Close Encounters at Home: Red Shouldered Hawk

It was actually on the handlebars of K's bike.

Close Encounters in Gualala

Young Alligator Lizard, per our best guess.  Up close and personal!

 Millipede

 Puck and Murphy; brothers and both such sweet, loving dogs.

Visiting Uncle Mike and Aunt Terry

So wonderful to visit, beautiful drive, wonderful trip.  I love them so and am glad that the girls are getting a chance to see them regularly, that they are a happy and regular part of each other's lives.

G, Murphy, and Aunt Terry hiking

K looking pensive (and beautiful, says her mom)

Puck was in heaven with so many favorite people, dog mom, and brother

Puck, Delaney, Murphy, and G on the beach



Sisters playing with the dogs in the sand.  Good living.

Soccer: K's turn for photos

I posted a bunch of pictures of G a few weeks ago; K's turn now.  Both made goals this week, both had teams that lost, both tried hard and are improving quickly in this, their third week of playing the game.  K was goalie for part of the game and through both luck and skill blocked all scores.

CA History: Black Diamond Mine Tour

Great day, new friends, fascinating history!

There used to be a town here. I'm fascinated by places less populated 150 years later

Finding minerals in the soil that double as face paint

Ready to head into the mine, safety gear - check!

Tons of geology when you go underground; the lines are tide lines from millions of years ago when this part of the mountain was shoreline.

Plant fossils

Coal!  (Black Diamonds)

More geology - fossil record of ancient animal caves (shrimp in the ocean floor)

My miner daughter

Underground tour - after it was a coal mine, it was used as a sand mine (glass making).  Great tour; our thanks to Teresa for organizing and to naturalist Kevin for the tour.

Another miner, post tour

Greek Culture Class

For the past few weeks, we've done a Greek culture class, learning about Greek myths, discussing Plato's philosophy, decorating pots and discussing history through pottery, and then this week, making baklava.  It included dried apricots in the filling, which meant that we could reduce the honey and the end result was less sweet than many.  De-lish!

Eye Dissection and More

More fascinating work with dissection and then the microscope.  The bee came with a student and was really gorgeous under the microscope - such details!

Mystery Runners

I found these really cool photos on my camera, half-catching the girls in motion and looking pretty darn fast!

Microscope!

I love scientists at work. We looked at a lot of things, including an onion skin, chosen after learning that the word "cell" came from the shape seen by the scientist who first saw cells and thought that they looked like monk cells in a monastery. Cool trivia!

More Dissection

I've never seen kids so focused, attentive, cooperative, and fascinated. And why not? This time they got to dissect a fetal pig and their focus was an indicator of their enthusiasm.

Engineering Class

Lots of fun and learning, too.  Catapults, windmills, and strong bridges so far...

Book Club: Romeo and Juliet

This is our fifth year of seeing Marin Shakespeare's production as our September book club.  Excellent day connecting with new and old friends and seeing a great production, even if we were roasting in the sun and somewhat critical of Juliet's performance (we found her more convincing when cast in A Midsummer Night's Dream two years ago).  So glad everyone could make it; we loved, loved, loved seeing everyone.

Afterward, the cast came out to answer questions, which is always interesting and appreciated.

K as Mr. Shakespeare and G as Queen Elizabeth I.  Fun!

Culture Class: Greek Pottery, History and Relevance

Science Class - Dissection!

Dissection in science class! Eight six to eight year olds dissected frogs, sea stars, and fish to much intense interest and fascination!

A table-full of fascinated kids

G hard at work on her frog's insides

This goes into the category of "you know you are a homeschooler when... you come home and find formaldehyde-soaked dead animals in front of your coffee pot.