March School Highlights

More field trips this month with a similar theme:  rocks and stars.  The CC group went to the Moaning Caverns and then spent more time there studying the rocks in the area.  

Mom dressed us all in green, so she could find us easier.

Jabba the Hutt was seen in this stalagmite...if you turn your Star Wars brain on.

Maybe next time we will consider repelling...or not.

Griffin, are you scared of something?

Can you practice your excited look, Bryce?

Rock hounding in the trough.

Asking questions about the Foucault's Pendulum proving the curvature of the earth.

Dad, how come you aren't coloring a planet too?

Garrett's Essentials class gives a presentation.

Firing range target practice with Peter.

Math Club Secret Agent...man.

Decoding the secret message in the pigpen code.

Garrett 10y10mo

Garrett has enjoyed the success that has come as a part of this baseball season.  His team has won games and he has been a contributing member.  He was able to be checked as a Memory Master for the last two cycles at once (that is two years worth of material).  He also had a bit of an animal planet month with lizards and butterflies seeming to flock to him and allowing him to handle them with care.

Memory Master proofing with Morgan.

Garrett handles a lizard from the backyard.

Rock hounding away.

Awana Derby excitement, awards on the same night!

And a butterfly joins the egg hunt, landing right on my hand.

No snowball is too big for me to hoist.

Not sure why my brother is acting like he is weak?

I built a tower as tall as me.

Lara brought BB-8 over for a visit...then he decided to stay.  Thank you!

Griffin 6y11mo

Griffin has followed suit in trying to keep up with his older brothers who have been working on Memory Master for CC.  Successful he was.  He has also been watching his brothers work on their Science Olympiad events.  Sometimes he wants to learn with them and be big and other times he wants to use his youth to get out of things.  This is the balance he is dealing with.  We don't want him to grow up too fast, but we want to continue to challenge him to grow and learn.

Dad, are you photobombing my mustache picture?

I did my tutor proof with Rex.

Future rock hound learning the trade.

I am excited for Easter Egg hunting.

CC egg hunt a few weeks before Easter.

My podracer rocks.

Bryce 8y8mo

Bryce has taken his role as a catcher on his baseball team pretty seriously.  He prides himself on catching the pitcher who throws the hardest ("Cannon").  He decided to put together a presentation for his CC class on catching and how to play catcher.  He has been working hard toward completing a second cycle at CC of Memory Master also.  His diligence and ability to rise to the occasion was rewarded when he proofed with another tutor and then the director.

If I had a mustache...would it look like this?

Creativity at work--pleased with his Easter egg hunt set up.

I proofed w Morgan for Cycle 1 of Memory Master!

My favorite past-time is spending moments cuddling with Leia.

Rock hound at work.

Donning the catcher's gear for my presentation.

Yosemite Hike to Vernal Falls

We were blessed with a rare Saturday where there was no baseball games or practice and Brett wasn't working, so we turned this day into a great family adventure.  We drove to Yosemite (along with a whole bunch of other people since the backup to enter the park was about a 20 minute wait) and upon finally arriving we hastily parked our car along the side of the road and started on our hike.  We met a little resistance from some at first, but we passed the time by telling stories of old in Yosemite (a wet night in a Curry tent cabin, hiking Half Dome at midnight, hail shower hiking Yosemite falls, falling asleep on a rock, among others).  Let's just say we have a lot of stories that relate to Yosemite or hiking in general.  We all made it to the top of Vernal Falls having conquered the Mist Trail as a family of five.  On the way home we stopped in Knight's Ferry to view the stars with our binoculars and telescope.

We didn't get out to take a picture this time...we didn't want to lose our place in line.

Griffin on top of a rock.

Bryce conquered this steep rock, then Garrett made it too.

Brotherly love?

How do you really feel about this hike?

Vernal Falls in the background...that is our destination.

One step at a time up the Mist Trail.

We might be in the shadows, but the rainbow is evident which was brilliant.

God's awesome power.

Eating some snacks and drinking water from the Camelback at the top of Vernal Falls.

Family success!  Now don't go on the other side of this railing.

On the way back down...who's a happy camper?

A glimpse of Bridal Veil Falls on our way out.

We had to stop at this snow park to get our fix of snow for the year--throwing snowballs at trees and signs.  Ok we are done!

Throwing snowballs at the picture taker?

This snowball is too big and too cold, why didn't we bring gloves?