These past several weeks have been a whirlwind of adventures in Hawaii as well as a return to Washington just in time for Easter! We studied local animal/bird/plant life, soaked up the sun and saltwater at the beach, marveled in the warmer rain, and conversed with farm animals. The kids and I were treated to fresh creamy Hope milk (she's a jersey cow) several times a day and, directed by grandma and papa, helped with a few farm projects.
During our stay in Hawaii we welcomed a new kid (baby goat) to the farm from the other side of the island, picked up a horse trailer and used that horse trailer to transport a 4-month-old jersey heifer calf to the farm as well. Continuing the whirlwind of adventure we installed a trailer on the farm to be the residence of a farm hand or possibly horse trainer in the future. This summer it will be occupied by a young man from our neck of the woods (Washington state) who wishes to learn about maintaining a farm and is willing to work for that knowledge.
As for schooling I mostly let the boys lead me during this vacation time. We talked about fish and crabs. They learned not to turn their backs to the ocean when at the beach so that they could see what kinds of waves are coming. They practiced their swimming skills in the shallow pools. We went for walks on the farm and also into Volcano National Park.
Through the Thurston Lava Tube about a dozen times just to be able to re-enter the cave! On the walk in Volcano we noticed fiddleheads on the hapu'u ferns (tree ferns native to Hawaii). We also looked up to the roof of the lava tube and saw the ohia roots hanging down.
One day we visited the Panaewa Zoo with a high school friend of mine and her son. Sadly, my kids were more interested in the spectacular playground equipment than the animals. I'm afraid they've been spoiled by our Woodland Park Zoo here in Seattle. It was nice to revisit one of my old haunts though, especially because I ran into the woman who used to oversee us volunteers when I worked there at the petting zoo with the ios (Hawaiian hawks). We were both amazed at how time has flown by and now I'm bringing kids to the zoo! Helena and Roo were great tour guides at the zoo also because they are frequent visitors. What a delight to hang out with an old friend and our kids!
Plane rides to and from Hawaii were long but loads of fun for the kids. They not only had the great adventure of being on-board a plane but they also were marveling in the excitement of our newest teaching tool: The Kindle Fire. In preparation for the long flights I found several very useful teaching games. There's a Spanish lesson app, a US Geography puzzle that you fill in and learn about the states, a story app that reads "The Frog Prince" in English, Spanish or Mandarin, and also some flashcard apps and math apps. I've been against video games for so long, and I will still keep them away from our TV but I do believe that the kids need to be up-to-date with technology and a few learning games can be great tools.
With Easter weekend coming right after our return from Hawaii I did not manage to get our acts together for this week in school but I'm working together a month or so of weeks about our own state, Washington. I think it's time we explored in more detail what is around us here. And what better time to start then the beautiful start to spring!
