Friday, March 14, 2014

Looking Back !

  
 


   I remember back about ten to twelve years ago when we first moved to Culpeper County Virginia we camped out on our 65 wooded acres of property. The house was being built near the top of Scott Mountain and we were camping down near the bottom. We had about one acre pond and the kids would picnic there often.
     We had this old fashioned carriage the kids would load up with a toy refrigerator and some other provisions, packed a lunch and they (Joseph, Robert, Heidi and Jeremiah) would hike down and around to the pond with Chewy our chocolate lab following them. Gabrielle and I would duck behind the bushes and follow them. Jeremiah was only about 2 years old and Heidi 4 years old. Both Joseph was 9 and Robert 7 were not the most reliable to babysit. They would stop the carriage at the top of the hill overlooking the pond and have their lunch with Gabrielle and I looking on. 
      After they were finished they'd load everything back on the carriage and take the same path back to the campers we were living in. This was done daily and sometimes more than once. There was just something about eating a picnic at the pond.  They loved it !


 
     Most of our food consisted of campfire hot dogs, chicken tenders from Walmart and cold cut sandwiches until the stove and oven were repaired inside the biggest camper. We had a campfire almost every night for cooking and then for burning trash.  Needless to say a lot of work went into the meal preparations.  It was easy to find squaw wood for building the fire, just a hassle to get it started at times. 
     

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

January 24th Gold was discovered in California 1848 by John Sutter and John Marshall. While building a sawmill they noticed flakes of gold in the water. The Gold Rush began as people traveled by foot, horseback and boat in search of fortune !

http://i43.tower.com/images/mm101835053/gold-fever-verla-kay-hardcover-cover-art.jpgIn this brief rhyming story set during the gold rush, Jasper leaves his family and farm to pursue his dream of finding gold.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TYHAFEVSL._SL500_AA300_.jpgA fictionalized account of William Howell, a young prospector who braved the arduous journey from Boston to the Yukon Territory in search of gold in the Klondike River valley.

Some other books about the Gold Rush:

Chang's Paper Pony by E. Coerr

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleishman

Fool's Gold by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Gold ! The Klondike Adventure by Delta Ray

The Great American Gold Rush by Rhoda Blunberg

Snowshoe Thompson by Nancy Smiler Levinson

Craft !

http://www.jemmaegan.com/files/gimgs/20_golden-2.jpg 

Make Paper Mache gold nuggets !

You will need : small paper bags, newspaper (sheets and strips), yellow and orange paint, paint brushes and a glue solution.

Stuff bags with crumpled newspaper and wrap with strips dipped in glue solution to form a nugget. Allow to dry and paint the nuggets yellow and orange.

* Perhaps the children could use the nuggets as props to perform a play : ) 

Monday, June 4, 2012

Up Up and Away !

                                    http://www.balloonridesoversyracuse.com/images/lta2.jpg

On June 5, 1783......Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier first set off their globe aerostatique in Annonay, France. It rose 1,500 feet and lasted only 10 minutes.


http://www.hotairballoons.com/hot_air_balloon_crafts.asp

Read the book "Hot Air- The Mostly True Story of the First Hot Air Balloon Ride" by Marjorie Priceman.                     



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Q9NP7WSQL._SS500_.jpg 
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Luxor,_Banana_Island,_Banana_Tree,_Egypt,_Oct_2004.jpg/240px-Luxor,_Banana_Island,_Banana_Tree,_Egypt,_Oct_2004.jpghttp://www.bananacafedc.com/images/banana.gif

Bananas were imported into the United States for the first time in 1876.  Learn more about bananas and make your favorite banana dessert, smoothie or milkshake !

Thursday, May 31, 2012

June is.....

June is........dairy month, fresh fruit and vegetable month and skin safety month.

                                          https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrhENPh00My2MMeIXSsjrzhfOxAUWIUgLAg9IfOmSIIBPoLW_xTb8sXX-FITZtxRDSmAaVYqkadA_B5kPJQJqiQWDgH2dCL4pW_hpYJ5USbuuCtlnA4Ts6ABRpX9EyDWzpgXquB_h2dra/s1600/closedforsummer.gif

                                     

We're almost half way thru the year ! Can you believe it ?  My how time flies. School is out for summer vacation and before long the kiddos will be complaining of boredom.  Every so often I'll be posting the days events and perhaps an activity or two you and your child can do together or alone if you prefer.
     June 1st Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792.  Kentucky is famous for it's horses. The Kentucky Derby is especially well known.  Draw a picture of a horse on a sheet of paper, or better yet, draw several horses, one to each sheet and have a Kentucky Derby right in your room along the wall !  When I was little my sisters and I had those model horses. I loved to take them out into the yard where we had nice green grass. My horses would graze and run thru the meadow.
     Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky. Build a log cabin out of Popsicle sticks.

     Also Tennessee became the 16th state in 1796. There are some famous mountain ranges such as the Great Smokies.  Nashville is the "home of country music".  One of Americas' art forms. Choose one famous singer and read about him or her.
 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSd4C87pQI9F_3WmaKp9S5ndzIGp6ZNUbxcNZPlQ42QP_Juj5CMZ058ZOy7PhGw7zJhIFilolkT5G8s-fhrO42ADBJlh9-BXl3uhTwMYWQQCo5A5ZKLGNes0ZBeucu_Xgme6LU6f-_sqFa/s1600/18.jpg 

Faster than a speeding bullet......1938 the very first issue of Superman !      http://moarpowah.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/superman.gif

Monday, April 16, 2012

Mickey D's .15 cent hamburgers !

McDonald's opened it's 1st franchise in DesPlaines, IL in 1955. Hamburgers cost .15 cents !





Also on April 15 , 1912 the Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk.  Read "Polar The Titanic Bear"