I Will Survive

I Will Survive

7-30-11

 

Once again we find ourselves down at Martin Dies Jr. State Park enjoying one of the wonderful hour long Saturday classes about nature. This time we are learning the basics on how to survive out in the wilderness if we get lost.

One thing she told us is to always have a “flight plan” and tell someone where you will be and for how long. We learned from past experience that it doesn’t take much to get “lost.” When we hiked the Kirby Trail and we accidently got on the wrong trail it was pretty scary to think about what all could have happened. The trail we ended up on was one that was open to hunters during hunting season which just happened to be when we was hiking. We could have gotten shot and no one would have known where to look for us because we took off without much thought of telling people where we were going. 

 

After the lesson Ms. Katherine had the kids put together a pamphlet about how to survive in the wild.

Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers

July 23, 2011

 

Here we are back at our favorite state park again for a Saturday class. This time it’s about Woodpeckers!

 

As usual we arrived a bit early and Ms. Katherine was kind enough to let Austin (being the responsible 15 year old that he is) use her ZPix hand held microscope to show the littler ones all kinds of neat things she had prepared for a different class. Of course we just had to order one of our own ZPix once we got home.

 

 

At first we were the only ones there but a little while after the class started another family showed up. Ms. Katherine told us how to identify the different kinds of woodpeckers, what unique characteristics only they have, and in the above picture she explained why there is sap found around the outside of the woodpeckers nesting hole.

Snacks for Snakes

Snacks for Snakes

July 10, 2011

 

After attending the “Snakes Alive” event at Martin Dies State Park, we just had to come back the next day to watch the snake feeding.

 

 

Arriving early (as we always do where ever we go) has been a blessed chance to explore the exhibits freely before others show up. Ms. Katherine took the time to show the kids her “Curiosity Boxes” full of neat things about nature, for example one contained an Owl Pellet which I mistakenly thought was scat at first.

Snakes Alive!

Snakes Alive!

July 8, 2011

 

We LOVE Martin Dies Jr. State Park! We have hiked all their trails, our favorite is the Island Trail and we geocached there as well. I had noticed that they held classes on the weekends about nature. I have been wanting to go and attend one of these classes for a while now but with Stewart working Saturdays it just has not worked out, until now. I am very happy to say we managed to attend a class they held in the afternoon called “Snakes Alive.”

 

 

 

Ms. Katherine is the Ranger who gives the class in the nature center and she does such a wonderful job! She involves the kids and adults, works hard to set up the nature center to be an interesting interactive learning center, not to mention she has a wonderful personality!

Geocaching and Gator watching

Geocaching and Gator Watching

(caution contains geocaching spoilers)

June 13, 2011

 

Anna’s boyfriend Matt has been asking about going hiking with us for some time now so even though it was HOT in the middle of June in East Texas, we decided to get up early and go hike the Island Trail at Martin Dies Jr. State Park and to add a bit of excitement to it, we wanted to geocache as well.

 

 

The sun was up and brightly shining in the eyes of my little hiker cachers this morning! They were excited none the less!

Balloon’s Make the World Go Around

Balloon’s Make the World Go Around

June 6, 2011

 

We started studying the solar system in science this week. The project was to make a solar system out of balloons. Of course any time you drag out the balloons there is going to be a good time.

Adam tried to blow up a balloon extra big. He succeeded, he blew it up so big it popped!

 

Each kid picked three planets to create.

Adam got the Sun (since he was so good at blowing balloons big) and Mercury, Pluto, and Neptune.

 

Anna got Saturn (she wanted to do the rings), Uranus, & Venus.

 

 

Austin did Jupiter (because he wanted to draw the storm on Jupiter), Earth, & Mars.

 

 

The book had us measure the distance around the balloons widest point to try to make it a true scaled model. The book had a chart we were to get the balloons to match. So during Science we had some math as well!

 

 

Then we colored each balloon to match the planet it represented.

 

There was a good bit of playing as well.

My silly little girl likes to stuff balloons up her shirt and play like she is pregnant.

 

Of course it is hugely oversized to her little body so we pick at her about having a litter. Scary thing is, there is a good chance of her to have twins when she really does get pregnant, twins run in my family and skips a generation. My Grandma had twins sisters but didn’t give birth to twins, my mom had me and my twin brother (he was still born), I didn’t have a twin, so when it is her turn and she has a chance to have twins. The look on her face is probably pretty accurate of a look if one day she does find out she is having twins!

 

Right after this picture, I walked up behind her pretending to pat her belly and said, “ Aww!” then POP! I stuck it with a needle I was hiding in my hand. The boys thought that was hilarious, they said her shirt poof-ed up then went flat. Of course Anna was not as impressed, I got the typical, “Moooomma!” Then Adam was enlisted to blow her up another “big belly.”

 

 

We finished the solar system and hung it from the ceiling. Anna was happy with her new belly, and Adam was stuffing one up his shirt as well. We had a blast. Yep, a typical day at school for us.

 

Remembering Columbia

Remembering Columbia

July 5, 2011

I wasn’t sure what to expect on our visit to the small town of Hemphill, Texas; home of the “Remembering Columbia” Museum. I figured like most small Museums it would have pictures and posters and a few pieces of memorabilia here and there. At first glance that may be what you see. But the real treasure lies within the story.

I can not begin to do any of these stories justice, you have to visit the Museum and hear it told by the women who were there. They tell the story with such passion and love because it is a memory for them who lived it and saw it with their own eyes.

Matt Evett, Anna, Adam, & Austin waiting for the doors to open.