As I mentioned before, we are on break this week and were able to take a road trip to visit some beloved Aunties! This is a real vacation for me since Aunties and Mookie pitch right in and help this Mama out! Not to mention that I don't have to cook or clean and can take naps for several days in a row! We did lots but in the true spirit of chilling out, I rarely took my camera out. Here are a few things I did capture....

Piper and I went for a walk together one day. The weather was very mild and the town in which we were staying is so laid back...it makes for a lovely place to walk along and take your time chatting while taking in your surroundings. This walk was a time of revelation for me. I've been doing way too much thinking/stressing about how to incorporate nature studies into Piper's homeschool day. I have 1) no idea how to go about it, 2) very little knowledge about nature myself and 3) way too many ideas and information running through my head from other blogs and sites I've come across. So we've gotten nowhere with the whole endevour...until that walk! You see as we were walking and talking, Piper noticed big clumps of mud on the ground and asked if it was dog poop. :) I explained that it was mud showing since the snow was melting and making the ground very wet. Suddenly, she spied some pine needles lying on the ground and asked what that was. Once again I explained and showed her the tree that they had come from. I noticed that there were pinecones laying on the ground around the tree and showed those to her. She was very excited to hold one (ie. the picture above!). As we continued to walk, she pointed out a patch of grass and ran to it, shouting 'Yipee!' and pulled a few pieces out of the ground, flinging them into the air above her head. We chatted about how that little patch was a sign that spring is on its way.

At another point, she stopped and pointed to the sidewalk. 'Look, Mama. A pwint!' I was a little shocked to hear her use that word since I don't think I've ever taught it to her. And sure enough there was a faded wet foot print on the otherwise dry sidewalk. We then stepped in puddles to make our own prints and found some dog prints, too!

 Piper also noticed the sound of the birds above in the trees. Later, after we had taken notice of the bird sounds, Piper stopped cold in her tracks, listening. 'What's that, Mama?', she asked. I listened and responded that it was just the birds again. 'No, Mama.', she replied. 'It sound like ...' and she made the noise she heard. Sure enough, there was some kind of bird making a sound different than all the others! Talk about observation!

Anyways, having said all that, my point is that I realized in that moment that Piper was going to be the one leading me in our nature studies! Sure, I probably should eventually investigate what bird was making that strange noise and help Pipe identify tracks a bit more interesting than those of a human or domesticated dog. But this is what homeschooling is all about - learning together!

Phew! Bet you weren't ready for that mouthful! The next few things aren't quite so wordy but delightful all the same...

We went swimming one day, too. Piper is still quite nervous in the water but so pumped that this time she could touch the bottom with her 'tee-toes' in the shallow end!

And once she got over the weirdness of the whole tradition, she was thrilled to find a toonie wrapped in wax paper in her pancake on Shrove Tuesday! (Compliments of Mookie!)

Lastly, here is a photo jam packed with history, all of which I am sure was lost on my little sweetie, at least for now! She is looking at a Bible owned by her Great, Great, Great Grandmother Merchant and sitting in a chair owned by her Great, Great, Great Grandmother/Father Mingo! I smile every time I look at this picture!

So that has been our week, or some of it, at least! It also included rubber stamping, dollhouse playing, feeding seagulls, eating lots of yummy food and loads of silliness and laughter with some of the people we love the most!

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