We had a few hours free and the need to show our Canadian visitor Uncle Sean a little Minnesota history… what better place than the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul? HERE

We have our teacher’s membership (totally an awesome deal… you get a discount on the year and access to so many great educational venues) renewed so we were good to go. The drive wasn’t overly long and the weather absolutely beautiful! 

There was so much to see (and photograph) so I indulged. Right in the center of a rather impressive set of staircase is the replica of an old wooden flyer – a Jennie. 

This model took 10 yrs to create.

Then there were the different sections of the museum itself to enjoy. We did not visit all of them but managed to take in quite a bit. Sean was especially interested in the war era section complete with videos, a malt shop and more. 

Behind the counter

Do my kids even truly understand what this is???

A very simple pinball game.

What songs were popular back then?

Of course we checked out the weather area so that Sean could see the tornado video that freaked out the twins a year or two ago.

How dare I interrupt their reading???

Learning about how to ready wild rice eat.

And we ran through the grainery, the section on settler life and the area on the native american roots. 

Finally tall enough to play in the whole area!

I was absolutely thrilled that we managed to not miss the very impressive Hmong exhibit. This is a special exhibit that is only in place for a limited time and I was rather concerned we would miss it. I absolutely loved the colours in the traditional clothing… I am absolutely committed to covering the Hmong people and their history and reasons for coming to Minnesota next year. I think it will be a great experience for all of us. 

Cherished items brought to Minnesota.

I think we wore out Uncle Sean!

So sit back and enjoy the rest of the images. All in all a GREAT outing… I think we all learned something new. 

Part of “The Greatest Generation” display.

I used to collect Betty Boop items myself!

Echo was pro at assembling artillery shells.

I found this an interesting artifact… a medal for a large family…

Retro… but yet… popular recently too!

Waving good-bye before she “boards the plane”.

Victory undergarments… these made me giggle. They were designed the year BEFORE the USA went to war.

Can you lift a pack half the weight of what someone could carry in one pack on a hunting expedition? Echo can’t … it weighed more than her!

Creating a pattern.

Learning about the fur trade.

We listened to part of the video about the schools the native children were sent to… such a weird image… our kids who have their right to whatever education I chose for them and the children who had no choice.

Airport seating hasn’t changed much has it?

And now for the rest of my Hmong images:

Such a wonderful day!

Where were you in 2007? This bridge collapse in Minnesota will always stick in our minds… Ken’s folks drove that bridge the morning it fell and dear friends would have been on it at the time of collapse if not for a dr’s appointment! HERE

Texas has become near and dear to our hearts with Gammie and Aunty Holly and Cousin Jimmie. So of course we had to jump in all the way and get going with a full on month long unit. Here are most (I hope) of the resources we used for our binder! Enjoy! Also check out our DINOSAUR related resource page HERE.

BOOKS!

• Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch by Anne Isaacs
• Texas by Jim Ollhoff
• Texas by AV2
• Texas by Ann Heinrichs
• Dinosaur Hunt by Karen Carr
• Life at the Alamo by Sally Senzell Isaacs
• Texas Facts and Symbols by Emily McAuliffe
• America the Beautiful: Texas by Ann Heinrichs
• Texas Rangers’ Legendary Lawmen by Michael P. Spradlin
• How to Get Rich on a Texas Cattle Drive by Tod Olson

VIDEOS!

• Smithsonian Aerial America Texas HERE.
• A special thanks to sisters Holly (my sister in law) and Heather (her sister) who are Texans to the core for these!

Davy Crockett thanks to Hanna Barbera… I did have to tell the kids that some of the terms and such was …. old fashioned? But you really got a feeling of how a person becomes a legend.

Ballad of the Alamo WITH LYRICS.

Confederate Song – The Yellow Rose of Texas

Fess Parker – Ballad of Davy Crockett (1955)

WORKSHEETS!

• I have my Texas worksheets on Education.com collected under my Minnesota folder HERE (I know confusing but I never did get around to trying to rename it US States)
• We covered a little bit of weather  too… mainly comparing our week to a week in Texas and talking about seasons but I have a few jr. print outs… From Worksheetplace.com HERE and Kinderhelper.com HERE
• Colouring pages by TexasBob.com HERE
• Texas – a Mini Unit Study by Learning Treasures HERE
• State flag with EnchantedLearning HERE
• Symbols of Texas with Kids’ House HERE
• Homeschooling.About.com Texas unit study HERE
• John Tyler worksheet thanks to Activity Village. In fact you can find other state heroes on this site just search under Texas (link to site on right)
• Learning Treasures Mini Unit Study HERE

HELPFUL SITES!

• We found an excellent definition for BIOMES when covering the different landscapes in Texas thanks to Geography4Kids.com HERE.
• Lists of endangered and threatened animals in Texas. The boys loved some of the wild names on these! Texas Parks and Wildlife HERE.
• We had a wonderful fact or fiction worksheet on Education.com (link above to folder) on Pecos Bill but were sent along to the Legends of America site HERE for another version of the legend which totally tickled the boys after our discussions about exaggeration and how “things are always bigger in Texas!”
• A little summary on Davy Crockett… We wanted to find him in our books but really beyond him dying at the Alamo (or at least within some portion of the conflict) we had to go to the internet to learn more HERE thanks to The History Channel.
• An overview with the climate in Texas (we supplemented with searching for pictures of each season) thanks to Wiki HERE.
• The Alamo.org HERE… about… The Alamo!
• The Legend of the Bluebonnets thanks to the site Multicultural Education Through Miniatures HERE.
• What Are Myths, Legends and Folktales? Definitions thanks to Myths and Legends HERE.
• Texas State Song: Texas, Our Texas thanks to Lone Star Junction HERE.
• Texas state information page with EnchantedLearning HERE

Downloadables!

• Texas The Lone Star State mini lapbook thanks to Fortunately For You Books (also for purchase on Currclick) HERE
• 

May 30-June 2

And in a blurry blink May is coming to an end! What better way to learn about Texas and discuss weather than to draw up the 4 seasons. The kids were stunned by the lack of real lasting snow.

Trinity and Emanuel drew us up a stunning Texas poster full of things the remember reading and hearing about over the last month.

The big brothers are really pulling out all the stops and reading to the littles. I love it when they do. The storytelling is getting more and more fluid and fun. And the audience is definitely learning more patience as we go along.

We are seeing more and more gorgeous weather and with a willing Daddy to remove the cars from the drive… well every afternoon we can we are out in the sunshine in our toys with bubbles and books for Mommy.

And then back in to make box forts for the girls!

On Saturday I took the leap and headed over to Regency Hair School and got a brand new CONSISTENT colour! I have to say the price was AMAZING (set price not sliding according to hair length) and the work wonderful. I had an amazing student and walked out with a terrific colour!

We managed a few garage sales and came away with new shoes for Miss Echo, a skein of eyelash yarn and a summer dress for yours truly. We are on the hunt for good finds this year… books, a scooter for Emanuel… anything homeschool related. Garage sales can be where it’s at. Sadly so far this year all the homeschool ones posted on the egroup are not reasonable driving distance for us.

Sunday was new members service for us! Very exciting, not only did the kids sing at the front first with the Sunday School group but we also came up to declare ourselves new members of Saint Mark’s. With a brunch to follow we had a great time meeting some of the other members, having a lovely meal with our new church community and spending some time as a family all dressed up!

We brought home our carnations that were pinned to our shirts and put them in a pretty dish to make into a centerpiece on the table. So pretty!

We had some amazing Lego creators hard at work to make Pokemon.

On Monday we set to work making peanut butter and birdseed on toilet paper rolls for birdfeeders to hang in the front yard. Another Scouts achievement to add to Emanuel’s list for his year.

Miss Echo is utterly in love with “doing her mail”. She simply cannot be stopped when it comes to completing the pages Gammie sent her. I think she is going to LOVE the curriculum we picked up at Sam’s club for an absolute steal.

Our morning was completed with a blanket fort.

There was planting to be done in the straw bale garden out back…

Which of course led to playing outside.

Emanuel chose to use Art for Kids instructions (link on right) to make his very own Mario.

That evening it was time for one of the last Scout gatherings for the year. Darcy had to be at 6 places at once so we collected Aidan early, hung out for a while and then headed over to the dam. We ended up at the wrong parking lot but in the end the boys managed to meet up with their group for their hike.

Super high water levels!

We hung out at the Novak’s for a while while the boys played games until the rest of Aidan’s family got home.  A great ending to a terrific day and the start of a whole new month.