Cultivating Childhood

Observing a snail in the trail. One of the fun aspects of a Charlotte Mason education is nature study.  Although the boys are still quite young, we're out having nature walks at least a couple of times a week.  However, finding a good way to actually observe and notice nature more than a cursory glance or in passing on the trails has been something that I've wanted to do. I recently got the boys some journals just for our nature study.  They also got some special coloring pencils that only come out for this special time.  We then either take our journals with us to find one special thing that catches our eye to draw, or we take a picture or sample home to draw in our journals at a later time. This last month, we went to Hamlin Park and the boys really enjoyed all the English Daisies that sprinkled the grass on the playing fields.  I looked up the flower in my field guide. Then the boys started drawing in their journals. I think it turned out pretty! If

This was a month of saying good-bye.  We've had seasons in our life before where we've had to do this, but usually it was us leaving.  This time, we're staying put and others are leaving our lives. Hanging out with their great-uncle Tim at Richmond Beach One sweet military family from our church moved to Kansas.  Another friend moved to Arkansas.  Our neighbors whose son was quite close to Buddy moved to Virginia.  We wish all of these great friends the best in their new endeavors, but they do leave a little hole in our hearts.  We've also had people pass through this month that we haven't seen in a while and won't see again for quite some time. We've even had to prematurely say good-bye to our own home even though we'll most likely be staying for another three years.  Buddy said good-bye to his preschool teachers , and MOPS ended for the year.  I said good-bye to my steering position on MOPS since we won't be attending next year since Buddy

Although we go on a lot of nature walks and hikes through the local parks, we haven't done anything longer than maybe 2 miles.  Now that the boys are 3 ½  and 5 ½ , we thought that we might try a day hike.  We had gone to Wallace Falls for Valentine's Day when Buddy was just a baby , and we've been wanting to go back ever since.  Last time, we took our stroller so we got no where near the falls as well so this time our goal was to make it to Middle Falls which was about 1.8 miles from the trailhead. Sign at the beginning of the hike Since we knew we'd be out pretty much all day, Phil and I packed a couple of backpacks with food, water and other things we thought we might need to help the kids make the almost 4 mile roundtrip.  Buddy thought that our packs were pretty cool, and he wanted to bring his own.  I wasn't sure he'd be up for the challenge, but he wore it the entire time.  Mostly, it carried just the boys water, but we did find it helpful. B