Ruston Way Point Defiance Pagoda

Point Defiance Nature Walk

Heading down to Ruston Way is another awesome fun thing to do while in Puget Sound Area.

 Point Defiance Park's The Pangoda

Pagoda History: Inspired by Japanese architecture when it was built in 1914, the Pagoda is the focal point of Point Defiance Park's Japanese Garden. It was originally a waiting room for streetcars. Now this magnificent structure functions as a rental facility for weddings and other private parties as well as a venue for garden shows, lectures and concerts. Gardens surrounding the Pagoda feature pools, a waterfall, a picturesque footbridge, cherry trees, azaleas, and rhododendrons.read more

My only daughter Danae posing next to white Japanese  flowers.

Refrence to http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/pagoda-history/

Mosaic Art for kids

Mosaic Art

Mosaic art are murals typically made with small, squared shaped glass or stone pieces.

 

The pieces are arranged together side by side, some people separate the colors but I like to have them all in a bowl together. Its more interesting to pull out different  colors  all at once.

  So we ripped pieces of paper to represent the stones are glass. 

I made them draw a picture first to know where they are sticking there colored pieces. 

Then they glued and done! 

fast and easy and cheap

lesson!!

Nature Walk with your kids

Nature Walk for Home schoolers.

So our family is currently in Wa right now for family business and what better way to take advantage of the North West then to take nature walks.
 1st we saw a nice dead tree with lots living inside the trunk.
So then naturally the kids wanted to know  why it was still standing being dead and what a nurse log does.
I love how they just take control of their learning.

Turkey tail Mushroom

 Then we found real cool mushrooms. Which is always educational. This is a Turkey Tail Mushroom.

 Conocybe Mushrooms are native to the North West.
This mushroom is a very poisonous mushroom only found in the north west.

Conocybe Mushroom

 We of course didn't touch ANY of the mushrooms. This one is very pretty in person too. Which makes me worry about when this pops up in peoples yard.

The Barren Owl. Very awesome ..

He just sat there and watched us
This guy hunts at night and just sits and watches  during the day.

Crabs in Puget Sound

So here we go agian!!! Im going to try to blog.. I seem to never stay on a subject long.
We started homeschooling YAAY.. so here we go...

 This last week we went to Titlow beach to explore the low tide. we found crabs...

We identified as pugnacious Purple Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus nudus)