More From Virginia City

A quaint little town...

The Way It Was Museum- Historic Virginia City

We took a field trip to Virgnia City.  This is such a neat little town.  As you walk down the board sidewalks you are taken back in time. 
In the 19th century this was a booming mining town.  The mountains were full of gold and silver and  turning folks into millionares.  It was the most important settlement between Denver and San Francisco. 
We stopped in The Way It Was Museum to learn something new.  This museum was full of artifacts from the period. 

I am not sure if you can tell in this picture but the water pipes were made of wood and then wrapped in wire. 

Timbers used in building this "Square Set" and thousands like it came from Lake Tahoe region.   Most of them were floated down the mountains in "V" flumes to the Carson River(and other locations along the river).  Then they were hauled up the mountains to Virginia City. 

This "cage" is one of the older ones used to lower miners into the comstocks.  No safety features here...they were added later.  Men would just hold onto the iron bar in the middle.  More men died from accidents on the cage than on the mine floor

Don't think anyone could get into that safe. 

Okay...my biggest fear!! Snakes and not just any snake...the rattlesnake.  I am hoping to NEVER run into one of these guys.  So far so good.

Nevada's state flag at the time it was admitted into statehood.  October 13, 1864

Now I thought this was the sweetest thing.

I am not sure I would've been brave enough to sit in this dentist chair.  Notice the tools(on the tray)!! Yikes!!

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!!