H is for Hot!

On Monday we went on a field trip to an art glass studio.  We were told that the furnace is about 2000 degrees!  This is the smaller oven, which I guess isn't quite that hot, but still...

For more A B See's, visit The Homeschool Post

Last Tuesday, we made the drive to Annapolis, MD to participate in the MACHE Home Educator's Day.  And although it was snowing lightly when we left home, it really didn't occur to me that the tours would be cancelled - after all, the info they mailed out said that even the walking tour of historic Annapolis for which we'd registered would take place in inclement weather, being cancelled only if it was so icy that walking was unsafe.  Well, there wasn't any ice, it was just nice fluffy snow!  By the time we'd reached the I-70, I was rethinking my position though... the radio stations were reporting almost all he schools in the state closed so obviously the weather was causing concern.  But we were already in the van and had a good part of the drive behind us, and I figured we wouldn't get the chance again until next year, so we kept on.  I didn't think the driving conditions were poor, but apparently other drivers disagreed because we did experience more than the usual Beltway delay at several interchanges. 

At last we arrived in Annapolis, and managed to locate the recommended parking lot, then took the free shuttle bus to the legislative building where we were to meet with the MACHE group.  The tour had been cancelled! But about a dozen families had arrived anyway, so the (very gracious) staff at the State House took us to the Senate gallery and we were able to watch a session.  This was my first outing with my new camera and I was trying to stick to the "easy" setting to get pictures - I bet I could have got some better ones if I'd been more familiar with the other settings, but here's a little of what we saw in the Senate chamber:

(The green glow is a result of the flash more than the actual color of the room! The walls are actually a buttery yellow, very attractive.)

Here is the electronic voting board on which they record attendance and votes.  There is an LED "ticker" across the top which displays the resolution number and brief detail that is up for discussion or vote. 

The day we were there, the Senate had a special guest - Baltimore native Barry Levinson (director of movies such as "Diner" and "Rain Man" - and the picture currently up on that link is from this same day at Annapolis - cool!)

Across the hall from the Senate Chamber is the House Chamber - they were not in session that morning:

After the Senate session (at which they didn't discuss any controversial legislation! I don't know whether I should be disappointed or not! LOL) we started to give ourselves a tour of the State House, and were met by a tour guide who was very helpful.  This is the Old Senate Chamber in the original State House in use in 1772.

At the other end of this room is a figure of General George Washington...

because it was here that he resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.

The State House in Annapolis served as the nation's capital from November 26, 1783 to August 13, 1784, and is the only State House to have this distinction.  This is where the U.S. Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolutionary War; where Thomas Jefferson was appointed the frst U.S. ambassador; and where the  Annapolis Conventionwas held in 1786.

I took a picture of the Maryland state flag there to remind us that Maryland's is the only state flag that carries an ornament on top of the pole - a cross.  The only other U.S. flag wth an ornament is the Stars and Stripes.

This ship is displayed in the hall - it is a full-size replica of The Federalist, which was a gift to the Washington family.

These are the doorposts of the main entrance to the State House:

Our guided walking tour of historic Annapolis was cancelled, but we walked around just a little bit on our own - mostly to find a place to eat lunch!  Here is the State House building:

Another legislative building:

A small building on the State House grounds:

And a fountain that I thought was pretty in the snow:

We HAVE been doing school since Christmas, really!!  I have not been blogging though, partly because I'm not motivated to do it for some reason, and partly because I've been either busy or distracted with all kinds of other things.  Last month I got together my birthday money and Christmas money and bought myself a new camera:

so I've been trying to get used to it.

Harrison bought himself Rock Band for his game system and the kids have been playing with that, and I have to admit its so nice to have them doing somethng together other than fighting!

This past weekend, we had a stray cat up on our roof - we don't know why.  We noticed it up there on Saturday morning and just ignored it - after all, he got up, he can get himself down, right? 

Saturday evening I came home from the store, and Tumor (as we refer to this cat, because its got an icky growth on its chest) was still up there.

Came home from church on Sunday, and he was STILL up there...

So DH finally decided to take action and we coaxed the cat down.  Haven't seen Tumor since, so maybe he is scared of heights now.  LOL

In school-related news, we've been plugging away at History and Science.  In Science, we recently studied gears:

In History we are finally finished with the thirteen colonies and the American Revolution.  I suspect that we will spend two years rather than one on US History!!  Good thing I left those lesson plans fairly open-ended.  Turns out we were able to visit Annapolis a week ago, which coincided nicely with the end of the our discussion on the Revolution, as the State House in Annapolis briefly served as the United States Capitol (the only State House with that distinction) and it was where George Washington resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.  Those pictures will be in another entry.

The kids should be receiving their report cards soon - and co-op classes and gym classes are back in session for the spring, so we are definitely busy.  I'll try to keep the blog updated!

I think this is (finally) the last set of pictures from our vacation over a month ago.  LOL  Aren't you glad?    We stayed at a hotel on the beach - Ormond Beach which is just north of Daytona Beach - for the last four days of our vacation.  From there we were able to visit St Augustine (my pictures are here) and Ponce Inlet.  Ponce Inlet is south of Daytona Beach, and is home to the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse. (if you live nearby, or will be vacationing in that area, contact the lighthouse society and ask about homeschool trips - it sounds like the homeschool group visits they do are awesome, and they fill up fast!!)   Harrison decided he wanted to climb a lighthouse so we made sure that we included a visit to this one in our plans.  This 175-foot lighthouse was completed in 1887 and is one of the best preserved lighthouses in the country.

Wow, it was a LONG climb up the lighthouse!!! 

Look how happy they are.  LOL  Must be nice to be young and full of energy.

At the top, of course, we were treated to a spectacular view.

Whoops!!! That's not the view I meant, although looking down into the well is umm.... interesting!! 

 It was a bit windy up there, but we tried a couple of pictures.

Here is the Fresnel lens at the top of the lighthouse.

In addition to the lighthouse keeper's quarters and other buildings, there is also a small museum building which has several different sizes and types of lenses, and explains how they are made and used.

At Ponce Inlet marina, I finally got good pictures of pelicans!

Back to the hotel to enjoy the beach...

One last walk on the beach before we headed home - and it happened to start raining that morning.  Good time to leave!

For more Show and Tells, visit CanadaGirl

While in St Augustine, we also visited a living history museum in the historic part of the city, the Colonial Spanish Quarter.  We walked past, but didn't go into, the "Oldest Schoolhouse" museum and I couldn't resist a picture of this sign posted on the wall:

At the Colonial Spanish Quarter, we were able to see many elements of daily life as it would have been like for the residents of St Augustine in the 1700s.  Our first stop was at an officer's residence.  This is the bedroom and living area of the house.

See the beautiful carved spindles on the headboard.  The round table in the middle is very similar to the firepit bowls that are popular today.  On the bed is an intricately embroidered baby dress that fascinated Kennady.

This is the kitchen - the houses only had two rooms.

The suspended pantry shelf was used to reduce the number of pests getting into the food, while the table was the work area.  this is the oven and stovetop, which seemed like it would have been very efficient.

Our next stop was the leatherworker's shop.  I don't have a picture of him at his work, but he showed us many of the products that he would make.

Next stop was to visit with a couple of artisans - this gentleman was carving a powderhorn.

And yes, it's in German.  And those are indeed Pennsylvania Dutch style symbols.  I asked him what a Lutheran German was doing in Catholic Spanish St Augustine, since religious tolerance wasn't quite the order of the day.  LOL 

For some reason I didn't take any pictures of the smithy, even though we chatted with the blacksmith for quite awhile and watched him at his work.

Last visit was to the churchman's home.  As you can see, the clerics lived in a more austere dwelling than did the military officer's family.

This churchman happened to be a scribe, and he shared some tips for good penmanship and elegant writing as he practiced his craft.  He was particularly good at acting in character as well, and when he lettered a certificate for us commemorating our visit to St Augustine, he also pointed out that we should enjoy the rest of our day, since it would likely be our last in freedom.  We have a British last name so we could soon expect to be arrested, the children and I forced into slavery, and likely a worse fate for DH.   As I said, religious tolerance wasn't widely practiced in the early days of St Augustine.

A very fun and educational visit! if you're ever in St Augustine, be sure to stop by the Colonial Spanish Quarter

I didn't get to finish sharing pictures and info about our visit to St Augustine on Friday, so here is another short installment.

After looking around on the gun decks at Castillo de San marcos for awhile, we went back down to the courtyard and viewed the rooms in the fortress.  In this room, they display all the flags that have flown over the fortress during its history:

Here the kids are studying a model of the fort:

Inside the chapel - a church bench:

And Landon, perhaps waiting for service to begin:

I didn't take many pictures inside the rooms, and few of the ones I did turned out well because it was just too dark inside these rooms.

To find out more about Castillo de San Marcos, go to the NPS website here.

We made a quick visit to the lighthouse at St Augustine, although we didn't pay the price or take the time to go inside. 

We went out on the marina, hoping to get pictures of pelicans.  LOL

See them on the pilings?  My new obsession was trying to get pictures of pelicans.  This was the best I could do at St Augustine.  I did catch a shot of this heron in flight too:

I have been busy with lots of things lately, including getting my new computer set up and running.  I think we are finally there. So I can "celebrate" by getting a Show & Tell entry posted today! 

Since I've been so cold this past week, I thought maybe I should share some more warm weather pictures from our vacation.  (By the way, I'm beginning to think the REAL reason we only go on a vacation once a year is that it takes me SO long to share pictures afterwards.  Sheesh. Part of the blame does need to rest with our dino-dial, but until cable internet or something similar is available here, I guess that's unavoidable)   And the day we visited St Augustine, FL it really was quite warm!

St Augustine is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in North America - different from Jamestown VA in that St Augustine was, of course, settled by the Spanish.  Since we are studying US History this school year, and have discussed all the earliest settlements, I insisted that we take advantage of a Florida vacation by visiting the Spanish settlement and seeing how it compared to the English settlement of St Mary's City that we visited earlier.  Quite a conrast in weather, geography, and architecture - although in many ways daily life would have been similar.

The main attraction at St Augustine is the Castillo de San Marcos, which is operated by the National Park Service, and has a long and interesting history.

We entered through two drawbridges - there's even a moat!

All of these castle walls are constructed of coquina:

The courtyard:

Up on the deck, we got a close look at many sizes and types of Spanish cannons.

Hmmm....

This turret was where a sentry could watch the bay for any approaching ships.

I loved the view through that little window.

The old Spanish flag:

I've got pictures of the inside of Castillo de San Marcos too, but its getting late and I have other things on my to-do list today.  I know, shocking.  And hard to believe that I have other things I should do besides blog, where ARE my priorities anyway?

For more Show & Tell, visit Mary's blog

Our next Keys stop was at the Bahia Honda State Park. 

Looks like they just realized those stairs don't really go anywhere.  LOL

There was a butterfly garden there that we walked through briefly, and of course Miss Take My Picture had to pose:

We did see butterflies too, but like the alligators at Everglades - you can see them, but you can't take their pictures.  At least not with my camera.

Further on, we found out that there is the remains of the old bridge that has been fixed up so you can walk out and enjoy the view.  I didn't know before that day that the old highway had actually been built on what was left of the railroad.  A man named Henry Flagler had built a railroad through the Keys in the early 1900s that was a real going concern until parts of it were damaged by a hurricane.  They used what was left as the basis for the first highway. 

And when they built the new highway, they left parts of the old bridges standing.  I guess... what are going to do with it out there, right?  So from the end of the pedestrian-modified section of bridge, we could see the old one:

(and I think I've mentioned how I feel about bridges...)  More pleasant views from the bridge (is it a bridge, if it doesn't go anywhere?):

Flagler's Railroad:

Look what was UNDER the bridge! An iguana!

Then it was off to Key West - we had to get there in time for the sunset!  In town, I felt obligated to take at least a couple of pictures of the historic homes.

We made it to the Southernmost point in the continental US - just 90 miles to Cuba - just in time for the sunset (which wasn't as dramatic as I'd hoped, but still very pretty).

And then I played a little with the photo and thought this effect looked cool:

A block away from that mile marker, we found a pier that was far less crowded and got some pictures there.

Noticed the moon in the background...

... and thought that this might make a good spot for a family picture or two.

That last one - cropped a little - will be our Christmas card picture.  So - Merry Christmas!

THEME:

This week I’d like to invite you to share your favourite field-trip that you’ve been able to go on since you’ve started homeschool. I’d encourage you to include photos, but you don’t have to.
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Oh man... we have been on so many cool field trips, it is very hard to pick out one that is the all-time favorite.  Since I'm already very late in getting this Memoir posted, I will save myself a lot of time and trouble by copying from previous blog entries!

In May I listed several great trips that our family has experienced, including:

A church-sponsored field trip to Hope Acres (a dairy farm)  (my blog entry about it is here.)

We live close enough to Gettysburg that we can visit Gettysburg National Military Park often, and we do.

On vacations, we have enjoyed some great "field trips" - we have been to Taliesin in Wisconsin.  I blogged a little about it here.

We have also visited The World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, which I definitely counted as a history lesson!  Our family loves to visit Disney World, although we haven't been as often as we would all like.  Our family vacation to Alberta, Canada this past November gave us the chance to spend a day in Banff National Park, which was very educational as well as being lots of fun!  I blogged about that day in three separate entries.

I was able to take my oldest two boys on an all-day field trip to Philadelphia.  Another three part report.  We saw the historic city...

...and the Franklin Institute, which was featuring the King Tut exhibit at the time:

Since that blog entry, we've also taken the kids to a Zamboni factory, and I took my oldest on a mission trip to Honduras - which is kind of like a field trip.  I won't dig up more pictures and links to those trips now, if you're interested you should be able to find them in the Show & Tell category in my sidebar.  Or just browse around my blog, I won't mind!

In an entry in May of 2007 I declared our MOST memorable field trip to be Camp Flintlock.  This was a weekend encampment near St. Mary's City in Maryland.  A group from our homeschool fellowship went together to experience a little bit of life as it might have been in colonial and revolutionary war times.  We slept in tents with straw ticks under our sleeping bags (I heard later that a couple of families "cheated" and brought in air mattresses, but not us!), dressed in period clothes, were awakened by drum call, gathered firewood and hauled water, cooked over an open fire, made crafts, played colonial games, and we even learned how to throw a tomahawk and shoot a musket!  When we signed up for the encampment, the boys were not very eager to go, especially when I told Harrison he would NOT be allowed to take his personal CD player along!  But my guess is that they really enjoyed the weekend - they talked about it for long afterwards, even occasionally asking if we could set up a tomahawk target in our backyard.  And yes, we have strongly considered doing that!  Landon particularly enjoyed chopping wood and tending the fire. 

Photos:

Here's our family portrait, taken in front of the tent we called home for two nights:

 Tending the fire:

My turn at the cooking pot:

Landon LOVED chopping wood:

Hauling water:

Harrison shooting a musket:

And Spencer's turn:

Don't get on my bad side - I know how to throw a tomahawk!!!

And a camp picture:

For more Homeschool Memoirs, visit The HSBA Post

It's time for Show & Tell with CanadaGirl - and since I missed it last week, I'd like to show why.   

I took Spencer, Landon, and Kennady on an all-day field trip to Historic St. Mary's City in southern Maryland.  They held a homeschool day, and since we are studying US History this year, I couldn't pass it up.  Jamestown and Plymouth get a lot of "press" as the first British settlements in North America, but St Mary's City is the fourth permanent British settlement and claims to be the birthplace of religious tolerance in NA.  The Protestant King James I granted a charter to the Catholic Cecil Calvert, Baron of Baltimore in 1632, and in 1634 Calvert's son led the colonization effort.  The charter granted the Calverts princely rights, power to raise an army, collect taxes, and grant land.  Although the Calvert family were Catholic, the policy they pursued for the colony in Maryland was that it would have no official established religion - Catholic or Protestant - and in that regard, it was unique among the early British settlements.  The first colonists were about half Catholic and half Protestant. 

Some scenery from our trip - it was a drizzly, dreary day for the most part:

 Our first stop of the day was at the Print House, where Landon and Kennady learned how to sort the letters - minding their Ps and Qs of course! - and helped the Master Nuthead work the printing press.  They got a copy of the document they printed to take home.

The Print House is next door to Smith's Ordinary, where an apothecary was explaining how the colonists made some of their own medicines.  He was working on cough syrup, and we helped a little.

Inside the house, the children were invited to write with a quill pen.

The ordinary functioned rather like an inn.  Here is the bed that a traveller could pay a few pounds of tobacco to sleep in - together with other travellers, of course!

Also at the ordinary, we each made a "sweetbag" with the dried herbs we liked best.

Next we headed over to Cordea's Hope, which is a shop.  The proprietress explained some of the items offered for trade and that the main currency was tobacco.  Since the planters wouldn't always have tobacco on hand to make a "cash purchase" they had a credit system!  Not nearly everyone could read, write, or work numbers, but they even had a 'calculator' to help add up purchases so the debt could be entered in the ledger.

Those who didn't pay their debt might be punished by having a "T" for "thief" branded on their hand, which made it very difficult for them to get credit ever again.  Wonder what would happen if we used a similar practice in today's world?

After lunch, we went to the Godiah Spray Tobacco Plantation, where we watched the indentured servant, John, take musket practice.  All men between 16 and 60 were expected to serve in the militia, so knowing how to handle a musket was very important. 

On his second shot, the musket misfired (literally a "flash in the pan") and John had a mild powder burn as a result.

Here Master Spray is inspecting the musket and explaining how it works.

Tobacco is the money-maker crop grown in colonial Maryland.

The plants need to be regularly checked for worms, and the suckers (new leaf shoots) pulled from the larger leaves.

After harvesting, the leaves need to be properly dried.

Then we went back to the main settlement, and visited the dock, where we could see and board a replica of the Dove, one of the two ships that brought colonists and supplies to Maryland in 1634.  You can read Father White's account of the voyage here.

On the dock, we got a bit of a hands-on physics lesson, as the kids tested their strength using pulley systems.  Pulleys on the ship enabled cargo and sails weighing hundreds of pounds to be moved and manipulated by a crew of less than ten!  In a couple of the pictures in the slide show, you can see the pulleys being used to hoist a hogshead of tobacco onto the ship from a rowboat.   We also got another physics lesson on shore - did you ever wonder why barrels were used for ships cargo?  The barrel's shape allows it to be rolled (like a wheel) meaning that a planter could take his cargo to the ship without needing a wagon.  Because the top of bottom of the barrel are curved, it makes it easy to steer a rolling barrel.  Also the barrel will right itself if toppled over, and will fit into the curved hold of a ship much better.  Rolling the barrel along a plank into the rowboat is another physics lesson - the plank is an inclined plane. 

Once on the ship, we had another physics lesson - using a windlass to hoist anchor.

Unfortunately, just outside of the State House, Landon and Kennady both had to serve some time in the stocks

...and in the pillory

...although it didn't seem to bother them too much.  I am considering building a stocks for our backyard as a homeschool project...

Once they had been released, we visited the State House.  St Mary's City served as the capital of Maryland during the state's early history.

We walked by the Brick Chapel from 1667, which is currently being rebuilt on its original foundation!

Our last stop was at the Woodland Indian hamlet.

We got another good idea for a homeschool project here - a firebow...

This interpreter was working on making a new one, and showed us a little of how it worked.  And it did work - he got a bit of smoke and a spark!

Hope you enjoyed our photo tour of Maryland's first British settlement!  Visit Mary's blog to participate in Show & Tell, and to see what others are sharing this week!

I was originally going to do this for Show & Tell last week, but I was on a field trip all day Friday!   

My parents and aunts were visiting over the past two weeks, so I didn't have much time online.  We did a few sightseeing trips and went out to eat or shop a few times.  One day we drove to Hanover and Gettysburg and on the way home we stopped at a pretty park.  I snapped a few pictures of the kids enjoying the playground, and glimpses of fall colors in the background.

At home, the kids got a little help from Papa in putting together a new "watchdog" for our woodpile:

 Last Saturday, we went with my Mom and Dad to Duncannon, to visit Old Sled Works in Duncannon.  There is a large antique mall, a penny arcade, and an old-fashioned soda fountain there.  We'd hoped to have lunch at the soda fountain, only to find out that it isn't open until the end of the month.  So we wound up going to one of the three (yes, just THREE, as far as we know) restaurants in town for lunch - the pub!  But the food was AWESOME.  Seriously.  I told DH that I was willing to go a little out of our way when we travel to visit his family so we can get one of our meals at the pub.  LOL  Anyway, back to the sledworks... It is so called because it was the factory building for Standard Novelty Works which built Lightning Glider and other wooden sleds.  Part of the building is still devoted to a museum of sorts, showing some of the memorabilia from the sled works.  This is the telephone switchboard from their office:

And a vintage baby sled:

Plate maker:

Something else the Old Sled Works is known for, is the Forest Fire Lookout Tower on the property.  It is a 110' tower that was moved there and reopened for visitors to climb.  Our whole family made the trek to the dizzy heights of the tower. (good for the thighs!)  The shadows made pictures in the lookout rather a challenge.

No picture of me, because I had the camera.  And no picture of Harrison, because he got to the top first and promptly went back down because he was "scared of the hornets"    Yeah, there were hornets/wasps/whatever, but the majority of them were OUTSIDE.  Nut job.  Here's a slide show of pics I took from atop the tower:

And this sign is at the bottom.  "Caution Falling Ducks"      I don't get it.  LOL

And finally, in our fall tour...  autumn is definitely the season for bonfires.  But we have just enough pyromaniac and/or redneck blood in our veins that we can't stop ourselves from wondering "what would happen if we threw ------- in the fire"  The following is what happens when you burn an old string of Christmas lights:

I'm sure you have always wondered... and now you know.  The pictures really don't even do it justice - the colors were actually more vividly green and blue and purple than what my limited photography skills and simple camera can show.  So if you've got some old strings of lights that don't work any more, get a little more color enjoyment out of them by burning them in the trash barrel.  Provided that doesn't violate any laws or open fire restrictions in your jurisdiction, of course.  And I wouldn't recommend toasting marshmallows over this kind of fire.  I'm just saying.

I totally missed Show & Tell last week, and I have been struggling to keep up with all kinds of things, not just blogging, over the past week so I am not even going to try to keep the last couple of Honduras entries in chronological order - I am just going to share this one that I desperately wanted to put up for Show & Tell last week today, and then whatever is left as soon as I get to it.  LOL

We got up earlier than usual on our last day, a Saturday, because we had to get everything packed and our rooms cleaned up so we could be on the bus at a decent hour.  We got on the road about 10am, and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the highway out of La Esperanza at least as much as on the drive in.  Unfortunately I couldn't really get any good pictures out of the bus window.  Our first stop was at a restaurant beside Lake Yojoa (can't remember the name of the restaurant though).  The restaurant specialized in fried fish from the lake, but to my great relief (and others in our party as well) they also served chicken and burgers.  Kathy (missionary hostess) got the menu and took our orders while we walked out on the jetty and see the lake and take pictures.

We thought it would be a great place to take some family and group pictures.  Many of us got our family pictures at the end of this jetty, but our faces were in shadow. 

Harrison and I also got a picture with his buddy Eric, and Eric's mom, Cindy.

The boys could see snails and other creatures in the water, and did their best to get a closer look:

Time to eat... this is the lower patio of the restaurant:

We ate on the upper patio level, and the birds were there to eat up any leftovers!

The view from our table:

After lunch we continued to Pulhapanzak.

We had come to see the incredible waterfalls:

And to ride the ziplines OVER the falls!!! Here's Harrison:

And me!!!

I like how my butt is emphasized in the oh-so-comfy harness.  LOL Not.

These next two pictures are other members of the team on the zipline, but I'm showing them because they give a pretty good idea of where exactly that zipline went in relation to the falls...

So exciting to do this!!  I am so not comfortable with heights, but I can tell you that the scariest part of the zipline was actually maneuvering on the tree platforms and especially the ladders on the platforms.  That was WAY more nerve-wracking than riding across the falls.  Some of us also wished that the guides had told us BEFORE we left that last platform over the falls that we would need to put our feet out in front of us as we approached the last platform.  When you're coming towards that tree, feeling oddly like George of the Jungle and they are motioning and yelling in Spanish, it is too late.  LOL 

Thanks for visiting my Show & Tell!  For more Show & Tell fun, or to participate, go to CanadaGirl's blog and get all the details!

Every morning we watched children walking to school on the road past the church property.

 During the day we could also hear the drum corps practicing (and practicing, and practicing...) for the upcoming parade day...

On Wednesday morning Cindy, Whitney, Lauren and I went to visit this school.  They have a Bible class taught by a lady on staff at the church, which is interesting - the schools want values taught and so they allow Bible teaching.  Wouldn't find that happening in the USA, I don't believe.  Anyway, we walked over to the school...

Some of the children that attend here come to the church, so they recognized us.  Many came to tease and smile and to have their picture taken.  Communication was pretty limited, but they certainly know the word "photo" and most of them liked having their pictures taken, especially if we showed them on the digital screen.

(International Bunny-Ears Peace Society members, obviously!)

We had a few lollipops in our pockets, which further endeared us to some of the younger kids.

When we arrived, they were enjoying recess, and climbing the hills behind the school.  This is the mountain that Harrison climbed and I posted about in Part Four

Lining up for class:

The Bible class was really interesting, although the teacher spoke in Spanish so quickly that it was hard for me to really follow.  Kathy had met us by that time and was interpreting some of it.  We invited the children to come for afternoon VBS on the following day.

This is our dorm seen from the school building:

Later that afternoon, our whole group piled into the bus and we went to visit Southwest School, where Danielle had taught last year.  Southwest is a tri-lingual school, and classes are taught in English, and French is taught as a third language.  It is a more expensive school too.  The location is beautiful, high on a hill on the - you guessed it - southwest side of town.  The drive up the gravel mountain road was a bit harrowing though!

Classes wouldn't begin until the following week, so we were able to look around and talk to a few teachers and administrators that were getting rooms ready.  And enjoy the playground.  Danielle told us this was probably the only slide in La Esperanza:

The boys ran races on the tires:

Outside the washrooms there is a beautiful mural done by Beto, a missionary from Guatamala.  (we spent some time with him and his American wife, Laura)

The skies looked rather threatening that afternoon, but it didn't rain.  Thank goodness, because we were going SHOPPING after visiting the school!

Before we left the school, I had to take a picture of this - kind of for my DH, who is a grower - a VERY large pointsettia bush at the school!

When morning VBS ended on Monday, I decided to walk with Bonnie, Danielle, and Laura (an American missionary married to a Guatamalan missionary, living in La Esperanza) to the pulperia (corner store) across the road to buy sodas for everyone.  I had to get a picture of this sign too:

Danielle even offered to pose:

hahahaha!!! Bimbo is a brand name for a bread.  We saw Bimbo trucks at times too.  So funny.

After lunch on Monday, we got to work on some of projects around the buildings and grounds.  Some of the men had already started work on roof repairs. 

The roof on the dorm building needed to be painted so the teens got started on that.

This was a big job, and they didn't have large paintbrushes or rollers to work with, so they just did their best.  It was fun to watch!

Bonnie and I got started on "reupholstering" the church's chairs.  They have a large quantity of chairs like this:

There were a couple dozen more chairs that had the seats attached, but not the backs, and whoever had been working on them hadn't finished the job.  So we went to work!

(I bet if DH knew how much I enjoyed using the power screwdriver, he would run right out and buy one.  LOL)

The pictures are kind of dark.  The lighting was odd in this room.

This turned out to be a three-day project, since we only worked on it in the afternoon - the morning being taken up with VBS.  One day we even got a little help (and I use the term loosely) from Harrison and Eric.

They got a little crazy with the staple gun.

We worked faster without their help, I think.  LOL  here's the chairs, almost finished!

It felt so good to be able to complete that task that had been on hold for awhile.  One day it was raining pretty hard, so the teens came inside and painted a couple of bunk bed frames that had been sitting and waiting for a coat of paint.

I don't know what exactly they were working on up near the house, but Harrison put in some sweat equity there as well (something to do with the plumbing but I can't remember what)

Everyone had to take a turn washing dishes after dinner.  Just as proof that Eric, Harrison, and Bridget took their turn:

One other project that the guys worked on was framing a roof on a pastor's house.  On our way out of town on Saturday morning, we stopped by so we could all see what they'd accomplished and take a picture of them.  (Harrison is in the wite shirt)

We all had lots of fun on this trip, but we did work pretty hard too!

For Show & Tell with CanadaGirl this week, I'm going to jump ahead in my journal about Honduras to show some pictures Harrison took one day. 

That great view from our dorms included a rocky hill above the nearby school, and we could see the schoolkids climbing on it during their recess and lunch breaks.  Several of the guys commented that they wanted to climb that mountain before the week was over.  One day, Harrison and Derek did just that, along with four of the Honduran boys as their "tour guides"  Harrison and Derek knew almost no Spanish, and the Honduran boys knew a little English, but they all got along great anyway.  When Harrison told me where they were going, I gave him the camera and told him to take as many pictures as he wanted... 'just don't drop the camera and break it!"  

Here's the hill:

They found these carvings in the rocks.  They were done fairly recently, although no one seems to know much about them.  We suspected that the locals like to take gringos up to show them the "ancient rock carvings"  LOL

Here's Derek with the local boys:

And Harrison with the boys:

See the "bunny ears?"  What is up with that?  Kids EVERYWHERE do this for some reason.  It is totally universal.  LOL  I bet if you could find a remote tribe somewhere that had never even seen a camera before, it wouldn't take them long before the kids would start doing bunny ears to their friends.  LOL

And by the way, I have to say how much I am LOVING the slideshow feature at Photobucket!  Thank you, Mary, for telling me how to use it on my blog!  It's really come in handy for these Honduras entries - of which I have several more to come and I bet even next week's Show & Tell will be Honduras pictures too.

For more Show & Tell or to participate, please visit Mary (aka CanadaGirl) 

One of the main jobs our team had planned for in La Esperanza was leading a Vacation Bible School.  We had planned to lead a VBS Monday through Thursday morning that would be mostly in English.  Southwest School, which many of the church students attend, teaches English and French, so almost all those students would understand English, making our job much easier. 

We got up early on Monday morning, and had breakfast at 6:30am.  It wasn't hard to get up since we'd gone to bed so early the night before!  I noticed the true quiet of the area - oh there were certainly noises, but they were mostly dogs and chickens, and children walking to school.  (The local school had already started, but Southwest would not open for another week)  Occasionally there were trucks or buses going by one of the nearby roads, but not often, and only during the day as far as I could tell.  Following breakfast, we got prepared for VBS, which included mopping one of the Sunday School rooms.  While we were waiting for kids to arrive, Harrison and Eric entertained us with a little music:

They sang two of their favorites - I Saw the Light and I'll Fly Away - over and over... 

The first day of VBS was a disappointment in terms of numbers, as we had only TWO children.  But on the other hand, they had fun and were a delight to work with.  They got lots of attention!! 

We let our teens play along and do coloring sheets with the kids.

Silly boys.  I told Harrison I wanted his picture to take home and hang on my fridge, but I think he gave it to our VBS director instead.  LOL  Here's the whole class coloring, seven American teens, and two little Honduran girls:

Here's the class coloring later in the week:

A couple of our ladies accompanied Kathy when she took the girls home, and they made some personal calls, so on Tuesday we had 22 kids, and around 28 on Wednesday and Thursday.  We also discussed some further plans over lunch, and decided we would do a one-day VBS for the local school and neighborhood kids on Thursday afternoon.  More about that later!

On Tuesday morning it was so good to see our numbers increase from two to twenty-two!  The children were a real delight.  I was working with the Grade 3 and 4 class, and leading the singing, and Harrison was leading at the sports station.  When it was time to take the kids back to town after VBS, most of the "girls" from our team went along on the bus.  We sang VBS songs all the way into town - they couldn't get enough of a couple of the songs we taught them, and they taught us some fun songs that we wanted to remember as well.

On Wednesday, Harrison asked for some help from Eric in doing the sports and games - Eric had been hleping out with the puppet show we used for the lesson, and then scooting out to help Harrison in between, but Harrison really wanted Eric's help the whole time.  So I volunteered to take Eric's place in the puppet show, which turned out to be lots of fun.  something very interesting that happened on Wednesday was that one of the youngest girls (who spoke very little English) was fascinated by our hair.  She came and stroked Lauren's hair and my own and declared it "bonita"  I didn't think my hair was particularly "bonita" at all - I hadn't "done" anything with it!  But that was so very sweet.

 Here's the Grade 3 and 4 class personalizing frisbees. 

Thursday was the last day for morning VBS so we made sure to get some group pictures.

(Grade 1 and 2 class)

(Grade 3 and 4 class - and that's me in the white t-shirt)

And a couple with everyone.  The banner is the name of the church - Mas Que Vencedores (More Than Conquerors) - isn't that a great name for a church?  I thought so.

One of the crafts the kids did was to draw and color a friendship quilt block.  Each of us that worked with VBS made one too, and Karen and I spent some time on Thursday and Friday stitching it together.  We didn't have much time to get it done, because we wanted to present it to Bob and Kathy on Saturday morning.  Here we all are with the finished product:

The kids made two blocks each, so we brought a second set home with us and will be making another quilt hanging with it to display in our church.

Well, the first day of school was yesterday but of course I didn't get anything posted here about it.  So I'm already a day behind!

Here's the "official" first day of school photos for Landon and Kennady:

Our first day went fairly well, with everyone (including Kennady - her first time using an alarm clock!) up on time.  We started off with the daily chores assigned, then Harrison went off to work on his assignments while I did school with the other three.  After a chapter of our current read-aloud (we took a long break, but are nearing the end of Prince Caspian), we got right into Science.  This year we are all studying Physics.  Harrison will be using different books and doing some of his work on his own.  The younger three are starting the year with God's Design for the Physical World: Machines & Motion

The first lesson introduced us to the topic of mechanics - naturally the kids were at first thinking about all kinds of motorized machines, so we talked about a more simple definition, and discussed mechanical advantage.  We also talked about the basic types of motion - straight line, arc and circular - and how gravity affects the motion of objects.  We completed a worksheet to help us observe different types of motion and assess what forces were in effect.

1.  straight line motion - was observed when we rolled a ball on a level surface.  The forces were forward motion from Landon's hand, and friction with the floor.

2.  straight line motion - was observed when we dropped a ball.  The force was gravity.

3.  arc motion - was observed when we hit a tennis ball into the open.  The forces were forward motion from the tennis racquet, and gravity.

4.  arc motion in opposite directions - was observed when we hit the tennis ball against a wall.  The forces were forward motion from the racquet, bounce (reflection) from the wall, and gravity.

5.  circular motion - was observed when we tied the ball to a string and swung it around.  There was some debate over whether it was straight line or arc motion when we let go of the ball.  The forces were pull on the string, momentum, and gravity.

Of course we did a little Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic too.

Oh man... has anybody had this happen before?? I put in my entry, viewed it, linked it at CanadaGirl's blog - because its my Show & Tell for this week - and I even had somebody comment already - and then it DISAPPEARED!!!! Argh!!!!!! So now I am trying to recreate it.  Boo hoo... 

First I need to back up a little and show a map explaining where we were.  We flew into the city of San Pedro Sula, in the northwest corner of the country, near Guatamala.  Then we drove about three hours to the city of La Esperanza, in Intibuca province.  La Esperanza is about a mile above sea level, in a forested mountain setting.  it has the coolest climate in Honduras, so it is very pleasant there in summer.  While we were there, the daytime highs were in the high 70s most days and the humidity was really not a problem.  In the evening it was cool enough to need a light jacket.

My last entry left off after the church service...  We had lunch reservations at a very nice restaurant in town called Pollo Indio.  It was a beautiful place.  We climbed up four flights of stairs to a private dining area in a room with wide open windows, so it was almost like dining on a patio.  There was a great view of the city all around, so I took several pictures there.

Here's a closer view of the Gran Hotel sign.  (I loved seeing the Coca-Cola signs - it was a big relief to see them because in San Pedro Sula all I saw were Pepsi signs and I was getting very worried! LOL)

Lunch was delicious.  Included on the menu:  tortilla chips with black beans and cheese (appetizer); grilled chicken, vegetables, fries, fresh tortillas.  I brought home the Coke bottles! LOL  After lunch we went to see the apartment where Danielle (young lady from our church that taught in La Esperanza during 2007-2008) had lived the previous year.  It was a cute place, and very interesting to see the place she had called home.  From there we walked to a Catholic shrine set high up in a hillside, known as La Gruta (the Grotto).

It is a lovely white "churchfront" shrine, with steep, uneven, and high steps leading up to it.  It definitely was a challenge to walk up those steps! 

Once we had all arrived in front of La Gruta, we took a couple of group pictures:

Behind the iron bars was a statue of Mary:

There were also steps (thought the last ones were steep - these were enormous!) on each side of the shrine, so that you could climb up to the hill above it.  Several of us, myself included, did that climb as well.  It was a challenge, and believe me I felt it in my thighs for several days afterwards!  But what  view! 

When we'd finished taking pictures and were all in front of the shrine itself again, Bob spoke to us about the idolatry, sorcery, witchcraft, and other evil influences that were so strong in the city, and were being mixed into the Catholic traditions as well.  Alcoholism is a big problem there.  Satan has a stronghold here, but Jesus Christ has the power to free people from those bonds!  We gathered on those steps and prayed over the city - for the people in bondage, for the missionaries and local pastors, for the mission team, and for those who are already free in Christ and are living out their witness to family and neighbors.

Back at the church again, many of the local young people had gathered to play soccer and have a birthday party for one of the girls.  Many of our young people joined in.  After a dinner of cold cut sandwiches, popcorn, carrots, bananas, and cookies, we were all about ready to turn in for the night!  We would be getting up early in the morning, and were all tired from the long travel days, so after a brief meeting to plan a bit for the upcoming days, we headed for our rooms.  I wrote in my journal, "I'm about to go shower, then it's time for bed -- and it's only 7:40pm!"  I can't remember the last time I went to bed that early!

More Honduras journal and pictures to come! Thanks for visiting today - and I sure hope THIS version of my entry stays up! =8~D

I have some pictures on photobucket, but not nearly all.  However, I need to start somewhere, since there is so much to share!!  For those that weren't aware, from August 9th through 17th, my oldest son Harrison and I were on a missions trip with a group from our church.  We went to La Esperanza, Honduras to conduct Vacation Bible School and just do whatever needed doing on the church properly.  We arrived home this past Sunday night - very late, and without Harrison's suitcase! It did arrive the next day though - and I have been spending this week trying to get caught up in just about everything so that we can start school on Monday.

Saturday, August 9th - Harrison and I finished packing in the morning and we met at the church at 11am to load up the trailer and truck to go to the airport.

We checked in at the airport and got our lunch before boarding.  We left shortly after three and arrived in Miami around 5pm.  I got some Starbucks and then it was back on a plan at about 7pm.  It was a bit of a bumpy flight, but got us into San Pedro Sula, Honduras around 7:30 local time.  There was a very long wait at customs and it was hot and humid already.  Once we were all through customs (no problems, it just took awhile) we met the missionaries that would be hosting us, Bob and Kathy.  They had borrowed a yellow schoolbus in order to transport all of us.  First place we went was Pizza Hut for dinner, and then to the Hotel Casa Blanca for the night.  It was a very nice hotel, but still different from home.  Everyone was TIRED.  I had a quick shower and then slept hard, although it did take awhile to fall asleep since there were fireworks going on most of the night.  Oh - and some hygiene rules for our stay in Honduras:  1) Don't drink the water.  2) Don't flush the toilet paper.  Actually, surprisingly easy to adjust to!

Sunday, August 10th - We were up at 4:50am!  Which wasn't all that bad, really, since we were two hours earlier than at home.  Threw on some clothes and got on the bus.  We left at 5:15am as its about a three hour drive from San Pedro Sula to La Esperanza.  There wasn't much to see at first, but as dawn arrived, we were able to see the fog and clouds laying low over the mountains, small homes and farms, some plantations.  The country is beautiful.  The houses and businesses look very different - almost all buildings have a fenced or walled courtyard, and barred or shuttered windows.  I saw many people on bicycles, walking, or waiting for buses.  We had a breakfast of juice, milk, granola bars, and bananas while driving.  We stopped at a tourist plaza for a bathroom break and Kathy also picked up some grocery items there.  The place had toucans, macaws, and other birds; as well as some tortugas (turtles) in cages so it was almost like a mini-zoo.

There was also a little playground area.

Back on the road... As we climbed towards La Esperanza, the scenery was spectacular.  And boy, we were glad that Eric and Harrison weren't driving!! LOL  We made one more stop here:

so Kathy could buy fresh bananas and pineapples!

We arrived in La Esperanza about 8:30am.  We were assigned to our rooms and had some time to change and get freshened up for church.  Our rooms face the mountains and countryside.  There are cattle and horses, and we can see the school and a couple of houses.  It is generally quiet, unless there are kids or dogs around.  Here's the view from the porch of the dorm building:

The church service was so good, but we were all so tired, I don't think any of us got through the whole thing without drifting off at least once!! Everything was in Spanish, naturally, and spoken too quickly for most of us to understand more than a few words here and there.  But I found I could follow the prayers quite well!  There were announcements and testimonies as well.  I didn't take my Bible into the service (it was still in my suitcase) but I wish I had! I could understand the Scripture references and would have liked to follow along in English while it was being read aloud in Spanish.  I knew a couple of the praise choruses so I sang along in English.  When the preaching started, Kathy came and sat behind us and did some translating.  It was especially moving to hear and see the people respond so confidently to the portion of Psalm 23 "I shall lack for nothing" - these who, by American standards, lack so much, could testify firmly that in Christ they lacked for nothing - nada.  After the service the ladies of the church had food prepared - I guess for a fundraiser? - so we tried a few things.  Corn fritters that were AMAZING.  A pudding type of dish that I cannot remember the name - it was like a warm vanilla pudding but I know it was made from corn.  The coffee was good but very strong and slightly bitter and smoky flavored.  Didn't help that there was no cream and I always take cream in my coffee. 

That's the first installment!  I'll continue with Sunday afternoon's events in a new entry.

One thing I really had wanted to do on this trip to Niagara Falls was to visit the Butterfly Conservatory, but we didn't have a great deal of time and the boys were SO not interested.  So perhaps we'll do that on a future trip.  I settled for a walk through the Floral Showhouse gardens and greenhouses, which was really my DH's idea but I didn't mind in the least!  The boys still weren't really interested, but at least it was free for them to continually ask how much longer we would be there.  LOL

Fuschia:

One of the beautiful roses in the rose garden:

I thought at first glance that these were pansies, but they are orchids:

There are several different kinds of birds living in the greenhouses.  I'm not sure what kind this is, but I'm checking!

He's hard to see, but this is the best picture I got of the Red Bishop bird.  His head is that little red blob.  LOL

Another kind of "bird" - this is a Bird of Paradise flower:

I can't remember what all of these are called!

These are the flowers of the Pitcher Plant, which is a carnivorous plant.  They are not very pretty, are they?  They looked kind of like rotting bananas to me.

Those are real, although they look like they are plastic! Those leaves are probably about 4 feet long. 

We found this topiary in the outdoor part of the garden:

Water lilies:

I guess the greenhouse was a pretty good consolation prize.  But I still want to see the butterflies!!