Voyageurs National Park- Minnesota

Most of Voyageurs National Park is only accessible by boat so we rented a canoe and took off for a day. The weather in the midwest at this time was awful so we didn't get a chance to see as much of the park as we had hoped but my kids love canoeing so it was a win! *Less the fact that we were tossed around during the start of a lightning storm and some pretty intense waves.* Lesson learned, check the forecast. You can explore more with tours but coming prior to the start of the tourist season really limited our ability to explore more of the park. In the end, we would definitely come back to this area- I'd recommend visiting in mid June- Labor Day.

The girls did a nature study and played with algae, water bugs and observed several loons on the lake. We paddled to Beaver Island as well as a few other smaller islands around. Athena really enjoyed the park and rates it on her top ten with Yellowstone and Arches.

What really stood out at Voyageurs and that really caught my attention was the visitor center at Rainy Lake! The visitor center has been set up to really engage kids and they celebrate Jr. Rangers. Not only did the kids receive a patch and a badge (which is pretty rare in the West unless NPS changed this) but they were also given a moose head eraser and a pencil. There were also crafts and drawing where the kids could make bracelets.

We also spent some time at the Duluth Children's Museum which is free with an ASTC membership. It's a nice museum and has a lot of science- hydraulics, lifts, tinkering and locks. Going into the Great Lake states it was a good first introduction to how the locks and shipping industry work together. It really helped A1 understand the transportation of food and goods in the Midwest.

The Duluth Children's Museum- is probably best for kids under the age of five, maybe up to seven if they enjoy tinkering or have a friend.

Wisconsin- Amnicon Falls State Park

If anyone has a chance to visit Amnicon Falls State Park in Wisconsin, I would take the chance. The girls spent the morning exploring and enjoying the ecology. Wisconsin State Parks offer a Junior Ranger program but the girls rejected the program and spent the day hiking and finding their own trails. A2 slipped while hiking and wound up with a large bruise and scrape on her thigh which took a few weeks to heal. She loves her farm skirt though, haha.

While hiking we found a tic- tac- toe board carved into a stump and played for a while. Funny enough, the part of the trip my kids disliked the least were the falls. 

Tic tac toe treasures.

North Dakota

Leaving S. Dakota we headed up to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, while I want to give this park rave reviews because it was fun... In my opinion, unless you are trying to knock off all of the National Parks it is not something you must see in your lifetime.  The wildlife is attractive to kids and adults but bison are found in many parks now. If you are going for the geological features, they are a smaller version of the Badlands in S. Dakota. The history of the park, Roosevelt's history, is what makes it a National Park. 

Athena thought it was hilarious that Roosevelt would rock in his chair around the room.

Looking at Roosevelt's brand symbol for the ranch, which was carved into one of the posts:)

Unfortunately, in various parts of the park you can see fracking.

She takes the trail less traveled.

And she takes the look at me surf approach.

We saw several males apart from the heard and the heard... But for some reason the boys are cooler.

That said, we did have a wonderful day hiking, exploring and looking at wildlife but... it's not necessarily worth the trip up. 

As we left TRNP we stopped by the North Dakota Heritage Center and I was impressed. I had low expectations for two reasons. A. We were in North Dakota. B. It was free. Overall, the state has put a lot of work into the Heritage Center making it interactive and fun. There were areas to play and microscopes to look through. They had some very impressive exhibits, most impressive was the content on the Native American's in the area. Sadly, when my phone died we lost those pictures but the exhibit really helped put into context how life was like and didn't really skim over the negative altercations between the native people and settlers. 

Giant turtles and microscopes to help observe tiny treasures.

We camped at a free site, at Crown Butte Dam in Mandin. The girls loved this site, our tent space backed up to water with tall grasses. They found frogs and fish. We would absolutely camp here again! 

Summer 2015 kickoff in S. Dakota!

We decided to head toward Michigan via the Upper Peninsula for the first part of our trip heading out through the Dakotas. We chose Rapid City because of the Lakota history and the rich geological features in the area.  

On the way up we stopped at the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs as a shake our sillies out stop. Normally, we pick parks for these stops but it had been raining and snowing on and off all day and both the girls objected. 

The dig site itself is fully enclosed and has a wonderful exhibit on the topic of mammoths locally and abroad, theories of extinction and even covered the usage of the bones outside of the Americas.

I lost most pictures on my phone after it met the highway, my phone backed up the week prior to the trip and had not done so since. 

Overall, there were two species of Mammoths in the pits and all mammoths in the pit were male. 

After the dig site we headed up to Rapid City where we spent our time exploring he caves at both Jewel Caves and Wind Caves learning about bacon formations, calcite crystals, stalactites and stalagmites as well as box work. A1 was fascinated while A2 preferred the hiking above ground. 

Because they are caves both parks require tours, both were equally fun but a few older people complained about the hikes taking a toll on their bodies. A2, now 3, did not share their complaints. 

Our ranger at Wind Caves told the Lakota immersion story which sparked a major interest in a unit, perhaps for this fall? 

This is probably a good time to mention A1 helping to plan this trip. She has spent a great deal of time researching national monuments and parks, museums and more. She begged me to do this and I am ashamed to say I paid $11 to park but I did...

As we left the visitor  center with our Jr. Ranger booklets and as I thought, "I can not believe I spent money to see this..." A1 proclaimed at the SAME moment, "I can't believe you took me here!" It was funny and made it worth it:) 

We started learning about the colonial history when she became obsessed with George Washington or "General Washington" as she refers to him. She was elated to see his face carved in stone. 

Exploring Badlands, they are gorgeous... The girls loved spending the day hiking and climbing. For some reason I'm okay with kids playing near the edge of the Grand Canyon or in an arch at Arches but I was freaked out a little by!

Perhaps it was the cracked ground? Either way, I will admit my pretty mellow attitude on hikes disappeared- fast. A1 pointed out I seemed a little tense. Nauseated would probably be more accurate;) Overall, S. Dakota seems to be a strong favorite for our family. 

We can also recommend the Keystone Climbing Area for a campsite, while it is very basic it is in a nice location and great for kids to play near.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

We started the summer field trip season with a trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. Admittedly, this park has been on our to do list since we moved to Colorado five years ago. Yes, five years ago we planned the trip down and five years ago we wound up postponing the trip... 

I'm sad to say it took so long because I have never heard a friend say anything bad about this park and we've known dozens of people from the Boulder- Denver area to visit and come back, some yearly. 

I'm also sad to say it took five years because this park is naturally fun! We've been to many parks and monuments within the NP system and very few I have described as naturally fun. While our wanderlusting family almost always has fun on a hike, viewing animals or learning, most parks are very "rulesy" for important reasons... This depends on parks of course some being better than others but GSDNP is mellow. I don't think we saw a ranger patrolling at all and the rangers we met were friendly. 

We started the morning off by picking up our Jr. Ranger books from the visitor center. A1 noticed both the badge and patch and told us you get both. Petrified Forest is so far the only park to give us each upon completion so I asked about it and the ranger told me the kids get one or the other when they finish the book but if you make a donation the kids get both. 

Fast forward several hours when A2 turned in her book and showed both to me I asked J if he had given a donation, it turns out they did not even mention it. I thought maybe it was a token for the younger kids but the same ranger we talked to that morning did so with all of the kids and never once mentioned donations to the families ahead of us in line. 

We did not spend time in the mountains area of the park as we met with "thunder sn-ail" mid day but the dunes were great! Natures sandbox and I think A2's favorite thing ever! Combine climbing, sand, water and sledding- it turns out she was in heaven! Even when flying down some very steep dunes, she had a blast... Maybe not when she realized she was alone at the bottom of the run but she was happy when J boarded down and met her at the bottom. 

A1 had a fantastic time learning to board and playing with Uncle E. She has since asked to go back... Today and every year in the future. This has only happened with four parks in the past: Mesa Verde, Arches, Yellowstone and Chaco! I love to see parks make a lasting impact on her for whatever reason that may be. As we were getting ready for bed tonight she asked to learn about the dunes and ecology at the park. NPS has fantastic guides for teachers on their website and tons of information about various parks. I pretend like our tax dollars only fund the Dept. Of the Interior for this reason alone.

So... The list of things we love: 

Sand sledding- they allow you to rent from two locations, one in town the other near the entrance to the park. Those sleds fly! While they were expensive to rent at $21/ sled they provided wax and we damaged a sled hitting a piece of debri. We were not charged as it was considered normal wear and tear. 

You can also bring your own sleds but several people mentioned it works better with a rental. I think we will look on line for one.... It's probably a better value if you head down for a long weekend.

Sand boarding- again $21/ board but the adult boards are useable by both adults and kids... 

She got quite far on her runs! 

Sometimes J can get bored, this park meets his requirement to have a possibility of ER visit. 

Full disclosure: I tried Sandboarding, not my thing... I will stick to skiing, which coincidentally, you can also do so bring your skis and wax. Word on the dunes is to wait for the wet sand and you should probably leave the powder skis at home.

Thank goodness I was the one with the camera... I doubt my memories will fade so I can do without the photos and videos. I am happy I tried though... 

The creek is great, both of our children have raynauds so cold generally repels them but racing across the creek and playing alongside it was fun none the less. 

We also love that GSDNP allows dogs! Not many parks do! 

Dislikes may come on future visits which I would blog about but this visit was short and fantastic excluding the mildly flooded roads on the way down and the mildly flooded and semi snow covered roads on the way home. 

Random conversations

Do you ever have one of those parenting moments when you think, "I got this?"

Today, it happened. It's made me feel much more confident about our choice to homeschool in a week when I've had a lot of doubts.

Random Person: Do you like school?

A1: No.

Me: Do you like learning?

A1: Yes.

Me: What do you like learning?

A1: History, science, math and I love learning Chinese, Spanish and French.

RP: You like learning but you don't like school?

A1: Yep!

RP: How does that work?

A1: Because I don't GO TO school. I have autonomy in my learning.

RP: You don't go to school? How do you know you do not like it?

A1: Because I like deciding what I want to learn. Teachers make you learn what beer-o-crats want you to learn and I LOVE field trips.

Me: Bureaucrats.

RP: Doesn't your mom decide what you learn for you?

A1: She helps me learn new things but if I don't like it we find something new I like.

RP: Surely you don't give her control?

Me: Well, actually, I do. Kids love learning and exploring. If she is learning what she wants, she retains it... Otherwise, she discards it. I'm not a fan of wasting time.

RP: She is going to grow up and have to do things she doesn't want to do.

Me: I suppose... Hopefully, it wont be her job because she has opportunities to explore what real professionals do while her peers are asking for permission to pee.

This was what I needed, we are not doing this in vain... Our child recognizes what she wants and know she has the ability to change things that are not working for her. Her peers do not always have that ability. They are taught society and their parents own them. That, is one of the many reasons we homeschool.

Trial and Failure

Our three year old is an introvert as a result of a sensory processing disorder. Going on the road for three weeks unexpectedly caused her to leave her shell, grow and gain confidence in herself on hikes, and it ultimately translated to warming up to people in general. I refuse to believe it was a coincidence. I saw the growth and it was beautiful and in many ways it was a blessing. I've spent many hours trying to convince Jay to go vagabond as a result. No luck, yet.

With the amazing improvements we've had at parks and in otherwise social situations with coaches and friends, she still likes to be alone when she is overwhelmed and that is okay. Each of us have our own coping mechanisms but as a parent, it's my job to help navigate these issues and guide them where they need help. She needs a little help at the moment.

So... How do we cope with little sisters sensory processing issues when big sister is fully extroverted and has a desire to explore museums?

I've yet to come up with a good solution.

As child led homeschoolers, we rely on our kids to guide us and try to create an environment in which they both thrive. One thrives in museums and the other thrives exploring and growing in peace, IE- hiking, and playing in fields. Big sister loves hiking but is very intolerant of weather (yes, we have some of the best gear on the market- no it does not work with her Raynaud's often when we have issues in our house on cool days!)

We are trying to work through this issue so forgive us if we up and leave because of a three year old nearing a meltdown (or who is already there- we try to avoid this if possible.) I suspect the coming months and years will be a big case of trial and error--- err failure as we are learning from other families on this path.

I'm hoping we will see new growth this summer disconnecting from schedules and routines.. if nothing else works. I'm being optimistic though, while SPD is a tad bit frustrating, I am by far more patient than I was with big sister and I feel I have become a better parent while navigating these issues.

So a few glasses of wine after a long day of testing our limits and reevaluating boundaries the past three months has offered me a newer perspective.

New is good. New forces change and evolution. My goal as a parent is to evolve with our kids. I don't have this. I'd be lying if I said I do... but eventually I will get this issue down... Probably after a lot of failures. Failure is good, right?