I'd been looking forward to today all week. Having my husband home the entire week on the first week of school has been a dream come true. Today, we got to include him in our adventures. Before we left, I did an impromptu mini photo shoot of the Grandparent's Day cards I designed for my new etsy shop.
First stop: the skate park. My kids LOVE biking at the skate park. We hadn't finished getting out of the car when my son was already eyeing a young, rugged-looking skater couple in a beat up old, red car, "Mommy, I want to go tell them I think their car is cool. Can I?" Oh my poor unsocialized boy who dares think all people are equal and isn't afraid to talk to a couple of weirdos. [that was sarcasm] With the compliment out of the way, my babies took to the ramps. The pit is their favorite. They're been working on riding sideways for a few weeks now. It's not a classroom, but here, they've learned to try new things. They've discovered a reservoir of courage they didn't know they had. They learn, through play - my favorite way! And of course, my little guy got in on the action. That last one is a true wild child. He's fun to watch.
I decided to take a walk around the park and, of course, my mini-me followed. We started out walking past the dog park area and checking out some pretty fast dogs in action. Around the back corner of the path, we came across a slug. I delight when life and learning intersect (which is ALWAYS!!). We stopped and watched the little guy for a while, then decided to help him get across so that he wouldn't get accidentally run over by other riders This sweet girl is as gentle with slugs as she is with puppies. Watching her human side in action makes me melt.
We finished our walk/ride around the park at a small pond where other homeschooled kids were catching tadpoles. We watched and mingled for a while until someone in our crew, who shall remain nameless, stepped in dog poo. Party's over, folks. We may be super cool and curious about nature, but we have a limit. Dog poo is past that limit.
We left the park and stopped by a little library inside a Baptist church nearby. Finding this library was an incredible blessing. They have homeschool curriculum, visual aides, manipulatives, board books, chapter books, and any type of book you can imagine. The books are older and usually have more substance than the books at the pubic library.
After the library we decided to try out a restaurant on that side of town we had never been to before. My sister was kind enough to keep the baby for us so that we could go out to lunch alone with the older kids. We rarely get to give them our full attention these days with the baby usually needing us more than they do, so it was nice to just be the four of us for a meal.
The afternoon was filled with football practice, tap dancing, and more time with friends. It was another low-key day full of deep conversation.
We left the park and stopped by a little library inside a Baptist church nearby. Finding this library was an incredible blessing. They have homeschool curriculum, visual aides, manipulatives, board books, chapter books, and any type of book you can imagine. The books are older and usually have more substance than the books at the pubic library.
After the library we decided to try out a restaurant on that side of town we had never been to before. My sister was kind enough to keep the baby for us so that we could go out to lunch alone with the older kids. We rarely get to give them our full attention these days with the baby usually needing us more than they do, so it was nice to just be the four of us for a meal.
The afternoon was filled with football practice, tap dancing, and more time with friends. It was another low-key day full of deep conversation.