Forting Up

 I added a bucket on a pulley to the boys tree fort a week or two ago.

I wondered about adding anything when they have not really been using it much but I always wanted a tree house with a bucket on a pulley…

watch unload together spy
They actually figured out that they could just hang out up there(something they usually do on the ground) and stayed up in the fort for a while.

My oldest wanted to haul things in the bucket over and over but my youngest thought going up the climbing wall over and over was too tiring.

They are so different.

snack pull pole low lifting lift hoast fort fill

I bought the pulley set at Harbor Freight.

It is has three pulley’s and is made for a lot of weight.

Since I do not really want my boys lifting 100+ pounds with it and the lines kept twisting, I redid it so the rope is only using one pulley.

I am glad my husband was around to suggest that!

I thought I would need to buy a different pulley…

HA!

feet climb4 climb3 climb2 climb bucket bench

It was not long before my oldest told his little brother to get in the bucket and he would haul him up…

I am glad I stayed outside so I could veto that action and make sure they understood that people were not to be hauled up!

Boys…

Ancient China, Gunpowder, and Paper.

china

*This post contains Amazon Associate links

We touched on China BC, here.

This time we were learning about the beginning of Gunpowder, Paper, and China’s three Kingdoms in the 1st century AD

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #31: China: Land of the Emperor’s Great Wall: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #14: Day of the Dragon King (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))
is made to go with the Magic Tree House book “Day Of The Dragon-King (Magic Tree House 14, paper)” but it has a lot of information that was helpful for this study as well.

We also got “The Story of Paper” by Ying Chang Compestine.

I had planned to try to make paper with the boys but when it came down to it what I wanted to do proved to be too much work for me to jump in on.

I found resources for Gunpowder hard to come by but here are two interesting video clips we found on the history channel’s site,

Gunpowder: A Brief Big History

Gunpowder to Guns

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I did decide to delve into Chinese Characters and Mandarin this time though.

characters6

The boys had a lot of fun trying out different characters for numbers.

characters5

The book they used is “The First 100 Chinese Characters: Simplified Character Edition: The Quick and Easy Way to Learn the Basic Chinese Characters (Tuttle Language Library)”.

characters2

We used Tuttle Chinese for Kids Flash Cards Kit Vol 1 Simplified Character: [Includes 64 Flash Cards, Downloadable Audio, Wall Chart & Learning Guide]: Simplified Character v. 1 (Tuttle Flash Cards) to learn some Mandarin.

I have the Early Start Mandarin Chinese with Bao Bei the Panda
videos for children that are great at teaching words and phrases but they proved too young for the boys now.

I was a little sad they are too big for them.

I remember how much they liked them when they were little and how great they are at teaching Mandarin!

chopsticks

I had the boys try out chopsticks for the first time as well!

It did not go well with my youngest…

HA!

If you want to see other resources that I saved but did not get to, check out my Pinterest board for Ancient History, here.

Springtime at Ray Harral Nature Park~ Broken Arrow, OK

walking

Ray Harral Nature Park is a great place to go for easy trails in a beautiful setting.

The Nature Center is a great learning environment and it is located right in the city!

together

It is located east of Elm Place on 121st(Tucson).

You turn into the school to get to the main parking lot.

path

This is such a great time to go!

The weather is not too hot and the bugs are not too bad.

snake

We saw a harmless Northern Rough Green Snake while on our walk.

hanging

There are a couple pavilions to eat at on the trail as well.

pathways

trees

wisteria

Everything is so pretty right now!

floweringtree

dogwood

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daffy

azaleas

steps

Do you live in the BA/Tulsa area?

Have you ever been to Ray Harral?