Brazil Update.

Well, we finally made our journey today to South America. Although we had already begun to study the animals and habitat of the rain forest, we had not officially made it to Brazil yet. While we visited today we really went full force and did everything we could. In fact we crammed 3 weeks into one! We're tired. :-)

So, how did our travels go?

We had a blast! We discussed the different ways we could get from Canada to Brazil and decided that boat would be fun. I got a great idea while we talked to make it into a CRUISE!!! So, after stamping our passports, I gave them their own "Brazilian Cruise Line" card so that they could enjoy themselves while they travelled.

Of course I made the whole check in process a little intimidating and made them line up to get into the boat. Then, once the "doors" were opened I acted like they had just come to one big huge party. :-) I offered them hot chocolate and cookies and told them their card entitled them to anything they'd like.

YES, I really was that daring! (of course the mom side of me came in plenty to say no. Certain things were "unavailable" and "already reserved") Afterword I directed them to their "cabin" and told them they could relax anytime they wanted. I then told them there was an event going on in the "theater" soon and they were welcome to come to that. I mentioned the games and fun, etc. going on. I also directed them to "try not to pay attention to the waves" as the waters can get rough. After the theater event (don't laugh, this is what I showed...it is about the stuff that we consume. It's actually not a bad presentation if you can get past the fact that we cause global warming. I did like the "consumption" part with the "golden arrow". It's about 20min long if you're interested. Let's just say, I think my children were interested in it only because we don't have a tv. tee hee hee). Anyway, after the "show" I offered them to stop off in the Caribbean to snorkel in the ocean. It worked out very well, as I took them into our bathroom & turned off the lights - we have a fish picture that lights up and a fish tank in there, so we just pretended to swim and found all of the different ocean creatures, turtles, crab,etc.

It was fun. Afterword they used their "magic card" to get some fish crackers. They had enough time to read a book, then we were at Brazil!

Once we were "off the ship," we colored our flags, did a crossword puzzle, and read a lot about South America.

It took us a good amount of time, but hey, we had a GREAT time!!

So, where are we at for school?

We have already done one week of science, but plan to do two weeks together probably on Thursday. We're struggling getting the experiments done, since there is 8 inches of snow on the ground and studying the tropical rain forest by planting seeds just doesn't seem to fit very well. Eventually I'm sure we'll get to them.

Let's see...did the first week of Bible. We might do the rest tomorrow, but we're super busy tomorrow, so it might be finished up Friday. We'll just do two weeks together again. I'm thankful that we have implemented the "devotional time" every day so I don't feel guilty cramming bible altogether.

We started our read aloud.

Haven't done art projects yet.

Listened to first weeks song for music.

Vocabulary for three weeks is done.

If you haven't noticed, we have not been very good about doing our nature walks.

But, we have gotten better about the book basket time. :-)

As for math & english, we have been working on them, but my main focus is getting through My Fathers World stuff. Because Math and English can always be done any time.

And...I haven't mentioned this yet, but I have some news for after baby. Some things are going to change around a little. More on this later...

In the meantime, we're happy to be in one of the most amazing and interesting places in the world to study. There are so many different and strange animals that hang out in the rain forest - not to mention people who live there. If you're looking for us, we're hanging out in the amazon river, probably lounging on a lilly pad or something. :-)

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{Edited: I just feel like I need to say, I'm NOT trying to promote the video we watched. My sweet husband was not happy that I let my children watch this, as we both disagree with most of it. I just figure I've spent a lot of time discussing this subject with my son that he has a pretty good understanding of the whole thing. I think there is a balance to understanding our role in the environment. I blame the fact that someone sent it to me and I had planned to watch it anyway & being pregnant I didn't have time to really think about what to do while we went "cruising" to Brazil...it was just easier to watch it then. The kids run to watch whatever I put on, regardless. Blah blah...I'm not endorsing the video for you to show to your children. Just needed to put a caveat. Thanks.}