Archive for ‘Field trips’

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January 24, 2013

Hard Labor Creek State Park

Note: This column was printed in the Barrow Journal on January 23, 2013.

If you want to take advantage of the warm spells we get during the winter in Georgia, one place I recommend going is Hard Labor Creek State Park. We visited there for the first time this past fall (early November) when the leaves were gold and just falling from the trees, and we wondered why we had never gone to this beautiful park before.

It’s located about 30 miles south of Winder in Morgan and Walton counties, and at 5,804 acres, it’s one of the largest state parks in Georgia. It boasts an 18-hole golf course as well as two lakes, camping, cottage rentals, swimming, horse trails, hiking trails and much more.

The park has a rich history.  Before the establishment of the park, the land was made up of corn and cotton fields, and due to poor land-use practices, it was not very productive.  During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a part of his New Deal program. The purpose of CCC was to create recreational areas while also teaching young men new skills and trades.

Between 1934 -1939, there were two CCC camps at Hard Labor Creek, and they together with the U.S. Forestry service built the park. You can still see many of their original structures and landscapes today, including Lake Rutledge.  They also cultivated over 850,000 trees!

My favorite outdoor activity is hiking, and the day we were there, I was determined to walk at least a moderate trail, so I coaxed my family onto the 1-mile Brantley Trail that took us on a tour of some of the beautiful trees that the CCC planted.

Now the trees are mature, and according to a leaflet we found at the beginning of the path, we walked under a canopy of loblolly pines and sweetgum trees, and we also spied white oak, river birch, hickories, red maples, and blackjack oak.

We skedaddled past this tree.

Here you can see how the area is still recovering from the farming.  In the late 1800s, “the upland forest in this area of the piedmont was almost completely stripped for timber and agricultural lands.”  However, it was too steep to farm along the streams, so there you’ll find taller, larger hardwoods.  If you look at “the upslope trees,” you see they are smaller, and there’s more pines and sweetgum.

When we were there this fall, hiking with a six-year-old and three-year-old still required a great deal of patience.  My three-year-old graced us with his first temper tantrum in the middle of the forest, and I couldn’t help but wonder if a child screams in a forest and no one is around to hear it… Ah, well, unfortunately, we were there, and yes, it was quite loud.  But it passed as all things do, and we had a pleasant walk. We also strolled over to the lake, and it offered some beautiful scenery.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps and Hard Labor Creek State Park, you might join one of several Historic Wagon Ride Tours offered in February, or perhaps you’d prefer Fireside Stories told by a retired park ranger who, according to the park’s website, has a passion for CCC history.  Go to http://www.gastateparks.org/HardLaborCreek for more information on these and other events at the park.

Where’s your favorite outdoor recreation area?

Posted in Field trips, My Newspaper Columns, Nature | 1 Comment »

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December 10, 2012

The North Atlanta Gem, Mineral, Fossil, & Jewelry Show

This weekend my family and I went to check out The North Atlanta Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry Show.  I’m so grateful to “Pamela” who took the time to write about it on a local homeschool list last week. When I saw her message, I thought this was something my boys would love, and luckily, the price was right!  It is only $4.00 admission for adults, and children under 16 are free.  We are also lucky that the trade center is only about an hour drive away.

If you’re sad that you missed this show, you’ll be happy to know it’s an annual event.

I think we’ll be going back!  Here are some (not-so-good) snapshots I got at the event. Needless to say, it’s hard to take photographs when you’re trying to rescue fragile items from the clutches of a three-year-old.

A leg bone of a triceratops. The man who found it allowed our boys to touch it!

Those strange things in the middle are dinosaur eggs!

We love shark teeth since we acquired our own collection while visiting Amelia Island this summer.

That’s just too cool.

The three-year-old HAS to touch, touch, touch. He’s just wired that way.

The six-year-old wants one of these.

So much treasure!

Admiring a woolly mammoth’s tusk.

The highlight of the day: the six-year-old picked out an almost fossilized tibia bone of a bison that’s between 11-15,000 years old to call his own!

Have you been on any field trips lately?  Please tell me about it.

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August 14, 2012

The Museum of Science and Industry

Note: This column was printed in the Barrow Journal on August 8, 2012.  You can view it on the newspaper’s website by clicking here.  Attention Homeschoolers: You might find useful information for your home education program on this museum’s website!

Since my family and I made a trip to Chicago to help celebrate my in-laws 50th anniversary, we thought we might as well stay awhile and take advantage this wonderful city.  Yesterday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry.  My husband had been there many years ago, but I’ve never been, and I think it’s now become my favorite place in Chicago.

I felt just as giddy as my children as we toured this museum, which, according to its website, is the largest science center in the Western Hemisphere.  It’s “home to more than 35,000 artifacts and nearly 14 acres of hands-on experiences designed to spark scientific inquiry and creativity.”

Our first tour was of the “Silver Streak: Pioneer Zephyr.” This train was one of America’s first diesel-electric streamlined passenger trains.  In 1934, it was the fastest train in the world, traveling between Denver and Chicago in about 13 hours.  It cut the previous travel time (by steam engine) in half!  It was also the first train to ever have air conditioning or refrigeration.  For the first time, passengers could be served ice cream.

After the Silver Streak, we found the room with several airplanes suspended from the ceiling, a real steam engine, wagons from the old days, and a United Airlines 727 to tour.  But my boys spent most of their time at “The Great Train Story,” a model railroad with 30 trains running on 1,400 feet of track.  The trains wind their way from Chicago to Seattle and pass through the Midwest, Plains States, Rockies and Cascade Mountains.  The size and detail was stunning and according to the museum’s website, this railroad was the largest of its kind when it opened in 1941.

We enjoyed watching “Tornado Alley” at the Omimax Theatre where we followed scientists and photographers into the middle of a tornado.  It was my five-year-old’s choice to see the movie about the tornados, but I was relieved to hear him say afterward that he never wanted to chase tornadoes!

After the movie we went to what became my five-year-old’s highlight of the day: touring the U-505 Submarine, the actual German U-boat that the U.S. Navy captured on June 4, 1944.  He took the tour with this grandfather while the rest of us enjoyed the exhibits and memorial outside the vessel.

The story of the battle is quite remarkable, and you can read all of it on the Museum’s website.  What I found fascinating is how the nine-member boarding party saved the vessel from sinking or exploding.  They re-secured the cover to a sea strainer and yanked the wires to several scuttle charges, or time bombs, which the German crew had set before they abandoned the vessel.

Then there was the seemingly impossible task of towing the vessel to Bermuda.  On August 15, 1945, The Saturday Evening Post printed these words written by Captain Daniel Gallery: “…[Commander Earl Trosino] spent hours down in the bilges, crawling around in the oily water under the engines, tracing pipelines and closing valves to make the boat watertight…. Thanks to Trosino’s uncanny instinct for finding the right valves, and his total disregard of his own safety, we succeeded in saving the U-505.”

And thanks to Captain Gallery, who was a native of Chicago, and this Museum, the U-505 was preserved.  Its journey to the museum is another great story, but I’ll let you read about that on your own.

The Museum had so much more to explore.  We visited the Idea Factory, which was almost like a children’s museum for children 10 and younger, and we visited “YOU! the experience,” which was about the human body.  I was awed and had somewhat mixed emotions at their presentation of a developing fetus, from conception to full term, using real babies that for various reasons had never been born.

We only explored a small fraction of the museum.  If you are ever in Chicago, I highly recommend you stop by, but if you can’t travel there, please visit their website.  It is full of wonderful images, stories, a blog, podcast, and online activities.  It would be time well spent for children or adults who are interested in learning about science and industry.  www.msichicago.org

Posted in Field trips, Homeschooling, My Newspaper Columns | 9 Comments »

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June 5, 2012

Visiting Amelia Island, Florida

This column was printed in the Barrow Journal on May 23, 2012.  To see a slideshow of photos I took while visiting Amelia Island, click here to go to my photography blog.

In May I had the pleasure of going on vacation to Amelia Island, Florida with my favorite three boys and in-laws. Amelia Island is located in northeast Florida just below Cumberland Island and the Georgia border. It has 13 miles of beaches, lots of attractions, and all the amenities that we’re used to at home, but I’m afraid I can’t speak about many of those because we spent almost all our time on the beach!

We were lucky enough to be able to walk from our accommodation to the beach.  I have always been a mountain person, but after visiting the ocean with my boys, I have found a second love at the ocean.  What I especially loved about Amelia Island was how quiet it was on the beach.  There were very few other people, though I have a feeling part of the reason for that was going in early May.  I also noticed that on Saturday there were quite a few more people.

Mid-day was hot and the tide was in, so there was less beach, but in the evening around six o’clock, the tide was low.  The beach was wide and full of tidal pools.  This is what my boys loved the most – they are still a little wary of going into the ocean waves.

My five-year-old explored the tidal pools and searched for all the treasures to be had there. We saw three large horseshoe crabs – only one was still alive.  My son was delighted to find a beautiful purple and orange starfish, and we also found little fish and several kinds of crabs, including hermit crabs. We took pictures of everything we couldn’t keep.

My two-year-old loved sitting in the sand, digging with a small shovel and tossing the sand as far as it could go – something he’s not allowed to do with the dirt in our yard. He also liked for me to pick him up and swing him over the ocean waves.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget his laughter and expression of pure joy.

The highlights of our beach combing were daddy’s mission to find shark teeth, and together we found over 10 teeth. And on our last day, my five-year-old and I took a long trek down the beach in search of a leatherback sea turtle’s nest, and though I feared my son might crash on such a long walk, we accomplished our mission, saw the protected nest, and made it back.

We explored the quaint downtown area of Fernandina Beach.  According to the Nassau County’s visitor’s guide, it’s the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry, and the 50-block downtown district is on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Fernandina Beach is also the only place in the United States to have been under eight flags starting with the French occupation in 1564, Spanish occupation from 1565-1763, and the British occupation from 1763-1784.

Next came the Patriots flag in 1812.  The Patriots consisted of 70 Georgians and 9 Floridians who tried to establish the “Territory of East Florida,” but President James Madison refused to acknowledge their claim.  After this, the Green Cross Flag rose briefly in 1817 when American citizens desired the independence of Florida, but after only four months, they were forced to leave.   The Mexican Revolutionary Flag was raised right after that, but U.S. troops occupied the island in December 1817 and held it “in trust for Spain.”

In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States of America.  From 1861-1862, the National Flag of the Confederacy was raised, but Federal troops regained the island on March 3, 1862 and stayed there for the rest of war.

If you want a place to get away and relax that offers plenty of sights, historical locations, and pristine beaches, I highly recommend Amelia Island.  We had a vacation we’ll never forget, and I hope we can return someday.

To see a slideshow of photos I took while visiting Amelia Island, click here to go to my photography blog.

Posted in Field trips, My Newspaper Columns, Nature, Photography | 3 Comments »

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April 28, 2012

Watson Mill Bridge State Park

Note: This column was printed in the April 25, 2012 edition of The Barrow Journal.

Last week we decided to get out into nature again with the boys, and this time we went to one of my favorite places, Watson Mill Bridge.  It’s located three miles south of Comer, Georgia, and I think it’s one of the prettiest places I’ve ever visited in Georgia.

Watson Mill Bridge is the longest covered bridge in Georgia.  It crosses the South Fork River, and it’s 229 feet long.  You can drive or walk through the bridge.  We walked over it and discovered it has that wonderful, musty smell of old, historic wood.

Unfortunately, last year the park lost its state park status due to budget challenges, but the Georgia Department of Natural Resources officials just announced that it will return to state park status on May 1.  They have partnered with Madison and Oglethorpe counties as well as the Friends of Watson Mill Bridge to make this happen.  I’m very happy to learn this.

According to the Georgia State Parks website the bridge was built in 1885 by Washington (W.W.) King, the son of freed slave and famous covered-bridge builder Horace King.  It is supported by a “town lattice truss system held firmly together with wooden pins.”  The site also says that Georgia used to have more than 200 covered bridges.  Now it has less than 20.

The park is a haven to photographers, including me.  My boys wanted to spend most of the time on the shoals below the bridge.  Yep – more rock throwing!  While they played, I had time to photograph the bridge, and I even caught a few worthy images of the boys.  In the shallow part of the water, my five-year-old was thrilled to find dozens of black tadpoles.  We also spied a skink near the river.

tadpoles & I think some eggs too

skink

My husband and I were happy to sit in the shade and let the boys throw as many rocks as they wanted.  I haven’t been to many parks where I could find a place that was very flat and I didn’t feel like I needed to hold onto my two-year-old’s shirt for fear of him falling in the water.

completely in his element

Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to head back to town for lunch, my five-year-old said, “But what about hiking?”  Indeed, we did say that we were “going hiking,” so we obliged him by walking a short distance up one of trails.  There are two of them on each side of the river.  I’m looking forward to when the boys are older and we can go for longer jaunts.

Though I wouldn’t trade these outings with my boys for anything, I fondly remember the days when I could amble down a path and take in the sights and smells of nature.  With two little boys, my mind is constantly alert as to where they are and what they might be touching.  It’s mentally draining.

Yet this is just a season of my life, and there’s also the thrill of watching my boys discover something for the first time.  For example, on the way back to the car, my two-year-old and I were some distance behind my husband and five-year-old. At one point, a female cardinal landed on a branch just above our heads, and my two-year-old noticed her.  We stopped and watched her for a long moment and listened to her song.  I told him she was the “mama cardinal,” and he nodded.  I could see in his expression that he was fascinated, and I’m quite sure I’ll never forget that.

The park is 1,118 acres.  There are tent, trailer, RV campsites and 3 log cabin bunkhouses available. Hiking, biking and horse trails are available as well as horse stalls.  There’s also a fun playground and three picnic shelters.  You can find out more about this beautiful park and how to make reservations at http://www.gastateparks.org/WatsonMillBridge

part of the playground at Watson Mill Bridge State Park

You can find more of my resources for parents in Georgia by clicking here.  I’ll be writing about all the places we visit in the future, so I hope you’ll visit me again!  Thank you!

Posted in Field trips, Homeschooling, My Newspaper Columns, Nature, Resources for Georgia Homeschoolers | 2 Comments »

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April 5, 2012

The Lake Loop Trail at Unicoi State Park

Note: This column appeared in the April 4, 2012 edition of the Barrow Journal.

Hasn’t this weather been exceptional lately?  We have been trying to take advantage of it all that we can, and a week ago we took the boys to one of our favorite places: Unicoi State Park.  Many of you may be familiar with Unicoi State Park.  It’s right outside of Helen, Georgia, and it’s near Anna Ruby Falls.

But we also love the easy Lake Loop Trail, and it’s perfect for small children.  It’s about 2.5 miles around Smith Lake, which is also known as Unicoi Lake.  It’s a flat trail, and I think we even took our jogging stroller on it once when our eldest was very little.

There are beautiful views all around the lake, and there are ample places for our boys to stop and throw rocks into the water.  Throwing rocks is still their favorite thing to do.  While my husband and I like to take in the scenery, our boys are busy trying to find a rock or twig that’s just the right size.

The two-year-old cannot walk without stopping to fill his arms with rocks.  The five-year-old is now smart enough to realize that mama has pockets!  So if you passed us on the Lake Loop Trail, you’d see a mama with bulging pockets trying to coax a two-year-old to move.

I still had a great time.  The weather was perfect, though a dark cloud came upon us about half way around the lake.  Luckily it didn’t rain on us, and the cloudy weather kept us from squinting or sweating too much.

There’s a small, sandy beach on the lake with an area blocked off for swimming.  Though we found it while we were walking on the Loop Trail, I noticed that there’s a parking lot just above it, so you could go straight there for the day.  My boys had fun digging in the sand while we sat in the shade and watched a few families swim in the water.

There’s also a large “beach house.”  I didn’t go inside, but according to this website says that you can rent this facility for a private function.  It also says that during the summer, you can rent a canoe or pedal boat.  That sounds like fun!

We passed many fishermen while we were walking on the path, though it didn’t look like anyone was catching many fish that day.  There are a lot of bridges (perfect places to throw rocks) and docks along the way.  Most of these have benches so that you can relax and take in the blue water and green trees surrounding the lake.

In another cove, we found all the fish hovering around some fallen trees in the water, but we didn’t have the energy to go back and alert the fishermen.  Besides that, the cloud was looking ominous, so we didn’t want to linger too long.

For the same reason, we hurried our boys passed another area with a playground.  Luckily, they were looking at the water and too busy with their rocks and twigs to notice the playground, but next time we go, we’ll be sure to let them play awhile.

The only tricky part about the trail is that you have to cross the dam via Highway 356 to get back to your vehicle.  (This isn’t a big deal if you don’t have children.)  Once we reached this point my husband went to get the car and came to pick us up.  There is parking on either side of the dam, but we always park on the west side and use the picnic pavilion to eat lunch at before we start the trail.  There is a $5.00 parking fee unless you buy the annual state park pass.

To learn more about this trail you can go to the Digital Trail Guide or look up Unicoi State Park on the Georgia State Parks website: http://www.gastateparks.org/.

For more ideas about what to do in Georgia with children, be sure to see my page Resources for Georgia Homeschoolers.  And I hope you’ll sign up for my RSS Feed, like my Facebook page, or subscribe by e-mail in the right margin…>

Please share your favorite nature hot spots for children in the comments.

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February 15, 2012

Hiking at Harris Shoals Park

Harris Shoals Park, Watkinsville, Georgia

Note: This column was printed in the Barrow Journal on February 8, 2012.

Now that the boys are getting a little older, we’re ready to hit the trails.  My husband initiated a hiking ritual for our family, and at Christmas, he and I got some new boots to make it official. This has been a great winter to start hiking as a family because of the mild weather we’re having.

We love going to Ft. Yargo, but one of our goals is to explore as many parks and other wildlife areas that’s not too far away.  Since the boys are still young, we have to ease them into hiking.  Maybe by next year, they’ll be ready for some mountain trails!

Last week we went to Harris Shoals Park in Watkinsville.  The entrance of the park is at Harris Shoals Drive, which is located on Highway 53 between Interstate 441 and VFW Drive.  The small park provides a valuable green space between the interstate and the town of Watkinsville.

There’s a large playground for kids with one of the biggest and best slides around, and the park offers some shelters and BBQ pits for parties.  There’s also a baseball field.  We headed over to the shoals, however, because my boys love the water.

The water that flows over the shoals is Calls Creek and eventually it meets up with the Middle Oconee River.  The shoals are flat rocks that have been there for thousands of years and have been eroded slowly over time.  It’s a picturesque and peaceful place despite the fact that you can hear some of the traffic on the surrounding roads.

It’s easy to walk out onto the rocks and splash in the water or in the case of my boys, throw rocks into the water.  My two-year-old is like a robot when he sees water. He throws rocks and little twigs in the river without even looking up to see their splash!  We literally have to drag him away when it’s time to go.

The flow of the water over the shoals was slowed somewhat when a dam was built upstream for the old Watkinsville Water Treatment Plant.  Take a short walk up the Harris Shoals Nature Trail, and you’ll be able to see the dam.

According to a leaflet that was provided by Christopher Adams for an Eagle Scouts Project this past fall, “The marsh area behind the dam used to be a more prominent creek until dammed up and was used to hold and treat water which was then pumped up to the city….After the water plant was abandoned, the dam area overgrew to the current marsh like condition of today.”

The area is a haven for wildlife.  Up the trail a bit, we found a beaver dam, and I’m not sure if the beavers still live there, but we also found evidence of their presence at a big tree stump which looked as if it had been chewed considerably by the large teeth of a beaver.

As we were walking, we also saw many birds, including a beautiful heron, which took flight at the sound of my children’s chattering and footsteps.  A marsh area like this would also be home for many fish, reptiles and amphibians.  We did see some little fish in the water at a place we stopped to rest while the boys threw more rocks and twigs into the water.

My favorite part of the park is the long bridge that crosses through the marsh.  I don’t think I’d want to cross that bridge in the middle of August, but right now it gives an interesting view to marshland.  I bet if you sat on that bridge alone in the early morning, you could watch some wild animals too.

Next time you feel like getting out into nature, drive over to Harris Shoals Park.  Bring a picnic and sit down next to the shoals, and don’t forget to pick up a few rocks to throw in the water too.

Where are your favorite places to go hiking?

Posted in Field trips, Homeschooling, My Newspaper Columns, Nature, Resources for Georgia Homeschoolers, Traditions / Rituals / Holidays | 1 Comment »

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December 28, 2011

Hiking 101: Getting the Family Into Nature

One of my best Christmas presents was a request from my husband that we buy ourselves some new hiking boots and begin to make hiking a priority and a ritual in this family.  Yahoo!  A mutual love of hiking was part of why I fell for my fella, and we used to go on day hikes in the mountains often before we had children.  Though I know people who are serious hikers and strap their babies to their backs and hit the trails, that’s not us.  I had a hard enough time managing breast feeding, diaper changing and all the other demands of babies and toddlers here in a comfortable house let alone out in the wild.  But I’m thrilled my boys are getting older, and we can be more intentional about getting out into nature.

So we got our boots earlier this month, and we took advantage of the warm weather December decided to bring this year in Georgia. We wanted to break in our boots and start off easy by visiting some local parks and gardens.  It’s a good thing we did that too because we learned that with a five and two-year-old, our “hikes” are going to be more like strolls punctuated with a lot of stops, snacking and complaining.  But that’s okay.  We’ll make hikers out of these boys yet.

And hiking with my boys gives the photographer in me great pleasure.  They gave me plenty of time to find the light while they played by the water.  You can see those photos by clicking here.

The photos here are from Ft. Yargo State Park and The State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

Getting children into nature is very important, and I consider it a goal in our homeschooling lifestyle too.  For more information about getting kids and your family into nature, you might like to look at these links (which I posted in my Worthy Reads a while back):

What’s your preferred way of getting out into nature?

Posted in Field trips, Nature, Traditions / Rituals / Holidays | 17 Comments »

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October 21, 2011

The Ultimate Field Trip: Edisto Island, South Carolina

I usually don’t share so many photos, but I can’t help myself.  Recently I had the opportunity to take my boys to Edisto Island, South Carolina for a few days.  I think vacations can be the best learning opportunities of all.  This trip was no exception: from learning patience (the first day was stormy) to getting to touch real, live ocean animals. Anyone who follows my blog will know that my five-year-old has always been crazy about ocean animals, so this trip to the beach was extra exciting.

We’ve been to Edisto Island once before when he was one-year-old, but I’m so glad we got to go back now that he’s five.  And it was my 2-year-old’s first trip the ocean too, so that was really exciting too!  If you’d like to learn more about the island and our visit, please click over to my newspaper column at the Barrow Journal.  Below I’m going to share some of our photos and discoveries.  Thanks for taking a peek!

One lucky thing about the storm was all the shells and critters that were washed ashore!  Above is a horseshoe crab. (It was not alive.)

We found so many shells.

The starfish were so cool.

The condo we stayed in overlooked a lagoon complete with an alligator (we only saw him once), beautiful white egrets, blue herons, fish, turtles and mosquitoes!

We also went to Charleston, South Carolina (my birthplace).  Above is a photo at the Children’s Museum in Charleston.  A wonderful, inexpensive place, if you visit Charleston with your kids.

We saw lots of boats on our trip too! (Since my father loved boating, I felt right at home.)

Where are some places that you have taken your children on vacation?  What kinds of discoveries did you make? 

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October 18, 2011

Gone to the Beach

Well, we were at the beach and for only one day, but the short trip has kept me away from the Internet for a while.  I’ll be posting again soon, and I’ll tell you more about this adventure to the sea too.  I hope ya’ll are having a fabulous week.

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August 21, 2011

Our Summer Vacation Part 4: The Kohl Children’s Museum in Greater Chicago

I promise this is the last post about our summer vacation!

When we decided to check out the Kohl Children’s Museum, we knew absolutely nothing about it, but when I called their telephone number, the recording told me that it is one of the Top 10 Children’s Museums in the Country.  I can see why!  It’s a beautiful place and far surpasses the INK museum, which we have here in Gainesville – not that I’m dogging INK.  I love it too, and I’m very happy to have it near us.  But the Kohl museum – Wow.  The water room BY ITSELF was worth the effort of going.  Just look at it…

The Kohl Children’s Museum is the ultimate place to play make-believe, and it had similar exhibits to the INK museum, such as a grocery store, vet clinic, diner, and music room, but it had a lot more science in it too.  My kids are still young, so they liked the hands-on exhibits such as the water room, sandbox, music room, microscopes, etc.  I have to say that this museum is beautiful too.  Aesthetically pleasing in every way.  I loved the colors and quotes on the walls.

I wish I could show you more photos, but it was pretty crowded that day, so it was hard to keep other kids out of the frame.

Speaking of crowded, someone there told us we were lucky because it was NOT crowded that day.  What?!  My husband and I said we’d hate to go when it WAS crowded.

Part of the museum we missed, so if we ever go back, we might have to visit again.

There were cool places to explore outside too…

The Kohl Children’s Museum is a definite MUST SEE if you have young kids and visit Chicago.

Posted in Field trips, Homeschool Activities | 4 Comments »

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August 17, 2011

Our Summer Vacation Part 3: The Brookfield Zoo

Thanks to everyone who is humoring me by looking at my summer vacation photos!  We had a good time in Chicago, and another place we enjoyed was the Brookfield Zoo.  This is a HUGE zoo.  We only saw half of it.  I LOVE Zoo Atlanta, and I still do.  Zoo Atlanta is easy to walk through in one visit.  The Brookfield Zoo is a wonderful zoo, but there was a lot of walking between exhibits.

The Brookfield Zoo has a rich history, which you can read more about here.  I also wrote about the zoo in my recent column that I mentioned in my last post regarding The Field Museum.  You can read that by clicking here.

Tropics World is where in 1996 a small boy fell into the exhibit and a female gorilla held him until authorities could retrieve him.  Amazing!

 

 

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August 15, 2011

Our Summer Vacation Part 2: Chicago’s Field Museum

On our recent trip to visit relatives in Chicago, we took advantage of being in the big city!  I loved the natural history museum, or the Field Museum.  I wrote a column about it for the Barrow Journal along with our adventure at the Brookfield Zoo, but I’ll post photos of the zoo later.  Click here to read the column and learn about this amazing museum.

I hope we can go back to the Field Museum someday.  Although my young children loved it, it’s a great place for adult learning, and when my boys are older and able to read, it would be an incredible field trip.

The main hall of the Field Museum.  In the foreground you can see “Sue,” the most complete T-Rex fossil in the world.

He liked pushing all the buttons.

This is only part of dinosaur hall.  The fossils were amazing.  I appreciate the Fernbank Museum that we have here in Atlanta, but it doesn’t have real dinosaur fossils to my knowledge.  And its exhibits pale in comparison.

A-hem.  I don’t think climbing was allowed….

If you are ever in the Chicago area, I highly recommend the Field Museum!

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August 9, 2011

Our summer vacation in Chicago, Illinois

I have been absent from the Internet for over two weeks, and I haven’t missed it one bit!  But I have missed connecting with online and local friends while we’ve been away.  We took a 16-hour drive to my in-laws house north of Chicago, and while we were there, my sons met their Polish relatives, visited Chicago’s Botanical Garden, Field Museum, the Brookfield Zoo, and the Kohl Children’s Museum.  It was so much fun and quite an experience for them.  As I have time, I’ll post a few photos from our excursions.  (Be sure to click through the next three posts to see photos from those fun “field trips.”) Here’s a photo of my 4-year-old with his “Babcia.”  He’s very close to her, and he loved her small vegetable garden and other flowers.

If you’d like to read about our long drive and our first week in Chicago, I have written about that in my newspaper columns, which you can access by clicking on the links below.

Traveling with my Young Children

Visiting Grandparents in Chicago

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July 12, 2011

Picnic at the William Harris Homestead

The other day I took my boys for a picnic at the beautiful William Harris Homestead in Monroe, Georgia.  It’s something that I don’t do nearly enough.  I have written before about my connection to the Homestead.  It’s also a place that I love to photograph, and I’m planning to do a another round of photos soon with my new camera.  I posted more of these pictures on my photo blog, if you care to see them, but I thought I’d put a few here because the Homestead is a wonderful place for homeschoolers (or anybody!) to visit.  It is a wonderful way to learn about life in the 19th century, and it’s open to the public on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10-2p.m.  You won’t want to miss Heritage Day either.  It is coming up on September 24, 2011!  Click here for more information about that.

The flowers are just stunning at the Homestead right now!

My eldest son was too busy picking green beans for me to take his picture, but my youngest was “trapped” in my viewfinder when he climbed into this big, wooden crate!

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July 6, 2011

Interactive Neighborhood for Kids (INK) Museum in Gainesville, Georgia

We had a great time today at the INK Museum in Gainesville.  It was our first visit, and I’m sure we’ll be returning many times!  We met some homeschoolers we know there, and since it was homeschool day at the museum, the admission was half price ($4).  (First Tuesday of every month is homeschool day.)  My youngest was free because he is (just) under two.  You can view the website at http://www.inkfun.org/.

Above is a photo of my four-year-old’s favorite room: the music room.  There’s also a real fire engine, police car, and airplane to sit in. My youngest loved the airplane, and I think he would have sat in it all day, if we let him.

This is the ultimate place to play make-believe!

They also have a children’s size grocery store, which was a huge hit with my kids, and there’s also a vet clinic, bank, radiologist clinic, playroom, toy trains and much, much more.  If you live in this area and have kids, you must go.

 

 

 

 

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June 21, 2011

Just for Fun: Our Trip to Anna Ruby Falls

a dusky salamander (probably)

Yesterday, for Father’s Day, we drove up near Helen, Georgia and went to see Anna Ruby Falls.  This is a great trip for kids, though, fair warning, it can be a bit touristy. (Yesterday there were a lot of people, but we’ve been there mid-week and it was very quiet.)  The trail to the falls is about .5 mile long, but it’s all uphill, so it seems a little longer.  It’s all paved too, which makes it stroller (and wheelchair) accessible.  I think that Smith Creek, which runs along the path, is even more beautiful than the falls.

Yesterday I had my 50mm with me, which is my smallest and lightest lens, and that is why I like to take it on day trips.  It’s perfect for getting up close to the flora and fauna, which is what I wanted to focus on this time. (Last year I had my wide angle and got some beautiful images with it.)

My son loves to look for the salamanders that can be found along the trail.  We only saw one yesterday.  (Maybe all the people scared the others away?)  One of my dearest friends is a herpetologist, and she told me this salamander is probably a “dusky salamander,” but she’d have to hold it in her hand to identify it properly.

Ahem.  I don’t have any good photos of my husband or kids, but that isn’t exactly my fault.  They just weren’t in the mood to get their pictures taken.  But I’m thankful that I have a wonderful husband and father who was willing to watch the boys and help them throw rocks and sticks into the water while I rambled along with my camera.  (After all, it was father’s day.  That means he gets to watch the kids, right? lol)

We love getting out into nature and taking hikes, and we’re looking forward to when the boys get older and can go on other day hikes.  There are so many in the North Georgia Mountains!  As much as my four-year-old loves it, however, his favorite part was going to the gift shop at the visitor center and getting a keepsake.  In this case, he picked out some toys that represented the life-cycle of frogs.  So that was educational!

Yes, it was a good day and “field trip.”

Lucky us, the rhododendron was blooming!

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June 15, 2011

Our Visit to UGA

One night my husband told me that our four-year-old surprised him with this conversation:

A: “Daddy, where will you be living when I go to college?”
Daddy: “What?”
A: “When I’m 20, and I go to college.”
Daddy: “Well, hopefully not too far away. It depends on where you go. If you go to the University of Georgia, you can even live at home if you want to.”
A: “I want to study animals. ALL the animals.”
Daddy: “Well, UGA is a good place to study animals.”

♦♦♦

I don’t want to come across as one of these mothers I read about who stress out over the preschool their child will get into because it might ruin their child’s chances of getting into Harvard.  The thought of that makes me laugh.  As I have said before, I strongly feel that kids should be kids and that “play” should be their primary work.  I think the reason my son brought this up is because earlier in the day, he was asking me why he could only spend part of the money his grandmother gave to him when she visited.  I explained to him that we’d put some of it into a savings account for when he got big, and it would help to pay for college.  I think he asked me how old he’d be when he’d go to college too.

I promise I have not drilled my four-year-old son about going to college!  However, my husband and I are going to prep our children for college.  I know that many people have different opinions about this, but my husband and I both valued our time spent in college, and college degrees have become as necessary as high school diplomas once were.  Having said that, I don’t think I would push my kids into college, if they were dead set against it or didn’t seem suited for it.  Different careers have different paths, so we’ll have to cross those bridges when we get to them.

At age four, we have not deliberately talked about college to our son,  but we have occasionally talked to him about the things he likes to learn about (right now it’s animals), and we point out people on T.V. who work with animals.  We tell him that someday he might want to work with animals, and if he studies hard, he could have a similar job.  We do this for a couple of reasons.  First, as I read in Michael Gurian’s The Wonder of Boys, it’s good to point out the big picture to boys (girls too, I’m sure).  Why would any child want to do anything, if they didn’t see a clear purpose in it?  So, I feel as homeschoolers, it’s especially important to foster my son’s interests so that he motivates himself to learn.  If he sees the end goal, he’ll understand why it’s important to learn how to read and calculate.  And at age four (almost five), he is learning how to read and doing simple math.

He might change his mind about animals.  He may change his mind a hundred times before he turns twenty.  That’s okay.  My goal is to show him what’s possible for the future.  To ignite his interest.  To make him happy.  To allow him to see for himself that learning is fun.  And if I don’t start now when he’s four — when he’s excited about the world because everything is new to him – I may lose the chance to light that flame later.

After this conversation, my husband and I decided it would be fun to take him on a tour of the University of Georgia.  We started with just a small part of it.  The boys loved the fountains and beautiful gardens on north campus.  We bought them T-shirts at the bookstore.  I told my son that this was a place he could study animals, if he wanted to, when he gets big.  Next time we’ll take him to south campus, near biology, the other sciences and the UGA vet school.  We haven’t been to the UGA vet school’s open house yet, so that should be fun to do next year.

So what are your feelings about prepping children for college?  How do you motivate your children to learn?

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June 4, 2011

Snake Day

Note: There will be no Snake Day in 2012 due to ongoing construction at the Sandy Creek Nature Center. It will return next year!!

We had an awesome time at Snake Day today!  (This takes place every year in early June at the Sandy Creek Nature Center.)  My son met his friend, and they had a great time looking at all the snakes….

….and some other creatures….My son said this monitor alligator was his favorite.  It’s a cousin to the komodo dragon.

And, oh yeah, getting to touch an alligator was a high point too.  My son can be shy, but when it comes to animals, he isn’t afraid of anything.

Can’t wait for next year!

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May 26, 2011

Free places to take kids in Athens, Georgia

Above is a photo of the Kugel at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, which I wrote about in my column.  My son loves to spin it and point to Georgia.

Recently I realized that some local friends who live here in Barrow County had never been to my son’s hot spots over in Athens, which is a short, 30-minute drive away.  So I wrote a column about our favorite places to go, and they also have FREE ADMISSION.  You can click here to read the column, or you can just go straight to the websites of these places, which I’ve listed below for you.  If you live around here, you don’t want to miss these places.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia:  http://www.uga.edu/botgarden

For Memorial Park, Bear Hollow Zoo, which is next to each other, and then also the Sandy Creek Nature Center, you need to go to http://athensclarkecounty.com/ and type in the name in their search box.  It will take you to the page that tells you where and what these places are about.

Please tell me what your children’s hot spots are!

Note: If you are looking for other places to take your kids in Georgia (whether free or not), take a look at my Resources for Georgia Homeschoolers page.  I am writing a column about each outdoor area and state park that we visit.  It also includes information on indoor activities or field trips specifically for Georgia homeschoolers.

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April 20, 2011

The Best Part of Homeschooling: the Field Trips

The best part of homeschooling is the field trips!  There are countless venues and opportunities out there where children can explore and do hands-on learning.  Once I met a homeschooling family that went only one place for their vacations.  Though there’s many places I could visit again and again, it baffled me that they would do that while homeschooling.  There are so many places to take kids, if you are able!  As homeschoolers, especially, I believe we should take advantage of historical sites, national parks, and the wonderful venues that cities offer us.

We are very lucky that we live within driving distance to a large city.  My in-laws are visiting right now, so last week we all went to the Georgia Aquarium.  My 4-year-old is obsessed with ocean animals.  Though it’s an expensive venue, we have been able to get some very good coupons in the past, so we’ve taken him a few times.  With my in-laws, we realized it might be a better deal to go ahead and get a family membership, especially since we are thinking of taking my son there for his upcoming 5th birthday too.  (Shh!  Don’t tell!)  So it wasn’t planned, but we took the plunge.  They also offer some homeschool classes there, so I’m hoping we can take advantage of those next Fall.

I do my best to visit free places, but when my child loves and is so interested in something like this, I think it’s worth it.

My four-year-old was in heaven.  He had to go to the area where he could touch sting rays, sea urchins, star fish and other sea creatures about three times!  I think my 20-month-old is finally at an age where he could benefit from the stimulation too.  It was a fascinating experience for all!

Where are your favorite places to take your kids for some fun, learning and wonderment?

Posted in Field trips, Homeschool Activities, Homeschooling, Resources for Georgia Homeschoolers, Unschooling | 4 Comments »

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February 1, 2011

Farm Visit

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January 31, 2011

Homeschool Field Trip to the William Harris Homestead

The William Harris Homestead is near and dear to my heart.  It was my great aunt’s vision to restore her husband’s family’s ancestor’s farm and use it for heritage education.  Due to her hard work, it is on the National Register of Historic Places, and now over 40,000 school children have toured the Homestead.  It boasts a log house, smoke house, salt house, corn crib, barn, cemetery, and natural spring.  Everything sits in its original place.  It’s such a peaceful and beautiful place.

A few years ago, I spent some time photographing it, and I also organized a homeschool field trip there in 2010. The field trip at the Homestead is fabulous.  Here’s a description:

“Take a tour through the William Harris Homestead to learn about the lives of Georgia’s early white settlers in the 19th century.  The Homestead is on the National Register of Historic Places, and it boasts a log house, barn, smoke house, cemetery, natural spring, and other out buildings that are standing in their original places. Participants will be divided into four groups and rotated through four units as follows 1) log house with spinning wheel/loom demonstration, 2) the cellar, candle-making, herb garden and cemetery, 3) a Civil War interpreter will talk about daily life as a soldier, and 4) natural spring, a talk about the Native Americans who inhabited the area at the time, and a hay ride.  Participants will also view a live, sheep-herding demonstration!”

You can read more about the field trip and my experience organizing it in the column I wrote for the Barrow Journal.  Click here to read that. And if there is any homeschooler out there interested in participating in one of these field trips, be sure to e-mail me at writetospabis (at) gmail (dot) com.

But you don’t have to participate in a field trip to see the Homestead.  It’s open to the public on the first and third Saturdays of the month from 10-2pm. It’s just a 45 minute drive from Athens, located near Monroe, Georgia.

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January 29, 2011

Pumpkin Patch


This was originally published on October 17, 2009.

I took my crazy little man to a homeschooling field trip yesterday.  Unfortunately, there were many visitors at the farm, and I didn’t know who was who, so I only met two of the other homeschoolers!  (One I already knew.)  Oh well…maybe next time!

But we had a great time despite some chilly weather!  He got to pet some farm animals, watch the pig races, ride a cow train, and, of course, pick a pumpkin.  He also got to wear his new jacket…next time I’ll remember to roll the sleeves up!

(FYI:  This was his response when I asked him to smile.)

If you live near Athens, Georgia and want to go pick your own pumpkins (or strawberries or blueberries), you can visit Washington Farms too. I know there are other places around this area that also let you pick your own fruit.  If we try others, I’ll be sure to write about them in future posts.

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