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October 27, 2005
Trap
While playing out in the back yard, Henry discovered a small hole in the ground and surmised that it was some sort of animal burrow. He built a trap (with my help) in hopes of capturing the animal. I asked him what he had planned to do with it if the trap did work and he said he only wanted me to take pictures of it so he could study it. Then he would set it free.
The trap is made out of shims and secured in the corners with masking tape. The clothespins are for weight. He put the remains of his sister's turkey sandwich next to it hoping to lure the animal out of the hole. He tied a bunch strings to sticks and tree roots so it would get tangled up when it came out to eat. And then, just to be sure, he strung some masking tape from tree to tree in case it managed to avoid the strings by jumping straight up.
This was a few days ago and no animal yet.
Posted by Julee at 03:25 PM | Comments (1)
October 21, 2005
The Maize
Earlier this week we drove to Hondo to tackle the South Texas Maize. Did you notice the play on words? Actually the maze was not cut in a corn field; it's sorghum. The owner told us that they tried to grow corn but they only could get it to grow waist high.
Anyway, I digress. We had a great time. The maze was actually pretty difficult and we got lost a few times. One group got so lost they had to send in a "corn cop" to retrieve them.
The owners are homeschoolers themselves, so their children were there helping out. Apparently they follow a curriculum and then take their "summer" vacation in the fall so they can help out with business. My kids were completely enthralled by watching their teenage son make kettle corn and the daughter came with us on a wagon ride and caught a chicken for the kids to pet.
The chicken:
Ice cream on her face:
Posted by Julee at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2005
Building Walls
Today at playgroup a group of the kids, including Henry, Theo and even Iris, spent most of the time cooperatively building a rock wall. They lifted the heavier stones together and took turns getting water to make mud for the mortar. It was really fun to watch.
Posted by Julee at 09:47 PM | Comments (1)
Love Creek Orchards
We drove up to Medina, TX to Love Creek Orchards yesterday for a fun field trip. We didn't actually go into the orchards; we left before the tour. We were too worn out from the hay maze, making scarecrows, painting pumpkins, eating maple coated apples, a wagon ride and petting farm animals- all under the 90 degree hot sun.
Painting Pumpkins:
Gathering Hay for a Scarecrow:
Playing in the Hay:
Brothers:
Posted by Julee at 08:57 PM | Comments (1)
UC Riverside Actively Recruits Homeschoolers
UC Riverside Actively Recruits Homeschool Students
A new program allows admission through an assessment of a student portfolio
(October 17, 2005)
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) -- In November, as applications start pouring into the University of California system, UC Riverside will become the first UC campus to specifically recruit homeschooled and other nontraditionally educated students.
Click Here for the rest of the article
Posted by Julee at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2005
Mitchell Lake
We went on a great fieldtrip yesterday to Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. We got a guided tour through the property which has wetlands and several small lakes. We saw hundreds, if not thousands of pelicans. We also saw egrets, stilts, anhingas, roseate spoonbills, cormorants, coots and many other birds.
We also saw a nutria, a South American rodent about the size of a beaver, which is not native to Texas. It had been introduced for its fur and in the hopes that it would reduce some aquatic plants. It hasn't been very successful and has become a problem in many places. One benefit though is that it has become a food source for the native alligator population, which is actually starting to make a small comeback. Luckily we didn't see any of those!
The nutria:
At the end of the tour we stopped at a pond where our guide took a sample from the bottom of the water and put it in a container so we come see the creature residents. We saw freshwater shrimp. damselfly larvae, small fish and some other tiny insects. We also saw many turtles poke their heads up through the water.
Posted by Julee at 08:32 AM | Comments (1)
October 07, 2005
SAS Factory
Earlier this week we went on a tour of the SAS Factory. SAS stands for San Antonio Shoes.
In the past, we have seen some of the more touristy factories, including Ben & Jerry's, Hershey Chocolate and Vermont Teddy Bear, but this was a real working factory. The warehouses where most of the assemby is done had not been redesigned for the tourist's eye at all. There was no little filmstrip about the history of the company and our tour guide didn't follow some cheesy script. She simply took us from station to station and explained each shoe making process, while we watched an employee actually do it. We got to see the whole process of the shoe being made- from the big piece of cow hide to the quality inspection in the end.
The actual tour was the perfect amount of time and there was enough action to hold Henry and Theo's attention. But I really think they enjoyed riding the shuttle bus around the factory grounds more. And the best part: SAS has a shoe store on the grounds designed to look like an old-time general store. They had a soda counter where we bought popcorn, cokes and cookies for a dime each. They even gave us a goody bags with pencils and rulers. What a great field trip!
Posted by Julee at 06:56 AM | Comments (0)