Field Trip: Saganacky Slough and a forgotten treasure, Historic Riverside

So thankful for today.  I had been feeling it was time for a field trip but its cold in Chicago!  AHHH!   We triumphed over Winter and her 27 degree temps, but our souls cried out for NATURE!  How beautiful was the dam at the slough that pours out and underground (I think) into Sag Canal.  We walked along its southern border with views of slough and canal on either side.  Bethan exclaimed, "This is the best nature hike in Chicago!" 

I was excited to see a stork tower, (Or maybe for Bald Eagle?) in the distance.  I had seen these first hand in Diesen, Germany and enjoyed a delighful kids story about them called, "The Wheel on the School."

 This rather straight looking path deceives you, you are entering a very hilly and rocky, somewhat dangerous for bikes walking lane.  Tom enjoyed the adventure with his mountain bike, but could only go 1 mile in before he stashed it for the safer method of  hiking.

Lunch Overlooked a beautiful view of the Slough

Rest after a 1 1/2 mile rocky hilly shoreside hike

On our way home, we spontaneously stopped by Historic Riverside, the first suburb of Chicago build around 1879.  I read an intriguing book called, "The Geography of Nowhere" about urban sprawl and the New Urbanization.  I learned the history of our American cities and why the look as hideous as they often do.  It was all started with good intentions, people wanting to escape the dirt and noise of cities for country life.  Here we see the water tower which lies directly across from the first train stop from downtown Chicago.  This suburb was a planned suburb, and the detail and beauty of the original buildings shows the care of the original designers.  Contrast this with "modern" design" and your local big box store--and you'll understand why I made this one of our field trip stops!

Riverside Water Tower

Making Memories with Teens

 The lower corner shows a drive parallel to the river.  So beautiful to see all those houses looking out to trees and water.  A beautiful place to live, I think, though now the old Victorians are interspersed with Craftsmans (Frank Lloyd Wright?) and other more modern homes.

Typical original mansion...

Beautiful walking bridge

 We headed home soon after our little tour, but with interest to come back on a Saturday someday to see the little museum beside the water tower and maybe get a cup of coffee and look our over the river.  Thank you Lord for these good gifts of beauty today. 

Give Thanks to the Lord~Ps 136

Pastor Jason encouraged us this morning to personalize our story in light of Psalm 136.  Here you go!

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

His love endures forever.

Give Thanks to the God of gods

His love endures forever.

Give Thanks to the Lord of lords

His love endures forever.

He brought me forth unplanned yet planned

His love endures forever.

He set me in a family turning to Himself

His love endures forever.

He called me in the living room to follow Him

His love endures forever.

He gave my Father care and foresight for my soul

His love endures forever.

He put me in a youth group with a zealous pastor

His love endures forever.

He fell gently completely wooing my 12 year old soul

His love endures forever

He showed me His incomparable beauty

His love endures forever

Shielded by His love, he covered, protected, and preserved me

His love endures forever

Launched to the nations, he sent me

His love endures forever

Compelled by their suffering, he drew me

His love endures forever

His vision imparted to me

His love endures forever.

Clinging to Him, he united me

His love endures forever

A Christian husband he gave me

His love endures forever

With children he blessed me

His love endures forever

His heart bleeds before me

His love endures forever

His call in me

His love endures forever

Trials swirled around me

His love endures forever

Twice near death, he saved me

His love endures forever

His pressure squeezed me

His love endures forever

Fruit he brought forth through me

His love endures forever.

Unplanned yet Planned

My Creator's everyday Glory & Beauty given to me

Neighbor I love wee Cece, our foster child.   Family is serving her as she recovers from drug induced trama from her birth mom.

 

my shoots Field Trip to Indiana with friends to hike and observe the birds

Neighbors I love

Last week of school 2017

Chad and Tom went to Matteson before breakfast to meet with Chad's good buddy, Brian.  Tbone has been wandering a bit this morning.  He caught a rat and shot it in the trap after his chicken chores.  He is the only kid that finished his math book early.  He also read almost a book a week.  Proud of him for that.

Aziza is writing phonograms: a drill she has done for two years.  Why?  It seems the minute we stray from the basics, all is lost.  Same with multiplication facts.  She can do 144 in 7 minutes at her best.  I think that is a victory for the year.

Abi can't stop talking about her business.  She has it all written down in a little yellow spiral notebook.  First step: convince Dad to let her spend her savings on a camera lens.  Mmm.. not going to happen.   Dad has great start up advice.  I wonder where she'll be with it all in five, ten years.  I think she has what it takes and I encourage her that she is following in her aunts' footsteps.  Three aunts have had successful small businesses.

Bethan can't wait to take the CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature test when she turns 13 for college credit next winter.  She is digging in to deepen and widen her understanding. 

Last week we explored Brookfield Zoo-one last field trip-- with my mommy's group.  It was so windy, Aziza's hat flew into the fountain.  The babies loved the fake dino that roared just as much as the real animals, I think, because it was so huge.  The zoo is free for homeschoolers!  Yea, we have to come back this summer.

Thomas told me that in the movies they are always active but in real life, they sleep most the time.

Tom tried to move our group faster the whole time until we got to the monkey house.  These two were last to leave and said, "Do we have to go?" 

Now girls, don't be crazy in our skit!

Pilgrims waiting to dock at shore

Breaking out of the homeschool rut today

 Chad dropped us at the train.

 Fresh and ready for an adventure at Harold Washington Library!

 Kids ate lunch and finished up studies with an interesting man talking to himself in the background there...kinda funky but heh, this is Chicago.

 A beautiful place to explore!

Closed stack books we wish we could take home....Dad would be happy to see his favorite Hoosier poet, "James Whitcomb Riley".  I loved the Robert Lawson illustrated Pilgrim's Progress.  The "My Book House" is part of a series I thought I was collecting, but come to find out wasn't the series at all.  My Book House has beautiful illustrations.  I found a illustrated Tolkien for Abigail.  And a couple Swedish authors...    The "Cross Country Cat" has cool lighting in the illustrations and a good 2nd grade read.

 This dollhouse has witch's feet from "Wizard of Oz" and and Alligator in the Bathtub, the Cat and the Fiddle and other fun finds for the kids...

 Its the library in the library.

The girls spent a few hours in the Maker lab with wood and a lazer cutter machine while I went searching for an ancient book with a good commentary on Milton.  Yea!  Found it on the 6th Floor!

 Abigail holds the lazer cut earring tree the girls made.  We are looking forward to more time in here.  Tom loved the 3D printers at work making little toys...

 On our way home, wiped but happy.

A little girl is grumpy in my lap--hiding--  I tell them this is what it feels like to not have an afternoon quiet time...:-)   

The awesome designer at work in nature. Math & Science & Bible & Literature---interrelate and blow our brains!

This is a great book to get from the library before going to the Museum of Science and Industry's new "Numbers in Nature" exhibit.  I was amazed at this book because I am one of those non-Math types who love to find an inspiring historical personal divine connection in Mathematics.   This was what was missing from my public school education.  So anyhoo--you can read Blockhead   and discover how the great designer, the God of Heaven and Earth has left his (mathematical) fingerprint on all nature.   The exhibit really shows the breadth of it...how the spiral (Fibonacci's sequence) and the golden rectangle can be found in the solar system, in humans and in plants and animals... its so amazing to see art, math, and design all coming together and revealing the glory of God.  I wish they would have had worship music at MSI, but I was praising!!
Fibonacci sequenceand then my face in the fibonacci sequence...if i put my eye in the littlest square, my chin perfectly touched the bottom of the spiral...

Z is for Zoo

 Tommy, "z is for zoo.." I wrote on the chalkboard.  "Zebra also starts with Z."  And why read about the zoo when you can GO????
"Let's go to the zoo, kids!"  The weary bunch jumped to action finding shoes, bookbags, and hats, relieved.  Up late the night before, none desired to sit at their desks behind their books.  We piled into the van in a happy rush, too fast to remember the stroller for Z or my...purse.
"No problem," I said to myself when I discovered the loss, there should be lots of free parking at Lincoln Park Zoo.  Its Wednesday morning for goodness sake."  Ha That's where I went wrong.
Trucks lined up bumper to bumper in the free parking and white tents covered the park lawn.
"What the heck?  Auww... its the Farmer's Market."  After several passes down the free parking, one phone call to Chad to check on the used-to-be-free Trolley, I took a vote.
"Kids!  Do we book it home or take another pass?"  Smart as they are, they voted for the safe route--drive home and come back.
Surprisingly as I headed for Lake Shore Drive I spotted a road w/o traffic...
"Could it be???..."  Sure enough, across Fullerton in front of the Nature Museum was our salvation.
We parked and walked to the North Entrance joyfully.

Bethan silenced the nagging voice of doubt regarding this spontaneous trip when she yelled, "Hey mom, there it is!"
"What?"
"The light! The dots of light!"  Remembering our Renoir picture study of his work, "The Swing".
"Yesssss!!!"  She saw it really, she did....the warm noon light dappled through the branches of the trees waving in the breeze and spotted the sidewalk just like the painting.

The day continued to confirm my doubts about spontaneous school as Aziza saw for the first time a lion, cheetah, and tiger.  And our long excursion in the Birdhouse was so much better than reading "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day." (Apologia) Not that its a bad book, or reading should always be rejected for experiencing, but their reading set them up to enjoy the birds and now their experience of them will reinforce their reading.  Abi, not one for spontaneous displays of gratitude, said "Thank, Mom" as she reflected on her day on the drive home.  So satisfying to me.

Easter Monday in the Englischer Garten

We went with Matthew and Marissa's friends..an American with bilingual kids. The girls hit it off right away and made "caves" in the bushes. Abi was rowed in the boat with them...her remark about this third grade boy, "He didn't say a word to me!" But somehow they all played together none the less. This park is huge...Munich reminds me of Atlanta with how green it is...how often you find trees. Especially the poplar. I asked about this tree and the American said, "Its the one you always find in Italian paintings" and I realized that I had seen it many times in pictures but never in real life.