Outdoor Oasis

When Shermance bought my Father's Day present she knew it could go etiher way.  I could really like it and want to work on it right away, or I could resent another 'honey do' item.  The gift she bought was really more for the kids, but she had a vision of a place that could bring our family closer together.  The gift? A rope swing.  Her vision was to put it in out backyard greenbelt which is a city-owned 220-acre park that has naturally worn walking trails but no constuction improvments.  The problem was the forested area directly behind our fence was filled with scrub cedars, thick brush, thorned vines, and even a rusted old barbed wire fence from years past.  So in order to hang the swing it would require a lot of effort clearing an area.  Fortunately, I was up for the task and Sunday we spent the whole afternoon as a family realizing her oasis vision. Shermance was full of energy and worked straight through a planned nap time to finish the project.  The Perren's pitched in by offering the use of some manly tools, including their backpack-style super blower that made quick work clearing out a season's worth of dense leaves from the forest floor.  By late afternoon, the kids were swinging in the swing fowwed by constructing a fort - mission accomplished!

Fast forward to today...Shermance had a great 4-day work week and now she has two vacation weeks - Wahoo! Despite a week of patients with excessive coughing and sneezing, Shermance stayed illness free and quite cheery.  The cheer dropped a bit tonight when she realized her eye brows are thining out in blotchy areas. Uuugh!  She hoped for that area to be unmarred, but unfortunately it's not her choice. 

The kids also finished up a week at Camp Invention where they challenged their creative sides.  Among their accomplishments was escaping from Planet Zak in a pod they created, building an upcycled Sludge City to be as eco friendly as possible, tearing apart electronics to see how they functioned, building a roller coster out of recycled material, and creating a Rube Goldberg machine that could pop a balloon in as many steps as possible.  All the while they were learning about Newton's Laws, brainstorming, problem solving, and working in teams.  The best part is they were having so much fun they didn't even realize they were learning!

Kid's Invention Camp Pics



Escape pod from Planet Zak!



Roller coaster

 

Rube Goldberg machine



Sludge city