Labor Day Weekend

****Shhhhh***** Don't tell the boys, but they were in school the whole weekend!

Actually, Keenan is studying Colorado History and Conner is studying US history and the unit he just finished was on cliff dwellers, so the weekend was very educational and time appropriate! We had a wonderful time and saw lots of history.

We started off by hitting the sand dunes...where mom's camera battery died, so only a few pictures there!
















Then we went on through the beautiful Pagosa Springs area to Cortez where we had a hotel. And all the way the question was "what time does the pool close? Will we make it in time to swim"....





The next day was Mesa Verde and it was beautiful!




























We did the Cliff Palace tour and I strongly recommend that to anyone going to Mesa Verde. It was amazing and interesting, not too strenuous of a hike, but there are ladders to climb, pretty steep ones, so dress appropriately. I wish we would have had much more time since I think I could have hiked around that area for days, but we didn't so we just saw what we could.















Then on to 4 Corners, the kids were pretty fascinated with the whole 4 states at once thing and we spent some time there. Also got a chance to watch and visit with a man (navajo) who was making arrowheads, carving them...then the boys picked out an arrow shaft and a kind of stone and he made them arrows while they watched. So if you hit the 4 Corners area, look for the booth with Edward Begay...he is an interesting guy to visit with and does make beautiful arrows!

My boys are of course too big and too cool to bend down and put a limb in each state....oh well!

























This was a really neat rock formation that we saw on the way back to Cortez. It has a really stark beauty!





And of course, the best part of any vacation!!!! The pool at the hotel.

Art experiences

Art is something that I am not much help with, but fortunately Conner loves it and has a lot of fun following the step by step directions. The lesson plans are very detailed and work out well for someone with no art background (like me!) Fortunately, he has Mrs. J at Soaring Eagles still available for any assistance he may need...and as long as he goes in once in a while to help with the bulletin boards, I think that she will continue to love him!

Tuesday's lesson was to make a mask, then on Thursday he had to paint and decorate the mask. It is an Indian story telling mask, they would put their fingers through the holes on the bottom and use it to act out stories, almost like a puppet. So here are the various stages of this project.

Science days.

What is worse than doing poorly on a science test?

Having mom as your "teacher" so she knows right away?

No...having mom as your "teacher" and she is MEAN and makes you repeat every lesson in the unit because you were hurrying and didn't do it well!

Oops!

Conner likes science but thought he pretty well KNEW this unit so he could rush through it in a couple days and not take notes. Well, after pretty well failing the unit test, mom made him redo the entire unit, not just hitting the high points but doing EVERY SINGLE LESSON (novel idea that!) and taking notes (even more novel idea!)....so here are some pictures of the "redo", which he has been doing at a rate of 3-4 lessons a day and actually finding it to be interesting!



And it is snail and swamp water day in science. Guess what? Snails will leave the area they are in if there is no lid, then they will slime their way across the table we eat on, leaving a shiny little trail, and then they will fall onto the floor, where the cat will watch it move along very slowly until Conner rescues it! I can tell that science is going to be quite an experience! There were also little bugs that moved like tadpoles in the water....I was ready for that one to go outside!





Hmmmmmm.....Don't you wonder what he is thinking about here? There is something going on in there! Science is so much fun, isn't it?













This is the "work space" in our home currently, doing Social Studies (which seems to be the current favorite and no wonder, the books are EXCELLENT!)





So, today's lesson learned is that you cannot neglect the lessons if you want to pass the test. That could apply in many areas of our life! Good counsel indeed for all of us from school to eternity.