First Grade

Although we are educating PK1 at home this year and although we learn all year round, Tuesday still felt like a first day of First Grade for PK1.

She goes once a week to a learning co-op.  It is called Westerville Area Homeschool Association or WAHA.

It includes a wonderful art class.  It isn't just a silly craft or coloring time.  The teachers are so creative.  One day last year they came dressed with flowers in their hair like the artist Frida Kahlo. They get to paint, sculpt with real clay and learn lots of real art techniques.

Then she has PE.  This is taught by a guy who owns a business called "The Homeschool Gym."  He is so much fun and teaches the kids all the skills and games they would be learning on the playground at school.

Science is last.  They use a Christian curriculum called Apologia.  This year they are studying Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day.

I think PK1 looks so grown up and I can't believe I have a First Grader.

Home on the Range

We snuck in a trip to my home town of Wichita Kansas here at the end of the summer.  I kind of loved that we were leaving on the day that many others were starting school. hehehe.  It was  unseasonable cool, so not a ton of pool time, but we still had a blast.  We let the kids stay up late playing with the leftover sparklers from my sister's wedding (hope that was ok Suz)and exploring with flashlights in Grandad's woods.  Then we slept in late every morning.  My dad and mom basically ran a camp playing with the kids all day.  They offered to take us on some outings, but "Camp GiGi" was so much fun, we couldn't talk the kids into leaving the house much.  PD and I did get a date night.  We also saw a movie with College Sister.  The first movie we had seen in the theater since 2005.

We did go to a park one day that has a yellow brink road, like in "Wizard of Oz."  They used to have the characters from the movie too, but bands of urban youths kept positioning them in unseemly positions and they took them out.

I do wish I had a few more pictures of my parents, but I was so busy taking pictures of all the stuff we did and relaxing and reading and eating my mom's cooking that I forgot.  Here is what I did capture:


Kansas Summer 2009 from Political family on Vimeo.