Homeschool Zoofari Day Field Trip

The Wichita TPA (Teaching Parents Association) and the Sedgwick County Zoo teamed up together to put on a Zoofari Day for Homeschoolers and their families. Below are pictures of us on our Field Trip. We had such a great time and they did a great job putting together the day. There about 10 stations set up to stop at and learn about animals in that area of the zoo. We learned a lot of things we didn't know (even I did and I taught Animal Science all last year...see you still can learn things, even if you have done an extensive study of a subject).

Learning about Farm Animals (goats and sheep) in the Farm area of the Childrens Zoo portion of the Sedgwick County Zoo.
Edward has grown he is now as tall as the Tallest Penguin (the Emperor Penguin), last time (when the first put in this exhibit) he was about 3 to 4 penguins down the wall.

In the Jungle Building

Feeding the Giraffes with friends.

Best Friends feeding the ducks together.

Look Mom, A Mustache

Edward got this "mustache" from a vending machine, you know the kind that you get plastic rings and tatoos from. Just had to take a picture of him wearing it. To cute!

Tippy Tap

Here is Edward at Tap Dancing Lessons. He loves it and is learning a lot.

Stonehenge

This week in our Mystery of History Lessons, we learned about Stonehenge. We built our own version of Stonehenge using rocks (from the alley, all about the same size), a paper plate and a hot glue gun. Here are pictures of our Stonehenge:

The 2009 Kansas State Fair

Edward had so much fun at the fair this year. He was able to do a lot of hands on activities which just thrilled him to pieces.

There was a barn where you could do some hands on activities and Edward decided to shovel up some hay into a wheelbarrow.
There was a construction site set up for children to do hands on construction related activies. It was the neatest and most educational thing that I have seen at the fair in a long time for children of about all ages. Edward is checking out the drill and learning how to use it (little did the man know that Edward already knew how to use it...LOL!)

Screwing screws...this is cool, must go home and try it (and trust me, he did).

Learning to get the aim just right.

Driving a remote control front loader.

Driving a Simulator and learning how to work a back hoe.

Helping to build a play house for a children's center. He even got to sign a plague that will be hung by it there.

A lesson in Masonry

Edward got to learn about Masonry and laying bricks, at the construction site set up at the fair for children. He probably would have laid the whole row of the wall if the man would have allowed him to do so.

Handy Manny

Edward won a prize at the construction site that was set up for the children to learn about construction. He won the jackpot, he got to build his very own tool box...the downside is that I had to drag it through the fair and trying not to take anyone or anything out with it (and it was heavy) for almost 3 hours.

Tapping down the bottom
Tapping in a side (he got to use the drill too)

One very proud little boy, with his newly built (by him) tool box.

Bungee Jumping

This is one of Edwards most favorite things to do at the fair. I don't mind paying the $5 for him to do it, at least it is a lot safer than doing it from a bridge or something else. The only thing I fear is that he will be an adrenaline junky and do dare devilish stunts when he gets older. He really doesn't seem to have many fears and the ones he does show, he seems to get over with quickly.

Under the Stars

The Hutchinson Cosmosphere put on a Starry Night Event last night. We were able to take our telescope and learn how to use it. We were able to see Jupiter. It was so amazing...how people can believe that God didn't create us and all the wonders around us, is just beond me....I see his beauty everywhere.

Trying Space (freeze dried) Ice Cream
Back of his new T-shirt

Front of his new T-shirt....our telescope (that Kirk won on the Price Is Right Las Vegas version) is behind him.

Waiting for the sun to go down so we can use this cool telescope.

A rocket that they were about ready to launch. They launced a garbage can too...and a few other rockets. This was a huge hit with the kids.

Mini Barber

Took Edward to get his hair cut yesterday, but he decided he did not like the hair cut he recieved. He decided to take it upon himself (with the help of some scissors) to give himself a new (more likable, in his mind) hair do. Below are the results of what he did to himself.

Needless to say we had to have it cut very short, almost had to have him bald.

Swimming Lessons

Edward took private swimming lessons this summer...it was the best money we ever spent....talk about doing a 360...he did when it came to swimming. We were completely in awe at how in 2 weeks he went from not being able to swimming really to swimming the whole length of the pool and diving too!

5 O'Clock Shadow

This morning when Edward crawled into our bed to cuddle before getting up; he looked at me, rubbed his chin and said "Mommy I can feel my beard growing". I about fell out of the bed laughing. A little bit later, I wanted to check his teeth that are coming in and he thought I was feeling his chin to feel his beard that is coming in.

What?!!??!?!?!

Last night Edward was taking 2 girls (from our Homeschoool Co-op) to Vacation Bible School with him as guests. I told him, you have 10 minutes before we leave to go get the girls for VBS. He goes into the bathroom and comes out with Kirk's Deoderant, and is applying it to his armpits. I ask him, "What are you doing that for?" He says "I want to smell good, not like a bad boy." Then he says "My breath stinks, I need to go brush my teeth." He goes into the bathroom brushes his teeth and his hair. He comes out to the living room where Kirk and I are talking and he is doing a Breath Check (where you cup your hand infront of your mouth and breath out so you can smell your breath to make sure it smells okay). We about died laughing. I told Kirk "You would think he was going on a D-A-T-E! Can you just imagine what he will be like when he really gets to go on a D-A-T-E?" Edward says "A Date?" We laughed again. I told Edward "Honey, you aren't taking the girls (one of them is going to be in 6th grade...the other in 2nd) on a Date, you are just taking them to VBS." He says "I still want to look good for them".

Gold Bricks Please

Edward says to me this afternoon around 4pm, Mommy can you paint me 2 bricks gold....so I can take them to VBS with me tonight? Well, it was 4pm and I was in the middle of mopping the floors. I told him I didn't have the time tonight before we left but I would do it tomorrow for him and I would check 1st with Mrs. Kliewer (I hadn't seen anything about needing bricks painted gold and was unsure what they would need them for). So when I dropped him off at VBS, we went to change his money into pennies (they were seeing if the boys or the girls could raise more pennies to feed 1000+ children overseas). They had a gold brick and Edward said "that is what I need." So I ask about it, they tell me for $5 you can get a gold brick (the bricks are to help make either the girls side or the boys side of the scale weigh more)...so we purchase it....which makes Edward really happy. They go into to the sanctuary to start for the night. I turn to Mrs. Kliewer and mention the earlier conversation with Edward about wanting me to paint 2 bricks gold, she and another homeschool mom I know, started to laugh. They said that they could picture me bringing in 2 gold painted bricks....because I am the type of mom who would drop everything to do whatever it was that Edward said he needed. I had to laugh because they are right....I would have done exactly that earlier in the day if he had asked me around noon or 1pm.

Crazy Week

This week is going to be a super crazy week for us. Edward will be attending 2 Vacation Bible Schools. He will be going to one in the morning at our church from 9 AM to Noon and then going to one at the church where our Co-op Classes are held (and where he attended AWANA's last year) from 630PM to 830PM. Plus we will still be doing our abridge program for school. He is going to be one tired little boy. He starts the evening VBS tonight and the other tomorrow morning.
I am helping with the VBS at our church, I am helping to teach the motions to the songs. It was the last position that was available. Not exactly my strong suit, I was hoping to help with crafts. Oh well, God truly must have a sense of humor....I was never a cheerleader or took dance, so I am a little out of rhythm and uncoordinated needless to say.

Science Project with a Control

Control and cups 1-4

Cups 3-5 and the Mystery Cup

We are learning about having a Control in a Science Experiment so we did a Science Project with Carnations. We put 1 carnation in plain water. Then we put 5 carnations in water (each glass had 2 cups of water) with red food coloring (the first glass had 1 drop of coloring per cup of water, the second glass had 2 drops of coloring per cup water, the third glass had 3 drops of coloring per cup of water, the fourth glass had 4 drops of coloring per cup of water and the fifth glass has 5 drops of coloring per cup of water). We had an extra carnation so we did a mystery color (6 drops of blue and 6 drops of red food coloring). Our experiment was to see if the coloring in the water would change the color of the leaves of the carnations. We found that the water does change the color of the veins in the carnations and the tips but not the whole leave of the carnation. The more food coloring the darker the the color. Cup 1 (not the control) and cup 2 (also not the control) the veins color change was hardly noticeable due to the small amounts of food coloring in the water. In the Mystery cup, surprisingly the color was not purple that we got but more bluish. This was very noticeable but like the other the color only was in the veins and the tips of the carnation. We also noticed that after the week was over the only flower not dying was the control, we feel that the food coloring was poisoning the flowers.

Chisholm Trail Festival and 4th of July

Gearing up to do the Stick Pony Race (they ran it like they would run a barrel race in a rodeo)

2nd place Winner in the Stick Pony Race

Bop Em!

Riding in the 4th of July Parade on the Meridian Baptist Church VBS float (their theme was a Knight to Remember)

Participating in the Hot Dog Eating Contest (he was able to eat only 1 of the 2 hot dogs he was given but boy did he try!)

Blowin' Paint Bubbles

We are working on a Bubblogy Lapbook this summer. One of the projects is Blowing Paint Bubbles and making prints with them onto paper for an art project. We did this project today. Edward loved doing this project. We even did a bigger painting that wont be in our lapbook.

Our Bubble Print Postcard for our lapbook (the large painting and the other bubble print for the lapbook are also on the table)

Our Bubble Paint Solution

The other Bubble Print for the Lapbook

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Edward made this at Sunday School for Kirk, for Father's Day. It is 2 people made out of candies, these 2 people (Kirk and Edward). Note that the "Daddy" candy person is also missing his arm. Edward always makes sure that anything he draws or makes that is suppose to represent his Daddy is missing his arm too.

2009 British Challenge Soccer Camp

Edward took part of the British Challenge Soccer Camp again this year. He loved it. It is well worth what we pay for it. He learns so much. I wish we had something like this for him during the year so he could actually play in some games and hone his skills in this sport.

Edward and his coaches (both from Britian)

Team Photo (it stormed the last day, so this is only half of the team...everyone else went home early before photo time)

Crocodiles

My Mother-In-Law sent Edward this toy crocodile that you put in water for over 24 hours and it grows. The pictures above are the results of the crocodile having "soaked" in a water for almost 48 hours. He loved this and thought it was so much fun watching it grow in the big mixing bowl we have. He kept asking if he could put it in the bath tub. What cracks me up is that he has wanted one of these for a while and I kept saying no. Well my Mother-In-Law sent us a stuff box and it was one of the things that she sent to him. So that made his week, trust me!