Fun Day In Hemet

The girls and I went with Erik to work on Friday. Okay, we took him to work and then we went and played! So, while Erik was hard at work earning his paycheck we were busy spending it.

We found this cute little children's museum called Kid Zone, it's just down the street from Erik's office in Hemet. It looks really tiny from the outside but it is packed full of fun activities that kept us busy for hours. They have so many things that it is going to be hard to remember everything.

There is an excavation site where you can dig through rocks to "discover" bones. They have a smaller fire truck with firemen outfits including, pants, jackets, gloves, boots, and hats that the kids can try on! They have a small rowboat set up, a little village complete with a school, doctor's office, police station, and TV production studio. There is also a police car, two police motorcycles, an ambulance, a small transit bus, and an electric car that the kids can climb in. They have a small area set up as a bank with fake money. There is a small section set up to look like a Stater Brothers grocery store complete with the little carts and check out stand. There are musical instruments, building equipment, coloring tables, and even an enclosed basketball court with wheelchairs to play wheelchair basketball.

They even have a discovery center, where you can check out a box on a specific theme. Each box is full of different activities, games, worksheets to help your knowledge to grow in a specific area. We did the "Wild Things" box and learned all about wild animals!

The girls' favorite part was the climbing wall and the spinning thing. Yes, you read right they have one wall that is painted to look like a castle and then the wall is made into a rock wall, that the girls had a blast going on again and again and again and again! Emma was a little leery at first and wasn't sure she wanted to go on but by the end I couldn't get her or Miriam off! And their second favorite part was the spinning thing. It was basically a pole on a wooden stand that you stand on and make it spin around. And boy did it go fast. It made me dizzy just watching!

After we were done at the museum we went and picked up Erik and had a picnic lunch at the park there in Hemet. After we finished eating we took Erik to a different office just 15 minutes away, and then we went back to the park to play out side! We spent most of the time playing tag, yes mom even joined in the game! After we were all tuckered out (and we had to go to the bathroom) we decided to go to the Hemet Public Library.

Okay, we did clean up with wipes in the car before we went to the library. And boy were the girls dirty after playing outside! So, about 25 extremely dirty wipes later I decreed that we were now clean enough to be seen in public we went to the library.

Hemet has the most beautiful public library that I have ever seen! Seriously, it is so big and both the inside and the outside are just gorgeous, no plain brown building here. We went in and used the bathroom and then went and did a math worksheet that I just happened to have packed that morning for just such an occasion, and we sat down so the girls could get their worksheet done. After the worksheet they were then allowed to look at books, put together puzzles, and their favorite part play games on the computers!

Oh how the time flies when you are having fun. Before we knew it, it was time to go pick up Erik and head for home.

What a great time we had playing and learning! I LOVE homeschooling because we can do spur of the moment things like this.

Math Games!

Okay, I admit to slacking off on my share of the sharing! But, I had a good excuse, I was sick people. I am doing better now, I know that everyone was so worried about that. Today was the first day that I sort of felt human again. So, back to the old grindstone we go.

In our house that means getting back to our home schooling. So we had an extended weekend holiday so I could concentrate on being sick, I mean get better, but we jumped right back in today.

I found and bought the coolest math tool, that the girls love! It's called the Learning Palette, from Usborne Books. (Have I mentioned that I'm an Usborne Consultant? Okay, done with the shameless plug) I will admit that I was a little leery about this product, I was afraid that it was going to be another thing that I bought that we didn't use. One more thing to clutter up my packed two bedroom apartment. A waste of my time and money.

Thank goodness all my fears were put to rest when we got it out. It's a great product that helps teach and reinforce either math or reading concepts. It's also self-correcting! That's right you heard me, after the kids know how to use it they don't need you there. So, us overworked moms can then get a minute to rest, or if you're like me, do some other chore!

And another bonus, the girls think that it's a game! Shh! Don't tell them it's not really a game. And, one last bonus, they ask if they can play with it! Yes!! So, they are doing something that they want and learning at the same time! I love educational toys!

Get to Know The Girls

Thought I'd post this little video I did of the girls earlier this year. Thanks to Andy for letting me borrow his camera, which includes SOUND, something these little videos have never included before. I thought I'd use the occasion to document where the girls were at, interest-wise, and maybe do the same thing every January.

Plus, I thought I'd see how the video widget on Blogger works. I actually haven't seen the results of this experiment yet as I type this, so if this ends up coming out looking as pixelated as an Atari 2600 game, know that I tried.

Visit to Ford Park

By popular demand, we are adding a family blog to the list of family blogs that are propagating all over the interweb among our extended family. We are delighted to have you here.

Here are a few pics from our visit to Ford Park on Saturday.