Schooling Outdoors!

Four French fries.

Max and Natalie on the mammoth bones.

Anastasia and the train.

Prickly and sweet.

Grass. A strange and rare occurence here.

Land of the giants.

Sand. And more sand.

Butterfly girl.

Now that the weather here no longer feels like a broiler oven, we can't seem to get enough of the great outdoors. Monday I woke up and decided to take the kids to the Springs Preserve, which is a very high-tech, super organicky-like, solar powered, water conservationishy educational compound place. There are museums, science centers, and all sorts of learning buildings, but you have to pay around $20 each to view these things. We stick with the 'gardens and trails' pass, which is free. Right up our alley.

They have what is probably our favorite playground. There is a cool train to climb all over, giant mammoth bones to climb on, giant butterflies, birds, and turtle shells, and a giant rattle snake. And a totally fun raised sand bed with adjacent water feature. I am still finding sand here, there and yonder. But they had a blast.

I threw a few books and flashcards into a backpack along with some snacks and water, and we camped out there for five hours! They played a really long time while I took turns with Alexandra and Max, doing work pages, flashcard drills and spelling drills. Then we walked the trails which were filled with artsy displays, a wealth of desert flora, and informative signs. We learned about solar power, windmills, water towers, irrigation, gardening and bugs. We saw butterflies, bees, a hummingbird and ants.

Then they went back to the playground and played some more. They managed to cram sand into all the bodily crevices that had yet to be filled with sand. Fun!

There were very few people around on a Monday, and we felt like we had the place to ourselves most of the day. Late in the day, I met a lovely mother with four children the same ages as mine, and we had a wonderful discussion about politics, mothering and children. I love discovering like-minded people.

It was a wonderful and happy day. I browsed through some borrowed magazines from the library while the kids played, and can't wait to try decoupaged pumpkins tomorrow. We bought pumpkins today and I will post pictures when we finish. I love fall!!!