Our Homeschool Network met at Bishop's Pumpkin Farm for some good time country fun! 


We went on a hayride out to a huge pumpkin patch and we all got to pick our own pumpkins...

Then on to the pig races.  Our designated pig (Barbie Q) won!

A train ride and pony ride was next on the list...

Homeschool friends Leslie and Betsy...


Petting zoo...


Field of the giant pumpkins...

'A' took this picture.  Yes, those ARE clouds behind us!

'R' took this shot.  Not bad!

Today, the boys and I went on a fabulous hike at Hidden Falls Park.  This is about 40 minutes from where we live, and about 90% of the drive is all country.  I had been told that there were wild peacock in Lincoln, but had not seen one until now...

Hidden Falls Park Website

We hiked the Poppy Trail and Hidden Falls Access Trail, approximately five miles roundtrip.  It was a decent trek for us, with plenty of places to rest and enjoy.

Hidden Falls Overlook

'R' started laughing and said that the dirt on 'A's face made him look like he's mad.  'A' complied with a look...

We found some pinecones that looked like pineapples!

Exploring Dead Man Creek...



Here's some wildlife we encountered.  Can you name them?

We met up with my friend and her boys, at the California State Railroad Museum.  We had a great time looking at all the different trains and even getting to ride one!

Boarding a caboose...



We took a 40 minute train ride along the Sacramento river!

Leaving the station...

See where we went!

We took a hike with homeschool families from a different group in our area.  A guide spoke to us about the different plant life in the area.

Here is our guide, Dave, showing us an arial map of the area...

I love forget-me-nots...

This is Japanese Knotweed.  It was brought from Asia to Europe, then America.  It is now considered an invasive weed.

The most common blackberry in our area is actually not native.  It is the Himalayan Blackberry. This make fat, juicy berries, and the vines grow everywhere.  Native blackberry runs along the ground and makes small berries.

I always thought ivy was pretty to look at growing on trees.  But, we learned that these trees will suffocate and die from the ivy over time.

A fork of the Snoqualmie River...

Another way of looking at things...(A)

Bleeding Hearts AKA Dutchmen's Britches...

The end of our quest.  This is a 100(?) year old cedar tree.

Turning his face to the weird, shiny globe in the sky...

Enjoying the moss pillow...


Heading for Home

In front of the Science Center, waiting to go inside...

Having a good time outside...

Liz and Kim

Learning how a toilet flushes...

'Nekkid' mole rats :)

You can actually see Elliott Bay from the periscope!

Trying to lift some sort of metallic rock (I don't recall if it is from space, or not)

Playing in the space shuttle...

My favorite part of the Science Center.  The Butterfly Exhibit!

Our homeschool co-op was feeling a little cabin fever and decided to go on a field trip, instead of hosting Tuesday School at someone's home.  So, we went to Kids Quest Children's Museum in Bellevue.  You can see the group pictures at our Co-op Blog, Roots and Wings.

Here are some personal pictures of A and R...

Making music with water...

Here is 'A' speaking to 'R'  located in a tree house in a different part of the museum!

'R's favorite place to be...inside the cab of a Peterbilt truck!

Checking out bird calls...

Our surfer in training...timing his balance...

Testing the benefits of pulleys...

"yellow and blue make green!"

No museum trip is complete without visting Petco next door to see the reptiles!

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture had a special 'Homeschool Day', where homeschool families were invited to enjoy the exhibits and activities.  They did not allow photos inside,(the photos are from the website), but the boys favorite things were looking at casts of dinosaurs and this mastadon:

Figuring out which minerals and rocks could be picked up with a magnet...

Looking at bees legs, butterfly wings, horse hair, etc. in a microscope...

But, the highlight was a part of a tour on the Giant Squid.

The kids listened to a speaker talk about the squid and re-created a model one across the 30 foot floor.  They then watched a video that showed a real (dead) giant squid that was found in a sperm whale belly.

Here are some shots of the kids outside.  We went with Linda/Linny.

After the girl's weekend, I had one day to unpack, and pack for a camping trip.  I took the boys and two girlfriends and their kids to Leavenworth for two nights.

On the way there, we decided to go on a little field trip and stopped in a little town called Cashmere.  They make 'Aplets and Cotlets' here.  We all went on a factory tour and had a bunch of samples.

'A', 'R', and 'W' waiting to go on the tour...

April and her hair net.  (Ah, the power of the camera...)

This is hot Cotlet mix that is poured from a vat and weighed into wooden trays for cooling and hardening.

Kim and 'W'

The cooled mixture is sprinkled with a food starch that keeps the powdered sugar from being absorbed into the candy.  After it is sprinkled with food starch it goes into a cutting machine where it is cut into bite size pieces and coated in powdered sugar.  (You can kind of see the cutting and sugar process in the mirror above the machine).

Today, we went to Farrel McWhirter Park  in Redmond.  It is an old homestead that is now a park. 

The boys had a great time running in the field.  We must have been close to swallows nests, because they were swooping around the boys.  The kids loved playing with them.  The blurry spot obove 'R' is a bird...

This is a lookout that looked like a spaceship.  the kids enjoyed running in it.

'C1,2,3 'A' and 'R'

We saw a variety of animals...

TURKEY...

Today, my friend and I took our boys to see the tulip fields.  We were a little concerned for the weather, because it was raining hard, but we hoped for the best.

Upon arrival, the skies were overcast, but it never rained while we were there!  We had a terrific time walking the fields and we even went on a tractor rider (a definite highlight for the boys.)

Today, we went to the Pacific Science Center with "Ant-ee S"!  They had the "Grossology" exhibit and we learned about all things gross: farts, vomit, skin stuff, burps, snot, etc.
Here are the boys and Antee recreating a "toot"

Recreating a "burp"

How many calories can you burn in an hour?

Making a bubble wall

We had a playdate this morning with a neighbor.  I did not know her and this was a good opportunity to.  She has a four year old boy and two two year ole twin girls.  They played for an hour and shared lunch with us.

After that, I took the boys to Factoria Mall.  They had their pictures taken with Santa.  (It turned out sooooo cute!).  Then, we met up with some friends and went to the Children's Museum.  There are about six interactive exhibits that the boys enjoyed.  Half of the museum is devoted to water and all these different contraptions that create music with water and other fun "let's see what happens if we push this?"...

There is a cab of a semi-truck that the kids can sit in and pretend to drive.  For some reason, both of my boys are too afraid to go in it.  I think it's because it is too dark.

They both like to climb up the treehouse and look down on the moms waiting below.

I think that both 'A' and 'R's favorite exhibit is the music room.  Here, they can play with unique instruments and make alot of noise.

After a couple of hours, we all went to Red Robin for dinner (3 moms and six kids...).  Mervyn's also had a going out of business sale, and I was able to buy four big towels and four hand towels for $32.00!

Our homsechool group went on a field trip to the Issaquah salmon hatchery!  I was pleasantly surprised to discover taht there were still quite a few salmon on their "run".

It was raining, but not enough to ruin the visit. 

Here is a picture of a salmon trying to jump the barrier.  I think the other one is one that didn't make it.  (Either that, or it's a bunch of leaves and debris.)

The boys in their Northwest attire.  Behind them you can see the grates that block the "ladder" into the hatchery.  This is how they control how many salmon enter the pens for counting and spawning. (You can see a salmon jumping into the grate)

Not the greatest shot, but all the dark spots are salmon in the creek.  There are still so many!

Here are all the boys watching the fish in their spawning pen. (A, R, J, C, and C).  The two girls in our group are still babes in arms. (C and A).

A docent showing the kids a bag of salmon eggs.

This day was one of their 'Spawning Days'.  This is where they harvest the eggs from the females, "milk" the males, kill them, then place them in bins.  The salmon are placed through a metal detector to determine if they are a hatchery fish (they have a metal rod embedded in their nose and their adipose fin removed), or if they are wild.  We only saw hatchery fish enter the tubs.  The fish are placed on ice and sent to food banks.  The salmon below are male, because they have hooked noses.

Salmon Life Cycle

We learned that out of 8,000 eggs, only two survive to maturity.

Salmon are born in freshwater, swim to saltwater, where they grow up, then return to freshwater to spawn.

The lifespan on a salmon is 1 to 7 years, depending on the type.

Hay, Dad!  Does this picture spark any memories?

Every morning I have been waking with a heart full of gratitude and the prayer on my lips, "Thank you God for this beautiful weather.  Thank you that we have healthy bodies with which to enjoy the nature you have blessed us with.  May we never take either for granted."  We have been able to enjoy playing outside, with sunny days and mild weather, for almost all of September and October.  In Washington state, this is almost unheard of.

Yesterday (Thursday), our MOPS group went to Mt. Si Nursery.  We picked pumpkins in a patch, went on a hayride, and enjoyed treats inside a decorated greenhouse.  I bought flowers for my two window boxes (maybe, someday, I might even transfer them into the boxes and out of their containers...HA!)

Today, (Friday the 13th), I joined my MOPS tablemates at Fall City Farms.  We enjoyed another glorious day of "pumpkin patching".  I found a gorgeous deep orange 24 pounder.  The boys found two cute little ones that had green striations throughout.  We enjoyed their petting zoo, fresh made doughnuts, apple cider, and playing in the sandbox.  Unfortunately, my camera batteries died, and I only got this one shot:

Today, our fledgling homeschool group went to Minea Farm, where we were able to see a 100 year-old cider press at work, and a video of the entire process.

The video shows how the apples are harvested, washed, mashed, then are placed on a cloth-lined tray.  The trays are stacked and pressed with 750 pounds of pressure.

Here is the press in action:

Receiving a sample of the fresh pressed pear/apple juice from Mrs. Minea (sounds like 'Minnie'). Yum!

Here is a picture of the area where the workers wash the apples, and bottle the cider.

The remains of the pressed apples.  This is processed into animal food.

The store, where the Mineas sell fresh apple cider, fruit leather, apple butter, homemade jams, organic eggs, and more.

A few  charter members of our gang!

I got the boys up and out of the house early.  We drove to the Tacoma Scottish Highland Games.  I am so glad we went early!  It bacame too warm for the boys and we had to leave, but we were able to enjoy some of the festivities.

Here is A asking the Scottish Military to show him their swords.  I am taking this picture while waiting in line to see the tartans from clans 'Alexander' and 'Morrison'.

This is an event where the men throw a weight up in the air for height.

We also watched the Stone Toss.  I was not paying attention and hear R yell, "I did it!"  I look behind and discovered that R had thrown a large stone, straight at a dog and his owners.  Fortunately, they were gracious in accepting my apology.

There were many other fireld events, but it was too hot to stay and watch.

We went into a cabin and saw a row of women playing harps.  A asked what the things were that looked like harpsichords!  We also watched someone turn wool into yarn, all the while enjoying a Scottish meat pie.  I bought the boys a couple of tin whistles.  Big mistake!  They are loud and every dog in the neighborhood is suffering.

Here are the boys indulging in a scone.

Early evening, we went on our friends boat for a swim and dinner.  Aren't they a cute couple!  25 years of marriage!!

A picture of our family.  R is wearing two hats to be silly!