November 16, 2012

Today we headed in to the city for a tour of the police department. It was pretty neat to see how the bigger city department works. The kids were given a tour of a police cruiser as well as inside the department itself. 

On the ride there and back, we listened to Focus on the Family's radio drama of A Christmas Carol. We were all intently listening when an thunderstorm occurred in the story and a loud clap of thunder hit. We all jumped and then laughed uproariously at ourselves. I really value the time we have in the car driving and listening to audio books/dramas. 

Day #18/175 Days

November 10, 2012

Today we headed to my sister's church. They had invited Dr. Jobe Martin to come speak. He was as great in person as he is on his videos. Some of the more well-known are "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution." Much of what he discussed at the workshop was similar to what he presented in the videos. You can see what he has to offer at one of his websites - Creation Proclaims.

This was a full day workshop from 9am until 2pm with a lunch included. We only stayed for the morning portion and lunch. I didn't take any photos, but you can see some of what was presented in the clip below. If you have access to Netflix, you can also see the "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution" videos there.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

Day #15/175 Days

November 7, 2012

What a fun play! I've been very impressed by the educational shows put on by the Waterville Opera House. This was a small cast - just five actors. Four played previous presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, as well as Benjamin Franklin. They came to the future to help a young girl run for class president.

It was, of course, a musical as most of these plays are. The singing was excellent. They taught the kids about how laws are made and how the political/judiciary processes work.

It was informative, fun, and very well done! We have a couple more we're heading to in the spring and I'm sure they will be as good.


Day #14/175 Days

September 27, 2012

This was a rather fun and unique field trip. We were able to take a ride on the Mail Boat that runs in Casco Bay out of Portland. Maine has many islands and there are a lot of folks who live on them year-round - not just lobster harvesters either.

  

Getting excited to head out....

We were able to see how the mail boat operates. Just before we left the harbor, we saw a harbor seal which is always awesome.

We spent a lot of time sightseeing on the ride out. I love the ocean and this was a perfect day to be out on the water. We even spotted this guy hanging out....(actually, the captain pointed it out to the us all...)

We weren't able to get off the boat anywhere along the way until we reached the last stop. We had about a 30 minute layover while mail was unloaded and loaded. We walked just up the hill from the dock to check out a small gift store there. We went with a group so we really invaded the little place! Just as we got back to the boat, Happy told me he had left his mittens so we both literally ran up the hill back to the shop to look for them and ran back down the hill to make the boat before it left! The mittens were found....still on the boat. At least we got some exercise in!

On the ride back, the captain allowed the homeschool kids in our group to come in to the pilot house to see how the boat works. They loved this.

We learned that there is one island that has children who attend high school in Portland. The Mail Boat is their "school bus" and they ride it both to and from the mainland each day for school - no matter the weather. 

On the way back, the captain was kind enough to take us close to a few lighthouses - one of my favorite things to photograph. 

This is Ram's Head Light. I've only been able to see this from the main land before and it looks very small from there. In fact, the lighthouse in the background here is the one where I've usually visited. It was very neat to see Ram's Head so up close.

This is Portland Head Light - I have never seen it from the water before so this was fun.

 

And lastly we saw Spring Point Lighthouse on the way back in to the dock....

Overall it was a really fun day.

Day #3/175 Days

September 14, 2012

This was a day of field trips. We started the day at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. This is the only remaining Shaker Village left. They have five members remaining. Unfortunately, this is a working museum so no photos were allowed inside. I did snap a few outside. It was pretty fascinating. 

  

The tour took only about an hour. It was quite fascinating to see a glimpse into this religious community. 

We were close to one of our other favorite spots to visit, so we headed over to the Maine Wildlife Park as well. We brought our lunch to enjoy and then checked out the animals.

A Golden Eagle

  

I like to check the boys heights whenever we visit.

  

Being silly

An albino raccoon 

I love the new cougar exhibit. 

It's so much easier to see them and they have a ton more space.

Bald Eagle - after I took a few photos, it did this.....

Day #2/175 Days

September 8, 2012

We began our school year with a field trip. We'll be doing a lot of those this month as we prepare to move. We headed to one of our favorite living history museums - Leonard's Mills. They were having a Revolutionary War Re-Enactment Day. We tagged along with another family - new to homeschooling.

Day #1/175 Days