We had another great Redwall Readers activity day here today with 37 people in attendance- it was full on!

Our book this time was Martin the Warrior. All of the kids had read the book and came along for some fun. We love our Redwall days!

Our line up today went like this:

10:30-10:45 arrive and play character bingo.

10:45-11:00 Cavern Hole – time to head down stairs to tell who you came dressed as and why you chose that character. Also a great time for our war chants! Man, those kids have some lungs—I wonder who would encourage them to yell like that in the house? ( Ü )

11:00-11:30 Warrior skills. We headed out in the back yard for some skills. As warriors they need to be on their guard, quick on their feet, skilled at many diverse activities –dontcha know? Wot!Wot!  So for some good form we had stations set up to enhance those skills: sword fighting, jousting sticks, cross bows and dagger dodging to work on those obvious skills. Hula hoop is a great skill to enhance the bob and weave techniques (wot! wot!), jumping rope keeps you light and fast on your feet, Frisbee enhances your hand eye coordination and your aiming skills as does paddle ball. And of course we had to have a rock throwing section this go ‘round- since Martin is saved by the skills of Rose & Grumm at this same activity.

11:30-11:40 Team time. Two teams lined up with a bucket of balloons in front of them. They had to pass each balloon over head/under legs all along the line. Ah- but we had a twist. Being able to work as a team is import in the warrior skills- but so is using your head to figure out riddles and clues… So, each balloon had a paper with a letter on it. So the last one in the line had to pop the balloon and get the paper- the papers had to be brought to the front of the line and then that person started off the next balloon. After all the balloons were popped each team had to arrange their letters into a phrase. (Fur & Freedom) The team that had their phrase figured out first and was sitting back in a line was the winner.

11:40-12:00 Rambling Rosehip players.  In this book there is a traveling group of performers… So all the kids were grouped by 3’s and 4’s and given 10 minutes to come up with a skit, song, dance or whatever they chose to entertain the troops. What a great fun that was! The groups were all so creative and came up with some real dandies! Good show I say!!

12:00- 1:00 Feast time. The feasts in Redwall are amazing, mouth watering and delectable. We try to duplicate that for the day. Today’s feast was exceptionally yummy. On the menu we had: cavern hole zoop (soup), cherry berry juice, near fort cream, elderflower cordial, autumn fruit trifle, hare treats, warm orchard plums, golden pears, field melons, meadow cream, early autumn field salad, woodland tarts, crusty brown bread, fried bird, late summer basil soup, roast battle bird, mushroom & beetroot pasties, wild meadow tarts,  Brockhall badger carrot cakes, fried apple cakes with jam and cream, haversack crumble, corsair hard tack, hot root dip, fruit of the orchard pie, forest nuts, & deeper ‘n ever pie. A proper scoff was had by one and all!

1:00-1:15 Game time!  Back down in cavern hole the  teams were divided and the bell was ready. The kids come up in twos- 1 one from each team. I ask a question from the story and the first one to ring the bell gets to answer the question and if they are correct they get the point. I love this part of the day. This month I had 25 questions and a few bonus questions ready for the kiddos. Working as a team – they all do really well at remembering the details of the books.

1:15-1:25 Charter sort.  Each kid was called up and given one character from the book- they had to identify which type of animal that character was… this is a lot harder than it sounds- some of the characters are only mentions briefly. They could have one life line and than it was time for the final answer. (giggle)

1:25-1:30 Prisoner escape. Everyone was in one room and a “guard” was chosen to “make his rounds”( into another room.) Once the guard was gone a prisoner was selected to “escape”(into a different room) the slaves would all call “escape-escape-escape” and the guard would return. He than had to guess which slaves had escaped. If he guessed correctly the slave was caught… if he didn’t guess that slave was free. They love this simple game!

1:30- Clean up and go home! Don’t forget your pikes, swords, bows, arrows, shields, slings or any of your other gear my dears.

cross bow shooting

THAT's how we bob and weave Heath!

very skilled at arms dont'cha know?!

Good form old chap!

Team time.

Get those seabirds girls!

( I should get a few more pictures from others and will add 'em on... I am always so busy that grabbing a few pictures is all I can do)

Get reading kiddos- 20 May is our next day and the book will be The bellmaker.   Ü

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We spent a delightful morning touring the Canberra Glassworks and seeing how the facility is laid out, learned the history of the building and then the students were able to partake in some glass making classes.

Addison made a glass "postcard". Using a piece of clear glass as a base- she used different colors to make a picture. She really enjoyed the creativity.

Dylan took a glass blowing class and he really enjoyed that experience. How cool is that?!

Devon made a glass bead and he thought it was cool.

They were all smiles and grins. What a fun hands on day for all three of them. I can't wait to see the finished products next week, they needed time to cool or be kilned.  

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This week on Thursday & Friday morning  Dev, Dyl & Addis went to a print making workshop with a homeschool group. They thought it was great fun! They had each made a line drawing of a Canberra landmark to take in with them. They then made a “plate” and learned how to do printing. It was a good excursion. They returned on Friday morning for the second half of the lesson. They enjoyed it heaps!

Addison's War Memorial

Addison's Horse Print

Dev's Carillion print

Dev's Oak Leaf Print

Dylan's Parliment Print

Dylan's Piano Print (he made a piano just for Papa)

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  Today Paul and the boys went abseiling with a friend and his son. They had a fabulous time ( as you can imagine)  A few few piccies of their fun .. Dev & Dyl heading down…

Work it Dyl

Paul & Dev look out below....

Go Daddio

My three boys...

going up is much more work!

 ..... Meanwhile Addison and I accompanied said friends wife and darling daughters to Floriade, for a lovely flowery girly kind of day.

We ended the evening at home. It was a nice way to spend the day off- today was the AU Labor Day Holiday.

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Today we were able to experience spelunking. What a fun day it was! We headed off to a small town about an hour away, Wee Jasper. We met our cave guide Hannah, were issued our hard hats and away we went. It was great fun! Paul had taken the day off to spend it with us and about 35 other homeschoolers.

We explored a spot called Signature Cave. This was not a tourist cave, there were no lights, no smooth walkways, no steps… this was caving in the raw form- sliding down the steep embankments on your rear, climbing up hand over knee, squeezing thru small fissures, climbing over rocks, sliding on your stomach to reach new places… It was great!

We chatted about the common myths and lies so many people take as facts- stalactites and stalagmites do not take thousands of years to form—the growth of these cave formations depends entirely on the conditions. There are stalactites 3 inches long under a bridge that is only 30 years old (common misconceptions put an inch and thousands of years). It was good to have an experienced caver share about those facts- rather then being subjected to the millions of years speeches that we normally get. She was able to share about things she has witnessed in her 8 years as an adventure cave guide. It was good.

We all made our way out of the cave- eyes a bit sore from the sudden burst of sunlight, and jeans dirty as can be from all the climbing, sliding and crawling we did.

in he goes:

Looks like he'll make it 

he made it & is heading back out

We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then we headed off to a property own by a bloke nearby. His paddock is chock full of fossils and he let us go scampering over all the rocks as we searched for finds.

Then we headed home, made straight for a hot bath, enjoyed an episode of Jag season 2 ( love netflixs!) and hit the pillows. ( until Jed arrive … but that’s a whole ‘nuther story Ü)

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This months Redwall book was Salamandastron

. We had a mob arrive at 10:00 to start the day. We played a game of Poor Jess Squirrel wants a tree while we waited for two families to arrive and then we were off.

So once everyone arrived ….

We gathered in a circle outside on the lawn and did our war chants. (I love that part) Each kiddo went around and said which character they came dressed as. This time I asked a lot of questions as we went around the group. They were able to tell why they chose that character, what that character did, where it came from, the main points of the book and a lot of other facts. It was good.

Once that was all done we were off. You know, of course, that Salamandastron is an inactive volcanic mountain.  So this books activity was easy …

We happen to have a small mountain right behind my house. So armed with water bottles and hiking shoes we started off. It was a pleasantly warm day to climb to the top but everyone made it to the top… while a few hardies made it to the peak.

We trudged back down the hill and made out way to the backyard where Friar Jocelyn had a feast about ready to serve. A few trips and we had the tables laden with yummies. really, those Redwall feasts are excellent! Ü

The kitchens had been busy and our feasts today included: Strawberry Fizz, Elderflower Cordial, Spicy Apple Pudding, Gousim Friendly Almond Chews, Apple Cider, Hedgehog’s slice, Fruit Trifle, Savoury Squirrel Cakes, Golden Tots, Hare’s Squares, Tarlequin’s Triple Dip, Hot Brown Rolls, Badger Snacks, Summer Salad, Dibbun Party Pies.

After the feast it was time to clean up and scoot out the door as we had a Keepers meeting starting at our place in an hour.

Till next time…

Reeedddwaaaaaaaalllllllllllllll

starting the climb- easy enough

A little harder now...

A group shot

racing to the peak.

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Every child picked a character from the movie Night at the Museum. They had to learn three facts about the character and come dressed up as them.

Before the day started, back at my house we popped 5 bags of popcorn, and stuffed the individual bags with popcorn and a candy bar. Who knew it would take so long to pop enough popcorn to stuff 91 bags?! And I can’t believe that I missed it and didn’t grab a snap of all the bags neatly lined up in the boxes… oh well- I thought of it as the movie started.

Well, once that was done we were off to get ready for the big day.

All the families arrived at 11:30 to eat sack lunches together. The kids looked great all dressed up. After lunch we had a group shot photo time, of course Ü

Then it was time to get started.

We had divided the children into three groups. They with their teams when they came in.

We started off with an intro time, each kiddos coming up to the mic and telling us who they are and why they chose that character.

Once we knew who everyone was it was time for a quick game of where do you come from. We had taped up poster boards around the room, each one labeled a continent. I called out different characters and the groups had to move to the correct area.

We had to have a qucik chat about how history works along a timeline -- and then the characters had to get in a timeline. We also did an Our History timeline...from youngest to oldest the kids had to arrange themselves in a long line -working out who was older and who was younger by birthdates.

Then it was time for a game of history bingo. Every child had a bingo board with different historical characters listed. They each had a baggie of mini marshmallows M& Ms’, jellybeans or smarties to use as markers. What fun is bingo if you can’t eat your markers when the game is over? And, of course, we handed out candy for winnings.

Next up we played a Q & A game. Each group was asked questions from the 3 facts that each child had gathered. If the first group didn’t know the answer then the next team could win it.

Then it was time to line up and get their popcorn bags and sodas that we had on ice. They came back to settle into their places and it was time to watch the movie. (which stopped twice (yikes) but finally we finished watching it and clean up was quick and easy with all the help.

I had made up booklets with the historical facts that I had been emailed before the event and passed those out to each family.

And that’s all folks.

Even "the girls" dressed up!

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This morning instead of scrapbooking, we went bowling with a group of homeschoolers. The kids had a great time! During the first of the two games-- Little Miss Addison Lupton had the high score~ Who knew?!

                                                     Devon .... go! go! go! go!

                                                           Devon and some of the littles ....

                                          Pretty colours!

After our time at the lanes we did a quick run through the large craft store out that way Spot Light,  kinda-a cross between Michael’s, Bed Bath & Beyond & Joanne’s Fabrics.... if you can imagine that!

We swung by a friends for a cuppa on the way home after depositing a few of our passengers and then the kids and I picked up pizza, came home and enjoyed our Pizza and Movie Night in.

What a fun Friday ... and it all started with a bowling date!

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We had 26 kiddos this month that had read the book Mariel of Redwall, dressed up as their favorite character, 7 moms that cooked up scrumptious Redwall dishes to add to the feast and a full on 3 hours of fun and organized chaos. Our fourth Redwall Readers book club meeting was heaps of fun!

Our schedule for this month:

10:30 arrive and go to Cavern Hole for team division, to introduce yourself and tell us why you chose to came as that character. We also did our war chants.

10:45 Out to the garage ( it was a rainy day so all of our indoor activities were in the garage today)  for the Battle, Slave rescue and Swallow find.

10:45 Today’s “battle” was each team had a balloon color assigned to them- so everyone on Devon’s team was gold and everyone on Dylan’s team was silver. The two teams were on opposite sides of the garage, which we had marked off in chalk. The players had to cross the  garage with their balloon between their knees and the first team with all players on the opposite line holding their balloons won.  We did a few variations on the “balloon battle” of 2007.

11:00 “Slave rescue” was everyone was around a circle we had drawn on the floor. I put one of Addison dolls in the center as a poor slave, each player of both teams had a number. So we had two of each number- one on each team. I would call out a number and the team player with that number would run into to the center of the circle and try to rescue the slave. The team that succeeded won 50 points.

11:15 “Swallow find” was heaps of fun. Again all players were on the circle, with a deck of cards face down sprinkled around the circle.  The winner was the first team with three of a kind. I would call out, “ if you are 6 get a card” the players that were six would run into the center select a card and give it to their team captains. We also put the cards face up and at go everyone ran into the circle- the first team with all members back in line- holding two of a kind won.

12:00 time for the feast. the scrumptious items on today’s menu were:

Fire roasted fowl, Elderberry wine, Mountain foothill stew, Stones inna swamp, Deeper ‘n ever pie, Veggible casserole, Apple tart pie, Rhubarb & strawberry “fool”, Abbey trifle, Blueberry lattice tart, Hare’s favorite blueberry deep, Bilberry muffins, Woodland pasties, Raspberry cordial, Seaweed grog & October ale.

12:45 Trivia game. Time to match those memories against the other team. Each player comes to the front with a bell between them, hands behind the back, I ask a question and the first team to ding in wins the chance to give the correct answer. This is a fun game that really shows how much the kids remember from their reading.

1:10 “Duck whacker” Mariel has a knotted rope that she uses to whack some gulls that are getting a little too close for comfort. I couldn’t find a gull but found this really cute duck, piñata. So out to the garage we went for a duck whacking session. Turns out ducks are much tougher then gulls- as no one broke it open—a couple bags of candy did a quick fill in though and it was time to clean up and head home.

1:30 Farewell friends until next time!

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            Our first year in Colorado we enjoyed Geography Night so much that we have done it every year since. Basically, each family chooses one country to learn about, they put together a display, prepare a four minute presentation on the country and cook some dishes from that country for the Around the World Dinner.  

Last night, we had a wonderful turn out for Geography Night with 20 countries represented. The children all did such a fantastic job on their oral presentations and on their displays. I love that Geography Night gives the kids a chance to work on their oral skills while they work out the most relevant information to share.

The night started off at 4:30 with everyone arriving to set up their displays on their assigned tables and setting up their food, labeling the dish names and countries. At 5:00 Andrew opened the evening up with a blessing and everyone had one hour to eat (and boy did we eat… did I mention dishes from 20 different countries? It was GREAT!) and wander around to explore the displays.

 At 6:00 everyone was called to the front to have a seat. We opened the evening up with Dev accompanying on violin & Liz leading Advance AU Fair, the national anthem. This was the first time that we have done G.N. without Americans being the sole or majority of the audience, I am happy to sing along in the national anthem of AU, but it doesn’t stir my heart like God Bless America. I learned something new about AU as I was working out the lineup for the night. Normally, we do the flag pledge and then sing the national anthem… I didn’t know until now that AU doesn’t have a flag pledge, I thought that was interesting- it did make it easier for me, cuz’ I couldn’t have joined in on a pledge to another flag.   

Okay, back to G.N. After the anthem we sang Jesus Loves the Little Children,  just to cover all the children of this amazing and diverse world of ours. After all, isn't that what it is all about anyways- the fact that God loves all of us, from eveywhere, He has had a purpose for each nation and each people throughout time.

After that we started straight in on the presentations. Like I have said, they were really well done! It was so fun to see each families personality come out in the way they chose to organize and deliver the information. Some chose to do a skit, use a slide show or power point, make use of visual aids, a few interviews by moms, some had theirs memorized while other read, we had some children up by themselves, some with siblings and a few entire families!  

Our family chose to learn about Russia. With 4 minutes being the time limit of the presentation, each of the kids had 1 minute 20 seconds to speak. They did a great job getting all the facts and information that they wanted to share, down to that time limit. We really learned a lot about Russia, of course there is a LOT of Russia to learn about, being the world’s largest country and all! The kids are working on getting their speeches up on their blog and taking pictures of their display board to share what they thought were the most interesting facts and tidbits.   

I hope that all the families that came and participated last night had a good time, enjoyed learning about their chosen country, and that they learned a few things about some others as well!  

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