Our Latest Monday Adventure

Since Monday’s are Greg’s days off, and since he stays quite busy with grad school and work, we really try to take advantage of our family time on Monday.  We still have a full school day, but we also make the effort to add in a family adventure.  Yesterday’s was more fun than we expected:  we went out to the Narrows of the Harpeth in the Harpeth River State Park.

I had researched it online, but still didn’t know quite what to expect.  Harpeth River State Park is pretty spread out, and I wanted to go to the place where there was a large, manmade tunnel, through which the river ran.  From the pictures online, it seemed like that area was a popular swimming hole, and we wanted the kids to have another chance to swim while the weather was still warm.  We followed the signs to the Narrows of the Harpeth and parked along the river.  I didn’t know where the tunnel was, but the instructions at the parking lot told us where to find the trailhead. 

When we got there, we saw there were three trails, and one looked too fun (and short) to resist:

Inspired by the thought of some cool views, we began our ascent:

The trail was short and easy and before long, we got to see some fun views:

It ended rather anti-climatically with a sign that said to turn around!

Another view on the way down:

In the above picture, you can see the rock they sat on for the earlier pic.  And the canoes in the river below give a sense of how high we were.  It was so pretty, although we did have to keep a close eye on our stumble-prone children!

I thought the trails themselves and the woods around them were so pretty that day:

When we got back down, we took the short trail to the tunnel:

We were shocked to see that there was a “No Swimming” sign!  I had seen so many pictures online of people swimming and so we came prepared with bathing suits and everything.  I had really pictured a place to change and maybe some picnic tables for lunch…but nope!  We were out in the middle of nowhere.  Greg searched online to make sure there weren’t any legitimate reasons for not swimming (was the water poisoned??), and after he was satisfied that it was just a liability thing, we let the kids change outside and swim.  Since there was absolutely no one around, Greg eventually changed and swam also, but I decided not to risk it:).

After wading around for a few minutes, the kids and I tried to climb up to the tunnel from the left.  It was too slippery.  So they headed around with Greg to the right hand side.  From there, Greg was able to help them both into the tunnel.

They were both so proud of themselves.  Luke told me throughout the trip that he felt like Bilbo Baggins. 

At this point, I put my camera down and went around to join them.  I found a great handhold that let us easily lift ourselves into the tunnel, so Greg joined us, too.  Together, we walked to the other side, declaring ourselves to be on SUCH a grand adventure.  You could easily see the other side through the tunnel, and it ended up coming out right under where we parked!  Luke was all for going and getting our stuff and exiting this way, but it would have really been a hassle to get our backpack and lunch bag up into the tunnel with us.  Besides, the kids wanted to swim a little more.

I honestly thought it would be easier to jump out of the tunnel than to climb down, so we sent Greg down to see if the water was deep enough and free of rocks.  It turned out to be quite shallow, which made jumping a no-go.  So we all climbed down, and the kids swam some more.

We had picked up these “Junior Ranger” handbooks from Long Hunter State Park last week.  Anna brought hers along and was a very dutiful Junior Ranger throughout our hike….

…well, except when it came to obeying the safety signs!  Here, she is crossing off things for a scavenger hunt.  I believe she had just seen a water strider.

While they swam, Greg explored the rocks.  He was pointing out a spider to Luke when he saw what he thought was a baby copperhead.

Of course, Anna had to come see it, and Greg took a picture.  But under the assumption that the snake’s mama was nearby, we decided to leave.  Later, Greg googled the snake and determined that it was actually a Northern water snake, which was not poisonous.  Phew!

Here is Luke at the start of the trail back.  Again, I just thought the trails were so beautiful!

Verdant.  That’s the word that kept coming to mind.

Since we never did find a picnic site, we loaded up and drove to another part of the park which had one:

It was a nice quiet table in the middle of beautiful greenery.  The trail it was located by was known for its wildflowers.  I meandered around a bit and marveled at the beauty.

An exploration for another day…

It started to sprinkle around then, and I was fighting off a migraine, so it was time to head home for quiet time and some more traditional schoolwork.

When we got home, it was back to the grindstone as we began our regular school week.  I’m loving our Monday adventures and hope that there are many more to come!

Weekly Wrap-up: August 10-16

Yesterday evening, Greg looked at me and remarked, “Week 2 of homeschool, down.”  And I replied, “I know!  It makes me sad—I only have 34 weeks to go!”  I get that that is a crazy answer, but honestly, that’s how I feel after SUCH a good week of school—and of life.

It started, of course, with our early morning trip home through the mountains on Sunday.  The views, while not as dramatic as on our Saturday drive, were still beautiful.  We got to church early, and enjoyed a wonderful service.  Afterward, we somehow ended up taking three extra kids home with us.  But first, we stopped to eat at Dairy Queen after church with our friends, the Peters, and Kevin and two teens:

On Monday, we had family day and went for a walk at Long Hunter State Park.  Upon arriving, we saw a deer right beside the playground.  It let us get incredibly close.

After watching the deer (and playing on the playground for a few minutes), we began our two mile walk around the lake.  There were several decks over the lake that let you get a good look at the water.

The kids also had fun climbing on the rocks:

And the trees…

Toward the end of our walk, there was a long bridge that crossed the lake.

(No idea what Anna is doing in the background.)

Here are our treasures from the walk:

Afterward, we drove to another section of the lake and had a good swim.  I was impressed at how much both my kids, but especially Anna, swam after their hike.  Anna stroked so well, and basically entertained herself by swimming long distances (with Greg or me right beside her) across the cove.  It made me realize that she might do really well at a kids’ triathlon.  I checked when I got home and there are none nearby until next year, but it’s something I’m going to keep in the back of my mind.  Luke, Greg, and Anna also spent tons of time skipping rocks, which they all love.

We picked up Zaxby’s on the way home and then the kids and I did school while Greg worked at Y.E.S. for the afternoon.  That night we had a quiet dinner, which wrapped up a fun, peaceful day.

Tuesday was a full school day, topped off by a visit from some friends from Summerville, Larry and David Salley.  David is a student at Harding and spent the night on the way back to school.  That evening, we all watched Hook:

On Wednesday morning, we took a field trip to Belle Meade plantation for their “Tennessee Timeline” homeschool day.

There were a ton of homeschoolers there.  The picture above captures about half of them!

The day consisted of a kind of “scavenger hunt” where you walked around and found historical figures.  They would tell about their life, and the kids were supposed to answer questions about them on their scavenger hunt sheet.

We met a female pilot who witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack, the state senator who broke the tie on the women’s suffrage vote, an early settler of Ft. Nashborough, and a Civil War soldier.  Once the kids got tired of walking around and meeting people, they moved on to the craft portion:

Here, they made origami irises (the iris is Tennessee’s state flower), paper-and-lightbulb lightning bugs (TN’s state insect), and raccoon masks (the state animal?).  They also learned about the mockingbird, our state bird, and watched videos of the bird sounding like a car alarm.

Afterward, we had a picnic lunch and then walked around the grounds:

When we got home, I ended up taking a nap during the kids’ quiet time.  When I woke up, Luke had made a cool symmetrical design from our pattern shapes, and I made myself a sweet coffee drink to help energize me:).

We then got a few more hours of school in before heading to church.

Thursday morning was piano.  During Anna’s lesson, Luke worked on his cursive handwriting.  He was feeling so empowered by thinking up his own words to write in cursive (as opposed to copying them from a sheet) that he wanted to do part of his state book in cursive, as well.  I was thrilled by his enthusiasm.

This week, we learned about Washington state.  Each week, I’m wanting to focus on a different state, and part of our study will be filling out pages to make a state book.

After school that afternoon, we went to the Steeds’ Minecraft party, which was super fun!

The kids had a blast playing Minecraft-related games and making their own Minecraft faces.  There were so many cute ideas, and my friend, Courtney, did a great job!

As fun as the rest of the week was, Friday was probably our best day.  The kids’ had a great attitude all day, and I was struck by what a joy they are to teach. 

We finished A Lion to Guard Us on Friday, and they filled out their little book log for it (I got them last year for $1 each at Target).  This is their second book log entry of the school year, and both times, I’ve been impressed by the level of detail they’ve both put into their illustrations.  The picture above is Luke’s, but Anna’s was good, too.

Speaking of Anna:  on Friday, I checked her math assignment from Thursday, and I was just so impressed with my little first grader!

The math itself was not necessarily hard (writing numbers in expanded notation, greater/less than, and adding/subtracting 1, 10, or 100 from numbers), but her thoroughness and proper formatting were just impressive to me.

For math on Fridays, we are going to take a break on Singapore math and instead do Beast Academy, which is a curriculum for “advanced 3rd graders.”  The text book is in comic-book format, and the workbooks are designed to make the student think harder and more “outside the box.”  Today, we read about acute, right, and obtuse angles.  In the workbook, one of the things they had to do was solve mazes by tracing only acute (or obtuse) angles.  It was honestly pretty challenging:

I helped Anna for some of it, but they both worked very hard.  Whenever Luke completed one, he gave a shout of victory, and at the end, he declared, “This math is awesome!”  I LOVE when I get an “awesome” to describe schoolwork!

After quiet time that day, the kids designed their “postcard” for Science.  Our current Science curriculum is structured like a journey to learn about Earth, and after every lesson, you are supposed to make a postcard “telling the folks at home all about it.”  These “postcards” are just plain pieces of cardstock cut in half.  The kids draw a picture of their lesson on the front and describe it on the back.  Honestly, it is a total “classical education” assignment.  No worksheets—just use your brain.

On these postcards, the kids drew and labeled the troposhere, stratosphere, and mesosphere, and then described those three layers of the lower atmosphere on the back.  Good stuff!

Then they finished up their state sheets before the three of us played our first-ever round of Sequence: States and Capitals.

This game elicited the second “awesome” of the day.  Afterward, we had a devo to prep us for shopping for our Magi Project boxes, but before we left for Target, I had to let the kids play another round of Sequence.  That led to yet another nice homeschool moment as I straightened the kitchen and listened to the kids dutifully saying, “Boise, Idaho,” or “Bismarck, North Dakota” as they played their chips.

The umpteenth nice homeschool moment of the day came on the way home from Target, bags full of stuff for the Magi Project, when the kids were completing their Latin assignment while listening to classical music.  My feeling of personal contentment was total.

We stopped off at a playground on the way home to give them some time to run around and exercise.  Then we returned and stuffed our boxes before dinner:

After dinner, we ate dessert (ice cream) while watching The Indian in the Cupboard, a $5 Target purchase.  Luke talked me into it, citing the fact that we had already read it this summer.

Honestly, the movie itself was not that good, which led to a series of sneaky, snarky texts between Greg and me:

Poor acting and overdramatic score aside, it was a lovely evening spent with family.  That night in bed, Luke told Greg that he wanted to get up early and cook breakfast for me.  And that’s how I ended up lying in bed this morning while the smells of bacon and coffee drifted through the house.  Luke made pancakes with Greg, and Anna cracked all the eggs for scrambled eggs.  At one point Greg brought me coffee in bed, and Anna stopped in to get some ribbon so that she could “make a surprise for Daddy.”  In moments like that, I am almost overwhelmed by the love my family has for each other.  It really feels sometimes that my life is a dream, and I can’t imagine being happier.  I’m sorry to gush, but it’s true.  And as always, I want to remember these moments of joy, to savor them and be so thankful for them.  Every moment is a gift, and you never know what’s around the corner.

But for now, I just enjoy lovely breakfasts with my family, and lazy Saturdays where the kids play video games while I write blogs about our life:).