Day Whatever +1 - Oh the humanity...it's just an advent calendar.

 Taking the advice of seasoned homeschool parents,  we are winding down activities these couple of weeks prior to Christmas.  But that doesn't keep the tempers from flaring!

The hopeful homeschool parent in me wanted to make advent calendars with the kids.    I thought it could be a great learning lesson in math with the measuring and multiplication involved.    We found some shoebox tops and cut dividers out of cardboard to make the little candy cubbies.

Right off the bat,  no one was interested in this project but me.

"Why can't we just buy advent calendars at the store like everyone else?"  Lauren whined.

"Well,  if I didn't just have to sink another $350 into our "cheap" Hawaiian vacation,  we might have the money for advent calendars!"  I angrily retorted.   

So as I practically did all the work making the cubbies for the calendars,   the kids watched on curious as to whether mom was going to make this project work or not.     I usually prefer the kids do the hands on learning,  but today I'm going to have to settle for whatever I can get.

I was fairly happy with the final results but when it came time to fill the cubbies with candy,  we had a problem.  We were a few candies short.    Zach was quick to fill all his calendar cubbies leaving Lauren with the empty spots.

"Its ok, Mom."  she sweetly offered. 

"No it is not ok,  I'll go and buy you some more candy today."

She definitely shouldn't have to suffer,  especially when Zach decided to gobble down even more candy from Lauren's calendar after I said that.

"Zach!  Stop eating Lauren's candy." 

"But you said you were going to buy her more."  

  Fine,  whatever... I vengefully decided that Lauren was going to get better candies now.

When I got back from the store,  I tried to discreetly fill Lauren's calendar with mini Twix and Butterfinger bars.  

But you can NOT hide candy from Zach.

He immediately took notice and was intensely pissed off.

"Why does she get the good candy?"   he demanded.

"Well,  you took all the other candy so I bought these for Lauren.  Hey, there is one extra would you like it?"  I suggested, hoping for peace.

"Of course!" he said ripping open the Butterfinger and gobbling it all in one bite.

My peace offering lasted exactly 5 seconds.    

"This just isn't fair!  Zach screamed, stomping his feet in protest.   "Why does she get the good candy?  I want that kind of candy.  Lauren doesn't even like Twix or Butterfingers."

"I wanted to give you both a fair sampling of candy but you took all the thin mints.  So this is what I bought."   I said.  "If Lauren doesn't like the candy, you can trade with her.  But let's let her decide.

   I knew this was going to cause a big problem...what was I thinking.

For the next hour...Zach just couldn't let it go.   He cried, stomped around, hid under his blanket and made attempts to rip open Lauren's calendar.

What was I thinking?

Day Whatever ... Homeschooling at Christmas Time.

Honestly,  I am really struggling with staying focused on anything after Thanksgiving and our South Dakota trip.  I can barely squeak out my work.  Today I was in the bathtub soaking at 3:45 PM and in my PJ's by 4:45PM.   Damn you daylight savings time.  

I am trying really hard to get motivated with homeschool. Our 50 states curriculum is feeling stale and unspirited right now .

For example, Monday we spent most of our morning making Christmas ornaments out of craft sticks and odd nature supplies.   It was so much fun and when we finished a few hours later, no one was the wiser that we had started school.

 "Wow, its after lunch,  we better get started on our school work now."  Zach says to Lauren.

"Hmm, yes, you should get started on your school work now kids."  I say, with a cheshire cat grin.

The most seasoned homeschool parents on my facebook group page advise to wind down your typical homeschool day around the holidays. They suggest that you fill your days with gift making, crafts, music, traditions, cookie baking and service activities.   

"Read Christmas stories and watch Christmas movies"  they advise.   

Well,  that all sounds amazing to me!   

But, how do you do service activities with COVID?   Maybe just DING, DONG ... DITCH style?

Anyhow,  I think we could all use a change of pace... so for the next couple of weeks we will try focusing on arts, crafts, music and service projects.   I tend to falter in these areas as I have no experience.

You see,  I was never allowed to indulge in these "frivolous types of classes".  My parents were stern with my academic choices. No Home Economics, No Music and No Art!  It was all advanced honors classes for me... that is until I had a major rebellion in college and got a "Home Economics" degree. (Trumpets for me!)

So,  my words of wisdom...be careful what you cultivate,  it can cause a rebellion.   

Instead - "Here we go a wassailing!"  

What does wassailing mean anyways?  

 Google dictionary says .

drink plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way.

What?    This was a song we definitely sang in 4th grade music class... hmm,   we could all use some wassailing right now..

Day 16 - Back to work... Oklahoma!

 How do you get kids interested in homeschooling after such an epic road trip?   You don't...

Today was a jumble of activity, courtesy of ADD Mom's post vacation brain... we started the day watching Oklahoma!  the musical,  as it was the only thing I could think about (in a pinch) of this lovely state.   I've never seen this musical before and it is absolutely riveting. I even got Zach and Lauren to watch it for awhile.

"Okay, mom, when are we starting school?"  Lauren naively asked after watching most of the musical.

"Ah, yes, school... let's do that thing.   How about you spend a hour on Prodigy Math while I get my Sh*t together?"   Ok I didn't say it quite like that but you get the gist.

Since Thursday is typically our science experiment disaster day,  I asked Google for a bit of help.   I was able to find a great YouTube video on creating your own Oil Well Experiment.   I was fascinated.   I've always wondered how wells work.

 

 So in this cool experiment,  you layer small gravel, clay and sand in a glass.  Your "well" is a glass straw and your "oil" is funneled into a tube that adds it to the gravel.   Done correctly your well will spout oil!

So we had to improvise a bit.   We didn't have any clay so my industrious mind says,  let's use cookie dough - its kind of like clay.  (No, not really - actually NOT at all.) 

But nevertheless, the kids go along with it.  We layer our rocks, sand and clay into a glass and then pour yellow dyed water into the rock bed.    A tiny trickle comes up our glass straw well before the whole cup is saturated with "oil" from the rock bed below.   Epic FAIL.

"It's okay."  I calmly say.  "All experiments are failures at first.   Let's see what we need to change to get this right."

I can see in Zach's face that I better get this right the second time or he is going to disengage completely.

So we redo our experiment using a much larger layer of sand and cookie dough crust.   But the result is another disappointment.

"Ugh,   maybe the cookie dough wasn't such a great idea."   I suggest.  "Why do you think they use clay?'

"I don't know, Mom.  This experiment is stupid."  Zach says - totally correct.

An hour later I try the experiment again with Lauren.   We watch the short YouTube video together and THEN,  I have an aha moment.

"Zach!   We were supposed to put the sand on top and not the clay!   That's why our experiment didn't work."  I revealed.

So Lauren and I concocted a new "oil well" out of rocks, cookie dough and sand.  We poured our "oil" into the rocks and watched our well spout like a fountain.   Success!

 As I cleaned up our science experiment mess,  I breathed a deep sigh of success and relief.  

 "Good lesson, Mom"  I thought to myself.   "Now your day is done.   Wait, a minute,  its only 9:30 and we've watched a musical and played with science.   Is that really a school day?"

No,  it obviously isn't since I have two sets of innocent eyes staring at me and asking what are learning about next.   Ahh...ok,  time to call Grandma and read books to her while I get my sh*t together once again.

Somehow we hashed out a school day.   The kids wrote stories about their trip while I typed out 4 blog posts.   We read stories about Oklahoma and tomorrow we will make Chicken Fried Steak - the state meal of Oklahoma.   What is Colorado's state meal??????  Probably Rocky Mountain Oysters...

 What do think the Colorado State Meal should be?    Some say Steak -  Others say Rainbow Trout?   Please comment below..

 

Day 14 & 15 - Yes, Still More South Dakota

 Aaah,  howling winds... now that's the South Dakota weather I remember.   We woke up on Tuesday morning to a bitterly cold Northeasterly wind.   The winds in this state are enough to drive you mad,  no wonder there were so much lawlessness and so many ghost towns in this state.

Considering the weather,  it was a good day to be car bound.  Packing up the kids and dog we headed straight east on I-90 to visit Wall Drug Store.    Last time Marc and I were here this store was full of tourists and activity,  today we were the only ones in this colossal trinket trap.   It was actually fun to be at Wall Drug during the holidays.  They had the store decorated for Christmas with trees and lights everywhere.

Of course no trip to Wall Drug is complete without having some of their homemade doughnuts and a 5 cent cup of coffee.  The doughnuts were so good, we all had to order seconds.

 As we sat and ate our doughnuts,  I read the story of Dorothy and Ted Hustead,  the founders of Wall Drug Store.  Their story is one of the American Dream.

It was the beginning of the Great Depression.  A young newlywed couple, Dorothy, a teacher, and Ted, a pharmacist,  decided to take their small endowment from their father and open a drug store in the floundering small town of Wall, SD.  Wall was a poor town of about 200 people, mostly poor farmers out in the middle of the high plains.  They hoped their drug store would attract tourists making the trip out to see the Badlands and Mt Rushmore.   However, no one ever stopped in this sleepy farm town.   

Four and half long years of little to no business had past.  The Hustead's were ready to pack up their dream of owning a drug store and head back to Sioux Falls.   That is until one hot summer day,  Dorothy had a revelation,  what do tourists want after a long hot drive?   Free ice water!    Thus they made signs,  and lots of them.    The tourists instantly started flocking into Wall for free ice water.    Of course, then they would also buy trinkets and ice cream.  The next year they hired 8 women to help them run the store and the rest is history.  Now Wall Drug is a famous tourist stop boasting crowds of up to 20,000 customers a day.

After our doughnut feast,  we wandered the maze of t-shirts, trinkets and artwork that fill this drug store turned amusement park/mall/giant cafeteria. 

No trip to Wall Drug would be complete without a few souveniors.   Zach found a pocket knife with his name (well close - "Zack") engraved on it for only $4!   Lauren fell in love with the soft throw blankets which were way over the $5 budget I allotted.   But somehow she suckered me into buying one for her.

We continued our adventure into the Badlands National Park.   Normally we aren't much a National Park visiting family.    We despise the crowds, the fees and the overall hype of making a park out of nature.   But given the bitterly cold winds keeping us in our car and our free federal land pass courtesy of Every Kid Outdoors - www.everykidoutdoors.gov ,  we obilged.

Halfway to the park entrance we stopped for a small herd of Buffalo to cross the road.  The kids were so excited to see the Bison close up!    We were also lucky enough to see a small herd of  Big Horn Sheep on a random stop in the Badlands Park.   It was so windy that even getting out of the car to take a picture was torturous.  

Instead of doing the normal 40 mile Badlands Loop that takes you even further into Eastern South Dakota,  we took the dirt road loop that traverses the lesser known side of the Badlands.   We watched the Eagles and Hawks circled their prey in Prairie Dog Town and the tumbleweeds dance across the road in front of our car.  The rest of the drive was mildly scenic at best.  The heavy winds made everything into a shade of dust.

We returned to Rapid City with plenty of time to waste before heading to the Watiki Waterpark, which didn't open until 4 PM.   

Debating between a couple of the towns free museums,  we ended up at the Geology Museum at the South Dakota School of Mines.    Of course we had the entire museum to ourselves.    While the kids enjoyed the Palentology exhibits, I couldn't take my eyes off the petrified and fossilized wood.   That stuff is absolutely amazing.   

We wandered around the museum - oohing and awwing at the interesting gemstones, fossils and rocks.  Of course the homeschool teacher in me wanted to read every plaque to the kids and explain every fossil.  However, before I could even get through the first sentence of educational material,  they were off enjoying a different display!

So  you are probably wondering when we are going to visit the South Dakota claim to fame -   Mt Rushmore!   Well,  we saved the best for last.

Of course the kids will say that the best part of the trip was Watiki Water Park.   This waterpark was pretty cool and boasts five different waterslides, a lazy river and huge kid's water playground all inside a giant atrium.   We spent the next three hours repeatedly climbing the 3 flights of stairs and riding the awesome slides.

 Yes, we finally made it to see Mt. Rushmore!   Since Keystone is an hour south of Rapid City,  we decided it would be our last stop on the way home.   Again we had the whole park practically to ourselves!

After we made the bitterly cold walk down the state flag walkway,   we enjoyed unencumbered views of the majestic president sculptures.  We also had the entire Mt Rushmore Vistor Center to ourselves.   When the hisoric Mt Rushmore movie started,  we had a private viewing.   It was like we rented out the park entirely for ourselves - what a rush (more).  Baahh!

Too bad it was so bitterly cold,  we would have loved to do the Presidental Walk up to the viewing platform.  The kids were enamored with the idea of a hidden Hall of Records.  We wanted a private tour of that!

On our way home we passed the Crazy Horse Monument.    It didn't look any different than it did 10 years ago.  Is it just a huge fundraising boondoggle?   I'm not sure but they aren't getting our funds this time.

The last stop before our 5 hour trip home was at the delicious breakfast joint called Our Place in Custer, SD.  Custer is a cute, little tourist town in the heart of the Black Hills.     We enjoyed the most delicious breakfast of our trip and it cost less than $20.   The owner of the restaurant was our waitress and she was such a trip!   People like her make me want to pack up and move to small town South Dakota,  she is the life blood of America.

Today I leave South Dakota with a full heart.   We had such fun memories amid this crazy COVID lockdown.    As Dorothy Hustead said eloquently "There is no place on earth that is godforesaken",  especially not in South Dakota.  Thank you Govenor Kristi Noem for keeping South Dakota "open".

Day 13 - More Deadwood Trip

 After our harrowing hiking adventure,  we were all hungry.  We piled in the car and headed along Spearfish canyon to the infamous town of Deadwood.

Deadwood has been on my bucket list for years.   I love old west towns!   Prior to our trip I read up on my Deadwood history and discovered that the famous Charlie Utter of Colorado was the reason that Wild Bill Hickok ended up in Deadwood.   He talked his friend into joining their wagon train from Colorado to Deadwood.    It is fun to think that we probably traveled the same route in our car as they did long ago on their horses and wagons.

On the way to South Dakota,  I tried my best to entertain the kids with stories of the wild west.   Gunfights, marshall law and the like... I hoped my enthusiasm could carry a wave of interest.   No dice.

Deadwood is normally a bustling tourist destination filled with casinos, trinket shops and the like.  Today it was a literal ghost town!   You could walk down the middle of Main St and not see a sole around.  It was kind of neat and spooky at the same time.

I had so many plans for us in Deadwood...I wanted to go the museum and check out Saloon No.10.  I also couldn't miss the cementary where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried.   I could have dragged my family all over that town for hours.

Unfortunately our hungry stomachs ran the show,  instead of checking out all the tourist destitations, we were on a strict mission to eat.

As we wandered from empty storefront to empty storefront,  I began to wonder if we would be able to even find anyplace open for lunch.    We stopped to take a photograph with this friendly miner dude when a couple of ladies walked by.   They were the only people we had seen all day.    Zach told them we were looking for lunch and they recommended a "deli" on the other side of town.

So instead of touring all the quaint (but closed) stops I had planned,  we were off on a eating mission.   The restaurant was a few blocks hike but well worth it.

This restaurant called Jacob's Brewhouse was like eating in the finest art gallery.   I guess Jacob is a famous artist in town and he is now dabbling as a restauranteur.   The food was so amazing that we all completely over did it!

Zach and I polished off 3 large tacos each and Lauren and Marc shared a gigantic plate of brisket nachos.   We were all so stuffed that sightseeing sort of went to the wayside.

We did checkout an awesome cafe/ glass blowing studio.   Zach was enthralled with watching the glassblowing artist at work.   While, Lauren was enthralled with the art, insisting on picking up every fragile $100 piece of glass.  I followed her around like an overcautious mother follows a toddler at the playground.  "Careful...gentle...don't touch!"

As the rest of the family made a beeline for the car,  I woefully wandered the alleyways of Deadwood reading every little historic plaque that I could find.  Where everyone else saw a closed up town, I revealed in the spirit and energy that never leaves a place like this.

I wanted to sit and imagine the gun fights, whorehouse poker games and fine ladies promenading up and down the boardwalks.  I guess a trip back to Deadwood is in order for me.   Next time when the town is actually open and alive with gunslinger theater reenactments!

Harrowing adventures in South Dakota - Day 12 and 13

 

Howdy from South Dakota...home to wicked weather, amazing tourist traps, outlaws, old west stories and so much more!

Taking advantage of amazing travel deals is one of the best perks to homeschooling.    You are free to travel when others are not!  We practically had every tourist destintation all to ourselves and $40/night hotel rooms.

Rapid City, SD is an easy half-day drive from Boulder making it a great 3-day destination.   We took advantage of COVID travel deals and scored a sweet, 1 bedroom suite at the Country Inn.   This hotel was awesome for the kids with a giant two story waterslide at the hotel pool.  It was hard to get them out of the hotel to do all the other fun things around the Black Hills!   

For dinner we visited the Firehouse Brewing Company.   This is a cool brewery restaurant situated in the old firehouse downtown Main Street.    The best part of this visit was the nostalgia. Marc and I ate at the Firehouse Brewery back in 2010 when we rode our bikes across the country.   This restaurant was one of our memorable highlights and fun to share with the kids.   Although this time we did not enjoy the $100 bill for dinner!

The next day we were off to explore the northern section of the Black Hills. 

On our jaunt up to Deadwood,  I scouted a "locals" only hike.   Since all the tourist caves close for the winter,  I was hoping we could find a free cave of our own to explore.    According to the travel blog that I consulted for this cave hike,  this was not a well-known or well-marked hike.   Perfect!  That's our preferred style of hiking.   However,  I didn't realize that we had to cross an ice cold thigh-deep river to get to the trail.  

We were about to turn around and find a different hike, when Marc shouted that he had found a way across.    We had to balance our way across a series of unsecured logs.  One slip and we were going down in the thigh deep ice cold water.

Marc had crossed first and then I precariously balanced on the main log as a midway helper for the kids to cross.  Crossing a log can be easy when you use momentum to keep you balanced.   Standing in the middle of a slippery log helping unbalanced kids cross is another story.

A few cusswords later,  we were all safely across accept for Tabor.  Tabor is our energetic German Shorthair Pointer.  He tried walking across on the logs and ice but fell through a couple times.  Luckily for him he only got his feet wet.  He was a good example to the kids as to why we couldn't just walk on the ice!

Once safely across the creek,  we had the next challenge of finding the right trail.   I read that there may be a bit of bushwacking to find it.   Fortunately it is late fall so there was no bushes to wack,  but instead we encountered more ice!   The trail is actually a small trickle waterfall that has frozen.  Now we have to dodge slick icy rocks on our ascent up the mountain side.   We tread carefully up the steep rocky trail trying not to slip on the icy rocks. 

Midway up the trail,  Marc stops.  

"Can you hear the water beneath us?"  he asks.

Sure enough I could hear it.  We were standing on a bed of loose small rocks covering the top of a underground creek.   It was eerie feeling, like the rocks could collapse at any moment and we would fall through.

Scaling this short, steep trail was a bit frightening,  even for this Rocky Mountain hiking family.   Our kids have scaled Red Rocks without batting an eye but this loose rock and ice trail could slip up even the most seasoned climber.   Fortunately,  somehow we all made it to the top without injury.

It was so worth the climb!   At the top of our icy creek climb was this beautiful icy waterfall and system of small caves.    We explored for awhile shining our phone flashlights in the caves to see the sparkling crystals that formed on the rocks. 

 Truthfully I had a hard time enjoying the caves as I was worried about our hike down.  It was a treacherous hike up to these caves.   The pitch had to be close to a 45 degree angle for part of it plus icy rocks and slippery gravel to send you sliding down into the canyon wall or worse.  Really,  what was I thinking bringing our kids up on this hike?   Its one thing to do it on your own but to have two scared kids in tow... oh, well. Here we are.

I thought for sure we were all going to have to slide down the hill on our butts.    Up is typically ok given that you can control your speed while grabbing rocks and small tree branches.   But going down is scary as hell by yourself - with two kids, one of who is crying about going down, no thank you.

When Lauren finally stopped crying and gained her composure,  she hiked down like a champ.  Of course she held onto Marc's hand for the first part but then she was blowing past Zach and I as we cautiously crabwalked down the icy, slippery rocks. 

Once we were safely at the bottom of the trail,  I could breathe a small sigh of relief.  Now to get everyone across that icy creek again...

I guess it wouldn't be a Leveque vacation without some sort of harrowing adventure!  This is exactly how I feel about homeschooling right now.   I'm exhilarated at the places we can go, scared to death about how it will turn out and living for that awesome sense of accomplishment at the end of the adventure.

Todays lesson is one of conquering fear, exploring the unknown and using teamwork to get the job done.