Field Trip: Titanic Exhibit

We visited the Titanic Exhibit that is on display at the NC Science museum in Raleigh.  We went there once a number of years ago - but its been awhile and we were looking forward to seeing it again!

 A fun display for photo ops.

 George serves as a stand-in.  lol

 We were there on the 101st anniversary of when it was sailing.  It was wild and sobering to think that on this very day people were on this ship so many years ago, happy and enjoying the beauty of the vessel.

 There were no photos allowed in the exhibit so I don't have much to show you.  We were each given a ticket when we entered the exhibit.

 It was the ticket of an actual passenger on the ship.  The ticket listed the name, age and a little bit about the person.

It was interesting to all of us to find out more about "our person".  Most of us survived, but not all in our family.  Eliana had the card of the "oldest living Titanic survivor" who just died in 2009.

Some of the people in the exhibit were wonderfully helpful and informative and others seemed a bit stressed by the crowds.  One of the silliest comments I've ever heard in an educational setting happened this day.  Near the beginning of the exhibit there was a bottleneck of people waiting to get in.  (And nobody was complaining about the wait, we were all just waiting.)  I then heard one of the docents say to the other that the delay was  because "they are all stopping to read the information.  We are going to have to get them to stop reading the signs".  Seriously?!  lol

Thankfully the design and flow of the exhibit was much improved from this point on so that we could stop and read and enjoy learning more.  There are artifacts and photographs from the ship.  There is also a large iceberg that you can put your hand on to get an idea of how cold the water was that night.

It is an informative and sobering exhibit.  I do recommend it if you are in the area.  I highly recommend going in the afternoon.  It was quite busy in the morning and very quiet in the afternoon.

After touring, we went outside to have a picnic lunch.  There were so many groups there that day.  We decided that the next time we went back to the museum that it should be in the afternoon when it really cleared out.

I bought two books about the Titanic since the boys seemed really interested.  They poured over these books when we got home too!  Love it when a new book is really enjoyed!

We decided to go back in and explore the newest area of the science museum.  Another photo op with the Titanic exhibit.

 This new area is fabulous.  Very colorful and lots of things to explore.  Loved all of the hands-on exhibits.

 There was more to see than we had time for that day.  It will be fun to return on another day.

 Thankful for these resources in our backyard!  We are so fortunate!

Blessings

Leslie

Beyond FIAR co-op: Neil Armstrong #2

For our second meeting while covering the book Neil Armstrong, we covered chapters 4-6.  The topics chosen from these chapters were knots and map skills.  We have found that it has worked well for our group to have two moms teaching each co-op and each mom takes a topic to develop.  Sometimes it works to just tackle one larger one as well.  

So our morning started with knots.  Everyone got a rope, though it looks like someone wasn't sure of that in this photo.  LOL

 They took time to practice making several different kinds of knots.

 For some this was familiar and for others it was new.

 This is a stopper knot.  Its the one that I learned (and remembered) from that morning.  I really like the way that it looks - all neat and tidy.  :-)

 I love hands-on learning and so does this group.

 Lots of interest in this activity - and that was without knowing what lay ahead of them too!

 They focused on 3 different knots and this was one of them.  I think it is the square knot.  (They did learn more than this though.)

 Love seeing little Eliana trying to tie a knot too!

 Now it was time to put their new found knowledge to the test!

 They divided into 3 teams for a relay race.

 The name of a knot was called out and each person on the team - one at a time raced down to tie on the knot.

 Any knots that weren't correct were taken off so that it could be tried again.

 And if you weren't sure, you could get some help from a teammate.

 What a fun way to practice knots!

 These are some of the books that were used.

 Next we moved onto map making.

 After some discussion, every had a turn at making their own map.

 Its always neat to see the differences in each person's projects!

 Some were  embellished.

 Some added lots of color.

 All were creative and unique.

 Some were from favorite stories.

 We celebrated a birthday during our snack time.  What a fun way to spend a special day - with lots of friends.

Another fun morning of learning.  Homeschooling with Beyond Five in a Row is so much fun!

Blessings
Leslie

Easter week-end

We spent the week-end in Virginia with our dear friends that moved here almost 6 years ago.  Its been a fun tradition for most of those years.  I'm glad we have time to spend together and just wish that it was more than we are able to squeeze in.  (More often!)

We spent our time just playing together and having fun.  No huge plans.  Just relaxing and we all had a great time.  I love seeing the mix of ages playing together.   (And especially the older ones with the younger ones.)

From tag...

To board games.

 Inside or outside.  There was plenty to do.

 Eliana and her constant friend George on the slide.

 Playing Can Jam.  (Christopher's birthday gift)

 We all took a turn at this game.

 Some were better than others.

 The game is played in teams of two.

Aim and skill are both important.  

Even the moms took a turn playing.  I did like it but I'm not very good.

 Friends having fun.

 The girls have been friends their whole lives (the older two of course).

 After spending a fun day playing outside.

 Testing our skills.

 And hoping for a good throw.

 It was time for a different kind of fun.

Sweet fun.

 S'mores outside are always a hit.

 Our days were beautiful.  Enos are a favorite with our family and we like to share with friends.

 We had an egg hunt for the younger children.

 Eliana loved finding eggs.

 She likes to collaborate with her buddy Caleb too.

 We color coded the eggs so that each child knew to look for a certain color.

 Yum.  Finding the goodies inside was a lot of fun.  She was much more interested in them this time.

 I think they cleaned out their eggs in one sitting.  LOL

 After dinner, we played outside waiting for it to get dark.

 Four square, scooters, chalk and more kept everyone occupied.

 Testing out my night setting.

 Once it was dark, we had a fun surprise for the older ones - a flashlight egg hunt!  They had lanterns, flashlights and a glow in the dark wand for one princess.

 I tried to take pictures, but between the darkness and the quick movements, it was hard.

 I did manage a few though.

 We counted out the eggs so that we knew how many there were to find.

 Amazingly, they found them all too!

 Though the last few were a little challenging!

 This was fun and I think the start of a new tradition.  I enjoy finding ways to keep the holidays fun no matter what your age!

 Easter morning and time to get dressed up.  Wish I had gotten a better picture of our princess (again with her constant companion).

 Rebecca is fabulous with styling hair and loves to help out the little ones.

 Pretty girls - inside and out.

 With their Daddies.

 All of the girls.  Is anyone surprised that the boys didn't want a picture of themselves?  LOL

 Family photo just before it starts to rain.

 This is fuzzy, but too cute not to share!  The tomb that was guarded now is opened and empty!  He is risen indeed!

 We share a delicious lunch.  Note the cute "carrot"  napkins that the older girls made for our meal.

 Thanks Couch family for a wonderful week-end!  We look forward to our next time together!

Love  
the Nelsens