Bushwalking - Penrith Weir River Reserve

Our bushwalk this week was a nice easy stroll along the path beside the Nepean at Penrith. The boys enjoyed it because they were able to ride their scooters.

We saw some ducks, cormorants and some very bright and cheeky male Blue Fairy Wrens.

After our walk we went on to soccer training for some fundamental skills practice 

and a beautiful sunset.

Lego challenge week 1 - "car"

Waratah's "pterano-car".

Mulga's high flying truck.

Camden Council Play Day

After Mass today, we attended the Camden Council Kids Play Day.

We began with a guided tour of a police car, a fire engine and an SES boat.

Then some hammering at the craft tables, creating some amazing monster trucks. Boronia proved she was a baby with big brothers who was used to lots of noise by falling asleep in the midst of it all.

We created kites and flew them...

While Waratah opted for some more crafts, Boronia played some music, and then joined Mulga in the ball pit for some more fun.

There were lots opportunities for learning, too. We picked up pamphlets about all the emergency services, a child-friendly version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, lots of information about worm farms and composting (as well as some pea seedlings), and a whole lot more...

Nummy!

Waratah helped me make some macaroni, and we gave some to Boronia for lunch. It was an instant success - she even hugged the bowl!

My turn already!

Boronia says: "Everyone else uses this thing all the time... now what do I need to do to make it work for me?" (She climbed up by herself, grabbed the mouse and started tapping away at the keyboard!)

Gears and growing up

As part of our Human Socoiety and Environment unit on transport, Waratah made this Georello vehicle toy for Boronia, complete with working gears.

Boronia herself has been working hard on transportation problems, with considerable success!

Butterflies and bees

A gorgeous day, perfect for observing and discussing the busy pollinators visiting our garden.

Steamy Sunday

Waratah was unwell and had to stay home, but Mulga, Boronia and I had a lovely day out after Mass at the Campbelltown Steam and Machinery Museum open day.

We got rode both ways on the little train, being pulled one way around the track by a steam engine, 

and then back again by the little red diesel.

We also spent quite a lot of time listening to the steam organ, admiring the vintage cars, working out what various inventions were used for, and pretending to drive the old tractor.

 

We can dance!

We had been playing with our musical instruments when the boys decided to put on an impromptu dance performance.






And, of course, Boronia had to take her turn on the stage!

Lots of reading

Waratah looks on while Mulga "reads" to Boronia.

Boronia chooses another book for the boys to read to her.

Waratah enjoys some quiet reading.

Mulga works at Mathseeds and successfully reads the names of the numbers.

Mulga's turn for some independent reading.

Waratah aces the Mathseeds entry test.

Maths games

We have been practising our addition skills with this racing car game. Roll 2 dice and add the numbers together to find out how many spaces to move. First person to do three laps of the track wins. Waratah, in particular, has been asking to play it every day.

Bushwalking - Bullaburra

Today we walked to Minnetonka Falls at Bullaburra.

This picture is from Wikepedia, as I only had my phone, so couldn't get a good photo of the top of the tiny waterfall. It was raining on and off and looked much like this, though.

These photos are from my phone.

The bottom of the Falls.

All the kids loved this fallen tree, which was quite high above the creek.

Waratah looking for gold... or at least quartz.

He showed his finds to the one of the other Mums, and described  what he was up to.

We were amazed by these incredible wave formations in the rocks at the top of the pass.

Intriguing holes in the  rock, filled with rain. We have added these to our "curiosity list" to try and discover how they were formed. There were two of them in different rocks. They appear natural rather than man-made.

Tree of Life

Waratah's take on Gustav Klimt.

I'm looking forward to revisiting this project with some metallic paint when a certain little girl is a bit older and less inclined to taste everything in sight. In the meantime, it was a great way to use some of the gold and silver paper off cuts Grandma gave us for our craft stash. It turned out to be more of a collaborative project as the spirals were a little tricky to cut and glue.

Here is Mulga's version... he saw the gold paper and wanted to make a crown!

Symmetry

Today saw Waratah experimenting with shapes and symmetry.

As we had recently been learning about China, the discussion moved to tanagrams. We carried out some research on their origins, made our own from a square of paper, and attempted some silhouette puzzles - with little success! We had better luck copying puzzles that showed how the shapes were arranged.

Waratah felt that the 7 shapes was too restrictive, so we pulled out the pattern blocks, and let our creativity have free reign. This is Waratah's pattern block crab. We discussed its lack of symmetry, and Waratah pointed out that natural objects are rarely exactly symmetrical.

Mulga use some superhero and fire-engine powers to do some colour and shape sorting.

Here is Waratah's final design - a Chrysanthemum, like those he bought me for Mother's Day :)

Dino grrrl

Boronia decides that big brothers have some really interesting toys!

Mother's Day

My annual Mother's Day photo with the kids...

This year, I tried to get a photo of them with Nana, too. However, she is notoriously camera shy, and with three kids all eager to be off on their own agendas, and the late afternoon sun shining on their favourite swing seat, I had to be satisfied with this one overexposed happy snap. By the time I had adjusted the camera to compensate, they were all going, going, gone!

Bike riding with Daddy

Boronia is eager to get her own bike and join in the fun!

Pet Fair and Veterinary Surgery Open Day

After Mass this morning, we visited the University of Sydney Pet Fair and Open Day.

This excursion was very popular and enjoyed by all. The boys got to explore the veterinary surgery - both for native and domestic animals, and get "hands on" with a wide range of pets. They were particularly enthralled by the snake man's demonstration.

Bushwalking - Bennett's Ridge, Euroka

Bushwalk with Blue Mountains homeschoolers to Bennett's Ridge, Euroka, 

followed by a picnic and play with the cheeky kookaburras...

then back in time for soccer training.