Learning On The Go

With their tanks of energy full to the brim after a good night's sleep, all three boys were ready and raring to go this morning.  Seamus sped outside immediately after breakfast to continue building a huge snow fort in the backyard.  Meanwhile, Liam puttered around the kitchen and ended up producing a very fine looking Triple Chocolate Banana Loaf (and an equally fine mess).

We made it through our morning home school session (synonyms and antonyms for Liam and place value for Seamus) by the skin of our teeth given that Alistair (who refused to nap today) spent the whole time banging away in his high chair and trying to scoot it across the kitchen to grab forbidden home school materials off the table.

After lunch it was high time to get out into the beautiful winter sunshine and burn off at least some of their sass.  We headed west to visit the Carleton Place Trailway.  In 2018, the old train route passing over the Mississippi River at the intersection of Mill and Princess Streets was opened to the public as a hiking and snowmobiling trail.  We treked 2 km out and then returned back to where we started.  The trail itself, though straight and plowed with no elevation, was a tough slog through the few inches of snow still left on the ground.  The best part (aside from wearing the boys out) was at the very end when we stopped to read the informational placards about the history of all the mills at that particular spot and another about the grove of medicinal hackberry trees bordering the river.  This was homeschooling at its finest - out and about in the world learning about local history and botany as we go.

While my patience took a beating today, I managed to power through and my boys and I are better for it.