Fibonacci and Art

We are heading out of town for a week for a family vacation. Yay! I can't wait. But before we leave, I want to leave you with a very cool You Tube video that makes me feel absolutely thrilled and awed with math and nature. Have a wonderful week.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0

Two Dogs, One Boy, Some Sticks, and a bit of Sunshine

What glorious weather! The pull of the sun and the warm spring-like air drew us outside today so D and I decided to hit the hiking trails with our two pups. What a wonderful way to spend a January afternoon in New England.

We went for a hike last Saturday afternoon and man was it cold! We didn't last too long on the trail but I was able to snap a few good pics of the kiddos.

We've taken some time off from any formal learning to do some spring cleaning and gardening. But we've been reading lots of great books and tending to our little indoor garden. Last weekend we decided to transplant our growing shoots to larger pots. The kids painted the pots and decided that they would like to give some away as Easter gifts this year. By the end of the day they looked like true artists and nature lovers with paint in their hair and dirt in their finger nails.

a chilly day for a hike

It is May 10 and 45 degrees today. Ah, New England weather - it was 90 degrees a month ago and today we needed mittens. We went on a hike with our homeschooling friends at a beautiful sanctuary maintained by the Audubon Society. We saw geese, red-wing black birds, chickadees and some new birds we are excited to discover in our bird field guide. It was absolutely freezing and we really didn't dress for near blizzard (slight exaggeration - but only slight) conditions, so the girls and I spent some time in a little observation house overlooking the pond while D ran ahead with his friends. We watched some turtles sunbathing and watched a family of geese swimming and eating grass for quite some time. The goose-watching was only partly voluntary as the feathery family set up camp in the middle of the path, preventing any hope of escape. Any time we came within about six feet of the goslings mama and papa geese assumed angry, rabid goose attitude and prevented us from getting near them for fear of acquiring goose rabies. We finally opted to traipse through waist-deep grass instead, thus risking acquiring Lyme Disease. Ah, nature. But it was nice to watch the fluffy little goslings - like our very own Make Way for Ducklings.