I don't want to go home.

Fear not...this comment did not come from a discussion of our upcoming trip to the Midwest. Although I will be honest that for the first time I'm feeling a bit sad about missing out on an English summer. A little sad. Thankfully, we have had a really nice taste of summer in England over the past 10 days. We have been in the sea, we have stopped for many ice creams, the squirt guns have been fired, shorts, sandals & summer dresses have been worn and we even went camping! The school had an end of the year camping event this weekend and this is how both boys responded as the car was packed and we were dragging them to the car.

It was held an amazing woodworker's field and was filled with only school families. Camping in England can be chancy with its infamous weather, but we completely scored this weekend and loved it. The best part of it is that there are really no bugs here. No mosquitos buzzing in the ears, no ticks looking for blood, nothing more than a little friendly spider. What a lovely way to end the year and send us off on our holiday back home!

the view from our tent 

the outdoor kitchen

Pizza when camping...not so bad!

In the whittling shed.

Can we try make our own?

Last year I saw a hill full of red and couldn't figure out how to get there. (Of course we weren't really comfortable with having to drive anywhere at the time, so that could be part of it...) I knew it was a field of poppies...one of my favorite, dream like images I always hold. Poppies are by far my favorite flower and to stand in the middle of a field of them always sounds so magical.

When I saw that hill again this year I knew I could find a way there this time and on Saturday we did it! Oh it is just so beautiful!

They are growing amongst Rapeseed plants - as seen in an earlier post (the field of yellow flowers) - which have now turned to bean like seed pods. While they aren't as plentiful as the Rapeseed, in this particular field they are and its a gem! While we were there enjoying the beauty Owen started collecting the Rapeseed pods and asked if we could try making our own vegetable oil. He loves to make things. Loves, loves, loves it!

Happy Special Visitor's Day!

On Friday morning, Walter came into our bedroom singing "Happy Special Visitor's Day" over and over again. We were invited into both boys' classrooms as an opportunity to see their work. Of course we left feeling quite proud of their progress and so happy that they are at The Montessori Place.

Walter showed us a variety of work from metal insets, puzzle maps, bow frames and the decanomial square.

Owen showed us some laws of mathematics, grammar boxes, and quite a lot of botany. He has done some amazing research on bees and the pollination of flowers...and can explain it to you beautifully.