A Day At The Art Museum

We decided to visit the Currier Museum of Art today. Colin chose not to go but the other three were up for it. We hadn't been there in awhile and there was a special event on with activities, music and food trucks. We had a nice few hours touring the museum, saw some lovely and some very unusual art. Listened to music a bit and wandered through the outdoor stalls. We did not buy dinner from a food truck though, the lines were very, very long and over an hour wait was predicted.

A day at the seaside

We had a nice beach day. Since we didn't bring a lunch we started out in downtown Portsmouth looking for something suitable to eat. We had in mind a Subway sandwich shop the GPS insisted was there but we could not find. We parked up and found something better. The Portsmouth health Food Store had a little cafe in the back and we were able to order vegan lunches to go. 

We brought our lunches to "the rocky place" as I call Odiorne Park. After eating our lunch and a little exploring on the rocks Hayley mentioned that she would like to visit the Seaside Science Center since we haven't been there in a few years. When we bought our tickets there we were directed to a walking history tour that was just starting. We spent about an hour on the tour which was outdoors and around the general area and learned some things about the history of NH and Maine seacoast area, the nearby islands, some battles and a pirate story, oh yes and a murder. LOL

After the walking tour we explored the science center and enjoyed seeing the sea creatures there. The museum is still pretty small but it was a fun way to spend an hour or so. Hayley had a little silly fun with some of the children's exhibits.

The rest of the afternoon we explored the rocky coastline then ended up on the beach. Heading back to the car we spotted a lone turkey wandering around!

Homeschool year 2016-2017-Done!

Our homeschool year is finished. it was a very good and productive year for Tristan. Colin finished up a few last things and is now officially graduated. I will order his diploma soon. Colin worked hard on Taekwondo and is ready to test for his 2nd degree black belt. He participated in Snowboarding as usual too.

Tristan worked hard and completed Intro to Novel Writing with One Year Adventure Novel. He liked it and I must admit so did I. He will go on to year 2 of adventure novel with Other Worlds next year. For math he completed Math U See Geometry. For science he did physics with Physics 101 including the labs and extras in the accreditation book. Literature was mostly American Lit. this past year with many good books and audiobooks. We delved into robotics a bit with a Robotis kit but didn't get too far with it due to buying the kit used and we kept coming across missing parts. Probably with something involving many parts and pieces it would be best to buy new. We may re-visit robotics next year. Tristan learned a lot about politics, current events and so many other things following the election.  He took a First Aid and CPR class at co-op. Finally he participated in drama at co-op. Since this year was a musical this meant classes in acting, singing and choreography. Tristan played the role of Max in Romeo and Harriet.

It is good to have another homeschool year completed. Just one more student for me now, soon I will have worked myself out of a job when Tristan graduates!

June 2017

This month we added some ducklings to our flock. We have three, hopefully female, ducklings which hatched on June 7th and picked up on June 9th. One of the ducklings is Hayley's, one is Tristan's and the 3rd is everyone's. Only Hayley and Tristan specifically wanted a duckling. These will join our adult Khaki Campbell ducks. The Khaki Campbells are a nervous breed, the kids chose calm breeds this time so they will have friendly ducks to interact with. Hayley's is a Black Swedish and the other two are Rouens.

2 days old

Duck, Duck, Goose....err Bunny!

The older ducks are scared of the ducklings, it's going to take some time for them to get used to the new additions! One of the ducks needed to come indoors for an Epsom salt bath due to an egg laying issue she has sometimes. She enjoys her baths.

By 2 weeks old the ducklings are enjoying the water, mud puddles and being out in the yard with the other ducks, the chickens and the rabbits. June is a much nicer month to get new ducklings than March was (as we did last year, it was winter and they had to be in the house for sooooo long!).

May 2017

Winter can really persist here in NH but by May spring is usually in full swing, even here. Of course sometimes it snows in May!

For the most part May was nice though. Gardens were planted, animals and people enjoying more time outdoors and we had wild visitors from tiny to extra large.

Tiny Hummingbird, they always return in mid May.

We had several bear visits in May.

May signaled the end of another homeschool year and co-op year. Also in May we had Trevor's birthday. We went to see the latest Pirates of The Caribbean movie for his celebration day. Finally we had the memorial service at the cemetery in her hometown for my mom, the kids Grammy, over Memorial Day weekend.

May 2017- It's a wrap for another great year of drama

This year the play was Romeo and Harriet  a Musical Tragical Comedy in 2 1/2 acts! Tristan played the character of Max, a bad guy this time!