Science on the Beach...Sink/Float

Lately, E(1) has been excitedly saying "It floats!" whenever anything floats in the lake. So, I decided to gather various objects from our house and yard to take to the beach for a sink/float experiment. O(5) excitedly took her mask out with us to the lake, so that she could retrieve the sunken objects. (Her swimming skills have improved dramatically since she has started swimming with a mask!)

Before dropping each object in the water, we predicted whether each one would sink or float. E predicted that everything would float :)


It was interesting for the girls to see that the shells floated if we placed them gently on the water, but they sunk if we threw them in the water. Fun times on the lake!

DIY Flower Barrettes

My friend Rebecca recently showed me her daughter's flower barrettes, and I really liked them! I was actually surprised that I liked them so much, because I am not a "big bow" kind of mama. I prefer small barrettes and bows for my girls' hair. However, the girls loved the flowers, and so did I!

My immediate thought was "I can make that!" and even more exciting "I have everthing I need to make that!" I love it when I see a project or activity, and I already have everything I need to make it!


To make these flower barrettes, you need artificial flowers (I bought our flowers from Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off), alligator clip barrettes, and a hot glue gun and glue sticks.

I took the stems and back off of the flowers (I didn't take enough of the stem off with the first one I made, and the flower was much too high on the barrette), and hot glued them to the alligator clips...done! So simple and fast!



The flower looks huge on E(1)'s little head, but it was actually really cute...the perfect splash of color to go with her white dress (and she was very proud of her "hot pink!" flower...hot pink is her favorite color).

Telling Time Game

We had some rainy days while on vacation, and the girls and I spent this time playing on the porch. We painted with watercolors, played with playdough, read books, knitted with our looms, painted faces, played Memory, and played with these telling time cards.

This set includes analog and digital clocks to match, and they fit together like a puzzle which is a self-checking feature. The clocks show the time on the hour and half hour.

O(5) enjoyed setting up the cards, but she got upset when E(1) accidentally scattered a few. She wanted to quit, but I sat with her and we matched them together until we finished. Lately, she has been wanting to quit activities before she is finished, and while I don't want to force her to do "work", I also don't want her to be a quitter. It's hard to know (while in the midst of the situation) whether to insist that she finish what she started or whether to step back and just let her do her own thing. *sigh*

Cultural Exchange Package from Julie (Ohio)

Julie from Ohio was kind enough to send a package to the O(5) and E(1) (as a bonus since we aren't a part of her group). It is a wonderful package, and we are very thankful to Julie for her kindness!

Here's a picture of all of the loot! I love how Julie put the things in individual bags and labeled everything.








The girls are going to LOVE the glow sticks, and O will adore the postcard of the Amish children.


Julie included a craft which is a great idea!




Here is an excerpt from the letter. It's full of great information and pictures.




Julie included a map and coloring sheets (with permission from Erica).






I'm saving the cultural exchange packages to start giving the girls one a month after Christmas. They'll receive a map for Christmas along with a "subscription" to a monthly cultural exchange package. I think this package will be perfect for July when we celebrate July 4th!

Receiving this package from Ohio has gotten me excited about doing a USA exchange in the future! It will be so much fun to receive packages from the different states when we are studying USA geography!

Catching Up

Sorry about the lack of blog posts this weekend. We've been on vacation for the past 2 weeks, and I don't have any finished blog posts saved to post. The girls have been sick since we got home, and I have zero time or motivation to write new posts (although I have tons of things to write about). We didn't have a very good internet connection while on vacation, so I've been spending my minimal computer time uploading vacation pics to our private family blog.

To those of you who have emailed me within the last month, I'm sorry for my lack of response. The cultural exchange emails have gotten precedence, and I've not answered most other emails...there's just not enough time.

A lot of you have requested that I post pics of the cultural exchange box that I received, and Julie has given me permission to do so. Since, I'm not giving the girls the packages yet (it's a large part of their Christmas), I have to be sneaky about unpacking and photographing everything. I planned to do it while they napped this afternoon, but I fell asleep with them...maybe tomorrow :)

Here are some pics from our wonderful 2 weeks at the beach...

We always tie-dye while at the beach, and the girls are SO proud of their shirts!




My "old time" girl wore her mob cap on the beach. She so silly :)


2 girls and their kites. Getting both of their kites flying at the same time and running with them on the beach was one of my favorite moments.

I was very pleased with the pics from our beach photo shoot.






We went on kayaking adventures during our 1st beach week. At one point we were almost surrounded by a pod of dolphins. Lucky O(5) was even closer to them than we were, and she said that she loved seeing the calf with it's mama. She said she felt like she was in a dream. I loved hearing them blow...so cool.