How Home Education Bonds Family Dynamic

Last week, at Meijer, I was asked an odd question. "Are your kids loving brother and sister? Or do they hate each other?"
My eyes met the cashier inquiring, then traveled over to look at my kids, to see what could have prompted such a question. Were they in quarrel? About to murder one another? No telltale signs. They were contently working together to collect the bags of groceries. I puzzled. "They love each other and are best playmates," I answered honestly.
"That's nice," she said. "End of summer helps."

?? End of summer helps... that sentence hung in the air. I can only assume it was an implication that once my kids "go back to school" and aren't around one another for the majority of their days, it is easier to get along. It reminded me of a recent comment I read on a friend's post, where they had said the number one reason they could NOT homeschool, was "Family Dynamic."

This needs addressing. Mainly because, there are a multitude of hypocrisies within it. First of all, my kids do NOT get along 24/7. They are disagreeing with each other as I type this. However, being home affords them the space to work through their conflicts, and ultimately become closer. Home is the best training ground for relationship. For family dynamic. To say you can't be around each other because you can't be around each other is an oxymoron. It is like saying you can't pick up a book because you don't know how to read. If you don't pick up the book, you will never learn. In "end of summer" mentality, you are simply avoiding the issue. That is not learning to live with something, that is learning to bear it until you can avoid it. Same with discipline or authority issues for parent/child relationships. Secondly, it plays into the sad societal notion that the best thing about summer vacation is when it ends. Photos go viral with applause when moms make jokes at their kids' expense about getting rid of their kids so they can enjoy themselves. Even as homeschoolers, we have a strange Catch 22. We want all kids to have the freedom we enjoy, and yet, we all have to admit, we breathe a relief when our parks and museums and zoos are back to the quiet, uncrowded peace we enjoy during the school year. My kids gasp when we arrive someplace swarming with kids and ask if we can return when the place is useable again.

I don't have the answer. And I know not everyone can homeschool, and that family needs differ-sometimes year to year. But, I wonder at the answer another mom might respond with, who didn't stop to give pause that her children were listening to her answer. Does that not set a tone? If I had said, "they hate each other," would they have believed me?

I get it. Family is hard. It really is! But it is also so rewarding. And edifying. And sanctifying. There is so much you miss out on, if you are simply waiting for summer to end.
Breaks apart, or times of solitude, are healthy. But time together is precisely what makes my kids "a loving brother and sister." God ordained them to be brother and sister. Sibling relationships, family dynamics, whatever you want to call it, don't need end of summer. They need summer year round. We school year round, because living and learning is a lifestyle, not a season.

The Lie that you are worthless

By the time it escalated to the point where I needed to say something, they had exited the building. My heart questioned an appropriate way of getting up to go after them. I didn't.
Now it is haunting me.

Our family was eating dinner out tonight, a few towns over. There was a family behind our table. The mom was clearly frustrated. My heart went out to her. I've been there. I didn't hear the man speak, but the woman was yelling at her kid. There were 3 boys. I would say the older two were maybe 10 and 14. The youngest, the one on the receiving end of her anger, was little. My husband and I estimate no older than 5 years old. It got uncomfortable to listen to, particularly because we could not hear or see any cause for the fuel of upset she was spraying. But we continued with our own table business and conversation with our kids. Eating out is a rarity for us. When she had raised her voice too much with repeated "ENOUGH," I felt compelled to turn around and make eye contact with her, both to convey sympathy for her, and to make her aware of her surroundings again, to help her find a calm center. I refrained, in fear that she may, in her heightened state of anxiety, view it as a glance of judgement toward the boy, and take it out on him more. Embarrassment can drive regretful choices. Whatever he was doing, was far, far less scene causing then her reaction to it. Whatever she had had 'enough' of from this kindergarten aged child, it was her who needed to be told 'enough.' I will never be unconvinced of such after hearing her haunting words as she left the restaurant with him, telling him to 'shut up', and whatever plans they had that he didn't deserve. And then, the deal breaker. If it had come when she was still in the room with me, I am certain I would have spoken. Because every mom has been in those moments, where they have had ENOUGH. Every mom had been pushed to their breaking point by tiny people. Sometimes, it feels like every day. This boy was not having a tantrum, but even if he had been, her final words were inexcusable.
She left the man and other boys at the table to pay, and, as she led this small, vulnerable little boy out the door, she said the unimaginable.

"You're worthless."

My heart smashed. My eyes welled. Did I really just hear that? I glanced to my husband, my expression likely wild and bent. I searched his face. He hadn't heard. Had I imagined it?

I started praying. I turned to look at their table. The man and boys were occupied on screens. I felt like the Iceburg notice had just been shuffled around the Titanic and ignored.

The entire way home, I prayed that this boy, and ALL children who are told verbally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, that they are NOTHING, break free of that lie. I don't care who is telling them that. The world, their own mother, their father, their teacher, their peers.... how many of us have had this message thrown in our face? In one form or another, it comes from every direction. And it is a LIE. From the pit of Hell, it is a lie. Every human being, from womb to grave, has worth. We are not evolved pond scum.

I don't know that mom. She may be a horrible mom every day, she may be a fantastic mom who had a horrible day and chose to let horrible words come out of her mouth. Perhaps, and I pray so, she immediately recognized her mistake and has repented, asked her son forgiveness, and made it known to him he has immeasurable value. Perhaps those words she said will echo in her mind, like they are in mine, and be the turning point she needs. If words of affirmation are a love language, then this is the opposite. May it be so that all parents who speak in such a life robbing way, repent and be changed, by the grace and mercy of Yeshua. This is my prayer. And my message to every single person reading this? You.are.not.worthless! Don't let anyone, including yourself, tell you otherwise. Hurt people tend to hurt people, even without realizing it. I can't find that small boy tonight and tell him he is wonderfully made in the image of God, and that he is valuable beyond measure. But I can tell all of you. You have worth. You have value. You matter.

10 Tips to Stay Cool (When your Trip to the Zoo falls on the Hottest Day of the Year)

Nothing beats a visit to the zoo. How do you beat the heat when your field trip falls on one of the hottest days of the year? First of all, always check with heat index advisories and take strong consideration to the dangers of heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Children cannot regulate their own body temperatures like adults and can become overwhelmed easily in extreme hot/cold environments.
Our recent field trip to one of Michigan's zoos happen to fall on one of the hottest days this summer--although, the days to follow forecast even higher heat index predictions. It helped that we picked a zoo that is designed with at least 75% of the park in mature shaded trees, so we didn't have a lot of direct sunlight throughout our visit, and they provide spray misters throughout the zoo for people to walk through and cool off.
Still, it helps to plan ways to keep the crew cool. Here are 10 ways we prepared to beat the heat for our trip to the zoo.

1. Frozen water bottles
The night before, I put half a dozen water bottles in the freezer, half a dozen in the fridge. They double as an ice pack for the first half of the day and ensure cold water to drink in the late afternoon.

2. Frozen snacks
I also put a box of portable organic yogurt squeezers in the freezer-- mess-free frozen yogurt! And I froze a few boxes of squeeze pouch applesauce. It's an easy simple way to give a quick cool down to the kids' insides and cool their organs down a couple degrees during the heat of the afternoon.

3. Hand-held portable fan
A small, battery-operated fan is only a few dollars in most department store camping sections. You can find a slim one to stick in your purse, and it makes for a great cool down solution in a windless hour. Especially if you wipe the kids' foreheads first and fan their faces. A quick wipe off of sweat combined with a little breeze of air to the face can work wonders for refreshment.

4. Pack an umbrella
Especially for stroller-riding kiddos, who aren't walking themselves over to shade on their own. Even a small, purse size umbrella can be handy to have on hand to guard against too much sun exposure.

5. Homemade Ice Cloths
Knowing I needed a way to drop the kids' temps down at pressure points like their head and neck, I decided to make my own ice cloths. Wet some washcloths in cold water to keep them flexible, wrap chunks of ice balls into the washcloths and pack them tightly into ziplock bags. About an hour after lunch in the "African Exhibit" I pulled these out of the cooler and applied them to the back of the kids' necks. They were ice cold and they loved them! The ice water remained in the bottom of the bag, so the kids could pass the cloths back to me to get them re-cold and apply again.

6. Ice Thermos
Fill at least one thermos to the brim with crushed ice. You'll be especially thankful for this at the end of the day, after repacking everyone into the hot car to head home.

7. Refrigerated Sunblock
Popping the sunblock and aloe into the fridge the night before made for another quick cool-down solution. Whenever we re-applied the sunblock it was just a touch of eliminating heat from their T-zones. We love Ava's all natural blend made with vegetable glycerine.

8. Large cooler / Small Cooler
I was especially glad I decided on two separate sized coolers for the day. Not only did it make for an easier load not carrying the large cooler through the park, but the zoo didn't allow for more than water to be carried through---picnics had to be in the parking/picnic areas. Packed our lunch and food in large cooler, packed some ice water, ice cloths, sunblock, etc. in the small one.

9. Dress in cool, breathable clothing
No polyester, wool, etc. Think LIGHT cotton shorts/shirts, basketball jersey shorts (not black), material that can breathe and retract heat.

10. HEAD off the heat
Headwear can really make a difference. Sun-visors are fantastic, because they shade your face but let the top of your head breathe. My son wears a white one in place of his usual baseball cap. My daughter's sun hat is a light-weight flexible cotton. Headbands are great as well, because it lets the top of your head breathe.

Enjoy summer and stay cool!

40 Ways to Enjoy a Snow Day

I recently read in the news that some schools in other parts of the country are implementing ways to have "virtual" school on snow days. Schools telling families how to spend their snow days is heartbreaking to me. Are we really getting to a point in culture where we are willing and able to say goodbye to the concept of snow days?? No, I refuse.

Authentic play for kids is something I am extremely passionate about. Read my post about it here.

Regardless, I understand that sometimes cabin fever from multiple shut-in days is taxing on parents and kids. Especially unplanned, unexpected ones. But these are not days to fear or dread or virtually escape. They are blessed opportunities to embrace LIFE! I've put together this list of 40 WAYS you and your family can enjoy snow days. I wrote a similar piece a couple years ago, with 20 Simple Ideas; combined, that offers you SIXTY SOLUTIONS FOR SNOW DAY FUN.
Don't fear another snow day, celebrate it! Children are a blessing from the Lord, and each day His mercies are anew. Hope you find these ideas heart warming and adventure sparking.

1. Hot Chocolate Lessons. Dive in to hot chocolate fun: http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2011/01/hot-chocolate-lessons.html

2. Cookbook Quest. Flip through some old cookbooks, or online at allrecipes.com, and find some new meals and desserts to make! Getting creative in the kitchen is a wonderful way to spend time with your kids and learn as a family. Let them take charge!

3. Skate!!! Grab some ICE SKATES from your local thrift store, or head to the nearest ROLLER SKATING RINK, and skate the day away! Pack some high protein snacks and glide on.

4. Spend a Day in Deuteronomy. Here is a full day of activities inspired by Scripture: http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2015/09/sola-scriptura-series-for-home.html

5. Snowboard, sled, snowshoe, cross-country ski! Winter sports are amazingly fun! Don't let the cold scare you away, just make sure the kids and you have plenty of insulation in your winter apparel and proper head covering, and head out to enjoy the snow! If you have or know someone with the right equipment, you can even try ice fishing.

6. Make Maple Syrup! Depending on the time of year, consider tapping your backyard maple trees, or exploring an area nature center that taps them to make homemade maple syrup. It only takes a few trees tapped to make enough for a single family. We love our maple syrup adventures. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2012/03/from-field-trip-to-our-backyard-maple.html

7. Imagination Day! Unplug and let the kids exercise the creative muscles in their brains. Dress-up clothes, or a few small adult things like a briefcase, purse, and maybe a magnifying glass are some helpful props to get them started. Let them play out a spy mystery mission, or transform the couch or a cardboard box into a space ship, passenger train or hot air balloon. Let them be. Don't supervise. Let them get lost in their world of play. Kids who often have every moment structured for them may take a little longer to calm their stimulation habits to get into this mode, but give them space and remember it is the best thing for their growing minds to absorb.

8. Make a math day. Here are 7 simple ways to mix up your math routine. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2014/02/seven-simple-ways-to-mix-up-your-math.html

9. Drop Everything and READ day. Start a new book, individually or as a family.

10. Smitten Mitten. Here are some cute ways to enjoy Jan Brett's book, "The Mitten". Board books aren't just for toddlers. Good stories make magic for all ages. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2010/12/first-snow-and-making-most-of-mitten.html

11. Is it Groundhog Day? Say no more... http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-fun-groundhog-day-activities.html

12. Lego Day. Get building! If you don't have legos, call your local library and see if they have some in-house you can go use.

13. Make beaded jewelry. Bracelets, necklaces, ankle bracelets, barrettes and more.

14. Under the Sea! Explore the amazing elements of sea horses with this fun sea horse study: http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2011/08/see-seahorse-unit-study.html

15. Dance Party Day! Crank up the radio or a mix of your favorite worship songs and dance the day away with your kids! You can even learn a new type of dance. After all the wiggles are out, try looking up steps to the Charleston, or FoxTrot! If you have enough people around, you can even start learning how to square dance! FUN!

16. Make Modeling Dough. Creating things with pottery or modeling dough is fun for everyone. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2012/07/math-modeling-dough.html

17. Snow Survival Skills. Read through avalanche survival stories with your kids (non-gruesome ones!). Talk about emergency winter preparations. Learn how to build a fire in the snow! My husband and son do this with our local cadet troop during winter camp-out trips. Other survival activities include: learning how to tie knots, make an emergency winter kit for your car, build a solar stove or research how to find food in the winter wilderness.

18. Spa Day. Pamper the kids with foot soaks, homemade food facials, nail painting and bubble baths.

19. Draw something new. Pick up some new step-by-step drawing books (robots, horses, whatever your kids love) from the library, or look online for free tutorials. The ideas out there are endless. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2012/03/fun-drawing-books.html

20. Feet Paint! Create all sorts of adorable works of art with your kids' feet. Butterflies, trucks, anything you can dream up! Check pinterest for inspiration, set up newspapers and a small tub for rinsing, and let the kids explore foot prints with washable paint.

21. Indoor Obstacle Course. If you have the living room or basement space, create an indoor obstacle course for the kids to do. It is not as complicated as you may think. All you need are some simple station ideas. One wall to do spider stretches/handstands against, perhaps something you can use as a balance beam, string/tape/hoops to use as circles they can hop along, an area to do sets of jumping jacks, a mat or blanket to do somersaults on, etc.

22. Apple of Your Eye. Who says it has to be autumn to enjoy an apple day? Here is a Johnny Appleseed day we enjoyed, but it can be fun any time of year. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2011/09/johnny-appleseed-day.html

23. Think Spring! Start some plants or sunflowers from seedlings, and make an indoor area greenhouse to grow and track them until the warmer seasons roll around.

24. Homemade Memory Game. We often think of the game Memory as being a card matching game for small children. The truth is, exercising our memory skills is beneficial at all ages, even more so as we age. Try this tray game and mix it up for your kids depending on ages and abilities. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2011/12/memory-tray-game.html

25. Start a seasonal puzzle. Nothing gathers the family together for quiet, calming, contemplative time like a family puzzle project. Pick up a 600-1,500 piece puzzle, clear a table space and spend the winter coming back to it as the hours melt by.

26. Origami! Learn how to do origami, build paper airplanes, design paper snowflakes and explore other paper folding projects.

27. Farm or Zoo Day. Visit an Amish farm, orchard, or even explore a winter day at the zoo. You'd be surprised how active the animals are in the cold months as they try to stay warm.

28. Animal Shelter. Visit, volunteer or donate items of need to your local animal shelter. Winter is a tough time for abandoned pets. Extra food, blankets, even just time spent with the animals in need will be of great benefit to the shelter and to your children.

29. Freeze Experiments. Eggs, colored liquids, salt, solids, sand, paint, wax, water balloons... let your kids explore the elements by setting up a tub for them to freeze things. Have them track the time and temperatures for their experiments, along with their hypothesis and results.

30. Mummy Madness! Explore ancient Egypt for a day, week, or year! There is endless fun in history adventures. You can make the Nile River, or wrap the kids up as mummies using dollar store T.P.!

31. Tabletop Tennis or Bowling. Any table can be turned into a place for playing ping pong. Also, if you don't want to venture to your local bowling ally, you can create a simple tabletop bowling game with block pins and an all-purpose ball.

32. Habitat Happenings. Track and identify animal prints in the snow, and search out local spots that animals have built their winter homes. Squirrels, birds, fox, skunk trunks and more!

33. Jump into Joshua and Jericho. Here is a day unit with crafts and activities for the book of Joshua: http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2015/10/sola-scriptura-homeschool-series-joshua.html

34. Create a family time capsule. What elements of our living habits today would we need to include to explain our era to generations in the future? Photos, news articles, entertainment, how we eat and clean?

35. Make cards to deliver to the local nursing home. Even simple notes with a special verse or encouraging quote can really brighten the days and hearts of those in assisted living situations. No need to make an appointment, just show up and ask to pass them around. Invest in the elderly of your community and teach your children the value of spreading kindness.

36. Indoor camping. Set up a tent inside your house! Build a cardboard pretend fire, roll out the sleeping bags, and make s'mores. It will be sure to create unforgettable memories for your kids for years to come.

37. Make a Prayer Jar. Decorate a mason jar, or paper cover a shoebox. Write your prayers and favorite verses to collect inside. At the end of each week, or month, or even the end of the year, pull them out and look over the many ways God has grown and blessed you.

38. Book Publishing! Have your kids write and illustrate their own books. They can handwrite or type them out; color or cut-out pictures to paste along with it. You will be surprised at the fun they have, let the creative juices flow. If writing isn't a strong suite for you or your kids, there are countless creative writing prompts and ideas you can find online to inspire your young authors!

39. Learn a New Language. Japanese, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Finnish, German, Danish, Portuguese, Latin... the list goes on. Your local library will have wonderful resources for you to use, and there are many wonderful online resources for introducing yourselves to learn a new language. Spend the day expanding your cultural horizons. Even just a day of dabbling in different languages can be a fun adventure.

40. Play with your Food. Combine snack time with craft time, and the possibilities are adorable.


I promise you don't need screens to pass the time. Forget the video games, television and tablet time. Make the most of this time with your growing children.
While schools keep insisting that *quantity* is the answer, I will consistently push back to urge families to carve out space for creative, quality time together. This not only helps authentic play and learning take place, but it seizes healthy growth in the ways that matter most for child development.
Need more ideas or inspiration? Here are 20 MORE ways to enjoy the days off with your kids. http://toeverypurpose.blogspot.com/2014/01/20-simple-things-you-can-do-to-enjoy.html

Minnesota, South Dakota, Michigan: Road Adventures in home education

We packed up and hit the road this spring, on a 10 day vacation west to the Dakotas with the kids and grandma. It was an amazing trip!! We took our small car, so it was a tight fit, but with some smart packing and planning, we were able to fit the 5 of us, our clothes, food, crockpot, and the books & curriculum we needed to make the journey. I have to say, it was one of the best trips of our lives, filled with educational exploration around every bend.

We started at the Mackinaw Bridge, visiting Fort Michilimackinac. It was completely awesome. We loved all the re-enactments (including the cannon firing!) and that all the colonial dressed people were simply carrying about their period-appropriate tasks in the fort all day. We learned about their gardening as they gardened, tasted their stone cooked bread and learned from a French trader and a female blacksmith. It was a really exciting step back through time. On the way up to the bridge, we listened to a cd I had made about the history of the making of the bridge, as well as some of the upper and lower peninsula facts.



After the fort, we headed up to the Upper Peninsula, where we picked up some PASTY! Yum! Our family is Finnish, so pasty is kind of a big deal for us. (The Finn in me)

We were so blessed to be able to stay the night at the home of one of my childhood friends, who I hadn't seen since High School. She lives in the northern part of the U.P., and it was so much fun to reconnect with her for the night. We talked of the callings God has given us, both in education and for walking with Him! We had to start out bright and early the next morning. Julie was a wonderful and gracious hostess. The world is blessed to have her in it.

We made good use of our stops. We saw some Wisconsin waterfalls when we stopped to eat a cereal breakfast off the roadside. It gave us a chance to stretch our legs and use the restroom. During the road travel, we had biographies and songs to listen to. The kids each had a small container filled with activities like Mad Libs, (which give fantastic fun practice of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and more). We also had one large basket at the kids' feet that had the bigger books and coloring pads in it. The only electronic we had along was one kindle we borrowed from a friend, which we used sparingly and had downloaded various books to and a few educational games. It conserved a lot of space since we didn't have the room in the cobalt to pack all the books and scrabble games I would have liked. But we had used a free-time program that allowed for hour timed usage so the kids wouldn't inadvertently waste their brains on too much screen time during the long travel hours. (We don't have a dvd player in our car for solid, good reason). Too much screen time equals irritable, crabby overstimulated kids, and we thankfully avoided that. My mom made a point to tell us quite a few times she had never seen kids who travel so well. We were blessed to have agreeable, cheerful attitudes despite some of our long 6-10 hour days ahead.


When we arrived in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, it was a few hours prior to check-in. We went to go find the dam that was supposedly in that town, but instead we happened across the Forest History Center. What a gem!!! This place was amazing. Tucked off the main roads, following only a simple "historic site" sign, we discovered a treasure trove of living history. In a small hands-on museum room we learned the past, present and future of forestry. We walked beautiful wooded trails along the Mississippi River, leading up to a 1900s era logging camp with period-ready characters. As we approached the camp, we were greeted with a theatrical demonstration of the logging camp in action, complete with Clydesdale Horses loading up logs onto a rig. It was so much fun! The camp's cook was very spirited and taught us lots of good logging era terms, like sweatpads (pancakes) and wind timbers (beans). Lots of learning fun!

We started the next morning with prayer and studies from our America the Beautiful textbook from Notgrass. We absolutely love this program. Since I didn't have space to bring all the materials, we packed the books and printed out copies of just the worksheets we would need, including "God created the Great Lakes," "God created the Mississippi River" and "God created the Black Hills". That morning we were heading to the amazing headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park in Minnesota. The text covered it beautifully, and while my husband packed up the car from our short overnight at the motel, the kids had our pre-packed breakfast (and I quickly made sandwiches and salad for that day's lunch) and I went over the lessons with the kids as they colored the maps of the river running down the United States.



The headwaters were beautiful. I remember going when I was a child with my grandparents, and my mother was in the same place as a child too. There is even a picture of my mother with her brother and parents crossing the headwaters in a 60's encyclopedia! What a special family tradition.
In the weeks leading up to our trip, we read "Tom Sawyer," and a short biography of Mark Twain. If we hadn't read it, I would have brought it along on read aloud book on cd, simply because it is a wonderful piece of literature and made the experience really come alive for the kids. We also read and brought along with us "Minn of the Mississippi" by Holling C. Holling, which is another classic; following the life journey of an injured snapping turtle as she travels downstream.



We ate our packed lunches at the headwaters. From there we drove an hour south, to pay our respects at the cemetery in which our family rests. My mother's parents and brother, along with nearly all of my grandfather's relatives, is laid in a quiet little small town cemetery. A unique aspect of this day was, it was literally pouring rain all day. Pouring. In the moment we pulled up to the headwaters, it cleared beautifully for 2 hours. It poured rain on our drive south, and again, it cleared as we arrived at the grave sites. It was a quiet afternoon. Peaceful. Emotional. Healing.
We went to see my great Aunt Beatrice after, my grandma's last living sister, where she greeted us with Finnish hugs and dinner. They own a huge industrial dairy farm, so after visiting and eating for a couple of hours, we took the kids across the road to see the cows. The baby calves sucked on their fingers and gave them laughter, and the machines milking the cows were loud and strange---altogether, a wonderful learning experience!!

We were headed to the Dakotas next, and that night we started our next read aloud in the Little House series.

Half way between the family farm in Minnesota and Custer, South Dakota was DeSmet. This is where we stopped to stretch our legs for lunch on Monday, while visiting and exploring the LAURA INGALLS WILDER historical homes!! We saw the Surveyors' House, from "By the Shores of Silver Lake," the school building from "Little Town on the Prairie," the Brewster School house from "These Golden Years" and the last home that Pa built, in 1887, which still stands today. Visit discoverlaura.org for more information. We also listened to a short biography on Laura's life in the car that I had downloaded prior to our trip.

Next stop: THE BADLANDS. We went through the Badlands twice; at the beginning of the week and end of the week. I am so glad we did. We needed twice to take it all in. Spectacular doesn't describe it. I had been there in my youth, but it was a first for my husband and kids, who had never been this far west before. Words can't really describe the Badlands, so I will let the pictures try to do it justice.
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" -Isaiah 40:12



During the travel time to Custer, we listened to biographies about all four of the Presidents on Mount Rushmore. They were all homeschooled, which was fun. We had a bio about Custer and Crazy Horse, too.
The week we stayed in Custer was amazing. We visited Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Independence Hall (where we found ancestory on my husband's side of the family in the signers of the Declaration & the Constitution), the free Geology Museum, rode an 1880s train through the Black Hills, explored gorgeous Custer State Park with wild buffalo, prairie dog towns and curious burro, and toured 220 feet underground through Wind Cave. We spent 4 days exploring and because everything was all within 15-20 minutes of the hotel we stayed at, we were able to pace the days in a quality, unrushed way. I brought our crockpot, so we always had dinner ready and waiting for us when we returned back for the evening. It was a blessing!



On our way home, we visited one of my husband's friends in Sioux Falls, where we saw their breathtaking waterfalls. We stopped along some of the Lewis & Clark historical sites along our way home through Iowa, and also visited the American Pickers store of Antique Archaeology which was right on a larger portion of the Mississippi River, giving the kids a fuller scale context of this mighty river we were learning about. It was a blessed adventure. Because we ended our trip on Memorial Day back in Michigan, we enjoyed pre-season rates and admissions on lodging and tickets with next-to-zero crowds. Another wonderful perk of the homeschool lifestyle. :)
We were so grateful God got us home safely from this experience-rich adventure.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." -Mark Twain