Kind People and Little Chickens

Instead of giving the girls stuff for Christmas we decided to take them on a trip to Knott's Berry Farm. We went on Sunday. The day started off amazing! As we stood in line someone gave us free passes. It was a right place, right time, kindness of strangers situation! You can read the whole story HERE. 

As soon as we got in the park we headed to Camp Snoopy. The first ride was the Woodstock Airmail ride. We got in line and Louie was not too sure about it. She got on and up they went. As soon as the first drop happened she was terrified. It was sad but also hilarious. I was crying from laughing so hard. Of course I got a photo...

So after that experience it took A LOT of convincing to get her back on any kind of ride. This photo was taken while Phi was on a ride and Louie was very happy to not be on one.

We eventually found a slow, close to the ground, self-driven ride that was right up her alley.

Phi was game to get on every ride in Camp Snoopy.

She went on the big swings because they are her favorite. Poppa went on with her and even on a swing looked as cool as ever.

We stopped off at a photo booth. A very very small photo booth.

I think the longest line we waited in was for lunch. Since we did not have to pay for tickets we splurged and had a late lunch at Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken place. Line was LONG, but food was so good!!

When it came to the bigger rides, Phi was not about it. I tried and tried to get her on Sidewinder but she just wouldn't. My kids are super chickens when it comes to rides. They are more Snoopy on Ice watching, gift shop wandering, photo op kids.

 
After dark every half hour it "snows" in the middle of Knott's. The girls loved this. I only had to tell Louie twice to not eat it.

This is the second time we have taken the girls to Knott's. We went back in 2011. And both times we did not get on any big rides! Despite that we had a fantastic time!

Merry Merry Christmas My Loves....

Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calavera by Duncan Tonatiuh

Our sweet friend Jan  sent us some books for Christmas. She loves books maybe more than we do! 

We were very excited to start reading. I was so excited to read the girls "Funny Bones". With the popularity of Dia de Los Muertos increasing, many people are familiar with the image of La Catrina. 

It is iconic and everywhere. But where did this image come from? This image goes back to the time of the Mexican Revolution. Jose Guadalupe Posada made this image in 1910. "Funny Bones" tells the story of this influential artist. A man who artists like Diego Rivera looked up to. 

 For my 2 kids who love Dia de los Muertos and who love to draw this book was perfect! They have asked me to read it a few times and they are working on sketches from the gorgeous illustrations.

Thank you Jan! 

Robolights: Where Found Art, Robots, Aliens and Christmas Collide

Last week the girls pulled the note from their advent calendar on Wednesday and it said we would take a walk through a Christmas Tree farm. Then after catechism we realized that the farm closes at 6pm! So that was a bust. I was looking for a way to make it up to the girls and I remember about this place in Palm Springs that I kept hearing about.

Robolights.

It is described as a "must-see attraction". After checking with a fellow homeschool momma who had been to confirm that it was kid-friendly. She said it was so we headed out to Palm Springs on Thursday night.

Robolights is built by the artist Kenny Irwin Jr. and on display on the acres of his parents Palm Springs home. We paid the suggested $5 donation per person. We literally stuffed the money down the drain. Then we walked in and we were all totally blown away.

I just kept taking photos and saying "I can't wrap my head around what I am seeing"

This place was spectacular.  Everywhere you looked was something bizarre or whimsical. With the monotones and moving parts squeaking and groaning, the holiday music twinkling in the background and over 9 million lights it bordered creepy. But it never got there. It was just strange and beautiful.

This was one of my favorite pieces...

This place was amazing. There are no words to describe this place. You really need to experience it for yourself. 

Snow Day

The weather finally turned cold here in the desert. Last Friday we had a chilly rainy day and the next morning we woke up to snow covered mountains. Louie was doing and dance and Phi was in awe at how beautiful it was. So I looked at Joey and said lets go.

So off we went, up the mountain to Big Bear. It is a 45 minute drive and before we knew it we were in a winter wonderland. 

We stopped at Boulder Bay to let the kids run around and play in the snow.

I love this picture Louie took of us!!

We went into town, had a ridiculously expensive early dinner and walked around. As the sun went down the temperature dropped into the 20's. It was so cold!

It was a beautiful day! We picked the perfect day because on Sunday another snow storm came through Big Bear! 

My 2015 in Books

It was the year of Harry Potter, graphic novels and celebrity memoirs! 

At only 41 books this year (so far!) it has been a slow reading year. I blame the Harry Potter series. That took up the first few months of the year! 

Here is my year in books thanks to Goodreads! 

 

Homeschool Week 16: Junk Food and Air Pressure

Louie

Language Arts: We continued with blending words and more specifically the short o words. We also looked at rhyming words. Louie has some trouble with this. She wasn't quite understanding that we are listening for the ending sounds to be the same, not the beginning sound.  This was the letter week Louie was waiting for. Every week she asks "Is it X week yet?" I was very happy to tell her YES it's X week. Unfortunately I could not find a band for our rock and roll letter lesson this week. We did a lot of worksheets and Louie made this cute craft. 

Writing: We did a cute writing assignment called "What's in Santa's Sack?" For this activity Louie had to come up with clues as to what is inside Santa's sack....

Of course it's an otter. 

She liked this so much she made 2 different ones.

Social Studies: Another lesson that she had already talked about at girl scouts, the difference between goods and services. We looked at the different services that people in our community provide and we talked about goods that we need. She was very confused as to why a farmer provides a service. I explained how a farmer provides a service by growing food!

Science: This week my work and Lou's lesson collided! We talked about health eating habits and I just happen to work for a dietary consulting firm! We talked a lot about the difference between healthy food and junk food. She also learned how to make a well-balanced meal. Here is one of hers...

Phi

Language Arts: Phi read the next 4 chapters in "The Westing Game" and things just got interesting. The millionaire is dead and his will has put 16 residents of Sunset Towers in teams of 2 and given $10,000 and clues. The team who figures out who the murderer is wins the fortune. What we know for sure? One of the 16 is the murderer!! Along with working on her character chart and answering some vocab and comprehension questions, Phi also had to make a newspaper about Mr. Westing and the game...

Math: We continued working on multiplying fractions. She was doing okay with this. Her teacher sent home extra worksheets and Phi did 2 problems from those a day, along with her usual worksheets. Math is still a struggle. She sometimes does great and then sometimes she will completely forget how to multiply 2 digits problems. 

Social Studies: We looked at another explorer this week. John Cabot was another Italian born explorer who jumped on the English exploring bandwagon and even changed his name to sounds more English. He went on one voyage and "discovered" Newfoundland. On his second voyage he went missing and was never heard of again. Phi answered some questions and did a lap book activity with a timeline and interesting facts. 

Science: We moved from the water cycle and are not looking at more specific things that affect weather. This week we looked at air pressure. Along with some reading and worksheet she did an experiment to show how air pressure, or lack of air pressure can crunch a can! 

And we are officially on Christmas break!