Brownie's Do Nature in a Big Way

The Brownies deep in the woods on their nature hike.

This will be our last summer as Brownies before bridging to Juniors next spring. Since the spring weather here is always so questionable, we are having mini day camps to complete some of our outdoor try its during the summer.

Last week was our June Day Camp and it was a huge success. The girls met at the park with their backpacks filled with supplies they would need for the day along with their lunch. It was such a fun day, the weather cooperated and we accomplished so much. We will be meeting again once in July and August and are working on about 8 different try its simultaneously. Here are pictures from all we did.

Our day started out by setting up. We claimed tables in the shelter and started to get organized. All the girls brought an item for the GORP (Girl Scout trail mix). After they added their item we began mixing it up then we filled bags for them to take on our hike.

Starting our scavenger hike. This was taken very seriously!

Working on the Eco-Explorer Try it we started our day with a nature scavenger hike. Girls had clipboards and pencils and I gave them each a small ziplock bag to collect treasures in. They had so much fun hunting for things on their list and I was impressed that they were able to find almost every item. They couldn't find bones (surprise!) but other than that they looked high and low and found everything. We walked all the way to the Nature Center which is located in the back of the woods. It was quite a long hike but they had a destination in mind only when we arrived it was closed! They were very good sports and we stopped for a snack/water break and then headed back to our "camp".

We hiked for such a long time that we were all more than ready for lunch when we returned. After we ate we started on our next activity of choosing one of our items we collected and sketching it on a paper. We then played a game where I had them each contribute one item to my bag. We gathered in a circle and I dumped all of the items out on a towel. Each girl took a turn describing their item and then calling on someone to guess which nature item they were describing. They really liked this! Everyone also chose an endangered animal to do some research on to share with the group in July or August.

Checking her list, Mackenzie even found things to add to her list!

Christa found this cool leaf that was shaped like a heart. She chose this for the Nature game.

It was a beautiful day in the woods, no wonder the girls kept on hiking.

Hiking buddies, Katie and Paige worked together. Katie is new to Brownies and enjoyed her first outing.

More hiking buddies, Mary and AnnMarie were the bug finding experts especially the Daddy Long Legs like the one below!

After lunch we worked on leaf and tree rubbings. We used chalk and made a rubbing of anything we wanted and then compared the different kinds of barks and leaves.

On our way back to my house we stopped by Mrs.Smith's house to water the new flowers and weed. We need to set up a watering schedule so that everyone will get a chance! That hose is popular!

Faith, Claire, and Lindy weed.

I just love Mrs.Smith, she has a new lesson for us each visit. We were talking about her quilting that she works on with her neice. I was asking how it was coming along and she shared with the girls that things get harder to do when you are older. Her hands are very sore due to arthritis and she shared how they have spots on them and just don't look like young hands like the girls. She reminded them to always stay busy and do the things they enjoy while they can because as they get older things get harder. A good lesson to hear to always live life to the fullest. She showed us the excerices she does to keep her hands from becoming stiff and keeping their strength up. All the girls showed Mrs. Smith their strength and she showed them hers. I think they were all surprised how strong she was.

Quite a difference 80+ years can make!

This dear lady just lights up when the girls arrive. She loved watching them work in her yard. She is normally sitting in her rocking chair but today she was on her couch. Claire sat right next to her and they held hands for our visit. Christa sat with them also and everyone else crowded around as they told her about our morning. Some of these girls were timid when we started visiting a couple of years ago, mine included. They had never really been around anyone who was elderly. This has changed their perspective in many ways and both Lindy and Paige both talk about Mrs. Smith and can relate to older people much better.

Back to my house for the afternoon and working on Plants Try its and Earth is Our Home. We started our seeds for a seed race, began growing mold on a piece of bread to learn about spores, made labels to sort recycling at home. Then we moved on to snack time!

The girls have six seeds that they need to watch and record their growth.

Snack time! Fresh berries and bananas in a waffle bowl dipped in chocolate and srinkles. A hit and easy to make!

Annabel welcomed Katie to our troop.

Laura always always has a smile on her face.

AnnMarie and Mary

Mackenzie and Lindy had a great day together.



Claire welcomed Faith, they had a fun time together all day.

I know that I am looking forward to our July camp day. We will have a full day again but these girls work hard and will have tons of badges to show for it!

Happy Birthday Grommy!

Happy Belated Birthday Grommy!

Grommy's birthday was the week before recitals so we combined our recital celebration with a birthday celebration. I always get the girls a cake after their recital and we have a little party. Even though I wrote down my long cake message for the lady at the bakery, Lindy's name came back "Windy". Seriously, we've had Wendy, Lindsey, but never Windy other than when Paige could not make the L sound and it came out Windy. I took a toothpick out and removed the beginning of the W and was able to fix it into an L.

Bill left the recital early with Erin and headed home to start cooking out a great dinner. After hamburgers, corn on the cob, salad, and other summer food we sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream. It was a busy day but the perfect ending. I am sure that this was the best part of Grommy's birthday, sharing her cake with her recital granddaughters.

Recital Marathon

She looks so little on stage but did a great job.


We had 3 recitals on Saturday afternoon. Whitney joked about packing a cooler to keep up our energy and we could have used it! Even though Lindy, Paige, and Erin all take dance at the same dance studio they were in separate shows Saturday. Erin was in the 12:00 show and the girls were in the 4:00. Ethan, Lindy, and Paige all had a piano recital at 2:00 and they also had a neighbor's birthday party at 12:30.

So we ran to watch Erin, who thankfully was the third group to dance, snuck out and went home so they kids could squeeze in an hour of their friends party.We were then off to the piano recital and then ran home changed and prettied up Lindy and Paige and were off again for their performance. What a crazy day but it was so neat to see all of the hard work of the year come together.



When the class came on stage there were hundreds of people "ahhing" at them.




No stage fright from this little peanut. She loved every minute of it and was so proud that all of her practicing paid off.



Flowers from Grommy, great job Erin!



Ethan played two songs at the recital. He did great on both. He is flying though his piano books. I can't wait to see where he's at for the Christmas recital.



Pianists working to play like Daddy.

Paige is on the far left and Lindy is to the right. They loved these costumes and the song "The Way You Love Me" by Faith Hill. Perfect country foot stomping to go with the tap shoes.

Lindy

Paige and Lindy in jazz, "Love Will Keep Us Together".

This was my favorite part of both their dances. I'm sure there is a dance name for this, Lindy held Paige's hand as she twirled into Lindy and then twirled back out. It was so cute to watch them together.



They both had a fabulous dance year. Erin is following in their footsteps! Paige and Lindy are both talking about doing jazz, tap, and ballet this fall. Lindy has some interest in competition dance but I want her to explore that and go watch some competitions before she makes a decision. But she does really enjoy it, she did not complain once this entire year about going to lessons so I know she really likes it.




Letting down after a busy day.

Flowers from Grommy, great job girls!

Baby Bird Update

This is from Sunday and the babies were almost a week old. The last egg hatched and the mother has been very busy feeding her family. She has gotten comfortable with us and will go to her nest with worms while we are sitting on the patio instead of flying off when we go out. She also realizes that we are a major food source! The kids are loving this.

Music, Music, Music

Erin started piano lessons 3 weeks ago. She was so excited to start and Phyllicia was willing to give it a try. She is doing 15 minute lessons and really, really likes them. The last 2 weeks she has worked on learning her finger numbers and placement on the keyboard. Today she got to start her first song "Twinkle, Twinkle". I had to sneak in and take a picture of her littleness sitting on the piano bench during her lesson.

As soon as she got home she wanted to do her homework which was labeling the keys with colored stickers and practice her song. She is growing up so quickly and having so much fun, it is a joy to be around her.

Kyle also started piano today! He has been thinking about it for awhile and summer seemed like a good time to get started. He enjoyed today and is glad to learn something new. Erin reminds me of Kyle, easy going, happy, and willing to try anything.

She loves Phyllicia as all the kids do, she makes the lessons fun.

Putting on her stickers.

Tapping her tune!

"Whoo Hoo!" I kid you not this is not a posed picture I just kept snapping away and that is what she said.

National Donut Day!

Today is National Donut Day, the 1st Friday of every June. During WWI donuts were given to soldiers to help boost morale. The Salvation Army began this "holiday" and it continues to be a fund raising day for this organization. I didn't make it to one of the places giving away free donuts for donations but thought my kids would get a kick out of having a treat for breakfast and learning a tidbit of history along the way!



Erin was not complaining!

Welcome Baby Birds!

Inside this little topiary tree, right by our patio, has been a robin's nest. We have been keeping a close eye on this since it is so close to ground level for fear it could get knocked to the ground accidentally.

This was the status of the nest on Sunday, beautiful blue eggs.

This was Monday! I have not peeked again to see if the last egg has hatched because the mother was sitting tight protecting and did not fly off until the last possible second of me getting too close. I wouldn't have disturbed her if I had known she had newborns already.

Lindy has named all the babies but I can't remember all the names. To say the kids are enjoying this would be an understatement! We have a nest every year hidden on our swing set that we can kind of see into but it is challenging. This has provided a much better view!

Summer School is in Session

That's right! We are not taking a full summer off like we usually do. For the first time in 8 years of home schooling I am not burned out! By April I am usually ready to wrap it up but since we have changed our method of school we are all enjoying ourselves. We are not going to be doing book work everyday. We are reading, reading, reading, and working on projects that are ongoing. Things that we never have time to get to or that I get my act together to do are what we are planning.

I have been busy planning and then planning some more. I really enjoy researching and talking with the kids about what they are interested in doing. Most importantly I am trying to keep things fun and exciting to do. Tailoring "lessons" to interests make everything so much easier to motivate people and we all learn more.

Ethan told me about a week ago that he wants to continue Math this summer, Map skills with Geography, and start Presidents with US History. This sounded pretty academic to me but I am not complaining. Using Charlotte Mason "living books" method, the history is going to be easy to find tons of materials. We are working on Abraham Lincoln and are planning a trip to his birthplace this summer so I am trying to find everything I can for all age levels. The more we read before we go anywhere the more they get out of the trip.

Kyle wants to do Napoleon and The Alamo for History. We are working on his spelling which has needed some attention for quite some time he just was not interested in trying to make it better. That has changed, he is really committed and working hard to make it better, at least so spell check will start recognizing his words! He is also going to continue his Literature with our Sonlight curriculum. Not hard for him as he will read anything I give him.

Lindy and Paige are all over the place, eager to learn anything I suggest. They are really into butterflies and ladybugs. All the kids are really into nature, observing, drawing, and reading about anything related. The girls are busy reading and we are doing corresponding projects with books. For History they are learning about the Revolutionary War period with the American Girl Felicity. We are also working on extra Brownie badges with special projects offered. I am doing a mini "day camp" with my troop to get Nature and Outdoor Try its completed. It is coming together and I am anticipating very excited Brownie Girls!

Erin is wanting so much for her Girl Scout experience to start, only one more year to go! We may be able to start sometime next summer since I am planning to duplicate what Lindy and Paige did for Daisies so it is already set to go, co-leader and all! Still she is so busy! She is reading and working on her Preschool workbooks. Coloring,playing, reading, she goes non stop all day, everyday!

So these are just some of our plans. I have been busy updating the sidebar with the book plans so I can keep everything straight (and so Bill can see what we are up to)! We are all very excited about summer and all the fun it brings!