Sailing on Lake Ray Hubbard November 26, 2007

Invited by our friends the Ritchies, we spent an afternoon sailing on Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall, TX (just east of Dallas). It was one of the last of our warm days before a little cold snap and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Once the sea legs kicked in for Elijah and Sadie, they wandered around the front of the boat exploring for a bit and then became instantaneously bored and seeking land. Chris and I found it very relaxing and Chris was feeling useful as he got to steer . Thank you Ritchie Family (Rachel, Bryan, Faith, Tony, Nicole, and Dylan)!

Dallas Arboretum November 24, 2007

An outing to the Dallas Arboretum yielded all sorts of fun and adventure. We started out on the Chocolate Trail exploring the stages of chocolate growth and production from the bean to the candy store. What a fun way to trace back one of our favorite things to the earth!
We then moved on to Frontier Village which is exactly what it sounds like- a quaint little village of homes/buildings built to suit short people! The kids ran from building to building playing with the items inside and then ventured to the next field to the teepee with animal hides and charts showing how the Native Americans used every party of the animals they killed, the covered wagon, the metal bathing tub next to the fire pit used to heat the water from the well just to the other side, the sod house with the step-by-step pictures of how it was built… To top it all off- there’s a letterbox hidden just outside the Arboretum! East Dallas is a gorgeous area. This was a great day.

More Letterboxing! November 24, 2007

Letterboxing has become a family pursuit. On this weekend we finally found a box hidden underneath a train car near our house. It was a fun place to play as you can see.

Sadie plays with friends, Anna and Gretchen, on the flat car.

Though this picture is rather blurry, it was too much fun not to blog. Not knowing what to expect from the weather during our first year in Texas, the kids are ecstatic that there are leaves to play in.

School? Not – An interview with the author of The Unprocessed Child November 16, 2007

Want to know more about unschooling? Don’t just read the text, listen to the podcast.

Overcome by Letterboxing November 16, 2007

Yes, we’ve caught the bug. And we’ve got it bad. We’re now official letterboxers with handcarved stamps and trail names: Mama (me), Holy Moses (Chris), Speedy (Elijah), and Lulu (Sadie). Our maiden voyage was a trip to Bear Creek Park to turn up a box and figure out what we were doing as a family. The second trip out we did with our LEAP group and what a blast! We had a great day with our friends- running, playing, laughing, and…finding 3 boxes!

Here’s the letterboxing lowdown for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about:
What is letterboxing? (from www.atlasquest.com)
“Letterboxing, at its basic, is a like a treasure hunt type game. Small boxes are hidden in various locations—usually outdoors, though many are planted indoors as well—and the creator of the box will release clues so others can go out and find them later. The box is expected to have a logbook that finders can log into and a unique stamp, usually hand-carved, that the finder can stamp into their own personal logbook as a record of all the letterboxes they’ve found. Most letterboxers have a unique stamp to represent themselves, called a signature stamp, they stamp into the logbooks found inside letterboxes so others who find the letterbox later know they found it.”

Since Bear Creek we’ve found a couple of others in Keller and surrounding towns and one at the Dallas Arboretum (see next post for our Arboretum adventure). The boxes are planted all over the world so we are looking forward to letterboxing on all of our journeys!

Groovin’ November 13, 2007

Where else can you see Sadie and Elijah dressed for success and doin’ the hustle? Check out JibJab
and click play below to see these two groovin’!

Still Splashin’ in November! November 10, 2007

(With the spa heater on… Yes, we do still don the suits and splash but not in the pool. “It’s waaaay to cold!” says Lijey. Elijah is going through another learning-to-swim spurt and can’t get enough of swimming under water from one side of the hot tub to the other (without a floatie!). Can’t wait to see the heater bill….

Spending the Day in Springtown November 10, 2007

Another great LEAP get together with our friends. The Kanes had us out to Springtown (northwest of Ft. Worth) for a day in the country. The park was fabulous and the kids had loads of fun playing and digging in the dirt together.

Then back to the Kanes for horseback riding! Sadie took the saddle for the first time and here’s her story: “I rode Bunny, the white horse. She pulled on the leash a little bit and was really wobbly.” That’s the long and the short of her experience. Would she do it again? “Sure.”

Flower Press November 4, 2007

On a lazy Saturday morning, we decided to assemble the flower press that’s been sitting in the “secret” room and press some of the beautiful chrysanthemums from the front garden.

Charlotte’s Web November 4, 2007

Another fabulous play at Casa Manana in the cultural district of downtown Ft. Worth. Truly great. The kids are really enjoying this series.

Upon leaving, Elijah spotted a spider and both kids had to stop and bond with/watch it for a few minutes. Maybe it was one of Charlotte’s babies….