April Field trip to Discovery Gateway Children's Museum

We went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum in April for our field trip.  With every thing else that happened this weekend I nearly forgot about this little trip.  They had a lot of fun things to do their that teach children about how things work, science, construction, etc.  It is not a large place but, everything is hands on.  It is really child's world.

 

I was able to get discount tickets through Halfpriceutah.com.  I enjoyed the place but felt that they charge to much for the adults.  As adults we can play there also but most don't and I feel that the adult price should be equal to if not less than the children's tickets.  My kids had fun.  I actually had fun.

What a wonderful weekend.

This last weekend was a big one for our family we celebrated 2 birthday's, Easter & General Conference.  Mark and I were exhausted by the end.  This kids all had so much fun.  Here are some highlights.

 

MiMi had a wonderful 8th birthday party with friends & family.  Thank you for all of the gifts and helping to make MiMi's birthday wonderful.

  
MaeMae enjoyed her first Birthday.  It is always amazing to me how much children grow in the first year of their life.  MaeMae just wanted to sit on the top of her boxes.  It was so cute.

We had a good Easter.  We went on a picnic with Mark's parents to Copperton Park.  We didn't stay long because the bathrooms weren't open.

What we heard of General Conference was wonderful and I look forward to listening to the parts I missed.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter Weekend.  I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and everything he has done for me personally so that I might repent and return to live with Him and my Family for eternity.

Changes and changes

One consistent thing in life is that things change.  I have stopped trying to plan to much of life because I have learned that I am not in charge and the Lord will  put me where he wants me when he wants me to be there.  I have found that when I allow him to do this and I accept it, I am happy and at peace.

Mark was called to be second counselor to our Bishop.  It didn't come as to big of a surprise because we had recent changes occur in our family that would facilitate his service in this capacity.  You can read my previous posts .

Little Miracles (and some Big ones, too)

and

And the Miracles keep coming.

We have been so blessed so, we both felt that all of these miraculous blessings from the Lord most definitely warranted our gratitude through service.

On the homeschool front we took several breaks and revisited some of the things we were doing and had a friend send us info on some curriculum that was offering a special.  I signed up for it.  It is curriculum through Latter-Day Learning.  Their curriculum is LDS based and combines the secular with LDS teachings.  It also takes a one room schoolhouse approach and provides different activities for the different ages of children from Pre-K to Middle school.

I am excited for it because I know I am going to learn something as well.

Valentine's Party

In February we had a Valentine's day party with cousins and friends instead of a field trip.  The girls had a great time preparing their party.

The girls grew the rock candy suckers for 2 weeks.  DeeDee made the cupcakes and we all dipped the vanilla wafers.

We played Valentine bingo, everyone made themselves a Valentine monster and we had fun playing a Valentine Madlibs.

I am thankful for Aunts and friends that helped us out with all of the kids and the clean up.

Everyone had a really fun time.

Little Feet

My baby has no shoes.  Mostly this really isn't a problem.  We have lots of socks and it is difficult to find shoes that stay on her cute little feet.

However, on Pinterest I have seen pins for crocheted baby shoes and sandals.  I have decided it is time to make some so that my sweet little 10 month old will have something cute on her feet on Sunday.

Here are the cute little baby sandals I made for MaeMae this morning.

New Homeschool Blog

I am starting a second blog focused specifically on doing Homeschool.  I have been working on it for a while and got a little burnt out.  I am now ready to start up again and share what I am learning with every one.

You are invited to my new blog, Book of Ruth: Mama of 5,  I will provide information about homeschooling and what I have learned. You will also find links for Common Core and what that is all about.  The above link will take you to my new blog you can also go there by typing in brmamaof5.com.

I will continue to maintain this blog also with our personal homeschool and family activities.  Thank you for your love and support.

January Field Trip

As time approached our January field trip the kids were getting excited and were wondering where we were going.  My husband suggested Hardware Ranch near Logan, Utah.  We have wanted to go there for a while.  It sounded good to everyone.  As the day approached the weather for the area wasn't looking to good.  Time for plan B.  It was time to go to the aquarium again.  My husband hadn't been yet and we also invited his parents who hadn't been their either.

 It is really nice aquarium.  It was a pretty busy day because one of the school districts was out for the day and there was a school group there as well.  The thing I have found wonderful about the new building for the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium is its openness.  There is plenty of room.  Even with so many people it doesn't feel crowded.

DeeDee was in charge of the camera and took some amazing pictures of some of the animals and the exhibits.

The duck exhibits are so beautiful and interesting.
I asked once if the ducks wandered.  The employee said that during the day they stay in their exhibit but, when the aquarium is closed they have the run of the hall and they do wander.

I really enjoy their South American exhibit.  They have a variety of animals.  Birds, lizards, fish, frogs, snakes, etc.  It is amazing the variety and beauty of all of these tropical animals.

 I missed it but, Mark and the girls were able to watch the Anaconda move from the tree branch it was resting on, down into the water.  The employee said that the Anaconda doesn't move that much so to see it move so much was a real treat.

Their Utah exhibit is so much better than it was at the old building.  I never get tired watching the River otters.

The favorite of everyone is the Oceans exhibit.  They have many wonderful exhibits of ocean life and  they now have the room to have a much

and even a large tunnel.  It is truly a marvelous thing to walk through.  Because it is such a large thing you don't feel rushed to go through.  They even have seats for resting and watching.  The viewing windows on the other side of the tank are another amazing thing.  They also provide a place for resting and there is plenty of room for every one to wander and view the amazing aquarium of ocean life they have put together.

We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed our time together as a family.  As homeschoolers  I am grateful for the Loveland Living Planet Aquariums resources and discounts.  When you take in your affidavit your school age children get in for $4.95 and the Chaperoning adults for $6.95.  This is a huge discount.  You can also prepare before you go.  They have printable worksheets on their website that are grade level based.  They were perfect for my 2nd grader and 4th grader.

Just remember it is not a large aquarium compared to the one at Monterey Bay in California or even the the Birch Aquarium at Scripps (also in California).  For our little area it is a lovely, peaceful and fun aquarium.