School projects and trips

On Monday the girls, my mom and I went to the Jeffers Petroglyphs. It's a historical site west of New Ulm where archaeologists discovered Native American carvings into the rocks in the hillside. The site is virtually in the middle of nowhere aka the prairie; mom and I thought were were lost getting there. But then the sign for the place appeared and we rejoiced. ☺

A home schooling family volunteers at the site, and they host monthly home school days. On this day the father of the family taught the students how to use and make an atlatl--an ancient spear throwing weapon. The girls enjoyed making their atlatls, and then they got to practice using them and throwing wooden spears at a fake buffalo.

 Paige and Grandma Lori, about to throw with their atlatl. Emma in the foreground with her back to the camera.

 Our fellow home schoolers waiting their turn.

Grandma and Paige, again.

I would have taken more pictures (and tried to get a decent one of Emma) but my battery died in the process. So there aren't any pictures of the carvings. But admittedly they were difficult to see in the bright sun. We walked past them and around the trail, and my mom's and my conversation went something like this:  "Umm, can you see them?" "No." she said. "Okay. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Maybe we're not cultured enough?" *Laughing to myself* After a longer glance the pictures did start to show themselves. We rejoiced again. ☺

It wasn't a great day for pictures and/or carvings, but it WAS a great day to walk the trails to the carvings and throw spears--very beautiful weather-wise. Yay for field trips!
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For our Botany class this year we have to grow herbs and make tea and soaps out of them. It took some hunting for me to find the seeds in the fall. (Thank you to my facebook friends for suggesting Burpee and Gurnee. Burpee came through for me!)

After my seeds arrived I just had to have David help me build...okay, have HIM build a light hut for the seeds to grow in. As of Wednesday our seeds are planted and tucked into their new homes. Now comes the waiting to see if they will sprout. I'm not a gardener of any sort, and indoor plants ALWAYS die for me. It will be interesting to see if these little seeds thrive.

 All planted and labeled. Is it weird to admit that it kind of bothered me that I had 8 pots and only 7 fit in the round container for drainage? *wink*

 Our various items needed for our plant growing.

 The light hut! It's a shipping box lined with aluminum foil with a light bulb in the top.

Here is their growing environment. Grow, my little seeds! You can do it! ☺