Cole and Heather Learn Golf

I have lots of photos of our week at Stuart and Emilie's camp, not to mention our trip to Maine, but until I have a chance to sift through them all, here are a few shots of Cole and Heather learning to play golf at the Orleans Country Club.

While waiting for the instructors to gather every one up, they practiced putting.

Then a lesson in "chipping."  I'm learning a lot just by hanging around.

Then they get to use the driving range to really hit some balls.

Meanwhile, Wayne's baseball tournament was in search of a field that was not flooded.  Don't be fooled by the blue skies in these photos. The air is thick and humid, and thundery rain storms break out at the drop of a hat. More news on the tournament situation later.

Faces Only a Mother Could Love

First of all, an update on the Robins. Here's how they look now. Not so pretty, but fascinating just the same. However, I only see 3 and there were 4 eggs. 

Heather's friend, Anya, came over the other day. We did some face painting and then they went to tball practice like this. This was a little over a week ago - the last time we saw sunshine until today.

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Update: I just snuck out to take a new picture, and found that all four babies are present and accounted for!

Kindergarten Graduation

Today was kindergarten graduation. Heather is no longer a kindergartner. Fifteen kids moved on to first grade today.

In the beginning of this first video, the audio is a little messed up. I think I had my hand over my camera's microphone, so you don't hear Mrs. Dudley talk about how this is her 30th year teaching kindergarten. She also mentions how some of the parents in the audience were among her first students.

Then she does an individual dedication to each student. She doesn't mention the name until the very end, so it's fun to try to guess who she's talking about. I know she was talking about Heather right from the beginning when she mentioned the hockey skates and figure skates.

Heather receives her diploma.

Posing with her friends Willa and Anya.

More friends.

Afterwards the traditional barbecue lunch at a classmate's house. 

 Luckily there was a tent because it was drizzly.

 Swinging.

 Bubbles, one of several items in a graduation gift bag from Mrs. Dudley.

 We tried to wrangle them into a group picture. Mrs. Dudley apologized. She did not foresee that the bubble tubes would be used as swords.

 Last but not least, cake!

Wes, Wayne, and Cole still have a couple more days, but Heather and I are FREE!

P.S. You can go back in time and relive Cole's graduation here and Wayne's graduation here.

Bird's Nest

Heather was playing outside today under the Japanese crab apple tree when she discovered a robin's nest in it.

 It's not up very high. 

 I was able to stand on a 5 gal. bucket and snap a quick photo. We'll keep and eye on this little family, from a distance, and see how they progress.

Old Stone House Field Trip

On Tuesday 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades paid a visit to the Old Stone House Museum. I took a personal day to go along. I spent the morning with Cole's class and after lunch I toured with Wayne and his class.

We got a tour of the Old Stone House.

The upstairs bedrooms of the dormitory, showing the beds with hay filled mattresses that the students used to sleep on. Laid out were some examples of clothes  and undergarments they would have worn. 

On the very tip-top floor paintings are displayed. This spooky one shows the ghostly image of a baby on the womans's lap. No one knows for sure why, but the baby was painted over. You can still see it from a certain angle.

We had a lesson on how to make a milking stool

Next the third graders learned how to split cedar logs to be used in building a fence.

Here they used team work to build a "snake" fence.

They visited the Abenaki Room and learned local native American history and learned a traditional  snake dance. (No, "snake" was not a theme for the day.)

After lunch, Wayne got to go on a hayride.

Then he learned how to build a timber frame barn with this educational model.

Last summer, Cole, Heather, Joanie, and I went to the real barn raising. This is what it looks like now on the inside.

It was a beautiful day to get out of the classroom and do some hands-on learning.

Field Trip to Our Local CSA

It's the end of the year and there are lots of field trips scheduled. A couple of weeks ago, Heather's kindergarten class and Wayne's 5th grade class went to a local, family owned organic CSA called Tangletown Farm. The family has a daughter in Heather's class and a boy in Wayne's.

The bunnies are cute, but don't get too attatched girls, they'll soon be someone's dinner.

Young turkeys.

Cute pigs.

Hens and ducks for eggs.

Black Angus beef.

A snack and some learning activities.

These young meat chicks have to be kept in a barn at 90 degrees. Very warm.

The Farm to School Program was also involved in the field trip, and had more educational games and activities.

Studying the habits of chickens and taking notes.

Stay tuned for more field trip news.