Monday, September 21, 2009

Dunes


September is the best time to visit the Oregon coast. We were there for 5 sunny days and only had a bit of rain one morning. We also enjoyed the campground, beach, lake and dunes mostly by ourselves. Most of the dunes we hiked were untouched.


C and A had never experienced the dunes. We have been to the Oregon coast many times, but usually our focus is visiting the tide pools or the Oregon Coast Aquarium. C was awestruck when we crossed the bridge heading South from Florence. She saw the first dune rising up so high that her jaw dropped and I thought her eyes would pop right out of her head. She shared with us that she was expecting sand piles about as high as our living room ceiling. Was she ever surprised and excited.

We stayed at Carter Lake Campground about 8 miles South of Florence. This is the same campground that Gramma P took Daddy and Uncle B to as boys. Our campsite had a dune trail heading right up from it. The girls were in heaven. Oh to be able to share the joy of hiking up then jumping down the dunes with our kids for the first time. They LOVED it!




At our campground there was plenty of excitement too. We watched as a rotten tree broke and fell across the road in the campground. We painted and read books. A rode her bike nearly every waking moment we were there.


Kite flying was a must for all of us and there was just enough wind to make it so enjoyable.


Thanks to Gramma P, Papa B and Uncle B there were plenty of grownups to help keep the kids busy with seeing new things. At the lake, we saw an otter, osprey and egret. A few campsites away from us we even identified bear scat. Yes, there was a bear enjoying all the ripe berries in our campground. On the dunes and the beach it was fun trying to identify all sorts of tracks in the sand. At one point where a river was running into the ocean, we watched salmon from the ocean swimming upstream into the river. What an amazing sight.


After we were all packed up this morning, we managed to squeeze in one last hike and geocache. A fell in love with a fuzzy caterpillar which we had to convince her was happier if he found his family than if we took him home.

We were sad to say goodbye to the dunes, but warm showers and fresh sheets were awaiting at home.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Made Up


While reading a bedtime story to A, she says, "Aw, they are coming to friends." What she meant is they are becoming friends. Is it wrong to let her say this or shall I correct her? I love these years of made-up phrases & words.

Red, White & Blue





Yesterday we learned about the pledge of allegiance and the United States flag. What does it mean to make a promise, be loyal and respectful? They learned some good lessons. I made a snack to go along with the theme and the girls enjoyed it. Well, at least they seemed to enjoy it. C ate hers and then leaned towards me and said, "thanks but, I didn't really like that." Meanwhile A would have easily enjoyed C's if she'd offered!

Our Adventures in Homeschooling



Our adventure has been going since the girls were born, but this week things are more serious, more on purpose. We started with Adventures in My Father's World along with Right Start Mathematics. C (age 7) and A (age 4) were perfect little students yesterday. A was not as attentive today since she caught a moth which was immediately her best friend. It was named "Mothie" and went everywhere with her today. She didn't even want to stop to eat lunch because she didn't want it to be alone. It must seem strict, but I forbid eating with insects at the table.