noe schooling

Cincinnati and the butterflies

The rain lately has had me really stir crazy. When spring comes, I just want to get out! Our house gets so messy and it honestly stresses me out. Instead of cleaning, sometimes I just want to run away from it all. So we did! We called up Sascha and made a last minute trip to Cincinnati to see the Butterflies of the Caribbean exhibit. It was so worth the trip! Totally cheered me up. The butterflies were so amazing this year! 




























Since we were already in Cincinnati, I thought it would be fun to introduce Sascha and her kids to Aglemesis. They no longer served lunch though, so we walked down the street and tried a new place for lunch called Habits. Then we went back to Aglemesis for ice cream! Love that place!






After lunch and ice cream, we headed to Smale Riverfront park. It's a pretty new construction... I went with Lyla last year around this same time and it was still being built. I am so in love with this park!! It had so many fun things for the kids- the type of things that encourages learning and curiosity. 





I loved the giant checkers/chess, the piano chimes, and the water features/splash pad. SO NEAT!!

university of kentucky geological open house

I can't remember when the obsession first started, but one day Joselyn started to get really into rocks. Landen likes them a lot too. On our trip to the east coast, we did a lot of rock collecting and we love finding cool rocks on our nature hikes. One of the homeschooling groups we belong to posted about a Geological open house at UK and everyone was saying really good things about it, so we went as a family. SO GLAD we did. It was a very neat experience for us! There was a lot of hands on fun and they even gave us all some fossils and amethyst/fluorite to take home! We will for sure not miss this next year! (the volcano demonstration- first picture- was really really cool!)

kentucky nature spots -raven run

Raven Run is always a favorite. They have a short little loop perfect for kids, and with the beautiful cooler weather, we decided to take our learning outside. Kids learn so much from nature as the observe the natural laws in place around them. I love how their eyes are so easily opened to all of the small details. It wasn't long before all 3 of my kids were finding some amazing things! Rocks, fossils, feathers, caterpillars and even a little frog who they wanted to take home with them. We came home with many treasures and even more memories and stories to tell. 

Raven Run has a pretty fun little nature center where we were able to learn a little bit about the natural history of the area. The kids loved the fossils and the touch table. 




We took a backpack filled with plenty of water, snacks, a pocket microscope and some plastic bags to collect things. The kids also found some hiking sticks before we set out on the trail!




It wasn't long before we reached a little stream to cross. There wasn't a lot of water running since we haven't had a lot of rain, but there was still enough to play in. When we go on hikes like this, I like to make sure that the kids get plenty of time to explore and I try not to rush them. They very soon get into imagination mode and start their little pretend explorer games- or ninja and princess games. 





The water was a little cold, but it was refreshing to take off our shoes and dip our feet in. I loved seeing the small collection of fall leaves starting to gather at the bottom of the water. 











I would say we spent a good 30 minutes to an hour just at that little stream. Then we got back on the trail and went a little further down the stream where there wasn't a lot of water. We found a few fossils there including a fossilized shell which was really neat. I spotted a cute little frog trying to camouflage itself, but once Joselyn caught sight of it, it couldn't escape her loving grip. She begged and begged to take it home and keep it as a pet... but of course we eventually let it go free. But not until after she gave it a big kiss! Outside the edge of the stream, we found a caterpillar and watched it for a bit, too!







Toward the end of our hike, the kids always get kind of tired and the complaining gets a little more frequent, so we take a lot of sitting breaks and sing songs to pass the time. The little breaks give us more time to observe too... we saw an amazing butterfly (which I failed at capturing on camera really well), another caterpillar, and a tree trunk that looked like a dinosaur foot. 







YAY for a hiking success!! The kids were so proud of their finds... we took a picture of them when we got home.

Field Trip to the Children's Garden

Friday is field trip day. We all look forward to this day all week because we all love to explore! The children's garden at the UK Arboretum is not a new place for us- we've been going since they opened about 4 years ago (I think?) We have created many memories there. It's also a very easy place for a field trip. Lots of learning opportunities there- and always something new to explore. Last Friday, they had some caterpillars on display, and the kids had fun checking them out.