Summer Break...

We finished up most of our summer studies and decided we needed to take a week off before jumping into our official school year.  I know its early to be thinking about starting our "year" but we do this so we can take our BIG "summer" break in the winter time when we make a trip out to see Gramma & Papa and go to DisneyWorld!  We usually take at least 6 weeks off in November and December.

Of course, schooling in the summer is easy when it is hot and miserable outside, too many wasps and bees dive bombing your eyeballs, and EVERYTHING in town is insanely busy.  We take our zoo trips, Discovery Center trips, art museum visits, etc...during the school year when it is quiet.  I do consider that to be one of the biggest perks of homeschooling!

So, anyway, our vacation week has been fun...I've asked the girls what kinds of things they wanted to do this week and they came up with some great ideas:

Painting Pottery...

Exploring the backyard...

Playing in the pool... 

Bowling!

Jump Mania...

Book stores...

DIY Pizza!

We are winding down our "official summer break" and will be starting our "official school year" on Monday!  I'm pretty excited to get started (although I might be the only one!  LOL!!)

Meremec Caverns {Missouri History - Summer School}

To continue with our Missouri History summer studies we had fun learning a bit about caves!  We already knew that Missouri has long been known as "the Cave State" but I didn't realize that MO has over 6400 caves!  That's a LOT!

Meremec Caverns is a pretty fun cave too because it was supposedly a hideout for the James-Younger Gang and they found a ton of stolen loot in there when the water receded...  Before then the cave was used by Civil War soldiers and Quantrill's Raiders!  Oh, and after that it was used as a ball room for dances during the Great Depression!

So, yeah...a flash is useful I'm sure but here is a picture of the girls anyway.  LOL.

Meremec Caverns was a little pricy to get in but the cave tour was over an hour long and really interesting!  We enjoyed it quite a bit!

Bennett Springs {Missouri History - Summer School}

 For Summer we usually try to do things a little bit differently.  We tend to school year round, in fact we NEED to school year round so we have the flexibility of taking off and road-schooling when we please.  We take our "Summer Break" in the winter when we go to Disney World!  

But, we typically get a 6-8 week window in the summer in-between grades to find fun things to do that are still school...but a little like a vacation.  This summer we opted to study Missouri History!  What a great choice because we can pick from a 100 field trip destinations all within a short drive from our home!

I designed our own program of study for state history using this book as a main resource and jumping off point...  (Yes, it's true...I really DO enjoy designing my own plans, weird I know!)

It has been a pretty good resource so far, it is a work text so it can be used as a student workbook, although we have just used it as a guide and backing it up with living books.  We've learned about the ancient inhabitants of this area and read several books to go along with that.  This one was a favorite! It tells the story of a little boy who pays a visit to Cahokia Indian Mounds.

We learned a bit about the plants and animals that are found in Missouri by paying a fun visit to Bennett Springs State Park. 

And learned briefly about mills.  (We will learn a lot more about mills later!)

The girls also discovered what a real prairie was like!  

The grasses are tall and Kayley learned that they are sharp!

Berenstain Bears' Country Cookbook {Booklook Review}

Somewhere deep in bear country....is a cub-friendly cookbook just for your kids!

Believe it or not, I've had this Berenstain Bears Country Cookbook floating around my house for almost 2 months!  I nearly forgot to review it because my 5 year old foodie has carried it around with her all this time!  This adorable cookbook contains 40 kid approved recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and dessert that promise to be a true crowd pleaser!  Cook with Mama Bear (with an adults help of course) and enjoy easy to follow, step-by-step directions to cooking some delicious meals!  Included with each section is a small story straight from the Berenstain Bears!  Your favorite Bear characters are throughout the book as well teaching your child a sweet table blessing, facts about honey, and basic kitchen measurements.

We have tried a couple of these cute recipes and we (ok, I - the Mom) highly recommend the Coca-cola cake!!  Oh, yum yum YUMMY!  If you have kids (or even if you don't) this is a fun little cookbook!

Disclaimer:  I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed here are my very own.