Camp Mom 2010: Day 5

Today's Adventure: Homeschool Group Park Day, Spokane, WA


What we learned:
That we missed our friends, whom we haven't seen in a few weeks, and that I need to plan better for the changing weather.

What we did and saw:
We went to our regular weekly park day with our homeschool group. We had not been able to make it in a few weeks and there was another family that we had missed a few times so we got to see some friends that we had not seen since the end of the school year. When we were getting ready in the morning, it was raining but it looked like it would probably clear up. Around 9am, my husband came back home from work, complaining about his stomach again. So, we sent him to bed and headed for the park. Somehow, I allowed myself to leave the house without a change of clothes or swim wear, in case the weather cleared up. And of course, as soon as we got there, it was getting darn near close to being hot outside. The kids wanted to play in the splash pad and I had to break the news that I had not brought their suits. But, they figured why bother with suits and proceeded to have fun getting soaked in their jeans and t-shirts. However, I did somehow manage to bring one towel.

After they were good and soaked, they dried off and played on the playground. One of our homeschool moms was kind enough to bring her three nephews, who proved to be quite helpful with the little kids. The oldest, 13 years, pushed Chloe on the swings for me. I do enjoy pushing Chloe on the swings but she would be just thrilled to be there for hours and hours. Those boys were just a delight to be around. Most of the kids in the group right now are 7 and under so it was a nice little change in dynamic.

And what would Camp Mom be without a camp fire? Granny let us use her fire pit as a gathering place to wrap up camp mom, complete with roasting marshmallows and making smores. We invited Laura, Bill, and Roxanne out with us as well. Stacey was feeling better after sleeping all day so he came out with us. Granny has an awesome yard for adults and kids to marvel at. Her vegetable garden, berry bushes, and flower gardens are pretty spectacular. Stacey aspires to have a garden like hers one day. I'll have to go over again soon and take some pics and give you all a virtual tour. And the kids like to run around the property as well. There's a lot of foliage to play amongst.

And that concludes Camp Mom 2010.

It was a very busy, fun, and tiring week. It proved to be much more so because Stacey was feeling so sick and unable to lend a hand in the evenings. And that brings us to another post, in which his seemingly innocent stomach ache lands him in the hospital for three days. I bet you're on the edge of your seats now.

Camp Mom 2010: Day 4

Today's Adventure: Mobius Children's Museum & Riverfront Park, Spokane, WA

What we learned:
The kids played with a lot of hands on exhibits and were introduced to many concepts. I want to check out some library books about aquifers because it was there favorite exhibit. They also spent some time at the dinosaur fossil dig and the magnet launcher.

What we did and saw:
First stop was Mobius Kids. We had not been here in over a year and we had a great time. Even Athena found plenty to discover. Back when I would take just 3 year-old Shannon and 6 month old Chloe, it was exhausting. I had to chase Shannon around to make sure he was behaving while slinging baby Chloe around. Shannon sure has come a long way in three years. He and Chloe got along really well and he was polite to the other kids. And when it was time to go, they came along without complaint.

Exploring water currents

Launching magnets together

Fun with the aquifer

Gathering food in the Philippines

It's hard to tell which one has the buggiest eyes and the fishiest mouth

Digging for fossils

Then we walked over to Riverfront Park and sat near the giant Radio Flyer Wagon to eat our lunch. They weren't too interested in the wagon. They just wanted to eat and go play in the fountain. So we did just that.

But first we stopped at the Garbage Goat to get rid of our trash.

And then we enjoyed some Tropical Snow while Shannon played in the fountain.

We headed back home where Stacey had been sleeping all day. He started feeling sick last night and had to call in sick to work this morning. At least we were out of his hair all day so he could sleep. I dropped off sleeping Athena and took Shannon and Chloe to the city pool. This was actually our first time visiting the pool beyond swim lessons. The open swim times are at odd hours where it makes it almost impossible for us to go. Although, after having fun with Shannon and Chloe and seeing how well they behaved and seeing that they are pretty independent, I probably could manage all the kids. Safety was my main concern. Shannon can now touch in the shallow end and Chloe has fun hanging onto the wall. They both understand how to be safe in the pool. So if I had Athena clung to me, I would still feel that we were all safe.

We then came back home for dinner and I ended the day running with Laura down on the trail. Unfortunately, it was really muggy and buggy down on the trail so we were dripping sweat and trying not to choke on bugs. But I still found peace in it. I like having a grownup gal to chat with a couple of days a week and being out with nature is fun too. Here is a pic of a weird creature we saw a couple days ago.

So, it is some sort of large rodent carrying a bunch of dried grass in his mouth.

At first we thought the rodent just had a crazy mustache.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of Camp Mom 2010!

Camp Mom 2010: Day 3

Today's Adventure: Greenbluff, Colbert, WA

What we learned:
I can't really pin point any serious learning but just being outside exploring, they're bound to pick something up.

What we did and saw:
We had planned on going to one place to pick raspberries but I couldn't find it so we just wandered around looking for a sign. When we got to the Harvest House I decided to pull in and ask if they were picking raspberries and they were. So we headed down with our bucket and got to picking. Even though it was only 10am when we got there, it was starting to get pretty hot. We didn't last very long and only got about 1 1/2 pounds of raspberries. Trying to keep the unpaid for raspberries out of Chloe's mouth was a whole other obstacle.

 Athena and I checking out the Harvest House Bathrooms.

Best bathrooms on the Bluff.

Shannon amongst the raspberry bushes

The kids enjoying their honey sticks

The Harvest House does not allow you to eat your own food at their picnic area so we had to leave in search of an picnic-friendly picnic area. This was harder than I thought it would be. We went to Trezze Barn to get one of their delicious prepared pesto lasagnas, which they don't give away, and they wouldn't let us use their picnic tables either.

I feel the need to pause right now for a rant. I think advertising a picnic area but then not allowing us to eat our picnic lunch there is a bit contrary to the spirit of picnicking. Purchasing a prepared meal and then eating it outside is just eating at a restaurant on the patio. When we sit on the patio at Rock City, I don't call it a picnic. To be fare, I believe there are other places that have areas where you can eat a packed lunch but many are not open during the week and I just think we didn't pass by the right places. Okay, on with our adventure.

We finally pulled into Walter's Fruit Ranch where they graciously allowed us to use their picnic area for our controversial picnic lunch. Now I wish I just would have gone there first and spent our berry money there. I just made sure we cleaned up very well. There was a whole group of older folks out to pick fruit and they seemed to really enjoy the kids so perhaps we gave back by adding to the ambiance.

 

And then we headed home to rest up for day 4.

Camp Mom 2010: Day 2

Today's Adventure: Manito Park, Spokane, WA


What we learned:
Plants come in many different shapes and sizes
Some plants have hilarious names
Not all roses look the same
Where the Upper Manito splash pad and park is
That honey bees have a very important job and if we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone

What we did and saw:
We started our day at the lower park playground. We got a later start because we wanted our friends, Laura and Roxanne, to come and Roxy had swim lessons in the morning. So we laid out the picnic lunch right away. But the kids were more interested in the playground equipment. Soon we packed up and headed to the gardens. We first explored the Rose Garden. They had a garden full of larger roses and then a garden beyond that with baby roses. The kids had fun trying to read the different names.

Then we headed to the Japanese Gardens. I always love coming here. I like it because it's really beautiful and it is enclosed so the kids can explore on their own. I threw down the rules (no running, stepping over the barriers, or touching the water) and then just set them free. But they didn't get too far before we heard "Mommy, come check this out!" So we just let the kids be our tour guides.

 Roxy and Shannon

Camp Counselor Mama and Camper Athena

 

Then we walked back through the rose gardens and on to the Sunken English Gardens. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the entire garden from above. It is really awesome. But I did get some of the kids having fun.

The kids found a path beyond this garden and decided to take it to see what we would find. And we found the splash pad and playground. Laura took the kids up there while I went back and got the car with all of our water gear in it. The weather was being pretty weird all day. It kept threatening to rain but never quite got there. And the area with the splash pad was pretty windy. We were finally able to talk the kids into eating lunch but we didn't stay too long. We headed back to the car with the intention of heading home but Shannon started to get really upset because he had his heart set on seeing the Lilac Gardens. It was hard to resist the kid's desire to be one with nature so we drove back down and parked once again. And it turned out to be a lot of fun for us all. The kids got to see some bees hard at work and a lot of interesting looking plants. We haven't had time to do any further learning with this at home but I hope to get to some books on plants shortly.

On the way home, both Athena and Chloe passed out pretty quickly. All this time outside sure does encourage some good napping. And a couple of hours later, Laura and I went running because we just had not had enough excitement that day.

Day 3 to come.

Camp Mom 2010: Day 1

Today's adventure: Finch Arboretum, Spokane, WA

What we learned:
What the different parts of a tree are: trunk, branches, leaves, roots
The difference between deciduous and coniferous trees
There are a lot of different kinds of trees.
Chloe learned that peeing outside is much harder for girls than for boys

What we did and saw:

 I was not sure what the kids would think of hanging out in a park, without a slide and swings, all day. But we all had a great time and learned a lot. First we started out from the parking lot and headed into the arboretum. We didn't get too far before the kids wanted to stop and rest . . . and then play. This place was a gigantic playground for them. They had a blast hiding amongst the trees. Some groups of trees created these fantastic play structures. As we walked through the park, I would ask what kind of tree we were looking at and they would yell out: deciduous! or coniferous! After about an hour and half of exploring the different shapes, sizes, and leaves we headed back toward the front so the kids could use the bathroom and then we set up for lunch.

 My kids kept popping in and out of this tree so I went in for a closer look . . .

 . . . ah, so that's what they're doing in there.

On the menu: Egg salad sandwiches, watermelon, grapes, cheese, juice box, water

After lunch we got in the car and drove a little ways towards the back of the arboretum to a place I had never been: Corey Glen. This area was so beautiful.

We walked a little bit further because the kids wanted to see the crab apple trees that the map promised to be right up ahead. We were having a hard time locating the trees because the apples are still so small. When I was about to give up, Shannon found a sign under one of the trees and asked me to read it. He is so resourceful. And it was indeed a crab apple tree. And then we walked from tree to tree, reading all of the signs and learning that there are many, many varieties of crab apple trees.

 Shannon and a crab apple tree

When we got just past the crab apple trees, the kids climbed up on this giant rock and asked me to take a picture. When I asked if they were having fun they gave me a double thumbs up. 

Heading back on another beautiful trail

We headed back home to rest up for a bonus Camp Mom event: boating with our friends Bill, Laura, and Roxanne. When Stacey got home from work, we packed a lunch, and headed to the lake.

We found a calm, sunny place to drop anchor and we all got to take a dip. We only put Athena in for a moment so she could cool off. She wasn't too thrilled so the adults took turns holding her in the boat, relaxing on the water, and goofing off with the kids.

By the time we got home, Day 1 had been declared a success and we had three very sleepy kiddos . . . and two sleepy parents.

Stay tuned for Day 2.