{all photos by Sandi Twist}
We’ve got a marvelous Magical Moment to share with you today! Sandi Twist has written to tell us about a memorable outing she took with her kids. Sandi and her husband Ken have two children: Gavin, in Intermediate on Track B, and Kendra, in LMS on Track B4. They are in their 7th year at SLOCA:
Last Wednesday we finished our work early and set out, without a map, to the back side of Bishop's Peak. I hadn't hiked up this way before so it was truly a new exploration. We put a pack on our dog, Lucy, and loaded it with the basics (water, snacks, car keys and cell phone) and headed out. We found ourselves on many trails that led to vertical faces for climbing up with gear but were determined to find the way up by foot since we had no climbing gear (maybe next time we'll try that… ). Finally after trial and error we got onto the right path.
Along our way we reflected on how Lewis & Clarks Corps of Discovery must have had so many starts and stops and retracing of their path to find their way around obstacles such as we had. We talked about what courage, diligence and resilience (three of our SLOCA character traits) that they HAD to have to endure the journey. We even related our dog, Lucy, to Seaman and how handy it must have been to have him for carrying things and just comic relief sometimes.
Although this adventure was fun and meaningful it really reminded me of how much I, personally, enjoy making our history and literature come to life. I recalled the time 4 years ago when we studied this same time period. My kids were in Kinder and 2nd grade then. We use the “minuteman” idea to get dressed in the morning, or to leave the house quickly. We also read about how George Washington had to wear freezing clothes during his journey from delivering that message to the French at the Ohio River Valley. To understand this concept we soaked a t-shirt in water, wrung it out and then folded it up and put it in the freezer for a day. The next day we got them out and then tried to put them on before they thawed. Oh, my… what a tough dude that Washington was to travel four days wearing clothes like that.
So, now I'm on a mission to find some little thing in our reading and tie it into something fun. Gavin wants to practice “hooking” doughnuts (top pg 14 in Tom Sawyer) while I get him a nice apple like Aunt Polly. I'm thinking my fence would look nice being “whitewashed”.
“Gavin moving boulders…”
“Lucy the Pack Dog”
Thanks for telling us about your expedition, Sandi. You’ve entertained and inspired us!
Do you have a magical moment to share with our community? Please email it to [email protected] and tell us about one of your special experiences!
