Animal Adventure Park ~ Field Trip Friday {AKA Z is for Zoo}

This week, Dad surprised us all with a little three day trip.  One of our stops was Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, NY.  Yep.  Home of the infamous giraffe, April, who gave birth live online this spring.  All Malachi wanted to do was get a drink, see April, and go.  He was a bit disappointed that we saved April for nearly the very last stop.  That was intentional on my part.  If we saw April first, I'd have to hear, "Can we go now?' the whole time.  As it was, once he was able to get a drink, I only intermittently was reminded we needed to hurry over to the giraffe barn.  Only slightly less annoying, but less annoying all the same.

So, we avoided the giraffe barn by heading right once we went through the gate.  There we checked out the many other exotic and not as exotic animals.  Most of them had signage on the fences telling all about each critter and it's conservation status.  Quite a few of these first animals were members of the bovine and a couple of the equine families, goats, sheep, deer, and some kind of short cattle I didn't see a sign for.  One of my favorite enclosures housed the tortoises.  If you watched many of the April videos this spring, you may have seen the tortoises overwintering in the loft in her barn.  Some were quite large and we loved watching them nosh on lettuce leaves.

We watched Alyssa (April's keeper) and a friend go fishin' for a gator.  There were two in the tub and the water was fairly clear, but the second the keepers entered the pen, under the water they went, stirring up the murk.  (I was afraid this young man might be trying to lose some fingers.)

Jordan records a Tuesday/Thursday educational video and we watched live as the American Alligator segment was filmed.  Standing in the tortoise enclosure is apparently dangerous, as Jordan was nearly tripped by a pair of the shelled critters fighting over some romaine.  Don't worry, Alyssa separated them off camera so the littler guy got to keep his treat.

We were able to see lots of little monkeys, lemurs, a honey badger, wolves, bears, hyenas, and a ton of other critters.  The boys asked lots of questions.  Xav decided if he was a bear, he would spend all day in their "pool."  It was pretty warm Thursday.  Pretty birds were everywhere, on the grounds and in enclosures. 

We did, indeed, eventually get around to the giraffe barn.  Oliver's door was closed and as we came around to the side of the barn, we saw that outer door was open and April and "little" Tajiri were also coming in.  We all popped in there and fed April and Oliver some of the carrot sticks we had purchased onsite for them.  Every time I saw Merrick, a different woman was handing him a carrot stick and lifting him up so he could feed one of the giraffes.  He and I even received one of April's famous "hay showers."

The following morning, we got the sad news that Maxx the Camel had died in his sleep that night.  I am so terribly sad for the AAP family.  I'm not even telling the boys.  They fed Maxx some nibbles while we were there and Xav and I had a photo with him. (While I sang Alice the Camel Had One Hump and Dad looked at me like it was an odd thing to do.)

I wish they had sold postcards and souvenir spoons (I'm up to 33 or so right now).  I think a giraffe spoon where the handle was a neck would have been perfect.  (Patent pending?  LOL)  Maybe they did, but the shop was pretty chaotic and I didn't see either item there.  I think they're experiencing some growing pains, but they're doing a great job and I was very happy to get to see our famous giraffe friend.

They have a couple of small buildings set up to accommodate nursing moms, diaper changes, and kiddos with sensory issues, which was very thoughtful.

Homeschool Discount - Only during the traditional school year or as a group of 20 or more.
Educational - Absotootly. - Zoology, geography, ecology.
Family Oriented - Yes.
Duration of Visit - About two hours.  (I could have stayed longer, but it was hot and Malachi was *done*.)

Autumn Fun at the Corn Maze ~ Field Trip Friday

Crunchy leaves, cool air, pumpkins, and corn mazes.  How about apples and cider donuts?  Fall is a favorite season.

We had a gorgeous day for a corn maze and some outdoor fun with our co-op friends. Some folks went pumpkin picking in the morning, but Grandma and Poppa of the Forest had already brought our pumpkins and mums to us on a visit.

We met everyone at the pavilion at the market and had lunch together.  The kids barely ate because the playground was so much fun.

Besides the usual slides and climbing things, they had a wooden mini tractor and wagon.  That novelty was a seriously big hit.  Mal climbed inside the tractor and pretended to be the engine.  Some of the little kids thought that was pretty cool.

The corn maze had stations that you had to find to punch your cards.  We were given two different kinds of cards.  They served different purposes, but both were great.  One had the actual maze on it, with the actual punch locations marked, which *may* have been cheating but was fun to try to follow.  The other card was a mystery to solve.  Boots the dog was taken from the farm by monsters.  You saw the clue at each punch and punched the monster and its hiding place on your card.  At the end, whatever was left was the monster who had taken Boots and where Boots was hidden.

Week in Review 8/24 and 8/31/14

    In our co-op this week...
Our first unofficial Friday School field trip was the fair.  I survived about 5,000 rides on everything from the lazy little train on a flat oval track to the wicked fast arctic blast.  I spent the last third of that ride thinking Xav was going to barf on me and struggling desperately to keep us both in the car!  Thankfully, Xav said he'd never ride that again. We ogled giant pieces of lawn equipment and dreamed a memory of the days when our riding mower worked and Micah didn't have to spend three evenings each week mowing.  Every year we get nagged to go look at all of the campers and RVs.  Saw a wild animal show, played on the playground display conveniently located right next to the first aid trailer, and enjoyed tasty fair fare.

Micah fell asleep in his recliner and the boys had a healthy snack and we all went right to bed. Ten hours at the fair. Zzzzzzzzzzz

I wrote about the first official field trip to The Great Vermont Corn Maze. 

    Merrick...
Nothing like waking up to Merrick singing. Little Einstein's Purple Plane and NSB's vacation Bible school song, a perfect combination.

Before you think that's just too cute, he also had a vicious, screaming tantrum that ended up with him in the tub with his clothes on.   He refused to get undressed, thinking that would show me, so I showed him I didn't mind if he bathed in clothes, diaper and all.  It was bad.  Very, very bad.  And loud.  I'll spare you the video.

    Xavier...
Xav ran an official trail run with his dad.  It was a mile and a half.  He did great.  Dad told him no matter how tired you are, finish strong.

The only entertainment for non-runners.  One giant rock.

     Malachi...
Mal worked hard for two nights to go "right to sleep" in hopes that Daddy will let him rebuild the droid transport. He "cleaned" the living room and his bedroom, gave me nothing but a sunny attitude during school and mentioned several times that he hoped these activities would show dad that he was ready to take responsibility for such a special Lego set. He was allowed to build it.  

    What we're reading... 
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Preschoolers and Peace  

    Around the house... 
I tried to do a lot of mending one day while Micah was out with the boys.  Every now and then, I have a tension or threading issue.  I ended up with a huge nasty mess on about the third project.  I said a lot of strong words to the machine.

    In the yard...
The treehouse has a door.  And a tenant.  Micah has taken a chair up to read on the deck.  I noticed the early maple already turned.

We also had the hottest night of the year in September.  It was 80* in the middle of the night.  Terrible.

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Mal and Xav got real official haircuts this week.  It was Mal's first ever.  He was uncertain at first, but he even let her use clippers.  It all came out OK in the end.  Xav chewed the hairdresser's ear off.  I love all the faces he makes.  He is so expressive.

    Things Dad is working on...
The pumpkin flavored everything insanity has begun.  He started with Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice Coffee.  No one knows where it will all end. 

He took the boys out for a few hours to shop for my birthday, but actually because I just wanted to have some quiet time in my own house to do some sewing and other chores best done when the house is empty.  I heard what Xav thinks of me.
Micah: "Boys, what do you think Mommy likes?"
Xav: "Well, she always goes on about the fabric store." 

    I’m cooking…
No Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies - good flavor, a little sticky.
I also made tomato sauce in the crockpot.  It was incredible.  I thought of it as "rustic."  It made a nice pizza that the kids wouldn't eat.  Micah and I didn't mind having it to ourselves.

And a soft, iced pumpkin cookie.  Kind of nice.  It reminded me of the soft sugar cookies at the grocery store that are a ridiculous $4/dozen.

    This week's reviews...
The Schoolhouse Review Crew's UberSmart Math Facts (including mine)
The Schoolhouse Review Crew's Essential Skills Advantage (including mine)
The Schoolhouse Review Crew's Under Drake's Flag (including mine)

The Great Vermont Corn Maze ~ A Friday Field Trip

Our first co-op field trip of the 2014-2015 school year was the Great Vermont Corn Maze.

We drove nearly two hours one way.  We didn't stay as long as we would have liked and we didn't get to do everything, but it was one of those sticky days where the kids run around oblivious to the heat and get sweaty and red-faced.

We arrived just before ten, did the chatting, took our group photo, and headed into the big maze.  As we entered, Mal and Xav read each of the rules for me to be sure everyone was prepared.  There were four entrances; eeny, meeny, miny, and moe.  First, we chose miny.  I took Merrick's stroller, though he only rode 1/4 of the time.  It seemed like the whole maze was uphill.  We ended up being returned to the start at moe.  We started again at meeny, I think.  The four of us walked for about an hour when we saw an emergency exit and decided to take it.  Despite the ten foot corn, there was very little shade because it was creeping up on noon.  We got part way back and saw a tunnel that was begging to be run through.  That seemed to reinvigorate the punks and we headed off again.  It wasn't long and we were turning around and heading back to that emergency exit.

We exited right back at the beginning!  The owner told me we hadn't even left the first quarter of the maze!  Ah well, we headed into the red barn next (a blessedly cool red barn) and the boys kicked off their shoes and headed into the tunnels.  They also rode little tractors, a tire horse, and climbed in the hay.

Thanks, Meghan, for the top two photos!

Next up, LUNCH.  There is a nice, shaded picnic area there with several tables.  We brought along blankets, too.  Mal said he had a tummy ache and rested in the shade for a bit.  He seemed OK after that.  We grabbed ice cream at the gift shop.  Novelty ice cream was only $1 there.  Not unreasonable at all.

Merrick was anxious to see the goats.  He'd already had a nice tantrum before lunch over the goats.  I took him aside near the van and had a talk with him.  Sometimes, I think he listens to reason better than Mal or Xav!  He got to pet several goats and that made him happy.

Kid Village was insane amounts of fun.  For them.  I was roasting.  Some of the kids got sweatier and redder than they already were.  The village consists of a stable, corral, trading post, jail, and a home.  The jail was so cute.  It had a secret escape opening and some of the bars were not metal, allowing the punks to use their superhuman strength to escape.

"H" has a face, but since it isn't my face to share, he has been made incognito (as well as headless).

Nearby, they found an alien landing site and went for a ride into space.

Merrick's face cracks me up in this one!

Next time, we will take the scenic kid tour in the maze.  That looked like a lot more fun than me trying to figure out what in the world we were doing in the main maze.  We never did get to play barnyard golf either...

I recommend The Great Vermont Corn Maze.  Follow the directions on the website rather than GPS.  Go when it's a bit cooler.  Have fun!

THMJ - A jumble of catch up!

I'm not even going to try to put things in any kind of order or remember what we did when, but I am going to cover a bunch of "stuffs".

We took a hike on the Long Trail and Babcock.  I was quite sure Micah was trying to kill me.  Granted, he had the toddler in a pack, but he is also in much better shape than I am.  It was a gorgeous day, not too hot, not too buggy, not too humid.  It's just a shame I developed a wicked blister on my heel within the first half mile (out of nearly five).  The climbs were tough, especially once the heel got ripped up, but all but one down hill section and all the more level parts were beautiful.  Once we got to the road, I was all excited to be nearly back to the car, only to have to cross the road and walk another half mile.  In Micah's defense, the website labeled it a "fun family hike".  He just didn't take into consideration, my old, decrepitness.

An action shot of Mal at a rest stop.

Incredibly scenery.

All my hiking buddies.

Merricky Boy is growing up so fast!  Brings to mind the saying, "The days are long, but the years are short."  He is so stinking busy. All. Day. Long.

Making faces for Mama's camera.

So proud of himself.

My littlest Lego Maniac.

We're all involved in Royal Rangers this year.  Merrick joins me in Rainbows where I help out.

Merrick takes craft time at Rangers VERY seriously.

Mal helped me with laundry one day.  I added soap, just because I do when we don't have pods (which only the boys use, because, let's face it, they are a bit pricey).  After starting the load, Mal proudly informed me he added the "oily stuff" to the laundry.  I ended up draining and spinning the load, scooping out as much of the bubbles as possible (which the boys then sculpted in the kitchen sinks), dividing it into two loads, combining each half of the load with half of the dry, dirty load, and running an extra rinse or two.  It took all day to wash two loads of towels.

Glub  Glub

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
 My inlaws were just here for a few days, which is always fun.  Wendy and I took Mal and Xav to the goat dairy down the road.  They were having a family fun day.  Xav and I each milked this cow.  Mal didn't want to.  He mostly stood there, looking in the other direction, begging someone to *please* take away the cow poop NOW.  Which they did, because, honestly, who wants their fun day guests walking in cow poop and bringing it into the store?  Xav also helped feed these hungry calves.  We visited the goats and chickens as well.

Cider being made with a garbage disposal.  *chop chop*

Xav was creeped out by the finger sucking.  Cutest little calves ever.

Goats!

    Things I’m working on…
As long as I had help, this last few days, I pulled out the sewing machine and my MIL and I fixed two of my kitchen chairs.  They got new springs, new cushions and new covers.  Hooray!  Now I don't want to let the boys use the repaired chairs!  She also whipped up curtains for both of the kid bedrooms and took some of the matching left over fabric home to work on a quilt for Merrick.

    In our homeschool this week…
 As always, I am always amazed how differently these boys go about everything they do.

Lining up rods in pairs.

This video was pretty cool.  Singing God's praises with the heavens and the seas.

Let's see.  What else?

Xav and I rounded up an escaped chicken.  She survived a night of free-ranging it.

A brand spanky new "The WalMarts" opened up a half an hour away.  Xav saw and talked to an elf, even giving her a message for Santa.  The sweet girl was actually dressed as a Vulcan and Xav even recognized her communicator pin.  She just told him that she and Santa were big Star Trek fans.


Some nasty little green worms were eating our carrots.  *blech*

Guess that's it for now.  I shall end this post and Linky up to The Homeschool Mom's Journal.  See you over there!

THMJ week of 7/14/2013

In my life this week…
Let's see.  We had our first chicken escapee.  Luckily, she was the only escapee before we put them outside.  What an unbelievably cooperative captive she was too.  She just sat there, near the box, waiting to be put back in.  Thankfully, there was no Benny Hill chase music to spur her on.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was…

Pizza Planet trucks at Lowe's Build and Grow.

Followed by an evening at the drive-in to see Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University.  Other than the mosquitoes, we really enjoyed that.  And no one got their vehicles stuck in the field like the week before.

I’m grateful for…
I guess I'm grateful for the rain, but golly, enough is enough now.  I had emptied the water table out and two evenings of rain filled it (and the yard) right back up!

Something I am ogling or have my eye on…

Crayola = Genius

Boxes of 8 crayons in the same hue.

We had a lot of chalk art in the driveway for a few weeks.  Every time it rains, they get to start from scratch.  

Mal has been into tug boats lately.

 Xav's family portrait.