When we got back to the hotel, we went for a swim. This was our first time staying at this hotel in Edmonton (the Hampton); it’s quite new and there was a good deal on rooms. And the pool area was fantastic! There was a little kid splash pool that Gareth enjoyed, a larger pool for swimming and playing volleyball, and a large hot tub. No waterslide, but IMO, if you’re gonna do waterslides in Edmonton, you’re heading to the waterpark at West Edmonton Mall anyways.

We had lots of fun. Gareth created a game he dubbed “Dino Ball”, that if you are familiar with “Calvin Ball” from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, seemed to have the same rules (or lack of them–you just make ‘em up as you go along). There was throwing and catching:

‘alligator wiggling’:

running and kicking (with the occasional ‘hand ball’)

and general chasing around:

Daegan and I spent quite a bit of time in the larger pool too, as he is now able to swim and LOVES to race me:

Gareth still needs to be in parental arms in the deep pool, and loves goofing around (Daegan practicing his back floats behind us):

He also likes practicing his swimming kicks:

Jim preferred the hot tub:

and Daegan joined him from time to time too, clearly enjoying his birthday trip:

After our swim we headed off to Padmanadi, our fave veggie restaurant in Edmonton. The boys drew in their travel journals to pass the time as we were waiting for our food; it was clear the bug class left an impression:

We stuff ourselves silly with delish food, like this kung pao chick’n (wheat gluten based):

And on our way out, who should we bump into but Katie, the instructor from our Insect class, who was having dinner with friends! How odd in a city of a million people, don’t ya think?

The boys leaving the parking lot. Daegan on his scooter, Gareth on his tricycle, and their friend rode his bike:

We saw a deer grazing on the hillside:

We soon came to a paved pathway that led us across Fish Creek. The scenery was simply gorgeous, and several birds were heard twittering among the trees:

I was fortunate enough to spot some savannah sparrows among the grass and bushes. Note the yellow “eyebrow”, pinkish feet and bill, and deeply notched tail:

The boys abandoned their ‘vehicles’ at times to explore nature close up. Here they are tromping through the grass:

Daegan stopped often to look for bugs:

And they found a great log to climb on:

While Gareth and his friend played with the springy branches still attached to the fallen tree, Daegan again looked for bugs. At one point he picked up a fairly large black spider. (Shudder). Better him than me!

And off we headed, back to the parking lot. It’s days like this that I am so grateful for the flexibility of our homeschooling lifestyle. We’ll get to more seatwork next time it rains…or snows!

Daegan spent a lot of time playing games with other kids on the playground, and climbing UP the slide:

The boys also played an elaborate dinosaur predator/prey chase game with other some other kids, kicked around the soccer ball we brought, dug in the dirt, and generally amused themselves while I chatted with the other Moms. It was good for all of us.

Right before we left, as I helped Gareth practice riding a bike sans training wheels, I saw this critter crawling along. (See what you get in pesticide-free parks!) I called Daegan, our resident entomologist, over, and he took one look and said, “Neat! A purple-rimmed carabus! They’re only found in the major cities in Alberta, and originally came from Europe. And they’re great for your garden, because they eat slugs and other garden pests…”

Both boys took a turn holding it. Note the “hands of an entomologist” (i.e. dirty!) on Daegan:

Our excitement and me taking photos soon drew the attention of some other kids, and they played “pass the beetle”. Daegan also found one other interesting bug, the “polkadot ladybug (pink form)”, aka Calvia Quatuordecimguttata. (Daegan ID-ed it correctly; I just double-checked in our copy of Ladybugs of Alberta (Canada) (US) by John Acorn):

The coaches had them doing some playful drills as well, like calling out a body part—“Head!” “Knee!”—at which point the kids stopped dribbling and had to place that part on the ball:

They also played a soccer version of ‘What Time is it, Mr. Wolf?’ Gareth got to try his hand at playing goalie (following in Mom’s footsteps!):

And afterwards, I discovered that Gareth had written his own name label to put on his water bottle. His printing has taken a big jump recently:

Daegan is on the purple team this year, his last year of community soccer at it only goes to U-8 (under 8 years old). Paying attention, staying with his team, and listening to the coaches have typically been challenging for Daegs, but this year’s first soccer evening went great! I think the Sportball classes he has been taking once a week since September have played a big role here. Here he is dribbling (WITH the other kids, WHEN they were also dribbling!):

Partaking of the drills rather than, say, wandering off to look for bugs. Yay, Daegan!

He too got a chance to play goalie:

His favourite part, though, remains the post-game snack:

Visiting with friends of all ages:

Running, running, running, follow-the-leader style:

Playing quiet, make-believe games with new friends (there was some kind of bank robbing scenario where the park bits—which they put in the empty containers—were coins, and the watering cans were piggy banks):

Looking for bugs (yes, that’s Daegan):

And swinging barefoot in the sunshine.

Summer is coming!

Here’s what the boys did on April 8th (hover your mouse over the pics for details):

Here’s what the boys did today, same corner of the backyard, April 21—just shy of two weeks later than the above snow pics:

And you thought where you lived had changeable weather! And no, you don’t have to be crazy to live in Calgary…but it sometimes helps.

A few weeks back I came across a printable for  these very simple exercise cards, which I then cut out and pasted on index cards. They give one simple movement for each letter of the alphabet:

Unfortunately, I have since lost the link (Amendment! You can find the Exercise ABCs printable here), but these cards and the general idea are simple enough to create on your own. We use them to “get the sillies out” when we need a break from our seatwork, or during a transition from one activity to another. They are also helpful during that last hour before dinner when everyone’s nerves are frayed. They’ve led to lots of laughter, especially since Mom (and Dad if he’s around) take part too. I’ll let you create your own mental visual of me “Y y Moving Like a Yo-yo!”

To use, we simply pick a (face down) card (or 2, or 3, or….) at random. But you could easily have your kids verbally suggest a movement for each letter of the alphabet in turn (hint: Q might be “Quickly walk in place”), or have them design their own exercise cards with handmade drawings or clip art to help non-readers—the sillier the better. Have fun bringing more movement and laughter into your homeschool!

After a few more minutes, we headed off on a nature walk. Various folks on the Alberta-Birds email list I am on have reported seeing a small flock of pine grosbeaks hanging around a particular area of the park. Unfortunately we didn’t see any grosbeaks (sigh), but we did see the first robin of the year! Woot! Spring is coming!:

Here’s the rest of the walk. Hover your mouse over the pics for details:

We’ve got to enjoy these days while we can in Alberta; the forecast is for more snow next week.

I only caught the last few minutes of Gareth’s lesson. The coach had them practice marching on skates, a good activity for developing balance:

He then sent them on a long skate around the outside of the hockey rink. Here they are on the final turn. By this point Gareth looked pretty tired and was doing little ‘skating’; he was more coasting along as Jim pulled him:

Then it was time for Daegan’s lesson (unparented—though lots of parents remained on skates to help out). They started with a game of ‘catch the coach’, while waiting for kids to get skates on and join them. Daegan is the final kid in the blue jacket and black pants:

The coach had these older kids do lots of different activities. They skated around cones:

The practiced snow-plow stops:

The coach lined them up to practice crossovers, as well as marching (like Gareth’s class):

He had them skate and then crouch, again practicing their balance on ice:

He showed them how to skate backwards, and Daegan can do it! :

But I think the kids’ favourite activity was simply this: ready, set—skate!

On our walk we talked about some of the signs of spring we’ve noticed, like the warmer temperatures, longer hours of daylight, and melting snow. The boys found puddles to splash in:

Daegan tried to clear ice and debris from some blocked drains / sewers:

And both boys ran and ran and ran:

Daegan spent a lot of time trying to find the deepest puddles possible; he called them ‘sinkholes’. Note the contrast between the above pic (south-facing yards) and the one below (north-facing yards)—a mini-lesson on why the Calgary area is full of trees and shrubs on north-facing slopes, and barren grasslands on south-facing slopes. One direction holds sufficient winter moisture for trees, the other does not.

The weather is supposed to be well above freezing for daytime highs for at least the next week. Has spring sprung?