The Lundy 5

Just one typical unschooling conversation from our amusement park day. You do this too (whether you think of it as schooling, unschooling, life learning, or whatevering, or not). No need to classify every "subject" covered, but you could. I don't recommend it though, as you'd miss the point. Lizzy: Let's ride Ricochet! Matt: No, it says rick-o-chet. Josh: No, you say rick-o-shay. Matt: But it's spelled chet. Lizzy: But in some languages et says ay. Matt: Well let's ride it. (Note: parents not needed) Allen: We have to split up for this one. Josh: Let's go 4 & 2. Margie: [holds up 5 fingers] Josh: I meant 3 & 2! (No comment) After riding. Josh: That was way better than it looked! Allen: That was one of the scariest rides! Margie: I was actually scared. Those hairpin turns were crazy! Lizzy: And there were no rails so it looked like you'd fall right off the edge! Allen: Felt like it too. Josh: But you can't because [launches into a very l...

While browsing Harvest Hosts for an overnight stop in our upcoming travels, I saw that one was very close to our campground. It was an alpaca farm and they were having their annual shearing that weekend. What a treat! We got to check out the farm and see the alpacas and a llama being sheared. They looked so funny! And now we can add alpaca shearing to our list of unique experiences!

At DSP, we're doing seven days of sharing , for the Scraptacular Seventh Birthday Bash ! So I'm sharing on the blog as well. Day 1: Share your ONE favorite photo. This is my current favorite, not that it's framed well or lighted well, could be much better! But because it looks like a painting, which was just how it looked from the boat on our recent boat ride . The (not super clean & clear!) water was like glass and made it beautiful! Day 2: Share TWO favorite birthday memories 1-My surprise bday party at McDonald's when I was maybe 10 or 11? Couldn't figure out why my mom wanted me to dress up better to just run to McD's for lunch and was shocked to see people there! 2-Lizzy's 11th this year. Her bday is Jan 1 so everyone is always busy (out of school too) and we do low key parties anyway. And she's wanted a pool party, but yeah, Jan 1! But this year we had friends and the grandparents at our campground, so we had a nighttime pool party ! She l...

The weather and fire finally cleared and we got to hike into Tallulah Gorge , though it was more bouldering than hiking. We already walked down the HUNDREDS of steps down to the bottom of the gorge with my friend Lisa and her daughter earlier, then back up the HUNDREDS of step to the top. This time, in between the HUNDREDS of steps down then HUNDREDS back up, we crossed the river (on boulders) and hiked (bouldered) to the sliding falls. It was crazy, but of course fun. And this time, again, there was a big payoff at the end. Although it was a bit cold, again, my hearty swimmers had to slide down the rocks at Bridal Veil Falls! Lizzy and I opted to watch and take photos. The river, rocks, waterfalls, cliffs, and trees make this gorge, well, gorgeous! This is where they filmed parts of Deliverance (so of course we had to watch that, and now Josh is learning Dueling Banjos on guitar). The scenes where they wrecked their canoes, swam the rapids, lost one man, injured another, and c...

Since Tallulah Gorge was closed again , a ranger suggested the Panther Creek Trail (part of the US Forest Service) and it was great! It was long, but we took plenty of time, and lunch, and snacks, and water, all because there would be falls to play in at the end. The payoff was definitely worth it to our hearty swimmers. It was cold, but they had to do it! They had a blast playing in, around, on, and under the falls. We also did a bit of geocaching , which is always fun. Jack got to go on this hike and was one happy dog. Here are a few favorite pics. Slide show below with more. More pics...

While we were at Tallulah Gorge, we were stuck for WEEKS unable to get down into the gorge! The hike in is by permit only and of course it says extreme, so we were in! But first it rained and was closed for days. Then there was a controlled burn that seemed to last forever. We didn't see or smell smoke for days, so I admit we grumbled a bit about not getting to hike. On this day, after yet another day of no permits, a ranger suggested an alternate hike nearby. On the way there, we saw a bit of smoke and then realized yeah, glad we didn't hike in that! Of course the kids learned all about controlled burns and how fire actually helps the forest. We've seen such fires all across the country. So we waited (a bit more patiently) until the gorge would open for hiking.