Weekly Wrap Up - The one with the awesome fieldtrip

It's been awhile since I've posted a weekly wrap up.  We've done a lot of fun and interesting things over the last few weeks but I somehow always forget until Sunday to post the wrap up!

Monday was a normal day for us of running all around.  We got all our school work done in the morning, had lunch, and packed the kids up for our musical theater class with the Tom Thumb Players and then speech for Green Bubbles.  Only one more week of class and then it's time for the play!  Little Miss and Green Bubbles love the class.  They were assigned their roles last week and they both are playing the part of food.  Green Bubbles is bread dough and Little Miss is an onion.  Can't wait to see the final product!

I'm always thankful for days we are home all day long without any errands.  On Tuesday, I took the kids on a walk through the neighborhood stopping occasionally to dig for worms for a science experiment we are doing.  We also stopped by our local polling place and I made all three of them wait with me while I voted. I had my Mother-in-law take the bigs to swim lessons and I took advantage by trying to clean the house.  Megatron had other ideas so I didn't get my entire list done, but it made me feel better to make some progress.

I kept our Wednesday trip a secret from the kids until Tuesday night.  Little Miss has been begging to go back to Sea World ever since we went on our last field trip there.  A friend organized a trip again so we jumped on it.  The educational field trips only last until 1:30pm but that's plenty of time for our family because by then Megatron and Little Miss are ready for naps.  We spent the entire day with some new friends of ours and had so much fun.

The kids were able to see penguins, turtles, sharks, bulga whales, orcas, some walruses, and of course, a lot of fish.  Holiday decorcations were alrady going up as well so I made the kids pose infront of some of them for pictures.  We even got to talk to one of the trainers of the orcas about his job, how he got to be where he is and what other animal training he has done before.  I also was very interested to learn that Sea World San Diego uses the ocean water in Mission Bay for its tanks.  They filter it in, and then after a few hours put it back out into the bay.  The trainer, Conor, told us they put the water back out 80% cleaner.

Unfortunately,  Green Bubbles was starting to feel sick by lunch time.  He actually napped a little in the car on the drive home.  I can't remember the last time he did that.  By the evening he had a slight fever and was vomiting.  Thankfully it was short lived and by Thursday night he was feeling much better!


Since he was sick we did end up finishing our read aloud book, The Witches by Roald Dahl.  We followed it up with the movie they made in 1990 and Green Bubbles told me all the parts that were different between the movie and the book.  The book had him bouncing up and down in excitement.  The movie left him wandering away about halfway through.  Although he did say he enjoyed the ending in the movie much more than the book.

Today we're going to hit park day.  And then it's time for me to get everything together for Little Miss' birthday party tomorrow!  We're going with a My Little Pony theme, but I'm keeping it simple.  No party games, prizes, contests.  Just kids playing on the playground at the local park.  It should be a lot of fun.

Homeschool Day at the Page Museum

 I will start this by saying I really don't like driving into Los Angeles.  I always seem to end up driving through neighborhoods with bars on the windows, peeling paint on the houses, chain link fences, and the most horrible street traffic that makes me thankful I got us there without some type of car accident.  There's only a few things I'm willing to make the drive to L.A. for and they all have to do with museums.

Today was the first Homeschool Day of the school year at the Page Musuem at the La Brea Tar Pits.  It has been years since I've been to the La Brea Tar Pits.  In fact, it was probably a field trip that I went on with my school back in the day and certainly not as an adult.  Last year the homeschool days for the Page Museum were the same day at the Natural History Museum and we always ended up picking the History Museum to go to so my littles have never got to experience the wonderful aroma of the tar pits.

We had so much fun though.  I even managed to get a rare group photo of all three.  Poor Megatron gets left out of a lot of photos still because I'm usually babywearing him when I'm taking photos.  The second part of our trip I did in fact bust out the Ergo and he was able to nap and both the olders got to rock our double stroller.  Green Bubbles loves getting the chance to ride on the back of the stroller and he rarely gets a chance to do so anymore.

The kids really enjoyed wandering the page museum.  We talked about the different types of animals that lived back then.  Green Bubbles loved the short faced bear the best and everytime Little Miss saw a Saber-toothed cat she screamed out lion and was proud to tell everyone that her learning take away from our trip was that they lived a long time ago.

We got to see so many completed skeletons of animals they found in the tar pits.  There are actually a lot more carnivores then herbivores in the collection.  Once a herbivore got stuck in the tar pit, it would cry out for help.  I imagine it sounded very much like a dinner bell to those hungry, oblivious carnivores who didn't see their demise coming. 

They had a cool touch thing for the kids to play with.  Long metal poles were put into a bucket of the tar and you were able to pull them up to see how easy it was for the animals to become trapped.  Green Bubbles worked and worked until he got his up all the way.  He put a lot of force into it!

There had a great little atrium in the middle of the museum which was great for the kids to get some wiggles out as well.  They were able to climb some rocks, view the waterfall, and marvel at the large Koi fish swimming around. 

We managed to go on the tour as well.  Tickets were free, but limited, so unfortunately our friends weren't  able to join us for this part.  Our tour guide took us to the observation pit and explained to us much of the how the animals got stuck, how they were found and excavated, and why the scientists care about what they find in the pits.  Interesting fact:  Scientists actually call the black stuff asphalt. Tar is a man-made material but due to simplicity they call it tar because that's the name most people are familiar with. 

It was interesting to see how the bones look while still in the ground before they are dug out, separated, cleaned up and polished.  I like to think Green Bubbles and Little Miss might have gotten something out of it as well.

We even got to see what a tar pit would have looked like when left alone and why so many animals fell into the sticky trap (although not as many as you would expect!  Only one animal grouping every decade or so).  The leaves cover the tar pit making it very difficult to see.

My favorite part was getting to see the volunteers working on cleaning and sorting the fossils int he museum.  I was so interested in the process I didn't get any pictures of it!  But they accept volunteer workers from 18 years old and up.  There were all ages from young adults to seniors working in the area when we were there.  They were all very friendly and waved to the kids and some held up the fossils they were working on to show it off a little better .

If you ever get a chance to go to the Page Museum, for Homeschool Day or not, you won't regret it.

Southern California Homeschool Day Field Trips - 2014/15

There's been a lot of talk lately in the larger homeschool groups for my area about what type of homeschool days are coming up in our area.  I'm actually surprised no one has made a comprehensive list of all the incredible opportunities we have in our area so I thought I would collect a few here so that there's at least a start of a list going on!  I'm sure there's many I missed and I will try and update this list if I find anymore.  Leave a comment if I forget any!


I've organized it by month, but if you read through it there are other ideas I've listed that are free year round!

August -
Pretend City - Once a month Pretend city has a themed homeschool day where children (and adults) can get in for a discounted price and there are workshops for the children based off of a theme.  While the entire year isn't out yet, the next few months are up on their website.  Reservations are required and the cost is $9/adult and children.  August 15th is Partners in Play: Dragons are not allowed!


September -

Discovery Science Center - For the entire month of September on Wednesdays - Fridays, admission is only $10. For an additional $9.50 students can register for great workshops every Wednesday and they have two different classes, one for 5-6 year olds and the other for 7-12 year olds! Reservations required!

L.A. County Fair -  Free Admission and parking to the L.A. county fair.  This one isn't specifically homeschoolers and public school kids come as well.  But it's still not nearly as crowded as the normal fair and they have some great educational booths and presentations set up. Field trips take place Wednesdays – Fridays, Sept. 4 – 26.  Reservations are required! Just click the enroll now button on the right side of the web page!

Peterson Automobile Museum - September 10th is Homeschool day at The Peterson.  This one isn't free and costs are adults/$13, students with ID/$8, children 3-12/$3, and kids under 3 are free. Reservations are required!  "Join us for a special day of fun and learning at the Petersen for homeschool families! Take a guided tour of the Museum with our trained docents; participate in fun, hands-on, car-related educational activities; meet students and families from other homeschool communities; and learn about the history of the automobile and its influence on Los Angeles!"


Not-Back-To-School-Day @ Disneyland - This one is every September and this year is September 10th.  While there are no official discounts for getting into Disneyland, there are a lot of homeschoolers around.  You can spot other homeschoolers easily by all the tie-dye as well!  And if you do want to add some real school into your day instead of just fun, Celebration Education offers classes at Disneyland including one on Not Back To School Day.

Aquarium of the Pacific - September 17th and 18th.  Tickets are only $6/person (must be purchased in advance).  They open up the classrooms for the homeschoolers to wander in and out as they please, as well as the rest of the aquarium to explore.  You still have to pay for parking, but it's a great deal for an incredible aquarium!  

Pretend City - September 19th: Play your way. Reservations are required, cost is $9/adult and $9/child. 

October

San Diego - Kids are free in October at museums and zoos in San Diego!  There's a lot to list so just follow the link!  You can download the coupon here.

Pretend City -  Oct 17th: Play your way.  Reservations are required, cost is $9/adult and $9/child.

Page Museum - The 22nd.  Admission is free, just pay parking.  Make an entire day of it and visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art right next door, walking distance even for my littles!  The art museum always offers free admission to children and one adult per child as well!  The theme for the Page Museum this day is L.A. Underground.  "Discover the incredible secrets hidden right underneath your feet! This Homeschool Day, we’re joining up with our Mobile Museums team to explore how archeology and paleontology can help us uncover the mysteries of the past right here in LA’s backyard! Learn about the people of the past by excavating aboard the Mobile Museum, our archaeological digsite on wheels before touring the La Brea Tar Pits: the largest active urban paleontological excavation in the world."

 

November
 Six Flags Magic Mountain - November 7th. "Be a part of Home School Family Day and enjoy all day park access to the most thrilling rides and attractions in Southern California. The park will be open exclusively from 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and is completely closed to the general public."  Cost is $29.99 for admission or $41.99 if you want to include a catered lunch!

Los Angeles Natural History Museum - November 12th is  Excavating Our Past.  Have a budding archeologist or paleontologist?  I love homeschool days at the Natural History Museum and we always go at least once every year.  Admittance is free on this day but you still need to pay parking.  Get there early to see all the great touch tables and see all the shows and events they having going on.  The homeschool events end at noon but you are free to spend the rest of the day exploring the museum.  We like to make it an extra long day and walk over to the California Science Center near by as well.  It's free as well, unless you want to see the space shuttle.  The kids always love this outing! There's also the rose gardens in between which makes a great place to bring littles to run around and get the wiggles out. 

Pretend City - Nov 21st - Play your way. Reservations are required, cost is $9/adult and $9/child.

December
Aquarium of the Pacific - While the dates are not released yet, I don't believe, the aquarium does another homeschool day in December right around the holidays!

January

Page Museum -  Jan 5th, Bugs and Botony. Just like before, free admission! "What do insect fossils teach us about the Ice Age environment? How does pollen get preserved in asphalt for thousands of years? Spend this Homeschool Day with two often under-appreciated groups of organisms --insects and plants. By the end of the day, we think you’ll find these resilient Ice Age survivors surprisingly captivating and incredibly significant to the study of Pleistocene Los Angeles."

Annual Homeschool Day @ Disneyland - January 23rd is another fun homeschool day at Disneyland!  Just like the one back in September, this one is not Disney sponsored so you won't be seeing any special discounts or Disney run classes.  But it's still a lot of fun to break out that tie-dye!

February
Los Angeles Natural History Museum - Feb 5th is Fossil Fanatics.  Just like in November, free entrance until noon but you need to pay for parking.
 
March

Page Museum - March 20th, L.A. Carnivores.  "From the saber-toothed cats and dire wolves of the past to the mountain lions and coyotes of today, Los Angeles has always been home to charismatic carnivores. This Homeschool Day, you’ll learn how we use fossils to study the predators of the past and how our research can inform carnivore conservation into the future."

April
Los Angeles Natural History Museum - April 20th is Bugs and Botany. Free to attend, pay for parking!

May

June

Page Museum -  June 5th, Astounding Adaptations.  Free admission.  "Spend a day exploring the diversity of life in Pleistocene Los Angeles and discover how our scientists use fossil evidence to learn how Ice Age animals survived. If you’ve ever wondered how a saber-toothed cat used its impressive canines to hunt, or why a Harlan’s ground sloth had pebble-sized bones growing in its skin, don’t miss out on this day!"

Los Angeles Natural History Museum - June 17th is Art and Nature. Free to attend, pay for parking!

Nature Study - County Fair

The County Fair is a summer tradition for us.  We don't do the rides and games though since our kids are still so young.  When we go to the fair it is much more nature study then anything else since we spend our entire time visiting all the animals.  This year we made it an event with our nature group and were able to share it with friends. We Care Wednesdays allow you to get free admission with a donation.  On the day we went it was children's books which I have plenty of! Kids 5 and under get in free as well so it worked out well for our group. 

We all meet up at Centennial Farm which is there year round. If you follow the link right now you can see a live webcam of one of the pigs at the fair. The farm is a great place for the kids to see all kinds of farm animals they wouldn't get a chance to see with living in a city.  We got to see chickens, goats, pigs, cows, and sheep.  And of course, since it's the fair, we got to see baby animals of all of those as well.  The kids got to review the vocabulary of the animals: ewe, bull, chick, piglet, calf, and more.  Little Miss' favorite was the two little calves they had while Green Bubbles was particularly interested in the piglets. 

 

After the farm the kids all went to check out the bees where they got a chance to find the Queen bee in a hive, and earned a sticker by doing so!  Most of the kids, including Green Bubbles and Little Miss, also got a chance to make beeswax candles too.

Now here's where it gets real.  It's getting hot here, and I was baby wearing Megatron so I probably didn't have the best patience level this day.  Green Bubbles and Little Miss were pretty naughty that morning as well and we almost didn't go to the fair at all.  They both weren't listening and were just running amock in the house.  We went because it was with our group and I'm glad we did because I don't know when we would have made it another day.  But it also means everyone was a little on edge.

This came out when Green Bubbles announced he was hungry and had to eat.  We had lunch less than an hour beforehand for exactly this reason so I was frustrated.  But we stopped and got a fair favoriate, funnel cake. (Sorry for the shadow in the picture).

Keeping it real... pushing Little Miss in the stroller, babywearing Megatron, and carrying a funnel cake and drink all at the same time does not work well.  The drink flew and the entire thing spilled.  But this is why you have friends with you!  I was about to lose it but our nature study buddies helped out.  We managed to find a good table for everyone to sit.  We ate our cake, but Green Bubbles complained the entire time about everything.  The heat was turning up at this point which I think contributed to the problem.

So we went indoors next and checked out the kids explorium.  Here the kids got to make a bracelet out of pipe cleaners and little beads, explore the principles of  buoyancy placing beads and other objects on pipe cleaners to see how slow they could get it to sink, played a fishing game, and pretended they were archeologists.

It was lot and hot still though, and Megatron just woke up so we took a pitstop at the baby station right next door where I was able to change diapers, refill out water bottles with cold water, and nurse Teddy.  We all felt better after that and ready to take on the rest of the fair!

Of course, we ended up walking right by a splash pad before we managed to do anything else.  It was still hot so I let the kids play.  That was probably my mistake.  They both got wet, Green Bubbles was soaked. They had so much fun but were just to wet and cold to keep going through the rest of the fair so we ended up leaving shortly after.  I'd glad we did it though.  Even though we didn't make it over to the livestock area or the pig races, I would much rather leave on a high note then with crying and complaints!

 

I'm linking this post up with Homeschool Mother's Journal.

Aventure Playground - Nature Study

Wednesday are normally our nature study, at least during the summer.  But it is summer so that means it is time for fun too!  Instead of a hike, or hanging at the beach, we hit Adventure Playground in Huntington Beach instead. Cost of admission is $3/child, adults are free.

If you haven't heard of adventure playground, your missing out.  This isn't your traditional playground.  When I was little I lovingly referred to this as the mud park.  I really do love being able to share my fond childhood places with my own children.  This park is only open during the summer and you'll see in a minute while I called it the mud park.

Adventure Playground is recommended for ages 5-12 and it's pretty right on for the ages.  I did bring Green Bubbles last year but I wouldn't do much younger then 4.  Little Miss stayed home and although Megatron got to come along, he stayed in the ergo the entire time. There's a lot of things that toddlers can get hurt with that older children wouldn't have a problem with.  And if you go, make sure your prepared to get wet and dirty.  Bring an extra set of clothes for your kids, including shoes.  Oh, and speaking of shoes, everyone is required to wear tennis shoes here.  No sandals, flip flops, water shoes, etc. 

 The first area is the fort building area.  They have 4 different tree forts built for the kids to climb up into, one specifically just for older kids! Kids are allowed to check out a hammer and are given 3 nails.  There's no fee for this. If they want more then 3 nails they have to earn them!  Pick up 4 pieces of trash, or two bent nails to earn another nail.  What a brilliant rule!  It keeps the park clean, and discarded nails are less likely to be stepped on.  For older kids they are able to check out a saw as well.  While Green Bubbles isn't old enough for that, he did enjoy hammering things.  The picture above was him making a ramp on the side of the tree house.

 And here he is building his cross, plus sign, 'T' and, a car.  At one point he named it all of these things.  He's still to small to actually hammer the nails himself.  I nailed them most of the way in for him, as carefully as I could with a baby strapped to me, and let him do the rest.  He did hit his thumb once but shook it off.  He's gotten really sensitive to things like that lately so I was very proud of him for not letting it stop him from doing something he really liked. 

There's also a rope bridge the kids can cross over the water.  If they fall it isn't a big deal.  The water is really shallow and, at the deepest sections, only goes to Green Bubbles' hips.  This one was out of order last year so it was his first time crossing it.  He can be overly cautious about things so I was surprised that he not only tried it, but really enjoyed it and did it multiple times this day.

Green Bubbles favorite activity is the mud slide though!  The kids line up and climb some stairs built into a steep hill.  Employees of the park stand at the top with a garden hose and just run water down this tarp slide.  At the bottom is a little muddy water pit that kids dive into.  Some kids make giant splashes and actually go under the water but, as mentioned above, Green Bubbles is pretty cautious.  He goes pretty slowly down this slide and just drops gently into the pool at the bottom.  The slide opens and closes throughout the day and every time they announced it's opening Green Bubbles was one of the first in line.

My favorite is the rafts!  I love watching the kids on the rafts.  It reminds me of Huckleberry Finn.  The kids line up (or adults, but if you put to much weight on a raft it will sink!), and when it's their turn they get to walk into the water to their awaiting raft.  They use those long poles to push themselves around on the pond.  Although Green Bubbles really likes to 'lose' his pole in the water and pretend he is stranded and awaits one of his friends to rescue him. 

Some general tips I've learned:
1) They are serious about the tennis shoes.  I've seen them turn people away!
2) Don't forget clean underwear, and socks if your changing them into another pair of tennis shoes.
3) It opens at 10am and we always get there right at opening.  It gets crowded around lunch time with various summer day camps coming to visit.  A lot of kids without a lot of adult supervision is our que to check out.
4) If you have littles, keep them at home.  There were some 3 year olds here from a day camp that I saw, but they didn't seem to be enjoying themselves at all.  One of them cried the entire time on the raft, they were to afraid to go down the slide, and the building area just wasn't very safe for them.  Give it a year or two.  This park has been here since I was a kid in the 80's at least, it's not going anywhere yet. 

An entire year!

So, not going to lie.  An entire year has passed since I've even THOUGHT of this blog.  That's awful.  Especially since I was using this as a way to keep track of our activities, fieldtrips, and just awesome news.   So, here's a year in review of what we did for Transitional Kindergarten for Green Bubbles, what Little Miss and our family has been up to, and our newest addition, Megatron!

We went on the greatest hike ever in June!  We got to meet Joel Robinson with Naturalist For You  and went on a new to us hike to Canyon Falls.  I really want to do this hike again but it's just not possible for me now with a toddler and a baby.  There were large rocks, bigger then my kids, to climb over.  Fallen trees to duck under.  Small pools to wade through.  We saw new bugs, tiny frogs, salamanders, and a 50 foot water fall.  The kids loved it.  It was rural, the path was hard to see, and I honestly think I wouldn't be able to find the trail head by myself if I tried.  And it was awesome!

 Adventure Playground in Huntington Beach has got to be one of the coolest places to go in the summer.  I remember visiting this place when I was a kid.  We used to call it Mud Park.  I'm so glad I'm able to share it with my own children.  Or at least Green Bubbles.  It's designed for the 5-12 year old crowd and its not really a safe place for babies and toddlers so I left Little Miss at home.  They have rafts the kids can play on, a really cool water slide into a muddy puddle and even a tree fort area where they have a huge pile of scrap wood and they check out a hammer and nails to the kids to build whatever they can imagine.  And if your over 7 years old, you can even check out a hand saw!

August brings the start of another school year.  We are officially homeschooling this year.  Green Bubbles is hold enough to start Transitional Kinder this past year and we enrolled with Sky Mountain Charter School.  They provide funds for educational materials so we were able to do a lot of things we wouldn't normally get a chance to do.  Green Bubbles had art classes, swim lessons, a musical theater class,  and tons of science kits.  I have learned so much this past year though such as the fact that I need a real curriculum and can't just wing it.  We didn't have a firm language arts or history curriculum and it showed, especially by the end of the year when we also had a new baby to occupy all my time. 

In September we got to visit the kid's grandparents in Kentucky.   It was Little Miss' first time on an airplane and she did great!  Although I have learned through the experience that, even though it's cheaper to have a lap sitter, she really needed her own seat for my own piece of mind. 

Green Bubbles had his very first art class and he did great!  We took lessons at a friend's house that she had set up through Creative Creatures. He had a lot of fun with this and learned all about primary and secondary colors, blending, tones, and wrote his name for the first time all by himself without any prompting for spellings.

Getting a good picture of the two of them is next to impossible.  Here's more nature study in October at Nix Nature Center at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.  I love this park and it's close to home.  There are multiple entrances and parking lots at this park and each one has it's own unique feel to it.

We were lucky to do so much traveling this year.  Another trip to Kentucky to visit the grandparents and the kids first real experience with snow.  There wasn't very much snow on the ground but with my Southern California kids, it was a new experience.  They loved playing in it, squishing it beneath their boots, smashing it between their gloves, and knocking the icicles down from the nearby tree branches.  Although Little Miss enjoyed the cold far more then her brother.  She never wanted to go inside.  We also explored a little farther afield this trip and visited Knob Creek, Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home.  The timing was perfect since we were just about to start learning about Abraham Lincoln and the civil war the following week. 

After the snow of Kentucky, January in California is very different.  Another nature study day and coming up on some of the last few ones we did for the year.  I was getting very pregnant at this point. We went to the Fullerton Arboretum and hung out at our favorite climbing tree.  This is probably one of the biggest trees and is perfect for littles to climb up into the middle of, go through it, and slide down the other side.  Better then a playground. 

 Happy Valentine's Day!  The kids got to pick their own valentine boxes to make and, true to their interests, was just what I was expecting.  Green Bubbles has been really into Super Mario Bros. lately so we made him a question mark box.  Little Miss is showing off her my little pony phase and requested a pink pony box.  They had a lot of fun passing out their special valentines I made for them as well.  Green Bubbles had little plastic bugs on them and Little Miss' were crayon hearts that we had made.  I had plenty of time to do crafts since we were pretty much home bound at this point of my pregnancy not wanting to get into any new classes or anything that required a lot of walking with me carrying my very heavy toddler.

 Welcome to the world Megatron!   Megatron was born mid-March.  Thankfully the day before spring break so we had a little bit of an adjustment before throwing ourselves back into school.  Although at this point, school had become very lax and not very structured.

 Green Bubbles started playing flag football this year with i9 sports.  He loves it and since Daddy volunteered to coach his second season, he gets a lot of special one on one time with just the two of them.  He's improved so much from when we first started.  He used to only play center but now he's rushing the quarter back, pulling flags, and even carried the ball once.

To celebrate the end of the school year we took a field trip to Sea World.  The kids had so much fun looking at all the various animals.  We got to see sharks, sea turtles, penguins, dolphins, sea lions, bat rays, and play in the touch tanks with the feeder fish.   They had a special show just for the homeschoolers as well where they explained how they trained the animals to do all the amazing tricks we got to see. 

And to end this wrap up post.. It's summer, the perfect time to let loose, have fun, and get wet.  We're planning a lot of beach days this summer and kicked it off with a trip to one of our favorites, Little Corona Del Mar.  Although this is normally the beach we go to for tidepools, when we went this last time the tide was in so there wasn't much to see.  Just a lot of fun to be had.