Pentagon Tour

We took a tour of the Pentagon this week.  You have to schedule the tour at least two weeks in advance for them to complete a background check to approve you for the tour. The kids decided to hold a press conference. The 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. We

Pentagon Tour

We took a tour of the Pentagon this week.  You have to schedule the tour at least two weeks in advance for them to complete a background check to approve you for the tour. The kids decided to hold a press conference. The 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. We

carson

Family Woodwork Class

A month or two ago, the kids and I decided to do some woodwork.  Carson made his own lockbox / treasure box and Tucker and Savannah made bird feeders.  They all turned out pretty well.

Elementary Chemistry

One advantage of Home School; you can learn fun and amazing things at your own pace.  The kids are studying geometry, algebra, and we even have had some chemistry lessons.   Good stuff for elementary school kids. Here's a whiteboard after a chemistry lesson on fuels and carbohydrates:

carson

Fire Station Open House

How often do you get to use an actual fire hose? Several weeks ago, the fire station near us had an open house.  So went visited with the fire fighters and the kids were able to learn more about their jobs.

Manassas, VA

The kids and I decided to give Angela a day off, so after the food drive, we went shopping, then to Manassas, VA. It was a neat town and it had a great museum.  They had a scavenger hunt / quiz that the kids eagerly completed.  It wasn't easy,

Motorcycle Girl

Savannah decided that she knows how to ride a bicycle, she should learn to ride the motorcycle.  So she started practicing on Saturday and did well.

Boy Scout Canned Food Drive

We woke up early on Saturday and distributed bags for the Boy Scout canned food drive.  It was cold, but the kids eagerly served.

Halloween

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  We were able to meet more of the neighbors.  We were the only kids out on Halloween on our street. We also went onto a nearby cross street,  where we saw one other child.  In the end, people were happy to

Neighborhood Wildlife

It's amazing the wildlife you can observe in our neighborhood.  We went for a small walk this afternoon and this is what we saw (we also saw a fox and lots of birds, but didn't get pictures of them): I love how this beautiful flower is

Switch Witch

The Switch Witch has visited us the last couple of years.  We let the kids pick out their favorite candies, then Mom and Dad trade the 'Switch Witch' gift for the rest of their candy.  The kids end up a with small gift and only the candies they

savannah

Learning to Ride Bicycle

We didn't have a good area for the kids to ride bicycles in Atlanta, so Tucker and Savannah didn't get much experience until we moved to Fairfax. A few weeks ago, Tucker said, "I don't want the training wheels on my bicycle anymore.

Carson and Savannah

Angela and I upgraded our phones, and the camera on my new phone is really good.  I took a couple quick shots of the kids and was shocked at how well they turned out.

US Marine Corp Museum, Quantico

Living near DC, you have easy access to amazing places and most of them are free. We decided to go to the United States Marine Corp Museum near the Quantico Marine base (about a 25 minute drive from our house). We were in awe; even walking up to it is

Warrenton, VA

Keith and the kids spent Saturday exploring Virginia.  They starting by visiting a nice small town, Warrenton, VA.  It was a clean old town with charming historic buildings.  Surrounding it were beautiful farms and country roads lined will the autumn leaves.

Homeschool PE

We just started homeschooling this year for all 3 kids. We are tying it out for a year a least and so far it is going well. I heard about a homeschool PE class at an athletic facility about a half an hour (everything is about half an hour away)

Frying Pan Farm Park Junior Farmer Class

There's a Fairfax Parks and Rec property about a half an hour from our house called 'Frying Pan Farm Park'. They are offering a Jr. Farmer class for the next four Thursdays, and after experiencing a little farmlife in Lancaster, PA, I wanted to give the

The Turkey Hill Experience

what is Turkey Hill? an ice cream company that makes really good ice cream Inside, there was a small museum area that told the history of the family that started the company Then there was a hands-on section for kids to milk a cow and drive a delivery truck These

Hershey, PA

You can see in the background, the hershey kiss and the hershey bar and the reeses peanut butter cup over the Hershey's Chocolate World sign. It was a big store with Hershey's merchandise and chocolate products galore. We went on a free ride that tells you

Lancaster County, PA

We went to Lancaster County, or, Amish Country, Pennsylvania over the weekend. We ate lunch at a restaurant that serves traditional amish food family-style. Everything was so tasty, especially the meats: sausage, fried chicken and roast beef. Here, we are waiting to go on a buggy ride. We later read

Friends

Savannah and Juju

Wasp, Wig, and Pack Meeting

This Cicada-Killer Wasp was in our basement, they're huge. It was flying around and wouldn't go out, so it had to die. Savannah used some birthday money to get an Elsa wig. Tucker getting some belt loops at pack meeting last night.

Makers

Carson made himself a wooden box with a lock. Tucker and Savannah made custom birdfeeders with Dad's help. The feeders are hanging on this porch and attract lots of birds. I remember making paper mache globes in 4th or 5th grade, so we tried it. I will include

Savannah's cake party

We had birthday cake on Saturday night, to celebrate Savannah's birthday. Savannah's favorite part was taking the barbie off the cake and seeing the frosting on her. she got a color-your-own purse

Savannah's Birthday Celebration

To celebrate Savannah's 6th birthday, we went to a park to play and brought Savannah's friend Amelia with us. We stopped for some snacks at McDonalds, and Zinga (frozen yogurt) afterwards.