September 7-11, 2009 Week 3 Review

After leaving the Johnson Family we headed to my sister, Kristi's home.  We played Bochee ball and croquet and grilled burgers.  On Labor Day we all headed to the Boise Zoo and had a fun time.  For lunch, we visited my brother-in-law's restaurant, P.F. Changs.  We enjoyed delicious food, sweet fellowship, followed by an exciting kitchen tour.

Our next part of the trip would find us in Bend and camping along the McKenzie River.  In bend, we visited our dear friends, Wayne and Terri Powell.  Wayne pulled out a year book showing us his elementary classes through the years.  The kids and I enjoyed spotting Daddy in a lot of pictures.  Terri took the girls and I on a horseback trail ride.  Ashleigh and I shared Pocco and  Terri and Hailey rode her horse together.  We had beautiful views of The Three Sisters and several other mountain peaks.

Our visit would not be complete without a bite of grub at Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon.  We then headed to Sun River, Oregon  to camp for the night.  We visited the Lava River Caves in the Bend area.  We were all amazed at how cold the caves were upon entering them...38 degrees.  It was really dark when our head lamps were turned off.

 Meerkat getting warm.

Visiting Danny's restaurant.

                                                    Happy Hailey on her Horsee, Pocco.

Trail ride view from the Powell's front yard with the Three Sisters in the background.

Adam trying the beer sampler.

                                                     Water play in the campground.

Our trip ended with camping along the McKenzie River and visiting extended family in Eugene and Springfield.

August 31-September 4, 2009 Week 2 Review

Standing inside the center of Stonehenge Replica, Maryhill, Washington.

Our family enjoyed a 9 day RV road trip to Washington, Idaho and parts of Oregon.  We were blessed to visit many friends and family along the way.  On Friday we drove to visit the replica of Stonehenge.  An almost identical copy of the more famous English Stonehenge, it was built by Sam Hill, a road builder, as a memorial to those who died in World War I.   

We then headed down the road and learned about what it was like for settlers to navigate the Oregon Trail.  Our first destination was to visit our dear friends that we met in Arizona, the "other" Johnson Family.  Adam and Shawn worked hard digging up potatoes while the children played with abandon.

Riding in the RV together.

     

             Learning about the Oregon Trail.   

   

                 Shawn and Adam digging for potatoes in the garden.                                     

 

 The "Johnson and Johnson" Families

August 24-28, 2009 School Review

On Monday we started our first week of school.  This is our first year where all the kids are doing school together.  We started the day off with pictures in our school room.  Then we went back upstairs for Cinnabon rolls and eggs.  A favorite by all! 

This week we are easing into our lessons.  In Together Time with Daddy we learned that man's primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  We also learned what a calendar is and how seasons come and go.  We listened to the music composer, Antonio Vivaldi (1648-1742) and colored pictures about his life.  He was a violin virtuoso who lived in Venice, Italy.  We listened to his Four Seasons Concerto and watched the seasons pass by in pictures on a video.  We also began our countdown to the 100th day of school celebration!

Ashleigh started math and likes "fast-adding" multiplication.   Together, Ashleigh and I are learning Latin.  We enjoyed laughing at each other pronunciate words.  Over the next 8 week we are studying Colonial America.  The time in history between the founding of the first European colonies in America and the end of the Revolutionary War.  We learned that the people who came to America were first Englishmen, Scotsmen, Dutchmen, Frenchmen, Swedes and German.  Each group brought their own traditions, cultures, religious beliefs, along with their gold finding expectations to the colonies. 

We learned about Sir Walter Raleigh, Virginia Dare (first English baby born on American soil), King James 1, Captain John Smith, John Rolfe, Indian Princess Pocahontas and her father, Chief Powhatan.  Our vocabulary words were:  climate, colony, colonist, settlement, famine, tobacco, massacre and malaria.  We ended our school week with watching a History Channel movie about the "Mysteries Surrounding Jamestown".

Hailey worked on her numbers, letters and art books this week.  She really likes pre-school and is so happy to be apart of what goes on in the schoolroom this year.

Patrick spent a lot of his time observing and throwing toys from his play pen.  We learned that he likes to drink paint water during art time.

Ashleigh, 3rd grade, 8.

Hailey, pre-school,  3.

Patrick, 20 months.

The teacher with her best students.

  The Principal with his favorite class.

                                                  Doing lessons together on the first day of school.