Monday, April 18, 2011

holidays

It's the holidays in our part of the world…

Hooray and yippee and yahoo!


I've had people say to me, "Oh, well you're homeschoolers, 
you don't have holidays, do you?" 

Say whaaaaaat? 

We do, in fact, have holidays. 
Not from all the learning that happens naturally (that would be like taking a holiday from Life), but from all the Scheduled Busy that happens during term time. It's so lovely not to have to be anywhere at any certain time. 

Because I'm married to a teacher, and because we take (and run!) so many classes, the holidays are a very distinct time for us. The kids are very aware of when it's term time and when it's break time. But I'm not sure they have ANY idea just how much they're learning, in this glorious down time, as the days drift by…
I'm not going to tell them.  :)



So what have we been up to? 

Well, there have been games, games and more games

Monopoly—Here and Now
set in Australia, so my girl was sending
a little koala 'round the board…so cute


Upwords
which my boy was insanely good at


Forbidden Island
which is awesome
(thanks so much for the recommendation, Karen!)


In fact, we've played so many games, 
some days we've had no place to eat!



There's been movie watching,
in 3D, no less!
Gosh, what'll they think of next?!

first time to a 3D movie—SO excited

Then there's been all the reading 
and all the drawing, 
sometimes first thing in the morning, for hours, before breakfast.







We've hiked to a glorious waterfall with friends,


and toys…


and taken silly photos…
Look, Ma! My head's as big as that there waterfall!


And we've been to an Aboriginal Culture day 
where we learned about the different weapons the indigenous people
traditionally used to hunt and trap and kill their food.
(We vegetarians even patted the skin of a not-so-alive kangaroo!)


We learned how in Aboriginal culture there's men's business
and women's business.

After the men spoke of their business
and played didgeredoo
(which is strictly a men-only activity),
Auntie Dierdre came and told us about women's business
and bush tucker
and taught us how to weave rope from swamp grass



The kids loved this day.

Plus we've been to a Book Town
and hiked to see
glowing glowworm bottoms…
Ah. That was a good day too.


And my son has played in concerts 

inside


and outside,


while a mum and a girl watched, drank juice and 
grinned




It's been such a busy, happy holidays.

You'd think we were full and done and ready to rest.

But now,
we're going camping!

Yes, we are, and I can't wait, and I have to go pack, 
right this minute

so I can take my family to a place we used to spend our holidays when I was a kid.
I have so many special memories.

I wonder if things will have changed? 

Will the lake still be there?
The dunes?
That particular curve of the sea?

I can't wait to find out…




Warmth and smiles to you all, 
wherever you are, having holidays or not, 
inside or out, in sun or rain!



7 comments:

  1. Have a great time camping, and I am going to look up Forbidden Island, right now!

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  2. Oooh! I just read the most interesting article about board games - http://www.nurtureshock.com/IQLeaps.pdf

    I love word games. No one will play with me because I KILL at Scrabble (she said, not even feigning modesty). I am grooming my son to be my future opponent.

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  3. I just realized that we have been cooped up since our return from Chicago....we have had illness after illness, and a funeral to deal with. I have been feeling a bit off and after reading your post I realize it is because I have seen too much of the inside of my house and not nearly enough of the outside! I am going to rectify that today! I need to get the girls out to our favorite places, like walking around our neighborhood, the beach, a hike in the woods, and out to see some friends.
    Your week was filled with awesomness!

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  4. What a great week!! I am so glad you like Forbidden Island..we LOVE it. The Monopoly game looks very interesting too.

    I just love seeing your boy on stage..He belongs there.

    Just read that report about games.. LOVED IT!!

    Have fun on your camping trip!! Can't wait to hear and see all about it.

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  5. Boost Juice!! Love it ;-)

    Hope you have a great week camping :-)

    xx S

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  6. Hope you're having fun if you've left yet!

    And I'm thinking that game sounds familiar... must check it out.

    Love all the Goodliness going on! Wonderful!

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  7. Love your holidays Helena! Ours are quite boring in comparison. But I'm with you on the board games - my girl LOVES them and would be the happiest girl on the planet to play them all day every day!

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I love hearing from you! Thank you for your heartfelt, thoughtful responses—they lift me, and give me light.