Foreign Lands... Take 3

T decided that she wanted to do various versions of her poem this time around.

So... for your viewing pleasure, here she is performing "Foreign Lands".

The basic poem:

The poem with accents:

And finally, the poem in song:

Love, Us.

Co-Op Field Day

Last week we met with our homeschool co-op for a field day. 

I did a quick lesson on exercise and staying healthy, and then the kids had fun while exercising!

All of the kids really enjoyed it and hopefully I helped them burn off more energy than usual, 

making the rest of the day easier for all the moms!

Love, Us.

Our Second Harvest!

Yup! You read it correctly - we are currently having a second harvest!

We did NOT only have 3 beans and one green tomato from our garden this year.

We just now picked our first ripe tomato and a green pepper, which we will eat on our pizza tonight!

Woohoo!

Love, Us.

Parish Picnic on a Hot Sunday

The parish picnic last Sunday ended up being a very hot one. 

Luckily, the kiddos found ways to get out of the sun and cool down while having fun.

Romeo learned the joy of bouncy houses!

Although still quite warm, it at least kept my little redhead (mostly) out of the sun.

And T joined a watermelon-eating contest.

She tied for the win!

When the shade moved to cover the playground, we hung out there until the very end.

It was a great day with the community!

Love, Us.

Final DC Pics From Ruth's Camera

Here are the last DC pics. 

They are a few great ones of the kids hanging out on "the mall" that Ruth took on her camera.

The kids thought this optical illusion was really fun!

Well... at least T and D did.

Patchy had no idea what was going on!

And Romie pretty much looks like a DC tourism poster child here!

Oh... and speaking of him, a friend of mine very aptly labeled his eye color(s) the other day.

She said, "They are the color of marbles"! 

I think that pretty much pins it down.

Love, Us.

Some Details from Our Trip

I won't go event by event in recounting our time in DC. 

However, I'll try to give you a quick overview (with pictures).

The kids had the highlight of their visit come quite early on.

When we got on our first trolley and took the first corner, we were quickly caught in a traffic jam.

This was caused by the police blocking the road for a presidential motor pool!

Yup! We "saw" the president!

Yup... we travelled a LOT by trolley.

It was very enjoyable, easy, and fun for the kids!

I had very few goals "school-wise" for the trip. 

One of my few hopes was for the kids to name just one monument... the one in the background of this picture.

T has it down, but D often guesses something like "The Presidents Memorial". 

Oh, well! I tried.

We saw many of the great war memorials.

There were many cool ways to travel in DC...

...but we had the best!

I borrowed if from my friend - and it was AMAZING!

And this guy was a champ!

Talk about an easy vacation with a 1 year old!

We got to a few of the Smithsonians.

We did some research at the Natural History Museum.

 We saw some really cute...

and little animals at the Zoo.

 We went to the American History Museum.

And we saw some amazing art!

Oh... and this was my other goal, school-wise. 

We found both a Giotto...

...and a DaVinci!

We even got some great walking practice in while waiting for the trolleys to leave!

And, of course, I let Uncle Paul and Aunt Ruth spoil the kids!

That about sums it up!
It was a great time.

Love, Us.

Some Smiles from DC

We did it! 

We did a mini family vacation with four kids and one adult.

And... it was great!

Here are some of my favorite smiles from our few days in the big city.

Enjoy!

Love, Us.