First day of school!

It is with great joy that I introduce to you the students of God Seekers Academy for the 2013-2014 school year . . .

 

Lael - age 12

Jaden - age 9

 

Noah - age 3

 I'm looking forward to a fabulous school year - and I am confident that it won't be boring!!



Strawberry picking . . . then and now!

We took a trip to our favorite berry-picking place yesterday - we've been going there for years to pick blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries . . . which was our goal for this trip.  (Of course, yesterday was probably the hottest day of the summer so far!  We got there when they opened at 9:00 - I'm so glad we didn't come later!)

 

I had the help of three amazing pickers!

Lael was my methodical picker . . . she chose a spot, picked all the berries in that area, then moved on to the next spot.

 This was Noah's first time picking berries. He had fun finding strawberries for a while, but then he decided that he'd rather be my "runner" - carrying my picked berries to the larger container so I could continue picking.

 (However, by the end of our time at the farm, he decided that the best job of all was that of "taste tester"!)

 Jaden was on the hunt for the biggest and best strawberries - and found some beautiful ones!

 

Just so you can see how long we've been coming here . . .

 

This was Jaden and Papa picking strawberries - back in June of 2010.

 Lael and Nana had fun filling their buckets too.

 We've definitely made the George Schmidt Berry Farm a favorite destination for whenever we have a craving for amazing produce!  

Although we can't live on a farm, at least we can visit one :)

First EVER family bike ride!

Today was an absolutely GORGEOUS day here in Pennsylvania . . . the perfect day for our very first-ever-in-the-history-of-our-family bike ride!

 

Brent and the big kids go biking often . . . but Noah and I have been unable to join them because I have not had a bike.  In fact, I don't think I've ridden a bike for at least twenty-five years a looooong time!  Recently, however, I was blessed with a bike - and with the purchase of a bike trailer for Noah, we were ready for adventure!

 

It takes a while to get everyone geared up - helmets, pads . . .

 Even Noah had his helmet on!

 Jaden did some warming up in the parking lot . . .

 . . . while Lael chose to conserve her energy - and looked beautiful doing so!

 Noah had the easiest job of all - sit back and enjoy the ride!

 Daddy did a fantastic job of making sure that everyone's bikes were road-worthy!

 We rode on the Ironton Rail Trail - which has some amazing history to it - dating back to Civil War times!

 Halfway through, we took a break . . . the big kids had fun jumping from post to post with Daddy.

 And Noah and I were entertained watching them!

 

All in all, we biked 5.5 miles in just under an hour.  Not bad for my first time on a bike in a loooong time! (And that was the fastest trip for the kids doing a complete loop on the rail trail too!)

After the bike ride, Noah was ready to play!  (After all, he'd been sitting in his trailer for an hour!)  Fortunately, there was a little playground there with plenty to entertain a busy two-year-old . . .

  And of course, what park trip would be complete without a game of "everyone chase Daddy around until someone catches him"?

 And we had to spend some time by the creek . . . for now, just looking - but I know that come summertime, the kids will be asking to do some creek walking . . .

 The sound of the water rushing over the rocks is so restful.

 We kept looking for any sign of beavers around the dam, but they were hiding from us.

 Jaden asked me to close my eyes - then took my hand and led me to a patch of these beautiful little flowers by the water's edge.  We both admired them for a while.

Welcome, spring!

We're so glad you're finally here!

  We went apple picking with some of our co-op friends this week - anything is more fun when done with friends (and apple picking is fun to begin with)!

Jaden pushed the cart to the part of the orchard we would be picking in.

Noah definitely enjoyed his first trip to the apple orchard :)

Jaden inspecting the cart to see how much room we had left.

The final two apples for our baskets!

Lael shared the pushing job with Mom on the way back - being very careful not to spill any of our beautiful apples!  We picked two varieties - Jonagold (the ones closest to Lael) and Empire.

A lovely afternoon at the orchard!

I'm already thinking of all the tasty treats we will make!

SCHOLA fun has begun again!

Co-op time is here once again!  It's hard to believe, but this is our fourth year with our homeschool co-op . . . we all look forward to the beginning of the new school year to see our old friends and meet new ones!

 

This fall, Lael's classes include Genetics, Elections, and a gym class.

This week, they made a model of DNA using paper clips . . . pretty cool.  (Why didn't we do things like that when I was in school???) 

 Jaden has a class on Elections too (his is taught by Mom), as well as one on famous scientists and their discoveries . . . oh, and the ever-popular gym class!

 Noah is still too little for actual classes, but he still has lots of fun playing with his friends :)

Pennypacker Mills

Last week we experienced a piece of Pennsylvania history when we visited Pennypacker Mills in Schwenksville, PA.  This estate was the summer home of Gov. Samuel W. Pennypacker, who served as governor of Pennsylvania from 1903-1907.

 

We visited in conjunction with "History Adventures in the Summer", a hands-on history program by Pennypacker Mills.  The theme on the day of our visit?  The General Store - and we had so much fun!

 

The staff gave the kids a general overview of the general store - where things were located and what kinds of merchandise could be purchased - as well as sharing a snapshot as to what life was like at the turn of the 20th century.

 After some instructions, each child grabbed a basket and a shopping list and were turned loose to shop!

 There were all kinds of tasks - like weighing out dry beans . . .

 . . . and cool things to see, like this telephone.

 Noah watched all the big kids scurry around from the comfort of his stroller.

 One favorite activity:  grinding grain by hand into flour.  (My kids were thankful that we have an electric grain grinder at home!)

 Even Noah got in on a bit of the grain grinding action!

 Noah was quite entertained by the "horse" (made of wood) tied to a hitching post - he couldn't understand why the hitching post wouldn't "let go" of the rope when he asked it to! ;)

 Lael and Jaden also tried their hand at using a pen and ink to write . . . then decided that they'd stick with pencils for their schoolwork!

 After they completed all the tasks on their shopping list, they went to the front counter - Jaden wasn't quite sure how to take the general store clerk . . . she talked to him like he was a boy of that time period!

We also got to tour the governor's home but have no pictures (none were allowed inside).

 

It was a fantastic field trip . . . and a wonderful glimpse into what life was like 100 years ago!