Terms 2 and 3 in school

Once we were settled into our new home we were finally able to do school in our new schoolroom. It felt like the first day all over again. 

I enjoyed having my white board again as I tend to enjoy going a little crazy on it during lessons. 

We finished up our history unit on William Wallace and my girls' ancestor Robert the Bruce.

I felt like the best way to teach about Dante's Inferno without reading the entire poem to them would be to draw the story on the white board. It was fun, but looks a bit crazy. 

We did a game when we learning about the Black Plague. Each bag had colored tiles in it and represented different towns. We played pilgrims going through each town. The color of tile we pulled out of the bag determined if we caught the plague or not and how many people we infected. 

Maddie's next project was Princess/ Prince and the Pauper. We read the Mickey and Barbie versions and then watched the Barbie movie. 

In science we switched to an energy unit. We read a book about Edison and kept track of things we learned about him. We also read a book about Tesla later in the unit to compare their stories. 

Maddie's next project was Hansel and Gretel. We read three different versions and then she made her own story as well as a candy house. 

We learned about a few different artists over the last few terms: Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Raphael. 

When we were learning about the Sistine Chapel I copied an idea I saw on the show Road to Avonlea and had the girls draw pictures under their desks. 

I loved reading this book about Joan of Arc during both terms. She was amazing. 

When we talked about the War of the Roses, they each took a side and used our castle blocks and this trebuchet they built with Doug (Da Vinci's design) to battle. 

We got out our bells again. 

Another few fun read alouds...

I made a mess of the board again when we were wrapping up our history unit. 

Then we had our end of term test. 

Maddie and I finished reading this book together that was part of her language arts. 

Last Friday they turned in their last work: Abi's unit 6 language arts and Maddie's Thanksgiving themed story and I graded their math... and then term 3 was done!

Now we will be on winter break until January! That's the fun of only taking half the summer off!

 

Road Trip Day Five: Driving back to Oregon, Lewis and Clark, Cannon Beach, Rockaway Beach

The next day we needed to head back down to Oregon. 

We got ready and then we got back in the van to drive some more. 

This day I switched seats up a bit and sat in the very back with Abi while Maddy sat in the seat in the middle row. 

I gave the girls new books for the ride.

At some point we stopped for lunch at McDonalds.

Again, very pretty scenery....

Approaching the bridge to Oregon....

This bridge was really long. 

Just a few minutes past the bridge we had our first stop. 

We were really excited about this after reading the book about Lewis and Clark. 

It was Fort Clatsop!

At first the girls didn't want to get out all together. They wanted to take turns, afraid we would be robbed again. 

I showed them all the differences in this location- bigger parking lot with a lot of cars, lots of people coming and going, a nice visitor center with cameras, park rangers working here. 

They decided that it sounded good. 

Maddy really liked this display where you could see and feel pelts from the animals of the area. 

The visitor center was really fun. We were hoping to find the book we had been reading (mine was from the library) and one about Sacajawea but they didn't have it. 

We did get a really cool book about Lewis and Clark that they had though. 

After going through the visitor center we went outside to walk to the Fort. 

The book we bought in the gift shop....

This was such a fun experience and I think it rated up there as the number one thing of the entire trip with all of us.
I absolutely loved our time here and am so glad we read the book on the way because I felt like it enriched the experience so much.

Our next stop was Cannon Beach.
It is a really cool area with lots of inns and shops but it was crazy crowded so we didn't spent too much time in the area besides going to the beach and taking a few quick pictures.
I always wanted to see this because I loved the movie Goonies when I was a kid... and I still do.
Goonies was filmed here along with some scenes from Twilight.

Gorgeous! I love the ocean so much. It is such a huge part of me. 

Lighthouse out there....

We drove along the coastal highway to Rockaway Beach where we were going to stay one night at a hotel right on the beach. 

The view from our balcony....

Our room had one bedroom and then a family room/ kitchen area with another bed and a sofa bed.

I took the girls down to the beach as soon as we settled in. 

Abi has been to the Atlantic Ocean but not on the beach there. Neither of them had been to the beach of the Pacific Ocean. The only "beach" they have played at are lake beaches. 

So I was SO excited for them to experience this. 

Also, it turned out to be a great experience because they were both quite afraid of the ocean and the waves but, as you will see, by the time we were done they were standing in the water. 

They loved it and it was one of their favorite moments of the trip. 

Abi drew a pony in the sand with her boot. 

Maddy drew a heart.

After we went back up to our room it was hard to not just stand there looking out..

We went out to get dinner but there was NOWHERE to eat. Not a single place. We stopped at the grocery store which was about the size of a gas station with hardly any choices. 

We ended up buying some more lunchables for the kids and some frozen pizzas. 

The office of our hotel....

Then the girls had some screen time while we all relaxed.

This was a great day!