The Big Read

Next week on May 11 my Language Arts class will be sponsoring a pilot attempt at creating a mini-Big Read (where everyone in the area reads one book in the same time frame to spur discussion of issues raised, etc.) in our school.
For this year the idea of doing a novel was a little taunting for a first go, so we are doing The Lorax. Every class in the school will read the Lorax during homeroom and then we will encourage all class periods to have discussions or complete activities related to topics in the Lorax and their subject area.
If anyone has neat ideas or suggestions that I can pass on to math, science, or social studies teachers in particular, let me know!
Thanks--

Elk flu?

Nothing says "It's time for an impromptu trip to Cades Cove" like a healthy case of the flu.
To celebrate Bailey's double whammy of strep throat and flu, we drove up to the cove for the afternoon. When you think about it, there are few better places to go to get away from people than the Loop road on a rainy Saturday. Plus, we had to buy our obligatory "Garbage Kills Bears" and "Save the Hemlocks" bumper stickers for the new car. Woo doggie!
Even though it was the middle of the afternoon we were happy to see 14ish deer and rumors of a bear just around the bend. We didn't follow the camera-toting Alabamians to find out, though.
Pictures will be coming soon--

The Lorax may speak for the trees, but I sleep in the trees...

Thanks to the tons of much needed but very annoying rain, we FINALLY got to spend some time outside tonight. The ground was still pretty soaked, so we took the high road and took to the trees. The highlight was Myers pushing Bailey and I in the hammock singing a rousing rendition of "Rock a bye Daddy and Bailey in the bed."

BUBBLES!

So, Jodie bought a new toy for Myers today... a bubble blower. So, at 10pm tonight, Myers decided he'd be in melt down mode if he didn't have bubbles NOW. So we opened it up, added bubbles, and gleeful anarchy ensued. I have a feeling he'll be awake till we're out of bubbles!
By the way... the pictures don't capture this, but... it's close enough to bed time that Myers isn't wearing pants!

The Treehouse

The past two days have been designated Lombardo treehouse work days. In preparation for the kiddos birthday party, we've been, for the lack of a better catchphrase, pimpin' out the clubhouse as a mutual birthday present for Bailey and Myers. We've supplied the funding and Jodie's dad has supplied the labor. We've been adding monkey bars, climbing wall, and swingset, topping off the sand, taking care of some demolition (removing the walls and adding railing), and now we're getting ready to add a new metal roof (so I can go sit out in the clubhouse while it's raining.
We spent all day Saturday and Sunday working on the yard and getting the treehouse ready. Almost done!
By the way, Bailey took most of the pictures in the slide show... that accounts for some funky angles and awesome perspectives :)

Cades Cove

We took the beautiful weather on Tuesday as our opportunity to try to get the ball rolling on this year's batch of Get Out More activities. After rushing home from a hectic day of school, we celebrated Bailey's spring break by heading to Cades Cove to picnic at the picnic area. In spite of the beautiful weather, the Cove wasn't very crowded. Hitting the loop around 6 was perfect, as deer are crepuscular animals (most active around dawn and dusk). The grand total of critters seen ended up at 126 deer and a few handfuls of turkeys.

Workin' in the Garden

Whigg Meadow

This weekend we camped out at Indian Boundary in the overflow area. After spending a cold night (toasty in the sleeping bag) we headed up the Cherohala Skyway to Whigg Meadow. We hiked to the meadow from Mud Gap (a part of the Benton McKaye trail) down the road a bit to the site of a 1945ish military plane crash. We were able to see only a few parts since the plane had been bull dozed since it went down during WWII.

Chilhowee Lake Sunday

One of our new favorite family activities is to load up the car and head to Chilhowee Lake on Sunday mornings. Why? To fish? To canoe?
No, so the kids can throw rocks in the lake. Hours of satisfaction!

White Oak Sinks

We took the troop to White Oak Sinks for a day hike. You can never go wrong with White Oak Sinks.