Farrier Field Trip

 This is my parent's place and my parent's horses and my parent's son (aka my brother Wyatt).  I'm editing a paper for him and he paid me in advance by giving a horse shoeing demonstration.

 We're studying the Middle Ages this year--I think I've mentioned that.  Around 900 AD iron horseshoes were introduced and had a profound impact on fighting.  Horseshoes allowed for a more viable cavalry.  Therefore, we needed a farrier demo.  Thanks again, Wyatt for shoeing a horse for me!!

 The kids were pretty excited.  None of the kids who attended, except mine, had ridden a horse.  The littles lost interest in the shoeing after a bit, but they came rushing back for the riding portion of the activity.  The older kids watched the whole shoeing demonstration and were also pretty thrilled to ride.

 The cats were also a big hit.

 I wish I had pictures of the riding but I was busy leading a horse and riders around the corral.  After the riding we all went on a hike up a canyon in the Wellsvilles by Mendon.  It was gorgeous.  Unfortunately, the younger kids were pretty tired and I packed Harriet almost the whole time.  She's no lightweight.  Still, it was beautiful and the weather was amazing and I was with good friends.  It was a lovely day.

Renaissance Faire that Wasn't

 We tried to go to a Renaissance Faire recently.  My sister, Kami, made us these fabulous Medieval Scottish costumes and we are studying the Middle Ages this year so it was only logical to go.

 It was freezing.  Literally.  It snowed.  We arrived, paid our money, watched the Bird of Prey show-- which was excellent--and then tried to tough it out until the jousting.

 See the cool costumes?

 Harriet at the Birds of Prey show.

 A jester.

 Some of the vendor tents.

While we were trying to tough it out until the jousting, it started to rain.  A downpour of epic proportions (for Utah).  I huddled in a jewelry tent with five of my children, the tent owners, and some very disturbing jewelry featuring skeletons, and waited for it to end.

We waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited--while trying to keep Oskar and Harriet warm enough and the other kids from breaking anything.  Finally, when it started to rain/snow the King (that was his costume and he had knighted someone) came in and said that the jousting was cancelled because it was too dangerous for the horses.

That made the decision to leave really easy except that I had no idea where Miriam was.  This is a normal state of affairs, so I wasn't worried.  I had last seen her by some other tents so we headed into the freezing rain to try and find her in that general direction.  Three steps out a woman stopped me and asked me if I was missing a redheaded girl.  God gave me and Miriam both red hair as a natural tracking system.  He is perfectly wise.

I followed the woman to the tent for lost children, retrieved my daughter and headed to the van.  When we were all inside and the heater was revving up I said to Miriam, "I'm surprised you ended up in the tent for lost kids.  That isn't your style."

To which Miriam replied, "I know!  It surprised me too!"

The girl is hilarious.  Apparently some well-intentioned adult noticed Miriam was on her own, asked her where her Mom was, then hauled her off to the lost child tent because Miriam freezes under pressure and couldn't come up with a coherent answer like, "I've spent 99% of my life lost.  No worries."

The kids were all so disappointed, especially Cowen.  He was aching to see the jousting.  I felt bad so I stopped at Kents on the way home and bought some hot chocolate and whipped cream in a can.  My kids were amazed and overjoyed.  We had bean with bacon soup and a hot chocolate confection to warm us up.  Then I let the kids play with baking soda and vinegar.  I know we did another crafty thing after that but I can't remember what.  Then I popped popcorn and let the kids watch a movie.

Not a complete loss of a day, but a little disappointing nonetheless.

Mom, When Can I Have a Falcon?

 My friend Julie planned a fabulous field trip that took place last Friday.  We met at a park and the head of the Utah Falconry Association brought his two falcons and taught us about falcons, how you get them, how you hunt with them, and everything else falconry related.  It was awesome.

 Cowen lucked out and was chosen to be the assistant.  He was able to hold one of the falcons.  He's been asking for one of his own ever since.  (He missed the part where the presenter said that falcons make terrible pets.  They are loud and messy and bite.)

 Homeschoolers.

 Awesome!

Not a falcon, but still pretty cool.  Yes, those are my sunglasses.  *sigh*

Man on a Buffalo!

Frolic and Farce Homeschool (that's what I call us for the Bookit Pizza certificates) has had a tremendously awesome week.  On Tuesday we paid homage to my favorite month by hitting the trails.  One trail, actually.  I call it the Bountiful Temple Trail because the trailhead is pretty close to the Bountiful Temple.  I don't know what it is actually called but you should all go hiking there!  It is one of my very favorite trails.  (If anyone is interested I'll have my hubby figure out what the trail is called.) 

We spent four hours roaming the hillsides, playing hide-n-seek, howling like wolves, singing about erosion, and enjoying each other.  The mountains are truly a balm for a troubled soul.  Not that I have a troubled soul, just a busy one, but sometimes it is beautiful to just breathe in the autumn air and glory in the changing leaves.  

 The next day my friend Marilyn emailed to let me know that she and her six lovely children would be at Antelope Island that afternoon to examine cool rock formations and did I want to join her.  There is nothing I like better than a last-minute-change-of-plans (that wasn't a joke, I really love spontaneity).  We packed ourselves into the van, grabbed some string cheese, and headed to the island.

Above photo: Emeline, Eli, and Malachi riding a buffalo.

 At the visitor's center.  Marilyn, Junie, Daisy, Miriam, with Sebastian and Abraham in the back. I was especially glad to hang out with Marilyn because she doesn't get lost (I always get lost) and she really tries to figure out this rock stuff and therefore succeeds.  Impressive.

We saw a cool sidewinder snake on the sidewalk outside the visitor's center.  We saw two snakes on the Bountiful trail.  In fact, Eli sat right next to one and it was so well camouflaged that we didn't see it until it moved a little bit.  It was a really funky green color--dark green on top with a limier underbelly.  Anyone know what it was?  Is limier a word?  Yes, because I am an English teacher and I just used it.

 Buffalo.

 Lazy buffalo.

 Kids crawling all over a bunch of gneiss rock.  Our first encounter with rock that we could be absolutely sure was metamorphic.  Thanks again, Marilyn, for knowing that.

 Children on rock.

 Gorgeous view.

 More kids on rocks with awesome clouds.

 Boys are happiest with tools--see exhibit A.

 Lady Harriet.  Aww.

 My favorite of the gneiss rocks.  I liked the black stripes.

 Eli likes to pose for the camera.  Marilyn with her baby, Marigold, in the background.  And Abraham (argh, I STILL get Abe and Seb mixed up.  I'm sorry Abe and Seb).  I'm pretty sure it is Abraham.

 This rock was cooler in person because the minerals around the edges were greener than the picture appears.

Cowen found this awesome chunk of mineral stuck in the gneiss rock.  Good eye, Cowen.

 Cake, anyone?

 Buffalo!  We were lucky enough to watch a bunch of buffalo cross the road right in front of us.  There were huge buffalo and cute little baby buffalo and we sang, "Guy on a buffalo," a lot.

Emeline watching the buffalo.  You can see the rain clouds in this picture.  It started to rain a little just as we stopped clambering over rocks and got in our vehicles.  It drizzled a little then rained a lot then drizzled some more.  Our pictures looked like this:

Now, for Marilyn's benefit because she couldn't figure out why I kept singing "Guy on a Buffalo," I'll leave you with a guy on a buffalo.




Because one video about a guy on a buffalo is never enough, here is another one:




Finally, here is another video.  My brother posted it on our family website and my sister commented, "The sophisticated cousin of guy on a buffalo!" Then I laughed really hard.



Happy October!  I hope you're able to get outside a little bit.  I'm watching the weather like a hawk and any rain-free days are hiking days!

Davis Sewage Facility Field Trip

It may sound really gross, but the Davis Sewage Facilities was pretty much the most awesome field trip ever.  Ever.  The first part is the grossest, so bear with.  See that gunk in the top picture?  The first building we went into was where the toilet paper and such is removed from the rest of the waste stuffs.

Yeah, some of the poo didn't wind up where it was supposed to.  I'm a little pregnant (ha) but I still didn't think the smell was that bad.  Nothing like a dairy farm.  However, you have to focus your mental energies on not thinking about what you're looking at.

They add a bunch of chemicals to the paper waste and smash it down and haul it away.

The above pic is water waste that is in the process of being treated and sent to the Great Salt Lake.  Yep, the recycled, treated water goes back to the Great Salt Lake so evaporation can take place, clouds form, rain fall, etc.

More of the water containers.

There was a lot of walking involved in this field trip and I couldn't find a babysitter the day before Thanksgiving.  So.  Have I mentioned Harriet is not light?

This is the "natural looking" river comprised of treated water.

A bunch of crazy homeschoolers.  It was so fun to meet so many of them!

That man in the blue shirt.  He noticed Harriet on the other side of the fence and rescued her.  Thanks!  I was too busy taking photos to notice my child.  Those toddlers move quick!

That is Antelope Island in the distance.

That is sludgy stuff.  I can't remember everything about this part because I got there late due to trying to carry Harriet, then putting her down when she twisted her body around to get away from me, and then chasing Harriet when she ran the wrong direction, and then trying to carry her again.  I'm sure you all understand.  What I do know is that the sludge is very gross looking, but the process is pretty cool and Miriam was jealous that other people had already invented all those machines.

That is poo, my friends, mixed with some other stuff to make it more firm.  Then it is given to farmers who use it to fertilize their fields.  Notice the sign.  I giggled a lot at the different signs.  At one point our tour guide talked about keeping close tabs on the age of the sludge.  The bacteria has to be just the right age to reproduce.  Sludge reproduction--how do you get a degree in that?

That is the dummy they use to practice safety measures.  Eli was very frightened of him.

This is where they grow the bacteria to do the cool sludge thing.

One of the neatest parts of the plant is this building that houses these big engines.  50% of the power used to run the place is produced in this building using waste gases.  They are building new engines in the next two years that will produce 90% of the power necessary for the plant using only waste gases.  That is pretty awesome!

Our favorite part of the tour was the science lab building.  It was just so . . . sciency.  First there was a short presentation that I quite liked.  I'm a fan of Albert.

Then this man, who is clearly passionate about science and getting kids excited about science, taught our kids a magic trick using static electricity.

Then he walked us through the lab.  There were beakers and really terrible smelling chemicals, and people in lab coats.  My children were entranced.  So was I.  I think it was the first time in my life that science looked remotely interesting.  As one fellow homeschool mom suggested--maybe I just need to invest in some cool looking science things and then I might like it more.

The men who showed us around the plant were clearly excited to have us there and that made a big difference in the interest level of the kids.  Sewage does not seem glamorous and Myron, the plant manager, once pointed out that he didn't get his degree thinking he'd be taking care of poo.  But he is really enthusiastic about his job--how it helps the environment and helps so many people and uses all the newest science and technology.  I was really impressed with the quality of the information, the cleanliness of the buildings, and the attitude of the employees who showed us around.  Bravo, Davis Sewage--you guys are fabulous!

So fabulous that we are currently planning another field trip to the plant just to spend more time in the science lab.  I can't wait!  (But I'll definitely be getting a babysitter.)