Field trips

Boy, it’s been a while since I posted. No excuses, really. I did want to show you some pictures from our recent field trips. First, we went to the Ave Marie Grotto in Cullman, AL. Here’s a little piece from their website:

Known throughout the world as "Jerusalem in Miniature," is a beautifully landscaped, four-acre park designed to provide a natural setting for the 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous historic buildings and shrines of the world. The masterpieces of stone and concrete are the lifetime work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard Abbey. Begun as a hobby, with various materials he could find, and infinite patience and a remarkable sense of symmetry and proportion, Brother Joseph re-created some of the greatest edifices of all time.

Kids enjoyed pointing out things they could find. Friendly cat gives you a size perspective.

This one is the actual grotto – it was interesting. Again, some kids in front to give perspective of the size.

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This past week, we went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, TN. Lots of fun! They have a “river journey” and an “ocean journey”. I really enjoy aquariums and this was very nice. It is also nice that the kids are a little older and can enjoy it more.

New “fish” were added to the tank! And the penguins – oh, the penguins! It was homeschool day at the aquarium, so they had planned feedings and taught us about the penguins. They also had divers in the super huge tank talking about the animals.

And, the rays!!! How cool are these? They were HUGE! This is a silhouette of Hadden with the ray behind him. Then, I was able to catch two of them at once.

 

Some fun, goofy pictures mixed in :)

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Finally, we ended our day on the Chattanooga “Duck” tour. Here is a piece from their website:

The DUKW (Presently known as ''Duck'') was developed by the National Defense Research Committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development, it was initially rejected by the armed services. When a United States Coast Guard patrol craft ran aground on a sandbar near Provincetown, Massachusetts, an experimental DUKW happened to be in the area for a demonstration. Winds up to 60 knots (110 km/h), rain, and heavy surf prevented conventional craft from rescuing the seven stranded Coast Guardsmen, but the DUKW had no trouble, and the military opposition melted. The DUKW would later prove its seaworthiness by crossing the English Channel.

It rained! We got pretty soaked, but it was really fun. During the time on the water, the guide gave a lot of historical information about Chattanooga. While he was speaking, he gave the kids an opportunity to “man” the boat. I took some pictures with my phone, but I think you get the idea :)

How are you doing? What’s going on in your life?

Birthday boy and Braves/Dodgers

Last week, we celebrated Hadden’s 9th birthday! We are so thankful for the fine young man that God has blessed us with! Savannah was very helpful, also. She really enjoys making birthdays special, so she secretly made something for him (so she could surprise him), then proceeded to create an adventure. She made a scavenger hunt with clues that he had to find and then once he found all of the clues, he had to put the puzzle together to make a map. The map showed the location of the present.

Hadden has found all of the clues and is putting the pieces together. I am so thrilled that our kids ask to wrap their presents in newspaper! A couple of years ago, during the middle of building our house, it was someone’s birthday and I had NO IDEA where wrapping paper might be. Rather than buy more, I just decided to wrap their presents in newspaper. Now, it has become a favorite – love that!

Here is the finished puzzle – and LEGOS!! The boy loves legos! Bonus that we found this on clearance a couple of months ago :)

Then, on Friday, we traveled over to Atlanta for a Braves/Dodgers game. John has been a Dodgers fan for a long time and Hadden likes both the Braves and the Dodgers, so he would have been happy either way the game went. John’s Mom loved the Braves as well. It was a pretty good game and the Dodgers even pulled out the win.

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We are also at the beginning of fall soccer and baseball. Someone commented on how Hadden seems to play baseball year around, and Savannah plays soccer all the time, too. For now, since those are the only sports that they are playing, they are doing both the normal and the off-season for those sports. The normal season for soccer is fall, but there is an off-season in the spring. Spring is baseball season, with fall being the off-season. Hadden also had the privilege of playing all-stars which is in the summer. All that to say … yes, they do play a lot!! :)

We're heading to a Braves game!!!

We are very excited to head to Atlanta for a Braves game - they are playing the Dodgers. Whoo hoo!