Term Three: Week Five ~

Week five was a rather eclectic week as we marked the halfway point of the term.

We spent an afternoon enjoying "The Composer is Dead" by Lemony Snicket. The boys especially liked hearing Lemony Snicket's voice as he narrated the story. 

The older boys worked hard on their IEW paragraphs this week. 

We discovered jellyfish in the river by our house. The top picture is a bit hard to see so the black arrow is meant to help you find the jellyfish. 

Munchkin and I enjoyed playing Qwixx together. 

 We enjoyed a lovely visit with a dear friend, who came Tuesday afternoon, bringing belated birthday gifts and delicious afternoon tea for all of us. 

 It was a hands-on math week for the Munchkin. He enjoyed a volume page that involved pouring water - because anything with water is SUPER fun!

He also had a "passage of time" page to complete where he had to time how long it took him to complete certain activities - in this case - how many star jumps/jumping jacks he could complete in one minute. 

Hard at work practicing their handwriting. 

They enjoyed a yoga session one afternoon... 

We admired some brave Rainbow Lorikeets as we walked home from the library Thursday afternoon. 

Friday was rainy and cool, so we skipped our homeschool group (it was cancelled anyway due to the weather) and the boys spent the day playing various games with Nana. 

 This week we enjoyed new Graeme Base books along with the Lemony Snicket book...

 Monkey enjoyed these read alouds as part of his history and geography units...

 And Munchkin enjoyed some new picture books...

Term Three: Week Four ~ Botanical Gardens Excursion

Week four was a BIG and exciting week for us! I decided we needed to get out of the house and go on an excursion.  I had seen an "ad" online for a fun science event at the Botanical Gardens, so we packed up early Monday morning and headed out.

Monster and Monkey worked hard to put together Monkey's 3-D puzzle he received for Christmas from a friend. She is coming over next week for a visit, to belatedly give Monkey his birthday gifts since she couldn't attend his birthday party this year, and to enjoy afternoon tea with us. Monkey wanted to be able to show off his work when she arrived, so he enlisted Monster's help. Once it was finished we put it in a safe place to wait for display the following week. 

Monday dawned sunny and beautiful. Perfect weather for a day in the city. All of us were excited to discover a cruise ship in the Harbour when we arrived. 

We did some bee chasing as we headed to the Calyx in the Botanical Gardens. Sadly, when we arrived at the Botanical Gardens, we discovered that all the cool activities I had read about online were actually held the previous Saturday. The website was VERY misleading. But there is SO much to do in the gardens on a daily basis, that the trip was NOT wasted. I vowed to pay closer attention to the website from here on out, and we headed out to explore and learn on our own. 

The plant of the month - we enjoyed reading the information and checking out the tree. 

I LOVE photographing the beautiful flowers in the garden. 

 There was MUCH excitement when we discovered this sundial.

This bird (perhaps a cormorant??) was perched on the lookout at the main pond in the gardens. 

No trip to the Botanical Gardens in complete without visiting the eels... read information about them below!! 

We checked out the beautiful succulents garden. 

After our picnic lunch the boys enjoyed chasing each other and playing tips (tag) in the grass. 

More beautiful flowers... 

The South African garden was our next stop... 

I must be a Mom Of Boys - I get excited about plants called Slime Lily!! 

I absolutely LOVE proteas! 

Our last stop for the day was the Pollination exhibit at the Calyx. When we arrived in the morning there was a school group so we gave them space and time (since they would be on a schedule to return to school) and went back in the late afternoon when we could take our time and not have to share everything with 30+ other students. 

Excitement all around when we found these ducks that look dramatically different to the ducks in the river near our house. We learned they are Wood Ducks and they let us get quite close to them to take these photographs. 

As we left the gardens and headed on to other activities for the day, we had to stop and admire the statue of Pan. Monster remembered that Grandmama (my mum) photographed him when she visited six years ago. 

An opportunity to take some beautiful evening photographs of the Harbour while we waited for our train. The boys were thrilled that Luna Park turned on the lights BEFORE the train arrived. 

A brotherly game of Blokus. 

Munchkin enjoyed working with the Lego Chain Reaction kit. 

 We had a random half-day stomach upset...

Monkey worked hard on his math this week... 

And just when I thought I could pack away the wooden train set... 

We read LOTS and LOTS of books this week!!