Some kind friends hauled our two goats to the fair with them.  We just had to unpack our things and check on the goats once we arrived.  Bless their hearts – our friends saved us a lot of hassle!

Our goats were penned just inside the stadium, so we had great seats for all the shows.  We just parked ourselves right above our goats’ pen and enjoyed the view.

Some of our daytime excitement included exhibits of all sorts.  The 4-H experiment stations were the most fun!  Below, we’re testing the pH levels of various liquids.  We also got to make electrical circuits, extract DNA strands from fruit, and become CSI’s by examining maggots on a “dead body”, among other things.

In the health section of the fair, we were able to have vision, skin cancer and chiropractic screenings – and could’ve had several other screenings ALL FREE if we had wanted to.  One of the local cancer hospitals had a robot like they use for laser surgery that we were able to use, and there were all sorts of healthy eating games for the kids to play.

Eli enjoyed a ride through the KY State Police Safety City (even though the officer had to put his foot in front of Eli’s wheel to keep him from taking off as instructions were given.)

Even the livestock barns had a few hands-on things to do.

Our evenings were spent doing a lot of waiting for goat shows, but the time spent was sweet.

Math, grammar, spelling and all the other book work is important, but these are the learning experiences that will really make long term impressions!

]]> http://ourjourneywestward.com/2010/08/ky-state-fair/feed/ 2 http://ourjourneywestward.com/2010/08/vacation-highlights-part-6-charlottesville-va/ http://ourjourneywestward.com/2010/08/vacation-highlights-part-6-charlottesville-va/#comments Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:08:32 +0000 Cindy http://ourjourneywestward.com/?p=2754 Our last night of hotel life in Virginia led us to Charlottesville, home to Monticello – Thomas Jefferson’s homestead.  We got into town late and were led by our hotel clerk to Charlottesville’s historical downtown mall for dinner.  We ate outdoors and enjoyed their weekly Friday night music – this place was hopping and quite fun!

A weary crew with a skinny wallet spent much of Saturday visiting a few of the hotspots of historical significance in Charlottesville.  First stop was Monticello.  Unfortunately, tickets to tour Jefferson’s house were $22/person (more than Jamestown & Yorktown combined!), so we opted to enjoy the free children’s and adult’s museums instead.  Again, these were very nice museums and the children’s section was completely hands-on.

Michie Tavern was a fun stop on the way.  As with everything this last day, we chose not to pay for a tour, but enjoyed the outdoor sites and fun gift shop.  (I didn’t get a good picture of Ash Lawn-Highland, James Monroe’s home, but we stopped in there for a peak, too.  All three of these sites were within a couple miles of one another.)

And finally, an exhausted crew headed back through the Blue Ridge Mountains to arrive home very late Saturday night.  If only we had an extra day, we would’ve made one last stop in Lexington, VA to visit VMI and Washington & Lee.  For now, we’ll just dream about the next fun-filled vacation – whenever and wherever that may be!

In the Revolutionary War camp, we watched as a cannon was fired…

plotted our war strategy…

wrote journal entries…

and had to discipline a couple of characters.

On the colonial farm, we washed clothes…

carded wool…

and took some time out for fun.

After the museum, we caught the free trolley that took us on a tour of downtown Yorktown.  As with several other stops, if we had more time, we could’ve spent the entire day (or more) meandering through the town and the actual battlefield.  Not only did those mean more time, they also meant more money – something we were beginning to run out of at this point on the vacation!

Final stop: Charlottesville, VA

Jamestown, VA has two attractions (each requiring their own ticket), Historic Jamestown and the Jamestown Settlement.  We only toured Jamestown Settlement because it seemed to be the more kid-friendly visit.  As with every single place we stopped, it was amazingly hands-on and worth every penny!

During the outdoor tour you visit three main areas:

1. A Powhatan village re-creation

2. Replicas of the Godspeed, Discovery and Susan Constant

3.  A replica of the early settler’s fort

At each stop, in-costume tour guides answered any questions you might have and/or were working on their appropriate trades.

That’s not all, though!  After the outdoor walk, there’s a wonderful museum and film that take you through the history of the area from the 1600′s through present time.  This place was top-notch!

Next stop: Yorktown

One entire day of our vacation was spent in Colonial Williamsburg.  This is a WONDERFUL walk-through town of real and replica buildings that house in-costume craftsmen who are working their trades…

and allow you to help sometimes.

Actors gather in the streets to reenact Revolutionary events…

and play various parts as you tour magnificent buildings.

You can play the part, too!

There are children’s activities galore.

From open to close, we were busy and having a blast!  The tickets were a tad pricey (it cost our family a little over $100 for the day), but there was A LOT to experience and A LOT that goes into keeping this place going.

Next stop – Jamestown and Yorktown, VA

Norfolk, Virginia houses the largest US Naval Base in the world – and it’s huge!  Just about everything in Norfolk seems to revolve around the navy including shipyard after shipyard similar to the picture above.

We only spent one afternoon in Norfolk, but easily could’ve stayed longer if we had the time.  Our main purpose for visiting was to tour the USS Wisconsin.

Little did we know that our entry fee onto the ship also included an AMAZING hands-on naval history and ocean science center called The Nauticus!!  (Can you see how the building is shaped like a ship?)

From a sneak-peak into the inner-workings of the USS Wisconsin…

and virtual war games…

to weather lab games…

and ocean animals…

to ocean exploration…

and classes to create your own motorized ROV…

this place was AWESOME!  Well-worth the ticket price!

Next stop – Colonial Williamsburg.

First stop – Virginia Beach!  This was the first trip to the ocean for Eli and a first for Caleb as far as memories go since he was very young the last time we visited the beach.  They both fell in love, just like the rest of us already had been.

Taking trips with my husband is interesting, to say the least.  He’s a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of guy, which means we had no preplanned place to stay for any of the stops we made.  That made finding a vacant and affordable hotel on a Sunday evening in VA Beach quite an adventure.  After nearly two hours of searching, we settled in to the first floor beachside room of an older motel.  It wasn’t the most lush of accommodations, but we had fun anyway.  Below is the view from our little balcony.  VA Beach has a wonderful boardwalk and biking area that run alongside the beach for three miles.

Speaking of the bikes.  You can rent a family bike for only $20/hr.  The kids begged to do this.  Mistake – well, sort of.  Even though four people peddle, it feels like you are peddling for four people all by yourself.  We were so thankful when our one little hour was up! Riding was a nice way to see the entire length of the beach, though.

On to the beach pictures!

Caleb found three boogie boards in the trash during that first evening walk along the beach.  All the boards were in decent shape and turned out to be the highlight of our time in the water!

Of course, wave jumping was almost as much fun as boogie boards (or booger boards as Eli called them.)

Eli loved playing in the sand!

Virginia Beach is very close to Norfolk, a US Naval Base.  We were treated to ships and jets of all sorts during our short stay.

Cape Henry is the home to one active lighthouse and one retired lighthouse.  We were going to tour them, but Eli was too short, so we just walked around the grounds instead.

Three days of vacation down in history (and we wish we were still there!)  Next post: Norfolk, VA.

Wildflowers are bouquets from God!  I can’t help but smile every time I see them.

(We don’t grow tobacco, but lease the land out – just in case you wondered.)

Hay season = our busiest season.

Even my oldest is in on the action this year.

Here is where I go for peace and to count my blessings.

I’ll be back before long, I think.  I’ve been contemplating this blog over the summer and wondering what place it holds for the future.  We’ll see.

First, some exciting news from Shining Dawn Books – Click on the graphic to enter a GIVEAWAY by THIS FRIDAY. (Sorry for the late notice!  Don’t delay or you’ll be too late!)

You’ve been asking for it and it’s finally here…

I’ve recently posted a few reviews at The Curriculum Choice.  Click on the graphics to read the full reviews.

As a Charlotte Mason educator, some of our homeschool time is spent learning about artists and completing picture study. And, continuing in Charlotte Mason style, I try to only use living literature in our homeschool. Luckily, I’ve found several wonderful children’s books about artists including the Getting To Know the Great Artist Series and Smart About Art Series.

But my most favorite living art books are the Anholt Art Books for Children.

One resource I’ve used over and over again as I plan our history studies are A Kid’s Guide Books.

They are super for background information, hands-on ideas and project ideas – and have become the “spine” of my units many times. In other words, I’ve used these as my main unit planning books many times over.

It’s been awhile since I posted about favorite learning games, and since the lazy days of summer break mean more time for games, I’ve been reminded of some favorites. The 10 Days in … games have been popular with homeschoolers for several years now, and for good reason. Geography, logic, critical thinking and luck of the draw make these games exciting – and worthwhile educationally!

And here’s just a glimpse into the summer fun that’s making me so joyfully weary.

A nearby church hosted Big Daddy Weave for a free outdoor concert.  It was fabulous!  We were able to set up our lawn chairs on the front row, no farther than about 20-30 feet from the stage.  Once the concert started, they allowed people to stand up by the stage.  Our children stood at the foot of the stage the entire concert and loved every minute of it.  Great music, by the way!

We’ve been slacking off just a bit with nature walks since it’s been 90+ degrees with nearly 100% humidity most days.  I’ll be writing about this blackberry walk soon over at Shining Dawn Books.

Of course, horse riding never stops no matter the temperature (for my daughter and her grandpa anyway!)

At our church’s 4th of July party, we enjoyed a parent vs. youth baseball game.  Our church is moving closer towards family events rather than segregating the kids all the time.  (A decision I highly support!)  It’s so obvious how much children really do crave that family time when every age level is focused on a task together – even if it was just a baseball game this time around.

Swimming with friends is an obvious favorite!

Even though our garden was hit with both a vine borer (killing almost all our vine plants) AND powdery mildew (making the rest of the garden produce very poorly), I’ve still been busy canning, freezing and cooking yummy dishes.

Oh, and I’ve been serving on the Grand Jury for the past few months, too.  It’s been fascinating!

I hope you’re having a great summer!

Mahayla – 8th Grade

We’re jumping to Algebra 1 a little early.  I have Algebra 1/2 we can fall back on if this gets too tough.

Logic is a very important subject to me!  We’ll get an introduction to formal logic along with continuing logic puzzlers this year.

Our history program below will cover plenty of research & factual types of writing – this will fill in the creative writing gap.

I know the language arts section looks pretty slim.  We’re taking a break from grammar this year, while our history program will include tons of reading, writing and drama.

Other:

• NimbleFingers.com for typing
• Living math lessons
• Classics reading

Caleb – 5th Grade

Saxon – not much more to say!

Both of these are logic puzzlers – and fun!

This is a new-to-me curriculum this year and I’m in love!

I’m beginning with All About Spelling to reinforce some basic phonics rules, then we’ll jump into Spelling Workout.

Caleb worked through much of this last year.  We have about 1/3 of the book to go, then we’ll just use Spelling Workout as handwriting practice.

Other:

• High-interest, often history-related books for reading
• Living math lessons
• NimbleFingers.com for typing

Together

This is an amazing curriculum!!!  It will cover Bible, history, language arts, science, art, music, drama, and so much more!  I *think* most of our art and music studies this year will come only from this study.  (Gasp!)  If I feel like we aren’t diving into art and music enough, I’ll supplement.

Another gasp!  I’m using a full-blown traditional textbook for science this year!  What??  Let’s just say I’m giving this type of learning a shot this year.  If it works, awesome – I won’t have to keep planning my own lessons!  If it doesn’t work, no biggie – we’ll keep on keepin’ on the way we always have.  Caleb will be following along with us on many of these lessons, but I have separate reading and activity plans (following the same subject) on the days when this is information overload.

Well, of course!  A nature study author can’t leave out nature study!

I’m trying a new, informal approach to foreign language this year.  We’re using this program for 5-10 minutes a couple times a week as a fun game/flashcard drill time.

Other:

• Occasional Bible & devotional studies to accompany our Old Testament history program
• Games – board, card & online – for many subjects

Eli – Early PK

We’re going to have a fun time learning the alphabet this year with one letter per week as a theme.  I have each letter planned with fun crafts, activities, experiments and such that will make Eli beg for “school”.

It’s a do-it-yourself curriculum with hodgepodge ideas from every corner of the internet and my brain, so I can’t give you a specific link.  You can check out my preschool links, though, to find many of the sites I visited when planning.  A few of the major items I’ll be pulling from include:

I’ll post a tentative weekly schedule before long.