Great Falls Park

The Potomac river.....


This is a canal that dates back to the 1700's and runs along the Potomac .





this centipede was HUGE!

First plane ride

We have just returned from our holiday out east...I will be posting loads of pictures....here are the first few.
The girls enjoyed their first plane ride...

Greta missing her brother

So the boy moved out on Saturday....tough day for all of us, but not so much for him. He is thrilled to be starting a new chapter in his life.....This is some stuff that Greta doodled that day.....sad girl







Notice in the picture that the whole family is sad except the boy, who is smiling!

Hair today gone tomorrow

Maybelle woke up yesterday with dreadlocks......she has been to the pool a few times....there was no way I was going to brush through THAT......so out came the shears, and off came the dreads!
She is so excited to be able to swim and shower without having to go through the torture of keeping all the tangles out of those curls!!!!!!

Summer homeschool

I have been doing a bit of daycare since school has been out, so our days are less structured, and our reading time is a bit more of a challenge....seems like there is always someone here....day or night. We have been taken tons of nature walks lately, and we have started our own summer reading program since we will be going our east for a couple weeks and missing most of our local library's program.


Greta loves to play school with stuffed animals...she lines them all up and gives them schoolwork and tests.



We dug out the leap pad which we have not used in a while.....



Reading and keeping track of the books they read. We have discovered that the public schools reward children with nasty fast food meals for reading books, so we have our own reward system which includes a trip to our local candy store where they make their own fudge! Yum....

Outdoor School

Now that it is warmer, we have been going to a local park, Hok-Si-La, in the afternoons a few days a week. First we hike the trails, finding all kinds of treasures, then we somehow manage to find some time to play in the park.







Sometimes we bring along school books.
And if we are REALLY lucky, the park manager finds the time in her very busy schedule so show the kids some photos of wildlife in this park.

Dance Recital

The girls had their dance recital Friday night....It is Maybelle's sixth recital! Hard to believe how time passes! They both did a great job....their instructor is fantastic and makes it so much fun for the kids. Both girls danced twice...one tap, one ballet. Greta did "Rock a Hula" for tap which was so adorable....it was so cute watching them hula hoop!
Dance and piano are done for a few months...........on Thursday, Maybelle flies up from Brownies to Juniors, and then scouts is done until summer camp. Greta has a scout sleepover in a couple of weeks, then she is done until camp and horseback riding. Gosh it has been a long year...we will enjoy the summer reprieve, and them I am sure, do it all over again next year!!!!!!