Adventurers and Lil Adventurers Part 2

Last week it was the Washington Monument. I had never been there, and it was really neat. Well worth getting tickets. The tickets are free, but there's a $1 a ticket charge to get them online instead of getting in line for them at 8 am. Well worth it, IMHO! We also went on to a brief visit at the WWII Memorial. This was a new monument to me and all I can say is that it was amazing in a way that the pictures don't capture. I thought it would be nice, but it was fabulous. Also, Choclo thought the fountains were a birthday cake.

This week it was the Archives. I knew from last year that this would not be a great place for Choclo and Oob: dimly lit documents are not their thing! They have so much stuff for older kids, though, the other Adventurers loved it! They got a mini course in geneaology and how to research primary documents. Looking at it, that doesn't sound fun, but every kid was riveted. You can access a lot of it at their Digital Vaults.



I knew better than to take Choclo and Oob to the Archives, so how did this work? My Shotgun Buddy took the Adventurers and I took the Lil Adventurers. Specifically, I took them to stomp in puddles on the National Mall. It was a day of intermittent torrential rain. I had enough foresight to put the Lil guys in rain gear and to wear my big Wellies.

The National Mall is grass surrounded by coarse sand paths, and the the big sandy puddles made quite a fascinating sensory experience.

The Lil guys got wetter than fish (and some odd looks), but had a wonderful time!

We also took a detour through the sculpture gardens and stopped to smell the flowers.

Providence was kind enough to have it not rain the entire two hours we were there. About the time we all met back at Blue Streak, the first drops were falling again, and it very shortly became a downpour fierce enough that you couldn't hear anything except the rain pounding on the car. A perfect day!

Seven Quick Takes Friday: Field Trip Advice

This has been a huge year for field trips. Partly, it's the first year we've had no tiny ones that need naps. Partly, this was the year of the Adventurers, where we did a field trip a week for the oldest kids in the co-op. It adds up to a lot of field trip experience. This is what I want to remember:

1. Be willing to leave when it stops being fun. Two hours is almost always the right amount of time. If you go for longer, the little ones tend to get overstimulated and cranky. Actually, I think all the kids (and maybe the adults) get overstimulated and cranky. There is definitely a point of diminishing returns there and it's so nice to leave happy.

2. Do the math for memberships. We just did free stuff with the Adventurers, but I bought 4 museum memberships this past year. It's better to go more often, but only for 2 hours, and, of course, at our family size, family memberships are cheaper than going twice. We actually tend to go 4 times a year to places where we buy the membership. As a bonus, it turns out those memberships tend to be tax deductible!

3. The more you go the easier it is. Going frequently down town has made me (finally!) comfortable driving in DC. I now know where to park cheaply and easily without having to parallel park Blue Streak. Now it's not a big deal to hop downtown for a half day field trip. Bonus: the parking meters are for two hours!

4. Give the kids a mission. Having kids draw three things is the best way to get them to look closely at things and get more out of the trip. Second best is telling them up front that I'm going to ask them to describe three things on the car ride back.

5. Pick the target carefully. Neither the Adventurers nor the Zoomlians seem to do well with art museums (unless I could be available to help them connect with the art). This can probably be trained into them in advance, but I couldn't do it with Choclo and Oob along. Also, art museums with large rooms that small children are not allowed to run in are very high maintenance. Also, small children make the security guards nervous. Also, some art museums (I won't name the National Gallery here), have lots of difficult rules about kids, some of which make sense (no backpacks, especially no carrying babies in backpacks), and some of which don't (you have to be thirteen to push even an empty stroller, which means your older kids can't help you wrangle the younger). Bottom line: I'm skipping the art museums for a while.

6. It's worth doing the touristy stuff. I've now lived just outside of of DC for nearly 10 years, but I never made the effort to go down and tour the monuments. It seemed like it was such a hassle to get in, find parking and what not, so I never got around to it. Now that I've done it, I realize that the touristy stuff is what we show tourists because it's the most worth seeing. I don't mean shell out an arm and a leg for a tour bus, but going to see the local sights is worthwhile. A surprise benefit has been seeing the tourists. A few weeks ago we were touring the Lincoln Memorial (OK, my Shotgun Buddy was touring the memorial with the Adventurers while I sat in the shade with a Choclo and Oob who had HAD ENOUGH, if you know what I mean). A tour bus pulled up and out poured a large group of WWII and Korean War veterans from Colorado. I ended up sitting and chatting a bit with one and another gave me a band aid for Oob's skinned knee (thus giving me a peaceful rest of the trip, may they be rewarded a hundred fold!). They enjoyed watching Choclo and Oob pretend to be ducks and I enjoyed the memorials from the point of view of those who sacrificed so much to defend them.

7. Go online before you go. The Smithsonian and National Park service have websites with pages titled "Plan Your Visit" and "What to Know Before You Go." It was really helpful to know that you can't bring bottled water into the Capitol Building, for example, so we had the kids leave their lunches in the car.

Bonus DC parking tips:

• Go mid week.
• Get there as close to 10 AM as you can.
• Check the far side of the Mall (the far side of Air and Space and the Castle).
• Get rolls of quarters!

Bonus Field Trip Advice:

Most museums have hours designed to make you eat lunch at the museum (unless you do the afternoon when parking is difficult).  We get around this by having the kids eat half their lunch in the car on the way there, and half on the way back.  Yes, the van gets messy, but we can put a lot of quarters into the big vacuum for the amount we save in lunches!
More with Jen!

Adventurers and Lil Adventurers Part 1

We've had a great time with the Adventurers this semester. My Shotgun Buddy and I are taking a group of ten kids on a field trip every week for our homeschool co-op. This year, I have Mxyl and Klenda as well as Choclo and Oob (and 6 other kids).

We started off with three weeks of the Air and Space Museum. Seriously, that's about how long it takes to do it thoroughly in two hour bites. We didn't even get to everything, but we hit the big stuff for our kids.




Next we did the Capitol Building - the older kids loved the inside, Choclo and Oob loved the duck pond. You can get (free) tickets here. The tours are one hour and very well done.





Then it was the Bonsai garden at the Arboretum. They were quite fascinated by the giant tiny trees.

Adventurers Fall Schedule

Yet another win for last week, I set up the Adventurers schedule!

If you're new to the blog, we live near Washington DC, home to an astonishing number of free world class museums, monuments, and other cool stuff.  

Adventurers, now in our sixth year,  is our weekly foray into this fascinating world!

Here is our field trip advice.

Here is our 2015 Fall Schedule:

9/9 Air and Space (space side)
9/16  Air and Space (air side)
9/23 Natural History (mammals, dinosaurs, insects)
9/30 Natural History (geology, gems, oceans)

10/7 Apple/pumpkin/broccoli picking at Larriland (pay for what you pick, free parking, usually takes most of the day)
10/14 Air and Space Udvar Hazy Annex (in Virginia so the driving will take more time, $16 parking, a good one to car pool)
10/21 Arboretum (Fall foliage, free parking)
10/28 American History (Spark Lab and the new Innovation Wing) This and the Arboretum may be switched depending on timing of peak leaf color

11/2 (Monday, All Souls Day) Arlington National Cemetery (visiting my family's WWI and WWII graves and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier)
11/11 (Veterans Day) American History (Star Spangled Banner and military history)
11/18 Library of Congress
Skip Week for Thanksgiving

12/2 Botanical Gardens (holiday train exhibit)
12/9 Gingerbread Contest and Party

Home School Scheming

Or planning, we could call it planning! Last week I attended a delightful tea with about a dozen other homeschoolers.

It was part meet and greet, part curriculum swap, and, for me, part advertising for the things I want to do next year!

Have you heard about Awesome History? (Spoiler: it's AWESOME!)

Do you have a high schooler that wants to learn Chemistry? It's a thing! Do you have a younger kid who likes Chemistry?  It's another thing (but in the spring)!

Do you crave adventure?  Adventurers is for you!

Long story short, I filled my high school Chemistry and got about 5 or 6 more families interested in Adventurers, and another 5 or so interested in Awesome History.  I figure that's as many as we can comfortably fit, so that's pretty perfect!

My plan for Awesome History is to continue and finish A Child's History of the World in the fall (Awesome Modern History), and then find a new book to do Awesome American History in the spring.

Plus the scones were fabulous!!

Making a List, Checking it Twice

I usually try to wrap things up before Thanksgiving, but this year ran late.

No!  I'm not talking about presents!  I'm talking about Adventurers, and Biology, and all that stuff that I try to finish early so we can focus on Advent.

Biology: CHECK!  We finished this week with classes on pre-natal development , genetics, and early Christmas cookies.  I think the kids enjoyed all three.

Adventurers: CHECK! Botanical Gardens was our last trip this semester with the group, although we may manage another trip on our own. 

Gingerbread Contest and Party: Yikes!  We're hosting it next Tuesday, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and we are still in the preliminary gingerbread sketching phase.

Presents: this is the problem when the schedule runneth over, we're just starting to get a handle on the Christmas shopping.  With 6 kids, we have been charged with getting gifts from both sets of grandparents, and ourselves, and helping manage the kids' gifts to each other. 

There are a lot of logistics and tracking involved: What's been ordered? What's arrived? Who has what, for whom?  Has it been wrapped?  How will we find it when we need it? 

Oh, the spreadsheets!  Still, it's a good problem to have.

Also, we are feeding Christmas cookies by the handful to our friendly neighborhood delivery people: our mail carrier, the Fed Ex guy, the UPS guy (whom Oob calls "Ups"), the fire fighter who delivered the tree, and whomever else shows up with a box. 

As for cards and a Christmas letter/photo:

Return of the Adventurers

The new dome

 I'm behind on my posting: Adventurers started up way back on Ash Wednesday!

Since it was a holy day, we started at the Basilica.  I think I've mentioned how I used to come here as a small child, and that the Basilica was not yet complete.  It still is not completely complete, so I occasionally find new things on our trips there.  This time, they just had finished another mosaic!

That leaves only the main dome "blank" on the inside (it's painted white).

 My kid's favorites are the same as mine, way back when: we always stop by Our Lady of Ireland.  I love the tender expression on the statue.  And of course, the fountain is always a big hit!

Our Lady of Guadalupe is also one of the most beautiful shrines (and is always covered with roses from visitors).


The following week, we went to the Walters.


The Hall of Wonders remains, well, wonderful in the literal sense.  It's also the best place in the world to play "I Spy."

The Knight's Hall was a big draw.  Their Medieval collection really is fantastic as Art, as History, and as a record of faith and devotion through the centuries.




 We also made it to the Hackerman House (still part of the Walters) to see their collection of Chinese and Japanese objects in the house of an Asian curiosity collector from the Gilded Age.

In one room was this amazingly detailed pagoda.

 Each level was filled with tiny drawers.  Choclo and Oob (and I) were entranced by the exquisite craftsmanship.  Choclo wanted one for his room.

I asked Oob what he would put in those tiny drawers and he told me without hesitation: "Little sandwiches."

 Which probably meant we were close to lunch time!

But we still had time for a quick visit to the children's room to try on armor and stage a puppet show!

More Adventuring

This week, Adventurers fell on Ash Wednesday, so we decided to go to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

This was very nice. I thought we would have trouble with everything being super crowded because of the day, but it was actually pretty empty.

We got a really nice tour guide all to ourselves.

She was fantastic. Choclo and Oob were.... well, not bad, exactly. They wanted to go up and kiss all the statues of Mary and Jesus they could find. They wanted to kneel down and pray at each altar and smell all the flowers. This was a bit distracting to the rest of the kids, so I ended up taking the Mini-Adventurers on their own tour.

There are a number of chapels in here that are very special to me. I started visiting here as a little kid, before the upper church (the main part) was even open. That would have been a 5 hour drive from where we lived!

I remember touring it with my grandma and mom as a young adult when I lived in Baltimore.

This one is Our Lady of Sorrows and it was my Grandma Marie's favorite. Choclo, Oob and I lit a candle for her there.


Now that I live nearby, it's been interesting to see all the nooks and crannies. I particularly like walking around the outside and seeing all the saints featured on the outer walls. The portico on the north side is especially fun (how often do you see tanks and fighter planes in a religious mosaic? There is a nice part dedicated to military chaplains.).

I also really like the mosaic featuring Creation. That one is inside over the southern arm of the cross. It has a wonderful polar bear near God's hand at the bottom!

This time, it finally occurred to me that the thing to do with little kids on a quiet day was have them lie down in the pews and look at the mosaics on the ceiling. Wow! They were transfixed for a long time.

This is the newest mosaic. The largest dome is still undecorated and there seems to be a continual stream of new side chapels. Every time I go there seems to be some new thing going on. I wonder if the church will be completed in my life time. I rather hope it isn't!

It was a very nice start to Lent!

Anyway, you can take a virtual tour here. Have fun!

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Because Sometimes the Day Doesn't Follow the Plan

 So.  The plan was to do a leaf walk at the Arboretum with Adventurers, and then head north to pick up baking supplies.

But. This seasonal clothing change.

I'm fighting the good fight, but it's winning. And laughing at me.

I asked a friend with 8 kids for sage advice and she laughed at me too.  Immoderately. Apparently more kids doesn't make it easier, something I probably should have known.

So I decided to take the entire morning, dump my plans, and just get it done!

 Well, I certainly worked hard all morning.

Can you see a difference?  Kinda? Squint.

The main problem seems to be that I am missing the three bins  containing all of Choclo and most of Oob's winter clothes.


Yes, I have rechecked all the clothing bins in the basement, all the way to the bottom of each bin.  I predict it will take me 6 months to recover.






 In the mean time, I was running low on flour and sugar, so we used the afternoon to  make  a trip to the warehouse.


Final tally: 800 pounds!

300 lbs of sugar, and 500 lbs (total) of pastry and bread flour.

Judging from the most recent receipt, that will last me nearly a year.

And that, at least, was easily found and is now neatly stored away!

American History

We started off Adventurers with two weeks at the American History Museum!  

We ended up seeing only two of the three floors, in part because some new exhibits had opened up.

There was a very large exhibit on the history of commercial sailing.  I love model ships!

The space dovetailed with their (even larger) transportation exhibit. 

The exhibits are designed to be interactive, so Leena is listening to this statue (in a train station) talk about life as a traveling salesman. You press buttons to hear him talk about different subjects.  There are also lots of boxes and containers to peek into as you see what was being transported when.


Then you get to climb on an MTA subway.  It gives a very good imitation of moving along in the late 1950s/early 60s, while one wall is a movie of riders getting on and off and chatting amongst themselves about various issues.

The exhibit goes from the earliest trains to modern container ships, and includes a 1970s traffic jam!

On the way out, we stopped in on the exhibit showing early forms of generators - very steam punk!

The other week we looked at the Star Spangled Banner, and the military history exhibit which takes up almost the entire top floor.

Wordless Wednesday: Adventurers, Air and Space Part 1

Chemistry (and Pirates)

Yes, I know it be Talk Like a Pirate Day, but I be trying to catch up on all the stuff we been too busy to blog about! Shiver me timbers!

Annnd, I'll take a break from that to tell you that we started high school Chemistry last week.

Evidently, this is the class that many fantastically overcompetent home school moms do not want to teach. Maybe because we work with strong acids, horrible toxins, set things on fire, and occasionally blow things up?


I thought those were why we wanted to do chemistry!

At any rate, I wanted a class of 6 kids.  Six is perfect: enough for a good discussion, but not too many to oversee when we set things on fire, and an even number so they can have lab partners.


I got two classes of six: a girls' class on Tuesdays and a  boys' class on Thursdays! In practice this has been fantastic, and I, at any rate, am really enjoying both classes.

The only change to the plan is that I will now be finishing before Lent, instead of finishing before Thanksgiving (it had been two classes a week).

Unfortunately, neither class landed on Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Adventurers, however, started up with it's very first trip today- let the anchor fall on me liver, that was fun!

We went to the Natural History Museum and saw the skeletons (crossed bones!), dinosaurs, gems and
minerals.

I'll post more pictures on Wednesday, but I'll leave you with this one of the Hope Diamond being eyed by my crew of scallywags.

To wrap things up, we sang many many verses of "My Name was Captain Kidd," and watched a BBC documentary on Captain Cook.  Not technically a pirate in the conventional sense, but very interesting to watch.

Spring Into Adventure!

It's the spring schedule for Adventurers!

As always, spring schedules are entirely weather dependent: not only do some events get canceled by bad weather, others get shuffled when the magnolias/cherry blossoms/azaleas bloom off schedule.  It's all part of the Adventure!

Also, please note that unlike last semester, these trips are all on Tuesdays. 


2/23 Bureau of Printing and Engraving (this is where they print money - last time we went they were printing $100 bills, so we saw over a million dollars cash!)

3/1  Franciscan Monastery  Always a great trip, especially during Lent.

3/8  Fort McHenry Exploring the fort from the Star Spangled Banner is more fun if you beat the crowds by going in March.  Not only do you get to hunker down in the "bombproofs", they have cannons from at least four different wars!

3/15 National Zoo Weather dependent, of course, but early March is often a great time to visit the Zoo.  You get early spring, lots of animals and no crowds.  Also you don't overheat while tromping back up the hill to your car!

3/22 Skip week:  Holy Week
 
3/29 National Arboretum  The magnolias should be in bloom!

4/5   Cherry Blossoms  If I get the bloom time right... otherwise the C + O Canal

4/12 The Walters This will dovetail with the Awesome History Middle Ages class

4/19 The Baltimore Museum of Art or the C + O Canal/Great Falls

4/27 National Arboetum: The Azalea Walk should be at peak bloom.

5/3  Monuments on the Mall (Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, maybe more)  This will be a hike!  It's one mile from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, so we'll see how far we get (and if I can figure out how to park in the middle!)

 5/10  Fossil Hunt  (Shark's teeth) down by the Bay.  This should come right after the last Masters of Disasters class on fossils! I may also do one more shark tooth trip in May when Mxyl and Klenda are done with their college classes.

Gospel Dessert: Palm Sunday

I was away visiting my folks for the weekend, but, when I got back,  Klenda had made a tiramisu cake with a palm theme.

We're excited to be entering Holy Week!

It's also spring break week for Klenda and Mxyl, so we'll be doing some special things with them.

We'll be helping out with decorating the church for the Triduum.

We won't be doing any of our usual classes, although we will visit the Basilica for Adventurers.

Hope you are having a great Holy Week, too- let's keep each other in prayer!

More Air and Space

 I love Adventurers! There's nothing like having a dozen free world class museums on your doorstep to spark a sense of wonder about the world!

Yesterday's pictures were from last week, but Air and Space takes about 3 weeks (6 hours) to go through thoroughly, and even then, we never see everything. 

Alas, this year, we can only spend two weeks, but since we have younger kids along, that's about right.

Zoomlians on the bridge!

 Last week we did the "space" side, and this week we did the "air" side.

This included climbing through some planes, examining propeller and jet engines, and visiting my favorite exhibit: the aircraft carrier mock up!

You can climb up into a navigation bridge on one side and "watch" fighter jets taking off, and then cross back to the control tower and watch them land on the other side of the ship.

The design is just brilliant! You really feel you are on the ship (or, in Leena's case, that you are in the Shatterdome of Pacific Rim)!

My other favorite, and conveniently near the carrier,  is the WWII exhibit.

The mural is gorgeous, the layout is fantastic, and they have all sorts of smaller exhibits tucked into odd corners.

Also, you can get very close to the planes on both levels, which makes for a compellingly immersive experience.