Hiking in Minnesota at Christmas time

It was a little chilly in Minnesota this Christmas but we still had some nice days to hike!

maplewood1stThis was our first hike.

Maplewood State Park Woodland Trail.

maplewoodcome maplewoodmaddie maplewoodme maplewoodusYou get pretty warm wading through thick snow!

I made Nick go first so he had the hard part of breaking the trail.

That is the nice person that I am…

hillupSince it was a short hike, we hiked up to the Halloway Hill Overlook also.

One of these days this hike will seem easy.

In that day I will know I have turned into a superhuman…

hillsumac nick hilloverlookThe view is always worth it!

I might not be thinking that while hiking up that hill but once at the top I am good!

tamaracOur boys, two of my nephews, and my mother in-law joined us for a trip to the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge.

We went on the Old Indian Trail.

The visitor center was closed for renovations.

I am looking forward to checking it out the next time we head up!

tamaracboys tamaracboysstopIt was a bit of a rough hike for some of them but we made it!

It would just feel wrong if I did not hike while up in Minnesota!

Such a beautiful place!

School in December

With the holidays we did not get much school done but here is a peek into what our month looked like.

writing book

We finally got a new board for our All About Spelling tiles.

spellingI tried to make do with a small one to save space but it was just not cutting it!

I hung this one on the back of the door with command strips.

spelling2They recommend hanging it horizontally but I did not have a space.

It seems to work just fine vertically.

math math2 math3Math time!

noah pouringWe were learning about the flood so we re-enacted it.

I had wanted to do this on a larger scale outside but it turned cold so we improvised.

fossilsWe used clay and some plastic animals to make “fossils”.

fossilbook insidebookWe have been reading through “Dry bones and other Fossils” for our science.

I really like this book, it offers a Christian perspective of fossils.

dirtWe did the project from the book about how dirt and rock layers are made.

layers pourdirt dirtlayers

I am looking forward to a normal month of school!

We are almost done with our math book!

I will be so happy when we have finished the next book!

Trying to finish two in one school year has limited our field trip days more than I would like!

*We foundĀ  a really good Imagination Station episode on the Tower of Babel called “The Tower“.

It was really great at making the story come alive!

I brought Minnesota home!

I will admit it, I was pouting people.

It seemed like the whole country was getting snow but us!

But then I woke up to snow!

I know not everyone in the south is excited about snow but this northern girl is!

snugglesHe barely tolerates me…

tickles

snowflakeI finally played with the lens extender my husband bought me.

It makes my 50mm a macro.

Although it is difficult to get sharp pics, it is a lot of fun!

Stay warm!