CVSR bike and ride

WE went to the Cuyahoga Valley Train and did the bike and ride option. We boarded the train in Peninsula with our bikes on a special bike car, then rode to the Botzum station where we disembarked and then biked the seven miles back to Peninsula on the tow path. While we were on the train Emma discovered the on board snack bar. She bought two sticks of rock candy which are featured in these pictures. During the ride back we saw lots of lovely scenery and wild life. Emma did a great job of riding that far. And as she enjoyed the outing in the national park I was reminded of a statement she made while we vacationed in South Carolina as she was wondering about a species of tree she did not recognize, "it is strange to be someplace I do not know the nature." I think this really summurizes how Emma experiences her life in her environment. She is outside knowing the world she lives in.

the bird feeder

During the winter months Emma and I spend a lot of time watching our bird feeder. On a daily basis we see, wild canaries, sparrows, nuthatches, 3 varieties of woodpeckers, cardinals, tufted titmice,and blacked capped chickadees.

The most amusing is the squirrels who think they own the feeder. We are constantly repairing their damage however they are so funny we do not mind much.

Spicy Lamb Farm

We visited this farm in the Cuyahoga Valley during their celebration of the arrival of all the new spring life! We saw chicks, ducklings, lambs and this pup! On the drive home through the valley we spotted this flock of turkeys, who were nice enough o let me get this picture.

Cleveland Art Museum

We visited the Art museum. Most of our time was spent looking at the traveling exhibit of Native American Art, which inspired Emma to make this mask when we got home. We also enjoyed the armour room.

UWWG 2010

the Unschoolers Winter water Park Gathering was the highlight of the year for us! we spent a week at Kalahari hanging out with friends old and new! Emma was very open to meeting and talking to new people because all the people registered for our conference wore the same color wrist bands, this seemed to be the perfect gateway conversation. we would talk to people as we floated in the lazy river, or wandered the resort, they were all friends! Emma participated in the kids market. She made book marks and chocolate covered pretzels. She sold each item for a quarter. She was able to charge people the correct price for different numbers of items purchased and give change by her self. She also spent some time shopping the other kids tables, buying some items and trading others. I was a presenter, my round table discussion was "Unschooling the single child". We also enjoyed the family dance in the ball room, a carnival and lots of late night play and yak sessions. It was great being surrounded by families with lifestyles similar to ours.

Creativity meets Construction

Here is an example of how Emma's imagination is always engaged. WE used this building set to construct a run for the marbles. a lot of time was spent so that the

marbles went through various ramps and shoots. When the construction was done and After she had experimented with the various paths the marbles would follow, out came the "rubber guys" and this was the background for their trip to the amusement park.

Classes at the CMNH

Emma attended a couple of classes at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. One was about the human digestive system. The students were able to do some hands on experiments using iodine and peroxide to test for various foods present in "vomit".

The other class was about new information regarding dinosaurs. The students learned that some dinos had feathers and how the scientests determine things about dinosaures based on observations of currently living animals. Emma really enjoyed it . I plan to check out the schedule for next year, and sign up for more classes.

Loom Weaving

Emma and Danny figured out the loopy loom! They spent a long cold day making pot holders. Danny said that hanging out with Emma he d

oes more crafts in a day than he did in his wholeprevious life! I love watching them together.

Building friendships

One of my priorities this year was to build some friendships with in the homeschooling community that would enrich our lives. We attended play dates, museum classes, and a weekly homeschool swim outing. Now we have a set of besties, for Emma and I, and several other families we also enjoy and call friend.

Building a T-Rex

In support of Emma"s Dinosaur interest we assembled this museum quality model. We were all surprised by how large it is and how

difficult it was to keep all the pieces together. When it was complete Emma observed it looks just like the one at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History that they have mechanized so that it demonstrates the gait of a T-Rex! Emma really liked the idea of having a tail!

Fancy baked goods

Emma really loves decorating fancy baked goods. Here are pictures of our gingerbread easter house, race car cookies and a gingerbread Christmas train. We also made a gingerbread house. It is really fun for all of us to decorate together, John is learning to think out side the box. His natural tendency is to try to duplicate the examples on the box. Emma prefers to make it up as she goes. She said "that way you won't be dissappointed because it can not be wrong!" My challenge is what to do with them when they have sat around so long they really are DONE but Emma doesnot want to part with them. The Christmas ones were set ouside for the animals to celebrate with. We were rewarded with deer tracks right out side our dinningroom window.

Lego City

Emma created and photographed this lego city. She really enjoyed
creating all the details then playing with "the guys". They lived on our desk for weeks!

Life, Death and Music

This was our last winter with our 16 year old Jack Russell, PeeWee. He was with me from the time Ali was 6 years old until the time Emma was 6 years old. He was with me through my divorce, my single mom days and my remarriage to Emma's dad. And even with that in mind, I think he believed himself to be Emma's dog. We all felt him to be less than bright and basically untrainable, sweet and adorable, but not too sharp. Emma however never saw that and in the relatively short amount of time she had with him, she taught him to sit, stay catch treats she threw and they were experimenting with obstacle courses she created in the yard for him. He followed her everywhere and would valiantly guard the yard in which she played against all intruders.

He died in my arms during our deep freeze of a northern Ohio February. We had his remains cremated. I struggled to explain to Emma what exactly that meant without it seeming too horrifying. Then Emma became entranced by a song that Ali was listening to which had a long instrumental intro. which reminded her of a Tim Burton sound track. As we listened to the lyrics I found the inspiration I needed to explain it..."Water" by Cloud Cult

"...give you back to the water, from where we're all born

when they burn your body, all that's left is sand crystals,

two tiny handfuls, all the rest is water.

all you need to know is you were born of water,

you were made of water... " Thank God for music, dogs and kids.

Emma's Winter View

Emma has been taking a lot of photos lately. Usually they are of the pets, her toys or often unflattering shots of me going about my business...but this one i thought was exceptionally striking. I feel especially moved by the singularity of the icicle because of the way she framed it in the shot.