Friday Rocket Man was home from his new job in Florida and we planned a trip to Table Rock.  It’s a short drive and I’m wanting to get my fill of all this beautiful country before we leave it for Florida.  I’m sure there will be lots of adventures there but the Foothills of SC are just gorgeous.  Especially in the spring and fall.  Summers are spent at the lake playing with our friends, The Harris’.

So Friday we visited a small place and saw The Rock Man, The Glass Lady, The Reptile Man, and had the best ice cream and hamburgers we’ve had in a while.

Most of the pictures were taken in Rock Man’s shop.  We spent hours in there.  He’s such a great guy.  Last week he came to our Classical Conversations Group and gave a presentation on rocks, crystals and minerals.

I had the camera for a bit but then it was taken out of my hands and my youngest son took pictures.  He did a pretty good job.

One of our favorite parts was being introduced to the pocket flute (tin whistle but wooden).  We purchased two while there.  I love the sound of Rocket Man’s.  It’s so beautiful……

So here’s our day in pictures…

Just for fun…..can you name any of these???









I took this looking through a glass kalidiescope.   It turned out so cool.

My son took this photo.  I loved the way he saw the light and photographed it.  Maybe I’ll raise a photographer yet.


I admit, our house is crazy.  Some seem so calm but ours is wild.  But every once in a while God will give me a glimpse of what I’m trying to teach them……to love and look out for one another.  Here baby girl gets a lift up to see the flavors of icecream available to try.


Lovely without makeup…….Rocket Man, me and the new flute.




Looks fun, huh?
It was.  We hope to go back soon.

The morning began cloudy and rainy…..well drizzling rain.  A day that was made for a late start to homeschooling and a deeper snuggle in the bed.  But it was not to be….

It was field trip day and we were to be there at 9:15am.

Sometimes I wonder why I do things to myself.

Tap, tap!  Do you?

But my chilly pessimistic attitude began to change as caffeine kicked in and I was able to drag the four kids out of the bed by their hair.

Just kidding there guys.

Rocket Man decided to go with us.  I love it when he goes on field trips with us but sometimes He and field trips don’t mix well.  The unspoken "Something will always go wrong"  bypasses him.  It’s unspoken between homeschool moms especially where field trips are concerned.   And directions?  I won’t even go there!

We made it safely to "the other side of the world" and were greeted by this fellow.

All the kids were given corn to feed the animals.  This guys was the bully in the bunch.

Must be the horns.

After feeding the animals we headed straight for the "milk the fake cow" race.  Now this was a hoot and the girls won!  You rock girls!!

Baby boy who just turned 8 (sniff, sniff)…….

Baby Girl hard at work…

Then big brother’s turn…

Then middle brother’s turn…


One of our Classical Conversations tutors shows off a few photos.  She’s a mom too!

These guys watched while we raced ducks….
Aren’t they beautiful??

Duck racing…………




Then off to mine for gems!!





Next was the hay ride and as always it’s without hay.  Funny how it always is that way.  Guess I’m glad though.  Hay can be awfully prickly on the ole buns.


Then everyone had to scream to get "Old Bessy" running.  It reminded me of "Bus Driver, move that bus!"


This is one of my best friends.  She’s a beautiful Child of the KING.  I just love her transparency.  Hey beautiful!  Bet you didn’t know I snapped photos of you did ya?

Some of you may recognizer her as The Scooper.
This is her serious look.  Beautiful here too!  And applied makeup in the car which I thought so unfair as I wore NONE.

"Farmer Brown" fed his hand raised family of deer.

Yep, that’s a ten point buck for all you hunters out there.

Next we learned about growing pumpkins.  I really enjoyed this part.  We just studied seeds so it was wonderful to hear the children’s questions.


And the whole gang once we got back, had ice cream and got our very own tiny pumpkin…

Check back in soon.  I have a great contest coming up with prizes from BEEYOUTIFUL.  Love those guys.

That’s how long it feels like it’s been since I last posted.  Between homeschool, class on Tuesday, couponing, football and the rest of life I have no extra time.  And what extra time I do have is spent cleaning, cooking or sleeping.

Can any one relate?
Tap, tap….
Anyone there…..?

We did manage to get to the apple orchard one day last week.
Fun…..

Oh I can’t stand the thought of thinking about lesson plans, starting school and all that jazz.
I’m thinking I’d rather be here…




God, can summer last a little longer this year???

Thursday was field trip day.

And it’s the perfect time of year to take one.

The flowers were AMAZING…

While we were standing on the bridge this big fellow surfaced.

And then a guy on his lunch break came to fish.  He must have caught 25 of these in the 30 minutes we watched him fish.  Each one he threw back into the river.  He did catch a bass too and we saw a HUGE coy (sp?) at the bottom of the river near the rocks.

I wondered why this guy was so much fluffier than all his friends.  Different kind?  Likes his winter coat?  Hmm….

This was a special treasure we found.  Duck eggs

The ducks ate bread right from our hands.

These sweet fellows were the hit of the day.

We spent quite a while on the bridge watching and feeding them.

Son #2 found a squirrel nest way up high in a tree and pulled baby girl along since she’s broken her arm.

He even posed for a picture or two.

Don’t they look sweet???

Here’s one of the bridges where we saw the baby ducks.

And to our surprise the water park portion was open and running.  At first it was "Lets see who can go through without getting wet."  But that soon turned into "How wet can we get?"

See what I mean?

Not sure what this was at one time but it was a cool place to imagine knights and dragons.

This is on our way back to the car to go and get icecream.

And this one cracks me up because son ##1 is looking at that guy like he’s real.

See son #3 peeking out from behind the guy with glasses???  He’s a ham.

Now if this isn’t a place to rest and read a book I’ve never seen one.
Visit the Reedy River if you are ever near Greenville, SC.  It’s a great place.

I’m amazed that firstborns are anywhere close to normal functioning adults.
Our sweet son has certainly broken us in where parenting is concerned.
Even though we had our second born 13 months after first born we still have a very big firstborn child.

And bless his heart, he’s been our homeschool experiment too.  I’ve changed curriculum and plowed through things that didn’t work.  And this year we’ve finally settled into ABEKA and are doing great. 

But at the first of the year we struggled and I went looking for help.  I found it at Sylvan Learning Center and we have loved our experience there.  Our firstborn is now performing above grade level and is such a joy to to homeschool. 

You know, sometimes as a homeschool mom I think I have to do it all.  And sometimes that doesn’t serve my kids very well.  I’m learning to ask for help when I need it.  I’m so thankful for the Lord leading us to Sylvan for this time in our lives.  It’s been a great experience for us.

So I encourage any of you moms out there who need help.  It’s okay to ask!
Julie