You will have to scroll down a few days. I posted about the middle day (Tuesday) first, on Saturday, because it was the COOLEST, and as we didn't take the camera down those gorges so there were no pictures anyway. Then yesterday I posted about Monday, and the day before yesterday I posted about Sunday.
Understand? Good.
On Wednesday, being LAST Wednesday and not today, the plan was to head out of Brasso Seco early and get some chores done and go to taekwondo. But we all said "NOOOOOO!" and Kelly and her kids said "NOOOOOOO!" So we planned another hike instead. "YAAAAY!"
Double River Falls is a long hike, if you are seven years old. Max did really well though, compared to last time! when he was the whiner extraordinaire and I almost fed him to the jungle beasts! We started early and had sunshiny weather and many snacks. The forest was beautiful. I lay on a log and looked up into the butterflies. I wonder how many butterflies there are in the rainforest canopy? There were gajillions, at least: blue, yellow, orange... flashing in the sun.
The river was COLD. Max gets blue lips and shivers when he's been cold, so I warmed him up every time he came out of the water. Then he would go back in again, to climb the waterfall and leap off, and then he'd bring his icy body to press into me again. That boy needs a wetsuit. Chas and Sam never get cold. Someone once told me to give Max cod liver oil to help him stay warm, but I haven't noticed a difference!
Kamala continued to be fascinated with Chas' head.
And Max and Khalil continued to show off their muscles. They are the skinniest muscle-men I have ever seen, but they make up for it with confidence and aplomb. Max and Khalil are great friends, talking non-stop and out-adventuring each other bravely. Khalil is a great hiker, and he and Chas leave us in their dust. Or mud. We enjoyed our last hike so much, and staggered home with a carload of horribly muddy hiking stuff. Much of it is still lying around in smelly heaps, waiting for rain to fill our water-tanks a bit. Come on rain! You know you wanna! Stop hanging there looking cloudy and FALL already! Otherwise, all is well at home. We read our way through Kelly and Carl's bookshelves while we were there, and brought home four "Magic Schoolbus" books which happen to be related to stuff we are doing this term. We also hiked on actual Amerindian trails and peered into the microscope and talked about different types of plants. So school did happen last week! Chas and I actually met his class (we crashed their hike!) for their school-outing hike on Friday, which was excellent for Chas. He had missed his school buddies!
So far this week, we've been catching up with math and other subjects. The "Fits and Starts" method of working seems to be best at the moment! We are learning every day, and the boys continue to take their learning very seriously. They are asking questions non-stop, looking things up, and filling up with information. Every activity, every outing, has taken on a new purpose. I am sure we will end up continuing to homeschool through the holidays, just for the heck of it. I've been trying not to go ahead in the UK syllabus, since I don't want anyone to be bored next term when they go back to school. We're just going in-depth in a big way, and covering Caribbean and Amerindian topics while working through the syllabus for the term with some semblance of structure.
Chas left this morning to go to Tobago with my Mum for three days. Dad is working there recently, so Chas is off, armed with goggles, snorkels and flippers, to look at the reef. He took surfboard wax too, hoping to borrow a board and surf in Mount Irvine. Lucky him!
Sam wrote a post for their blog this morning, so you can check it out. He is very impressed with his own typing and computer skills!
I feel that I am beginning to catch up on the schoolwork, the muddy clothes, and the housework that languished all of last week. And the rain is threatening to fall....
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