A Nighttime Visitor

We had a little visitor to our house last night. No it wasn't Santa Claus or even the tooth fairy. It was something even better...a skunk!! Now you may ask "why is a skunk better then Santa or the tooth fairy?" Well, simply because this little guy (or gal) sparked some serious curiosity and not just for Ms. Q.

-

We watched this skunk wander around the front yard for a really, really long time. Then I made Ms. Q go in to bed, again. She was already in bed when I ran in to wake her up to see it! But while we were watching it, she asked a lot of really good questions that we were able to get the answers to today. We went to exploring nature and found out what kind of skunk we think this is, what it eats, where it lives, and so many other facts.

-

The funny thing was that after Ms. Q went in to bed, Fred and I stayed outside and watched it some more. I asked him the same questions that Ms. Q asked me and he couldn't answer then either. Here is an animal that we have lived next to our entire lives and neither of us knew what it eats, what kind of house it builds, or how long it lives. I am so glad that we are now taking the time to really see what our world has to offer and learn from.

Outdoor Challenge #2

Our challenge for this week was to spend some time learning about the sounds of nature. We also learned about the perils of nature today too. Ms. Chatterbox had a bit of a rough time staying quiet during our walk, mostly because she kept telling me about the sounds she was hearing! "Did you hear that?" and "What kind of bird was that you think?" We agreed to take a break from not talking so she could excitedly describe the things she saw. She did really well with describing her experiences. She heard chirping, dripping, rustling, buzzing; she saw red ants, big birds, fast dragonfly, wet spiderweb; and she felt cold wet rain, smooth wet grass.

She also felt sharp stinging pain when she was stung by a yellow jacket! Thankfully this happened near the end of our walk around the backyard. After she removed the ice from her arm she drew this picture in her nature journal.

Rain, rain, go away

Fred and Ms. Q were supposed to go to Dolphin Camp today but it started raining last night and the weatherman predicts rain for the next five days! It has now been rescheduled for August 4th. They were a little bummed but decided the movie theater was a good alternative.

In the spirit of slowing down and enjoying life, Fred decided to forgo shoes this morning. He is not a barefoot guy. After a quick walk around the backyard, he declared wet grass between his toes a wonderful sensation. So I guess the rain isn't that bad after all.

So Quiet

It has been so quiet around the house with Ms. Q gone all day. Little M and I are enjoying our time alone together but I do miss Ms. Q. I think Little M misses her during the day too. He crawls over to her room and calls for her in the morning after she's already left. Even Fred said he and Little M were a little bored on Wednesday while I was at work and Ms. Q was at her class.

She seems to be having a blast though. She made a new friend and is enjoying the classes. I think it's good for her to get some time away from the family. As much as she loves us and likes spending time with us, she needs some independence too. I'm glad that she is willing to tell me all about her day though, so I don't feel too left out! The first week seemed to fly by and I'm sure the next week will too.

Ms. Q has been asking when we will do our next Outdoor Hour Challenge but since we aren't having school this week or next I really hadn't planned one. I think we might do one on Saturday or Sunday this week and next. These are usually school days for us and I'm home all day, so really it could work out nicely. I better get reading!

Plans for July

July is a short month for us school wise. Ms. Q will be attending the community college for their college for kids program July 6th through July 17th. She and her friend picked out the classes they are taking together and are really excited. As I mentioned in the previous post, we are doing sports spectacular week again this week because of the July 4th holiday and some other events going on around here lately. Here is what we have planned for the rest of the summer.

Ms. Q and Fred are attending a one day Dolphin Camp at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine NJ. We planned this out when we were doing the ocean unit, so although it comes a little later Ms. Q is still really excited about it. She will learn more about dolphins, do some dolphin crafts, take a dolphin spotting cruise, and participate in a mock dolphin stranding. Cool huh?

July 23-26 Pied Piper Week

July 30 -August 2 Ice Cream Celebration

Aug 6-9 Helen Keller Week

Aug 13-16 Mystery Madness

Aug 20-23 Socrates Birthday (actual birthday in June but we didn't have time to celebrate then)

Aug 27-30 At the beach or Theme park Q hasn't fully decided on this week yet

Wow, summer just doesn't seem to be as long as I remember it being when I was a kid. Although, I have already started to hear the "we're bored" mantra on non-school days!