GETTING DIRTY

Several months ago, I made the decision to homeschool my oldest two for preschool. Not because I am some overachiever. No, no - that is not why. I made the decision because I am cheap. And lazy. Preschool is nearing $100 a pop. And that is just for ONE kid for ONE month. That would be nearly $2000 for my two kiddos for a year. YEAH. RIGHT. I'd rather spend that money on something else. Like Christmas. And home improvements. And baby clothes... PLUS I would have to drive back and forth a billion times a week with four kids in the car and that gets exhausting. Anyway. I made the decision back in April or May and immediately began to search through curriculum materials and schedule layouts. Hated everything I found. Too basic and easy. Nothing really met the level of expectation that I had. SO I MADE MY OWN. I built a curriculum based on what I knew would offer my kids an adequate challenge. Threw in a couple of fun subjects and holiday-themed units. 17 weeks of preschool materials and activities - DONE. Fall semester is going to rock (need to work on our 17 weeks for spring semester... sigh). We are already 4 weeks into preschool and I have to say, I LOVE IT. I love the time I use to focus on the kids. I love being able to help them learn and grow. I love seeing them eat this up.
This week we focused on dinosaurs. Talked about environments, diets, and fossilization. Capped the week off with an awesome dinosaur dig activity. Used brushes and chisels to unearth some dino bones. The older two even let the babies lend a hand. It was seriously such a fun adventure.

CALIFORNIA LOVIN'

Back in January, I TOLD the mr. that we would be going to California. He laughed it off and said, "Sure. If you pay for it..." And that is exactly what I did; I paid for the trip (having inherited my mom's ridiculously awesome deal-finding, money-saving tricks AND having a family friend to stay with for free helped a bit, too). So bright and early on a Wednesday morning, we hit the road.

WEDNESDAY: DAY ONE made the drive to just SE of LA in 6 hrs - kids were amazing unloaded everything into the RV - home sweet Cali home hit up the nearest In'N'Out - so much better in Cali, I SWEAR drove out to Newport Beach and played for hours - love, love, love the beach  had a late dinner back at the RV followed by immediately passing out
THURSDAY: DAY TWO quick breakfast before heading to LA Zoo - I hate LA traffic LA Zoo - closest experience to torture - it was a short visit drove to nearest Chick-Fil-A as plan B - 19.5 miles away... spent the rest of the day at Manhattan Beach - there is a free, little aquarium on the pier headed home and had another late dinner before hitting the sack
FRIDAY: DAY THREE drove to Long Beach after scarfing down breakfast started our adventures at the Aquarium of the Pacific - BEST IDEA EVER saw sea turtles and penguins, touched jellies and sharks - the kids were in paradise had a picnic at the harbor next to the aquarium - the weather was to die for  took a spontaneous harbor cruise and glimpsed sea lions in their natural habitat drove the Pacific Coast Highway back to our Cali home - I love the beach went out to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner with our host family
SATURDAY: DAY FOUR ate breakfast at a local french cafe - not the smartest idea with four antsy kids headed out to Huntington Beach and spent the entire morning soaking up the beach fed the kids lunch back at the RV while packing for our trip home made the drive home in 6 hours - grabbed a pizza on the way for dinner Best trip ever. We had SO MUCH FUN. The kids were great. I can't wait to do it again next year  (because we WILL be making this an annual family vacation).

CABIN TRIP

Gasp! Two posts in two days! I bet your heads are spinning. I just figured it is nap time - with all four of my littles asleep for a good 2.5 hours. And I may or may not be procrastinating with photo editing and curriculum building. Not to mention, I just discovered a super quick way to edit and upload photos. Blink of an eye. So why not?
About a month and a half ago, my parents rented a cabin in Pinetop. Invited us up for the weekend. We figured it would be a great experience prior to our Cali adventure. Kids learn how to travel. Parents learn how to handle kids on vacation. Plus, Mimi & Papa were paying for everything. Win/win. To say we had a blast would be an understatement. No plans. Just played it by ear for the entire trip. We took walks. Picked flowers. Watched storms. Even played with some friends. Seriously, a slice of heaven. And Nene surprised us by becoming an over-night walker. It was fantastic.