Welcome to TwoCowgirls, the blog about our crazy life in Downtown Saint Paul!

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Homeschool Mystery Day

As I gear up for the new school year, I'm trying to think of ways to spice things up a bit.  This year will be very different than the past two, because everything we're doing is different (more on that another day!).  I was inspired by this post, and decided to incorporate Homeschool Mystery Day into our year!



Here's what will happen:

On Mystery Day, I'll have a whiteboard easel propped up on the kitchen table.  When the kids wake up, they'll immediately see that it's Mystery day!  Weee!  On the board will be instructions (what should they wear?  What should they pack?), they'll get ready, and we'll be off on an adventure!

Here's what I have planned for the 2013-2014 school year:

September: Visit the LeDuc Mansion.  This is the home of a Civil War officer, and is perfectly preserved as it was in 1865.  Since we'll be wrapping up our unit study on the Civil War, this is a perfect historical outing.  For fun, we'll hit the dairy across the street afterwards for a $1 milkshake!

October: Lily And Her Purple Plastic Purse at Stages Theater.  Elise loves this book, and has never been to the theater.  It'll be so much fun for all of us!

November: Caddie Woodlawn Historic Site. This site is about an hour and a half away in Wisconsin.  We've been reading Caddie Woodlawn, and the girls love it so much, I know they'll be thrilled to see the actual house she grew up in!!

December: Attend an event at "The Castle".  They usually have some sort of Tomten storytime, or something along that line around Christmas.

January: Go to a miniature store. Millie is in love with miniatures.  Both kids will get a kick out of seeing an entire store filled with tiny versions of...everything!

February: Warm up at the Como Conservatory.  This time of year, we'll be dying for some steamy, tropical weather.  This will be just the ticket!

March: Go on rides at Nickelodeon Universe. Tuesdays, unlimited ride wristbands are only $12ish.  We'll head out there on a Tuesday, and have fun fun fun!

April: Explore Fort Snelling State Park. By now, we'll be sooooo over winter.  This will be a good way to get out and (hopefully) see some melting snow, and signs of spring!

May: Day Camp at Lake Elmo Park Reserve.  We'll be wrapping up school, and our unit on outdoor survival.  We'll spend the day at a camp site, pitch a tent, swim, roast hotdogs and marshmallows over a fire, and play campfire games.

That's it for the school year!  I might just have to keep going through the Summer, too.  There are so many fun things to do for Mystery day, I want to make sure we get to all of them :)

Here are a few other ideas I have for the upcoming years:


Do you have any other ideas for me to add to my list?


Sunday, July 7, 2013

Our Summer So Far






Summer is going by so fast!  Someone please tell it to slow down!

Although it doesn't seem to me that we've had a lot of  "memory making moments" this summer, looking back on these pictures makes me feel better about things. :)




Elise learned that she loves climbing rocks and trees.













We went to the Back to the 50's kick off party at Mears Park.  Bud took them to the actual Back to the 50's show the next weekend.  They had a blast!












The kids spent 4 days at "farm camp".  They built boats, made a fort up in the rafters of the old chicken coop, played with kitties and chicks, played on the swing, and spent quality time with their cousins and grandparents.  












We finally made it to the cheese curd festival in Ellsworth, Wisconsin!  We drive through Ellsworth every year, usually the weekend after the festival.  This year, we actually put it on the calendar, and made it for the parade, cheese curds, barrel train ride, music, and games.  I love this picture of Bud sitting under a Budweiser sign eating cheese curds in the cheese curd capital of the world!






















That night we went to the farm to play with out (perfectly legal, of course!) fireworks.  










4th of July parade in Wannamingo, followed up with a fun picnic and birthday celebration for Millie.







































Lots of summertime randomness: