We went to the Eastman Nature Center today.
The kids learned all about Maple sap, how it gets processed, and what it's uses are. They got to try it on pancakes after the slide show, examination of artifacts, going outside to see some tapped trees, and a big cast iron pot boiling some sap. You can see by their faces that they had a GREAT time! They were all very well behaved and helpful toward each other. They also were very grateful for being able to go today. It looks cold in the pictures, but it was really very nice outside and they were out there for a long time identifying maple trees, checking sap buckets, and drilling and placing a tap. Tomorrow, we're going out to the woods near Mom and Dad's and we're going to use the tap that Matty bought at the center to try and get some sap from a maple tree. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Homeschooling rocks! I love days like this! Also, I told them they could have "off" of doing their workbooks, but they did most of their schoolwork anyway this morning because they like to have Friday's free to do what they want.
Niklaus is learning his numbers so he can play "Go Fish" more effectively. He absolutely HATES learning letters and numbers so this is a happy development for us! Also, Analise learned how to tie shoes and is doing fabulous at telling time on the clock.
I learned that if you have a baby in the Baby Bjorn in front, it's much easier on your back if you also have a toddler in the backpack at the same time. Otherwise, you end up slouching a lot. This worked today at the nature center (it probably looked really funny, but I got used to those looks when I had Mari and my sister's Polly in the same situation in D.C. last summer!). It's much easier to manage than a huge stroller that the kids don't like very much anyway. It's much more portable and it's a good abdominal workout to boot!
