Fall Field Trips, 2016

The kids and I have been on several fun field trips lately.  

I took the younger two, along with two of their younger cousins, along on a field trip to Jaemor Farms with our homeschool co-op.  I started thinking back, and I think the last time we went on a Jaemor field trip was during our first year of homeschooling, seven years ago.  Wow!  Shaun was in third grade and Jordan was so little.  Now, Shaun is in 10th grade and opted to skip this field trip.  :(

The rest of us had fun, but I think Jordan was a little bored.  He was one of the older kids on the trip. 

Obligatory Jaemor Photo.

Trailer ride.

This was a worm from the compost pile.  Blech.

Pumpkins in the market.

Jaemor activities.

On the way home, we stopped at this old rocking chair.  I've wanted a picture on it since I can remember.  It used to be a landmark for a pumpkin farm, but the farm was closed down and the whole place was a little weird.  But, we got a picture on the huge chair.  Ha!

A few days later, we went on the best field trip ever.  The Crisson Gold Mine.  I'm not even being sarcastic, it was such fun!  Even Shaun approved.  We panned for gold and gems. Everyone found treasures to keep and we learned about the history of the Dahlonega Gold Rush.  Big thanks to my friend Joanne for setting it up.

This last one is kind of weird, but it happened, so I'll write about it.  Violet is like a lot of kids her age and watches YouTube videos for every occasion.  Lately, she's into Halloween videos.  Kid-friendly, of course.  She's been walking around singing a song about a creepy graveyard.  Every time we would drive by a graveyard, she'd say "This one's not spooky.  I want to see a spooky graveyard".  And,  it just so happens that I knew of a spooky graveyard just a few minutes away from our house.  So we went there.  This graveyard is old and has the "slot and tab" graves.  We found graves from the 1700s.  I grew up visiting this church with my grandmother and it always fascinated me.  The boys had seen it before, but it was Violet's first time and she was fascinated, too.

  As we were walking down, a funeral literally popped up out of nowhere in the newer section of the cemetery, so we walked around the church and down this road to the newest section so we wouldn't disturb them. 

We found my great-grandmother's grave and kind of just hung around for awhile because we couldn't get back to our car without walking right past the funeral.  It was a peaceful place.  Weird, I know.  

Reading again!

I love to read.  I used to read all the time, even as an adult.  For the past year or so, though, I've had trouble finding books that hold my interest.  I think it has something to do with my stress level.  At the end of a long day, my brain just has not been able to follow along with the plot of a novel.  This is so sad to me, and strange.  Reading used to be the way I "escaped" after a long day.  Not anymore.  Lately, I've been relying on Netflix and Xfinity Go to take me away.  

I did see some books that sparked my interest in Books-A-Million the other day.  I reserved them at the library and actually finished them instead of renewing them 3 times (which is the limit) and then returning them back to the library unread.  

But!  Over the past month I read not one, but two books.  I used to read a new book each week...maybe I'll get there again.  For now, though, here's what I've been reading:

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl:  Book One by Paige McKenzie. 

Ahhh, some YA horror fiction, with praise from R.L. Stine on the back cover. I think it was a YouTube series that might interesting to watch.

In my younger days, like middle school, this book would have been one scary read. Now, in my mid-thirties, it was mildly entertaining.  A good way to pass the time.  I think Violet will like it in about 7 years.  Ha!

Next was The Cellar by Natasha Preston. 

 When I came to pick up this book, the librarian said she read it for me first while she was waiting for me to come in.  Ha!  She liked it and thought I would, too.  She was right.  This was  more of a "grownup" book.  Really exciting and full of suspense, but a little upsetting, too.  I recommend it!

It's nice to be reading again, and I'm taking suggestions for some new material.