Shelburne Museum Field Trip

Our homeschool group really was busy this month! A week after Billings Farm, some of our families took another field trip to the Shelburne Museum. It is one of my favorite museums because there is so much to do and see there. They regularly have homeschool days, where they offer special workshops for the kids at different locations. The kids really enjoy the extra activities while still seeing the museum. It was a really pretty day for the trip, too!

We started our day at the covered bridge, a fun place to run the length.

The old jailhouse is always a hit. We don't mind locking the kids inside! :)

We spent a lot of time on the ship, a model of one that used to travel across Lake Champlain from Vermont to New York. The workshop taught us about pulleys used to load goods onto the ship.

And of course the ship is a great spot for photo ops!

The kids always love the carousel. We saved it for the end and they wanted to ride over and over again.

This was the girls' last outing together before the two on the outside edges of this picture move to SC, so it was a little bittersweet for Leah. They had a great time together!

Billings Farm Field Trip

Our little homeschool group this year was such a fun bunch! I got to teach the older kids a World Geography class. We were doing this at home for our history & geography this year so I thought it would be fun to have a group to do crafts and activities with each week. We studied a different country each week. It was often difficult to prepare an activity for a group of such a variety of ages (they range from 2nd to 6th grade) and interests but I think we managed to accomplish some things. Our last day of class, everyone pulled 3-4 cards with pictures of famous landmarks on them from a cup and had to tape them to our large wall map in their correct location. I took a photo to commemorate:

As another of our homeschool group's last celebrations, we took a trip together to Billings Farm Homeschool Day. They do a pretty good program for the kids, with 5-6 different rotating activities throughout the day. First they learned about what life would have been like for a kid in 1850. They did "chores" like beating a rug, buttoning their shoes, ironing, and writing on slates like they would have used in school.

Then we got to see the baby cows and learn a little about how they name them and take care of them.

We also got to see baby chickens and learn about the anatomy of a chicken and how they are raised for meat.

After lunch we got to pet a sheep and learn how their wool is used. (As you can see, it is May but still cold and wet outside!)

Abi and Paisley found a worm that was far more interesting than what the man was telling them about the sheep. Thankfully we have kids that don't mind getting their hands a little dirty!

ECHO Museum & Fun Day

We were recently given a free annual pass to ECHO Museum in Burlington, a Science Center we truly wouldn't be able to afford if it hadn't been gifted to us! It's a fun family day trip and we love the freedom to take a day off school work and head up there together.

The special exhibit is currently a dinosaur exhibit. It was a little disappointing compared to some we've seen. There were no skeletons or bones, just 5 or 6 slightly animated "statues". There wasn't even much hands-on, just a few signs to read.

Thankfully there was enough other stuff to see and do. We enjoyed an interactive presentation where the kids learned how MUD is formed and then they got to throw mud balls over the balcony onto the ground below (which Jacob of course did again and again.). 

We also saw weather exhibits, looked at native rocks in a microscope, saw some frogs and fish, played with kinetic sand and several other exhibits.

We ended up discovering the younger kids' favorite place at the end of the day-- they would have happily spent the entire time there if we had known about it. It was a giant play area with a huge slide, water tables (always Jacob's favorite), play store, and plenty of space to run around. This space alone made it worth it for them.

On the way home we stopped at a local playground to enjoy the beautiful weather, and even had our first ice cream of the season afterward!

Easter 2019

We were so happy Easter fell later in the month this year, so it was plenty warm enough to enjoy the festivities.

Jacob was old enough to dye eggs with us this year. You can see he is thrilled! He wanted to do all his just plain colors.

They turned out really well! And we didn't break any.

We attempted a stained-glass cross craft but my contact paper was tan instead of clear, so it didn't work as well as I'd hoped. Abi's still turned out pretty.

This year we decided to make Easter more Christ-focused and celebrated a Passover Seder with the kids. They loved getting dressed up and enjoying a fancy table! Even Jacob got into it and was so careful with his dishes. 

We also got them each one big, special gift for Easter, which they opened Saturday night after the Passover Seder. They still got small Easter baskets with candy the next day, but these were special things just from us. Abigail got a charm bracelet, like her older sister's. Leah got a new charm to put on hers'.

Andrew got a board game that he had been talking about, which everyone can enjoy together. Jacob got a toy we knew he would like.

With the warmer weather, we were able to take some fun photos outside and enjoy an Egg Hunt after church!

Look, it's the first year in a long time I haven't been HOLDING a baby or toddler in our Easter photo. And no one cried or had a tantrum during the Egg Hunt!

Leah and Abi both requested a special hairdo for Easter morning. They came up with the ideas but I helped.

Jacob knew exactly what to do for the Egg Hunt this year and didn't even need my help. In fact, I saw him helping some of the little girls by picking up eggs for them and putting them in their baskets!