. That is because she keeps us very informed with everything.  I mean every little detail, lol.  We'll see dad.

                                                                 (She always finds a cozy spot to read)

Little Man just hanging out this week. He always joins in during art and music. He has had a great time playing with his toys he hasn't seen in almost two months.   Opening up boxes has been like Christmas!!

In the beginning of the week I had Sweet Girl look over Module 2 in Apologia's General Science.  We didn't pack the Science books into the suitcases so I just had her review a bit.  Then she started Module 3 How to Analyze and Interpret Experiments.  Some pictures of her "A Floating Egg?" experiment. 

In this experiment she learned variable changes are useful.  Many times by changing the variable(in this case the salt)new things can be learned... 

                  Saltwater is more dense than pure water. A great way to illustrate the lesson:)

Our week ended with a family game of soccer. The kids vs. their injured father.  He's a trooper!!

So in a nutshell that was our first normal week in a long time.  Very comforting.

Lahontan Reservoir

One day we took a short drive to Lahontan Reservoir.  The reservoir is 17 miles long and has 69 miles of shoreline.  Some of the wildife at the reservoir include wild horses, bobcat, coyote, fox and deer share the park with a variety of birds. Also, it's Nevada's only known nesting area for bald eagles.  We did see what we thought were coyote tracks while walking along the beach. 
A very peaceful and quiet place. We were the only people around. We did see a couple of boats in the water as we were driving past the northern end. 
We took our pup's with us.  Roxy girl had a blast playing fetch in the water. 

 Sweet Girl could hardly wait to jump in with her Roxy girl.  Little Man wasn't far behind.  We didn't bring our suits because when we left the hotel it was in the 70's.  However, the reservoir is in the middle of the desert. It was at least 90 degrees and FULL sun.  Suits or no suits we had to get cooled off.

Silly Guy has been a little spoiled by the blue Hawaiian water.  He didn't want anything to do with the brown water, he he ;)

Skyscapes and Landscapes

Nevada’s sky and landscapes are quite different from anything I have ever seen.

I had to grab my camera when I saw these clouds.  Yes, they were actually red!

While the sun is setting the sky changes into the most vivid colors. I love to just sit and watch the sky change from blue-to purple-to orange-to red-back into purple… Meanwhile the mountains change from brown-to green, to blue…It is so serene!

The sky is so vast.  At night it’s crystal clear and seems as if you could reach up and grab a star.  We have become quite interested in star gazing.       

The land is wide open, untouched, primitive.  Very beautiful!

Celebrating 10

While we were in our temporary quaters, The Navy Lodge, we celebrated Silly Guy's 10th birthday.   We went to the local bowling alley to celebrate and afterward to DQ for a birthday sundae. He had a great day!! 

Hidden Cave Trail

After we hiked the petroglyph trail(and the rain stopped)we hiked up to the caves.  The sign said these caves were used as shelter to the Ancient Americans inhabiting this area. 

There is just something about caves that are so mysterious.  The kids were facinated!!  

We only made it to the Picnic Cave because we weren't sure what the weather was going to do. The rain had stopped but the sky was looking kind of mean.

We all agree we will have to go back and explore more!

 

Sweet Girl  wanted to continue on.  So I climbed with her to the top of this sort of steep, rocky mountain.  Note to self...next time...don't wear sneakers!!  It was very slippery.  We literally slid down(and up), lol. 

This is the cave we found at the top. 

The boys stayed at the Picnic Cave while we climbed. When we came down Silly Guy was eager to show me what he did.  He had tucked his sketchbook and pencil into his back pocket when we got out of the van.   While we were climbing he found a comfy rock and sketched the cave.  He did a great job.  It was a good moment!      

Petroglyph Hike at Grimes Point

We went hiking on the Petroglyph Hike at Grimes Point.  The hike is located at what was once ancient Lake Lahontan.  Over 12,000 years ago this entire area was under about 700 feet of water.  However, when the early Americans lived here much of the area was above water.  

  

 One of the oldest petroglyph styles is the wavy or circular lines dating back to around 3,000 years old. 

 Ancient Lake Lahontan

 The straighter or angular lines are newer from 500-2,000 years old.  Some of the petroglyphs we could make out shapes.  We thought this one maybe resembled a rainbow. 

 This style of petroglyph dates back 7,000 years.  The Pit and Groove are thought to be the oldest at Grimes Point.  They were made by striking the boulder surface with a rock. 

While we were hiking we didn't even realize the storm that was sneaking up on us. It started downpouring rain and the temperature dropped about 25 degrees. 

My chilly kiddos!



On Our Way

After the airport chaos we picked up the van and hit the road.  It was a 5 1/2 hour trip. Which doesn't sound like that big of a trip but when you live on an island 5 1/2 hours seems long.  It was great though.  We were exhausted but excited. 

This picture was taken as we were driving past San Francisco. The clouds were wild!  They were level with the horizon. The picture isn't very good because it was taken from my car window while on the highway but it was so neat I had to share.

As we were driving through California...

Then we headed up the Sierra Nevada.  It was such a beautiful drive.  There was a rest stop toward the top in the Tahoe National Forest.  The kids(and doggies) had fun playing in this teepee. 

Little Man was ready to camp out and didn't want to leave. 

 

Here are some pictures as we were driving up the Sierra Nevada. We were so high up in the mountains.  I was a bit nervous with all of the turns and downhill slopes.  I was very thankful my husband was driving.

Sweet Girl ready to go hiking

Silly Guy found something to climb

Our Last Day on Oahu

Our last day on the island was a beautiful Hawaiian day!  We decided we would take a walk around historic Ford Island.  We stopped to take pictures of the USS Utah Memorial and then relaxed by the waters edge.

It was bittersweet leaving Oahu.  As much as we missed the mainland, it was our home for four years. We made some great friends, became involved with some amazing homeschool groups, and had many adventures.  

We are here

We made it to Nevada! Yay! 
It was quite the move but we are here now and starting to get settled.  After a month and 10 days in a hotel room(not that I was counting), we moved into our new house last week. 
Hubby and I have had our hands full with painting, ripping out carpeting, unpacking, major weeding, etc.  We would wake up, eat and start working until about 10 o'clock at night.  I look back over the past week and I still can't believe how much we've done.  Now that we have taken care of the "must be done" list we are taking the next week or so off to get back to routine. 
It sounds like an easy thing.  Right?
Well, while we were in the hotel we were so bad and let routine fly right out of the window.  Which in at least one way was very good.  My Little Man is now potty trained because of that routine flying out of the window. Big Yay!!  Other than that...bedtime, wake up time, mealtime, schooltime, chores, etc. are all things that have to get back to normal.   I am looking forward to normal routine again.  I think that is what I missed most over the past month or so...a normal routine and also my oven.  I couldn't wait to bake a batch of cookies (did Sunday)and through a lasagna in the oven.  Which I am planning on doing tomorrow :)