2013 Field Trips: The Letchworth State Park, NY

While visiting family, we took the advantage of good fall weather and took a day trip to the Letchworth State Park in New York. Our main goal was to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and changing leaves, but we were treated to much more.

The kids got to see a 'real live' dam.

The park was rich in fall color and in trees we do not see in Texas. Beside the maple tree, the kids learned to recognize the birch and the weeping willow.

More falling water! The Upper Falls at the Letchworth Park.

This is known as the 'Grand Canyon of the East'.

2013 Field Trips: The Niagara Falls, NY

We arrived to the city of Niagara Falls in the evening and were able to see the falls lit up at night and also in the day light the next morning. It is a powerful sight. I was surprised to see how much mist the falling water can produce - there was so much of it, one could not see the Canadian side of the falls at all! The other thing that surprised me, was how close people could get to the rushing water. Everything was safe and secure, but still very close. 

The Horseshoe Falls lit up at night. This is probably the best known waterfall of the group of three known as the Niagara Falls.

Saara's favorite part of the falls was the rapids.

The Horseshoe Falls.

One needs a rain jacket, not because it is raining, but because of the mist the falls is splashing up. Our family on our 10th wedding anniversary.

Here's a good overview of the islands and falls.

The American Falls.

The Bridal Veil.

2013 Field Trips: Smoke Hole Caverns, WV

Ever since Andrew learned about caves two years ago, I have desired to visit one. Finally the day dawned and what an experience it was! Smoke Hole Caverns in West Virginia is not just any random cave, it is truly an amazing place. We walked 1/3 mile inside a mountain while on top of us loomed 362 solid feet of the same mountain. Smoke Hole Caverns is world famous because of the world biggest ribbon stalactite which we saw in person as well. Pictures I took do not come even close to the beauty of all the rock formations we saw with our own eyes. Both kids were so full of wonder and amazement. For them, it was like stepping into the world of fairy tales. I believe, we all are still pretty spellbound by what we saw. 

The name - Smoke Hole - was given to the caverns by the settlers who saw smoke rising from the caves. The local Indian tribes used to stick meat into the crevices of the cave ceiling and then build a fire on the floor, so the smoke would cook the meat.

We thought that the beginning of the tour was pretty amazing, but we were completely blown away when we reached the deeper 'rooms' of the caverns.

There it is - the world famous ribbon stalactite (weighing 2 1/2 tons).

Because the stalactites and stalagmites are living formations, we were allowed to touch only certain ones in the cave. 

The Queen's Canopy.

Isn't this gorgeous?

By the way, one can make music with rocks as well:

'13/14 Week 6 Day 4

There! Our last day done. Not for the year, of course, but before our fall break. 

As it was our last day, we took it easy. That is not the same as lazy by far. It just means, we got all the necessary work done with plenty of break time in-between.

Andrew's science was a twirling time of fun! We learned about our ears and how they help us balance. The kids got dizzy (all for science!) while spinning around, but now they know why it happens. We demonstrated it also with some glitter in a jar. That was Saara's favorite part to watch the glitter specks go round and round. 

Andrew also learned the value of using reference materials. During his writing practice, I told him, if he does not know how to write a certain word, he needs to find the book that talks about the subject. Like for the word 'zebra', Andrew pulled out his science book. We need to keep it up and very soon Andrew will get his very own dictionary.

But now - break time!

'13/14 Week 6 Day 3

To start off, here is a little green guy we met in my rosebush yesterday afternoon. It took a while for Andrew to spot it in the foliage. It had a perfect camouflage.

The things we did today that the children repeated in chorus "let's do it again!" 

First, critical thinking exercise (Saara) called for reading a fable about a crow and how he brought the water level up in a pitcher by adding one pebble at a time. We tried it too and looked for the moral of the story (not in the water, in the story). I must say, it is one of my favorite fables: little by little a task can be accomplished, mile after mile we will reach our destination, one math exercise after another we will get the workbook lesson finished, etc.

Second, outside, we played a few ball games - 'the bossy ball', 'the roman ball', and dribbling around cones. I played along, and it was a lot of fun. Truly!

PE. I taped pieces of tape onto Saara's ball and wrote some commands on them, like throw/catch the ball standing on one leg or throw/catch while singing, etc. I got the idea from internet.

The other idea from the internet was the 'roman ball': the ball bounces once in the circle and whoever catches it before it bounces again gets to bounce the ball next.

'13/14 Week 6 Day 2

What do you say about days that go well, but without any bells and whistles? 'A good day' sounds so boring. And yet, it was a good day. We worked on all our subjects except Language Arts. That class was taken up by Saara's ballet. She is truly loving all the leaping and prancing and twirling and the positions they are learning. Meanwhile, Andrew is working on his math and making friends with other 'big brothers' waiting for their ballerina sisters to get out of their class. 

'13/14 Week 6 Day 1

This is our last week before our first serious fall break. Four more days of studying and then two weeks of vacation. 

Keeping that in mind, we did a lot of good work today in all the subjects. 

It is becoming more and more clear to me that Andrew is good at reading, but slow at writing. I have also seen that practice makes Andrew better and better. So, that's our plan of action when it comes to writing. 

Bible. Constructing houses for the Israelites.

The children used grass blades to add red paint (lamb's blood) over and around the doors.

Saara's Science. Saara learned today about the plants sucking up water and what happens to the leftover water. I think, we have done the celery experiment at least three times. It never gets old. The kids are still full of wonder when they see the celery leaves turn blue.

Saara's third plant project was creating a self-watering terrarium. We got the pebbles from our creek bed, the charcoal from an old fire pit, and the compost from my compost pile. The hardest part was to find some small enough plants to live in the terrarium. But we found those as well.

2/3s of  Saara's science project. The plastic over one of my potted plants was supposed to show the excess water escaping through the leaves. It did. But I almost killed the plant because I forgot it outside.

Andrew's Science. Andrew had some noisy experiments demonstrating the works of our vocal cords. Here's the balloon making a terribly loud sound. I am 'horrified' because now Andrew can give an absolutely valid excuse for the screeching balloon 'screams': "But, Mom, this is science!"

Andrew was trying to strike up a one-man-band with all the different vibrating 'things'.