Apr. 20, 2008
The Purple Trail Revisited
Posted in Group Activities
|
Quick quiz! Anyone remember where we were last year on April 19th? If you said "Lost in the woods" you know me way too well! Yes, last year, exactly a year to the day, we were lost in the woods all because I decided to take the purple trail. And yesterday was such a beautiful day we found ourselves walking those same trails that caused us so much trouble.
 This time, we were able to enjoy the quarry. And we brought hubby along to ensure that if we got lost, we would all be lost together.  I like to think of these quarry walls as the Cliffs of Insanity. Hubby called them the Cliffs of Mental Distress (they weren't high enough to be insane)  It was nice to come without being lost. We were able to explore more. This small lake is hidden in the old quarry.  Here we have hubby reliving his theatre days. I assure you they are not far off the ground!  Without last year's nor'easter, the waterfall is not nearly as impressive, but it is still lovely.  And this time we even found some wildlife! This is a young snapping turtle that was pretending to be a rock in the path. My kids know better than to touch this little guy. His neck can stretch at least as long as his tail, and they aren't called snapping turtles for nothing! |
Apr. 12, 2008
Birds of Prey Sightings
Posted in Group Activities
We were at the nature center twice this past week. We helped clean up one day and went to our regular homeschooling class the other day. We love the nature center because we are always able to see some neat bird or critter. This week we saw some early butterflies, a mourning cloak and sulpher butterfly fluttered near as we loaded branches onto a truck on Wednesday. Over the field, a kestrel hovered as it searched for crickets. It's very cute to see. They look like they are pretending to be giant hummingbirds. This was the best picture I could get of it when we returned the following day with a camera. I had much better luck with a long-eared owl that was sitting in a clump of pines.  Here is a close-up of this owl. Isn't he gorgeous?  |
Mar. 29, 2008
The Cloisters
Posted in Group Activities
 I didn't get a chance to post these because of all of the activity around Easter. Two weeks ago, we took a trip to the Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park. This is my favorite museum for many reasons. I like medieval art and architecture. The Cloisters gives children a guide for looking at the artwork, engaging them by having them find the many beasts and monsters carved in stone and playing across tapestries.  Speaking of tapestries, this museum is the home of the Unicorn Tapestries, which is probably the best reason to visit. It's slightly unnerving with young children, but mine were very well behaved and didn't touch anything. I was a bit nervous taking pictures, but they said I could as long as I didn't use my flash. Flash photography can cause fading. I wanted to try to take pictures of the Book of Hours in the treasure room but my camera kept shining a red light on them, even with the flash off. I was certain a security guard was going to yell at me. Can a red light cause fading?  Outside is a cloistered garden. We need to go back when everything is green. I love this espaliered tree. I wonder if I could make one of those in my yard?  It was a wonderful visit, and I was thankful to have my mother along as I tend to get confused driving there. Too many twisty roads and turns to get me lost. Here is a nice shot of my mom with the kids. |
Feb. 9, 2008
What a Relief!
Posted in Group Activities
I have been having a lot of fun with my homeschooling art class. It's been a challenge to keep everyone interested, since they range from 3 to 14 years old. I highly recommend bas reliefs for anyone doing a group like this. Bas relief is a form of sculpture designed to be viewed from the front. It usually rises from a flat surface, like a wall, creating interest when light and shadow fall across it. They are often used in architecture. You can read more about it here. Our bas reliefs are made using Crayola Model Magic. The great thing about Model Magic is that it dries quickly. The bad thing about it is that it dries quickly. I've learned to keep some plastic baggies handy to wrap the extra clay in, so that it doesn't dry out before they think of what they want to make.  Every child came up with interesting ways of using the clay. I encouraged them to incorporate textures and color into their sculptures. I use watercolor or water based markers on Model Magic before it dries. I learned it holds the colors better that way. Just don't use too much water, or it will take days to dry. These reliefs were set on paper for photographing. Bad idea. Wax paper would have been a better choice because when they dried they needed to be peeled away from the paper.  As you can see, we had an wide range of ideas. Sierra was one of the kids that made lots of valentine hearts. Marina's is on the lower left corner of this picture. Chase's is above hers. It didn't film well because of the lighting and the dark color. It's a really nice bat in a cave. I'm proud of all the homeschoolers. They did a wonderful job! |
Jan. 31, 2008
SUCCESS!!!!
Posted in Group Activities
The eagles and our camera were finally in the same place at the same time! This incredibly patient pair waited for Chase to walk up for a closer view. They both cooperated by turning their heads toward the camera, unlike last week when the only stationary eagle was facing away and refused to lift its head. The eagle on the right eventually flew, but not before Chase snapped four pictures. He's been trained well. Never assume the first picture came out, just keep photographing while you have the chance. |
Jan. 24, 2008
Birdwatching Photo-Op
Posted in Group Activities
|
Today was a cold day at the Nature Center. Perfect for eagle spotting along the Hudson. And one of these days we will actually get a good shot at one. Our usual reaction goes like this: "Gaahhh! Bald Eagle!" We fumble with the camera, try to find the bird in the viewfinder, realize we have the camera on the wrong setting, readjust the camera, zoom in...and the eagle flies. Seeing an eagle soar is an incredible sight. It makes you realize why this bird was chosen as our national symbol. Photographs do not do justice to its size and majesty. But I would still like a picture. In the meantime, I will have to satisfy myself with the more patient birds. Here are some photos we took of other feathered visitors to the Nature Center. Have I mentioned that I love my camera?  |
Jan. 17, 2008
Picture Time!
Posted in Group Activities
I thought you might enjoy our Official Holiday Family Photo, complete with the 4 furballs who think they own us. And I know you are all wondering how long it took to get this amazing picture. Does life imitate comic strips in our humble home? Let me tell you. It took at least 7 shots and about 3 band-aids. And a little bit of cropping magic. Note to self: Make sure all surfaces are clean and clear when taking family photos, and make sure dirty socks are not visible. But you really want to see one of the before shots, don't you? I'll give you one.  In this picture, we just lost Merlin, who was on Chase's lap and fled in terror when he realized Rosie was behind him on my lap. Sierra decided to move to the couch so that Hobgoblin would be in the picture (He got cut off in the only other good picture.) I'm not quite sure why Marina is standing. One more photo. This is what I call Yoga Humor.  |
Dec. 18, 2007
This Old Gingerbread House?
Posted in Group Activities
|
Here is a useful site that was pointed out to me today on the 4 Real forums. Bobvila.com, well known for helping do-it-yourself-ers with home renovations, has instructions for building a gingerbread house. To coin a phrase of another famous Bob, "Can we build it? Yes we can!" We've made many gingerbread and cookie houses over the years. We even have a mold for building a chocolate house. This year, we're considering something a little rustic. Marina baked the gingerbread logs last night, so if all goes well (fingers crossed), we'll have a nice little gingerbread log cabin this year. I'll let everyone know how that works out. |
Dec. 16, 2007
Wintuk
Posted in Group Activities
|
My aunt likes to outdo herself each year when it comes to gift giving. This year, she bought tickets for my family, my parents and her family to see Cirque du Soleil- Wintuk at Madison Square Garden. Because of our circus background, we've always wanted to see Cirque du Soleil, but we always put it off because we couldn't afford it. Needless to say, this was a perfect gift for us. Everyone enjoyed the show. My one complaint is that Madison Square Garden's WaMu theater had one centralized bathroom. This meant that as soon as that curtain closed for intermission you needed to start making your way over to the bathroom. The line moved mercifully quickly considering the length of the line, but I was regretting the bottle of water I had been sipping during the first act. The show itself was spectacular. Very kid friendly with giant puppets and a young boy who leads us from scene to scene on his quest for snow. I just wish a nor'easter hadn't been forecast to arrive that night. I cringed every time he asked, "Where's the snow?" As I watched acrobats and daredevils flying across the stage on skateboards, in-line skates and bicycles in the first scene, I wondered which of my kids would be the first to try something at home (it was Chase). Also memorable were two acrobats that bounced around the stage and off of each other on large balls, and the "tribe" that did Russian bar--aerial flips on a pole held by two men. Then there were the contortionists. I don't think I'll believe any of these young women have connected joints unless I see an x-ray. The rag doll, in particular, was very rag doll-like. There was also a young woman who did a perfect ballet arabesque while twirling a hula hoop on her toe behind her head (you really had to be there). Sierra was enchanted from the first puppet dog that looked like it had wandered away from Sesame Street. If you love marionettes, this is the show to see. Things come to life when you least expect it and all were larger than life. Sadly, there was not enough juggling for my taste. One woman juggled multiple balls and did some awesome ball bounce with up to seven balls. No clubs or other paraphernalia. I just would have liked to see more. There was also a balancer who did a scary stacked rola bola (balance board). He had cylinders stacked and rolling in all different directions and did a handstand balance on top of the whole teetering pile while foot juggling. I need to say that again. HE BALANCED ON HIS HANDS WHILE FOOT JUGGLING!!!! I know that only someone in my world can truly understand how impressive that is. I always wanted to foot juggle, it's like baton twirling a long cylinder with your feet, but I never figured out the technique. And so I want to publicly thank Aunt Kathy for her excellent gift. We will remember this show for years! |
Dec. 4, 2007
It's My Birthday!
Posted in Group Activities
|
39 and still going strong...
 With an occasional break...
 |
Nov. 26, 2007
Inflated Rainbows
Posted in Group Activities
|
Note: Originally posted on my other blog. I'm a little behind in dual posting. The day after Thanksgiving, I was holding a balloon sculpture workshop. I brought the girls with me. Chase opted to have some alone time with dad. Marina was there to help me. She's becoming very handy with the air pump and can teach basic dog as well as I can. What is basic dog? It's the first animal that I teach my balloon students how to make. Sierra learned to make it too. Below is her first dog, twisted with a little help.  The dragonflies above are one of my favorite balloon animals to make. The hardest part about them is the head, because you need to push the knot into the balloon and twist the first bubble to hold the knot in place. The difficulty (for me) is pulling my finger free after I've pushed in the knot. If you try to pull too quickly, you risk popping the balloon. I'm not afraid of it popping, I just prefer not to waste my expensive Qualatex twisting balloons. We did pretty well at this workshop. I don't think we had more than a dozen bursts. I've had workshops where every twist caused a pop and I spent most of my hour pumping up fresh balloons. Popping tends to be one of those things that scares people about balloon sculpture. I don't try to reassure my students. At the beginning of my workshop I tell the group that balloons pop. No one knows when it will happen, it just does. I look at it as one of life's fun little surprises. So if we get surprised, I tell them to yell something. This time it was "Zaloom!" because Beakman's World was in my head. I've also used "Ole!" No one minds a popped balloon when you're shouting "Ole!" While working with the balloons, I started thinking about all we can learn from these colorful bags of air.
|
Nov. 2, 2007
Costumes
Posted in Group Activities
|
Since I was asked... We really did do a Marie Antoinette costume 2 years ago.  I was very proud of the wigs in 2005. I made Chase's out of black felt that I attached to the bandanna. Marina's was stiff felt covered with polyfill stuffing. Marina's dress was from a thrift shop. I would like to thank all the bridesmaids that donated their gowns instead of hiding them in the back of the closet. We were able to reuse the somewhat bedraggled dress this year. Marina was Ophelia from Hamlet. I've mentioned before that she's been reading this Shakespeare folio. She used it as a reference to create the drowned Ophelia.  Chase decided on a store-bought black Spiderman costume. He has promised to create a costume next year. Store-bought costumes are too expensive for my taste.  And Sierra was a queen. I know. This was a bit of a stretch for her majesty--erm--Sierra.  They went trick or treating with a group of homeschooling friends. A great time was had by all and the children traded candy at the end of the evening so that everyone came home with treats they like. |
Oct. 18, 2007
The Blue Mountain Hike
Posted in Group Activities
 We walked... And we walked. And we walked... Then we climbed...  To the top!  |
Aug. 19, 2007
Children's Zoo, Bugs and a Camel Ride
Posted in Group Activities
Our membership card had a complete workout this past week. The zoo can get expensive if you don't have a membership. They now offer pay one price tickets for the tourists, but for those of us in the area, a membership is definitely the cheaper way to see the zoo. And pack a lunch. These collages are from the children's zoo adventures. This is where children can feel what it's like to be an animal. There are also exhibit animals like otters and the fennec fox. Those ears let the kids hear like the fennec fox.  Hard to see, but there is a wallaby behind the kids in the lower left picture above. Chase is pointing to a lemur in the lower center shot. Sierra is pretending to be a lemur on the climbing tree.  Here they are popping out of prairie dog holes, climbing a spider web and petting a goat. Yes, I know I repeated the web picture. It's been a long day...  We also visited the butterfly house and garden, then the kids took a ride on the bug carousel. Sierra is riding a firefly and Chase is behind her on a praying mantis. They also had a camel ride. For my zoo notes, click HERE. |
Aug. 19, 2007
Posted in Group Activities
|
Our membership card had a complete workout this past week. The zoo can get expensive if you don't have a membership. They now offer pay one price tickets for the tourists, but for those of us in the area, a membership is definitely the cheaper way to see the zoo. And pack a lunch. These collages are from the children's zoo adventures. This is where children can feel what it's like to be an animal. There are also exhibit animals like otters and the fennec fox. Those ears let the kids hear like the fennec fox. Hard to see, but there is a wallaby behind the kids in the lower left picture above. Chase is pointing to a lemur in the lower center shot. Sierra is pretending to be a lemur on the climbing tree. Here they are popping out of prairie dog holes, climbing a spider web and petting a goat. Yes, I know I repeated the web picture. It's been a long day... We also visited the butterfly house and garden, then the kids took a ride on the bug carousel. Sierra is riding a firefly and Chase is behind her on a praying mantis. They also had a camel. For my zoo notes, click HERE. |
Aug. 18, 2007
Zoo Pictures
Posted in Group Activities
As promised, here are some of the pictures from our week at the zoo. Chase is getting pretty handy with the camera. You can't even tell that some of them are taken through glass. I made a collage of this group and labeled them. I've completely forgotten the name of the mustachioed bird, I'll have to look that up. I'll put up more as I have time. This week felt like 3 weeks, so much activity was stuffed in each day! Update: Aha! My little bird friend is an Inca tern! |
Aug. 16, 2007
Zoo Notes
Posted in Group Activities
|
I figured I should take some time to let everyone know Marina is enjoying her zoo internship. Yesterday the interns watched the tigers play with enrichment toys the teens had made. Apparently, tigers really love the smell of perfume. You might want to remember that next time you dowse yourself in your favorite scent before climbing into a tiger enclosure. The perfumed boxes stuffed with wool were quickly dismantled by the frisky big cats. In 3 days, Chase, Sierra and I have explored every corner of the zoo, including buildings, skyfari, monorail and at least one ride on the Bug Carousel. Sierra rode on the zoo train with Grandma as well. Chase and I had to rush off that day to take him to a follow-up appointment regarding his Lyme disease. In fact, considering the pediatrician visit, the vet trip for smelly cat, and Church yesterday, I've been home long enough to do a load of laundry, make dinner (except for yesterday) and get a few blog entries and comments written. Our greatest challenge this week has been getting up and out of the house by 9:15. We are not morning people. Except for Chase, whose cat Merlin is insistent about being fed before 8AM, we all have tried to squeeze in as many zzz's as possible before we drag ourselves out of bed. And I know I can't complain. There are kids coming from New Jersey for this class. Just crossing the bridge into the city can take an hour on your average workday. Marina said an earlier camp included some kids from Maine. They came all the way from Maine just to work in our zoo! Next week, Marina will have to be at the zoo even earlier. Luckily, my mother will help me with that. Grandma lives closer to the zoo and she's a morning person, so Marina will stay with the grandparents for at least a week. In some ways, it might be easier to get Marina there as the only child getting ready in the morning. This weekend, I will try to post some pictures from my all day zoo walks with Chase and Sierra. Look at the time! Gotta go! |
Jul. 10, 2007
Lots of Shots at the National Zoo
Posted in Group Activities
|
Above is Sierra with Freckles. Below are photos taken by me, Marina, Chase, and Hubby at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.
|
Jul. 8, 2007
Our Week
Posted in Group Activities
|
Last week was so busy. We left early (for us) Tuesday morning and headed south to Virginia to spend a few days at hubby's cousin's house. The kids had a great time with their second cousins, Curtis and Kyle, and their pets. Sierra spent a lot of time training their dog, Freckles. Freckles was very attentive and patient with Sierra. The ragdoll cats were a hit with all of the kids since they were very mellow and didn't mind being held. We enjoyed hanging out on July 4th, and I enjoyed talking with hubby's aunt, who has an interesting family history. She told me all about her father who was a band leader in New York in the 1920's. (Curtis and Kyle seem to have inherited the music talent. Curtis plays guitar and Kyle plays drums. They're very good.) I'm now inspired to do a little digging into my own past. I know my great great great grandparents had eloped from Germany in the 1850's and had a saloon on the lower east side of Manhattan. I want to see if I can locate any information about that. It's a bit harder than I thought, since they came before Ellis Island opened. And googling their names hasn't produced any information. (I thought you could find anything on the web?)
Anyway, we spent Thursday in Washington D.C. We took a train from Pentagon City and walked all over the National Zoo, where my only goal was to see the pandas but somehow we stayed 3 or 4 hours. Then we took the train to the National Mall where we went to the Natural History museum. There were some beautiful gems on display there, including the Hope diamond. The kids held up pretty well considering all the walking. On Friday our cousins took us to Baltimore to go to the National Aquarium. The kids particularly enjoyed the special exhibit of Australian animals and the shark tanks. After being on our feet so much for two days, I think we welcomed the 4 hour drive home from Baltimore. Pictures coming soon! |
Jun. 7, 2007
Strawberry Season
Posted in Group Activities
 I've been playing with Photo Studio. Our strawberries are just beginning to ripen. We've been hard pressed to gather some before the catbird. Catbirds, related to mockingbirds, love strawberries. Our catbird sits in our young apple tree and keeps an eye on the strawberries. We lose at least a handful of berries each year because he samples the crop. He's just lucky we like birds and are willing to share. We can't resist his voice, which sounds something like a kitten crying for its mom. Marina, our resident Dr. Dolittle, once had a talk with him. They mewed at each other for a minute and then he flew off. I wish she would learn enough of the language so that she could tell it not to hog the strawberries.
Here is a link to a page about the CATBIRD |