Grand Canyon {in little words}

I have fallen very behind in posting our learning adventures. The following Grand Canyon pics are from our Arizona trip in March.

Awaiting.

Family.

Majesty.

Awe-inspiring.

Silhouettes.

Snow-dusted.

Together,

Brave.

High altitude giggles.

Meandering.

Snuggle.

Trail of Time.

Guide.

Heroes.

Daring duo.

Real world education.

Cliff.

Wisdom.

Discovery Destination (Northern San Joaquin County)

Using an earlier post about field trip ideas (Field Trip Brainstorm), our family enjoyed a discovery destination on Memorial Day.

Here's how it works:

I modified a  regular die with small paper cut-outs with the directional letters N, S, E, and W. We also took along:
- a twenty-sided die to calculate minutes (thanks to my lovable D&D nerd-husband)
- a tangible road map of California
- a GPS
- snacks and drinks

We're lucky enough to live at the crossroads of many highways and byways, which could have taken us in any direction. Our first rule was that the initial roll would predict which freeway to take (instead of going street by street, though you can do that too if you want to likely stay in town). Aidyn's first roll had us going North for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, we rerolled and followed the dice's instructions after that. We could have ended up anywhere.

Eventually, "Mr. Dice" (as Aidyn referred to them), the wielders of fate, delivered us to this random feed store on the outskirts of a little town. We stopped in and explored, meeting and greeting kittens, chirping chicks, ducklings, and dwarf rabbits. We never would have met these adorable creatures had the dice not delivered us there. We also saw interesting things roadside that we might not have noticed had we not done this: gorgeous country houses, intimate family-owned wineries, and olive farm, a hidden golf course, and a public greenhouse.

I am probably unable to fully catalogue everything that Aidyn learned during this trip, but in doing a discovery destination, we worked with directions, moved around in our little world, and learned to let chance take us where it did.

Field Trip to the Snow/ Discovery Destination

Yesterday Aidyn, his grandma, and I ventured to the snow in Pinecrest. All bundled up in layers and Aidyn in his snowsuit, we traveled for approximately two hours east until evidence of snow lay on the side of the highway. After finding a secluded campground in the Stanislaus Forest, we exited the car and proceeded to play in the snow. We touched it, clomped in it, and held it in our hands. Aidyn and I made a tiny snowperson before our fingers froze off. We had a ball throwing snowballs at Grandma (playfully). The sound of a snowball thwumping against someone is the funniest sound ever! Aidyn ran and danced in the snow, rolled in it, and even made snow angels. Our fun in the snow had us all dreaming of renting a cabin there for an entire weekend.

After we warmed our bodies up with the hot chocolate I brought, we decided it was time to grab something to eat. We drove through the quaint town of Mi-Wuk Village and eyed a little place called Andy's Mountain Grill and Deli. Upon walking to the door, we were asked by a regular if we had ever eaten there before. "Best place on the mountain," he assured us. Immediately we noticed that they served 'Chaka Burgers' and promptly ordered some. Best burger ever.

Once we were ready to go home, Grandma suggested we go through Twain Harte, a town she had heard was beautiful and we had seen signs for. We took the turn-off and drove into Twain Harte, and it was, indeed, a beautiful, green, little town, like a hidden place of magic. Scenes like that continuously inspires us to live in Gold Country!

All in all, I am fortunate that Aidyn explored snow in such a hands-on way.

Earlier this week, we had took in some snow-related books that may have inspired Aidyn to do as much as he did in the snow. First we read a classic by Jack Ezra Keats entitled The Snowy Day. We then read White Snow, Blue Feather by Julie Downing, a sweet story about a young boy's exploration in the snow. Next Aidyn "read" The Snowman to me. Famously known as the story without words, The Snowman is a story of pictures, and Aidyn told me what was going on in each little picture, and it sounded like a sweet story in his personal interpretation. We also wove in our ABC's with Zooflakes ABC which is an alphabet book with pictures of zoo animals as snowflakes. We had fun identifying each animal, and Aidyn announced that the iguana was his favorite!

We have also been counting things as we come across them to practice number skills. Aidyn can successfully count items up to twelve and, if assisted, can go even further. So far it has been a fulfilling week!