The Pumpkin Patch

Today we joined our homeschool field trip group at the pumpkin patch.  Lauren was excited to get to see her old friend from Eastwood, Lizzie!  

We listened to the farmer explain the life cycle of the pumpkin seed, and the kids assembled a pumpkin seed necklace.  I was impressed at how focused Colleen was!  She sat so still and wanted to do everything the big girls did!

The most amazing pit of corn!!!

Yeah!  Going to the pig races! Go PIGS!

***scream and run***

Ridem' cow girls!!

Next, the farmer taught the girls to make butter.  Again, Colleen loved being a big girl!

We worked our way through the corn maze...

Then, we visited the pumpkin patch to find our mini pumpkins!

Over the next couple of days, we read many books about pumpkins.  We also created a speedy lapbook about pumpkins.

We also made a pumpkin life cycle wheel.

Columbus Day

I admit that I love a reason to celebrate with a theme, but I have never even recognized Columbus Day as anything more than an extended weekend!  With the introduction of Pinterest into my life, reading some awesome blogs by homeschooling mamas, and studying New World Explorers as the girls history curriculum, I felt the need to emphasize Columbus Day this year.  The girls completed these lapbooks with the help of my student teacher, Corynne, this weekend.  They worked on these books while we were at a tennis tournament in Mississippi.  

Cover

Folder 1

Folder 2

It is amazing how much can be accomplished when you are in a hotel room waiting on your brother to play a tennis match in the freezing weather!

We got home from the tennis match late on Sunday, so we had a relaxing day at home on Monday  went to the Alabama national fair for most of the day on Monday!  

Tonight we brewed some Chocolate Caliente to sip as we looked at the stars!  

We read some books about Stargazing and The Big Dipper.  Living in the city, the stars were few and far between!

Chicago

JM took Lauren to the annual American College of Surgeons meeting in Chicago - 3 good hours of meeting with 3 full days of tourism!

Lauren with the weight of the world on her shoulders, or at least a fantastic mirror (at the Bean)

Bird's eye view of the skyline and Lake Michigan from the original Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier!

Bike ride through Millennium Park

Chillin' at the AWESOME 2 story McDonald's

Don't rush me Dad, I'm just getting started (at American Girl)

This is the bed I brought my money for, but you can bribe me with another doll 

(as long as we go ahead and order the bed)

Fitting end to Lauren's special day, displayed on the bigscreen for all to see

Pretty cool that the kids get on Wrigley Field in batting practice to meet the players

(and get a real bat from one of the coaches)

Field Museum

(AKA where Night at the Museum was filmed)

One last view of skyline before heading to O'Hair

Life with just a Kindergartener

While JM and Lauren were in Chicago on their "field trip", I just had one little student at home with me.  We decided to have 2 Kindergarten FUN DAYS!  

...DAY 1...

Lyndsey was excited that we started the day by watching the movie Tangled.  I pulled a few activities from this preschool pack.  She did a sequencing activity after the movie, rolled a die to work on graphing, and worked a few puzzles.  She remembered that we had a Tangled game on the ipad, and she followed the steps it gave to make a princess crown.  She also remembered that we had a Build-A-Bear dress just like in Tangled, so she of course carried that around all day!

...DAY 2...

Today, we decided to go to the zoo!  Well, I had planned this weeks ago and today it is kinda rainy!  We stuck with our plan, and we did not get rained on too much!!!

Our trip to the zoo was like no other trip before!  Lyndsey discovered the signs at the zoo.  She was amazed that the animals were from 5 of the continents.  Our geography study of the 7 continents just came to life for her!!!

There was also a few new exhibits at the zoo.  I still can not believe she feed these birds and let them perch on her hand!

Lyndsey also kept tally marks of how many different animals she saw.  Then we went home and made a graph with her tally sheet.

Colleen was excited to find her favorite animal, the jaguar!!  Dora's cousin, Diego, has a huge influence over her!!

We found a Baylor Black Bear to go with our Baylor rain jackets!

No trip to the Zoo would be complete without a train ride!!!!

Another new exhibit--Feed the giraffes!

This afternoon while Colleen took a nap, Lyndsey worked on a Zoo lapbook full of counting and classifying activities!

 I found this Barrel of Monkeys game at the zoo store.  It was one of the favorites to play at my babysitters house when I was younger.  Lyndsey thought the game was fun, and she kept working at it until she could lift the entire barrel of monkeys up all linked together.