Wilderness Explorer Trail at Disneyland

     Did you know that there is an entire wilderness experience at Disney's California Adventure?  I am so excited to have discovered this portion of CA Adventure! Seriously though...what a great idea!

     It is located right across from the Grizzly River Run ride and it is called "Redwood Creek Challenge Trail." An activity map is provided to all participants.  The activity map guides you through the trail indicating six tasks that should be completed to earn your Wilderness Explorer badges.  Once all the badges are earned, the kids are directed to the camp circle where they are sworn in as Senior Wilderness Explorers. The kids get to meet Russell from Disney's movie UP and possibly catch a glimpse of the very rare bird named Kevin. It is all unbelievably adorable!!

     The trail is appropriate for the whole family but the activities and badges are targeted toward children under the age of 12.  We took our girls through the trail and they had the time of their lives.  Even Dylan, my toddler, had so much fun crawling through caves and climbing rope bridges.  Marley, my 4 year old, is not quite 42 inches tall yet, so she was not able to do some of the activities like rock climbing or zip lining. But there are so many other activity options that earned her those badges.  She was so excited to complete all the tasks and earn all 6 badges on her activity map:

1) Tracking

2) Bravery

3) Rock Climbing

4) Wolf Howl

5) Animal Spirit

6) Puzzle Solving

     Marley's favorite part was entering the "spirit cave".  My girls were able to spot cave drawings and place their hands on an enchanted part of the cave where it indicates which animal spirit you are.  Dylan was an eagle, and Marley was a fish.

     I found the whole experience very enriching.  The surroundings were not authentic in terms of actual wilderness, but it was a beautiful and kid friendly substitute.  We all got some great exercise doing all the activities and obstacles.  And Marley was able to learn about completing tasks to earn badges.  I highly recommend doing this, and it can easily be part of your homeschooling curriculum. Our whole family loved it!  Well done Disney!

Catching Up #5: What Happened In December?

     The holidays were crazy and fun and full of learning opportunities. ;) Of course due to vacations, and family gatherings, I fell way behind on posts but the educating continued!

1ST GROUP CRAFT & ACTIVITY
     Some friends from our church met us at a local park and I prepared a craft for the kids to make paper christmas tree ornaments.

      PAPER ORNAMENTS - Here are examples of the two ornaments we made.

Paper Ornament #1

Super easy and can be fun for any age.

Paper Ornament #2

     SNOWBALL FIGHT - After the craft, I lead the kids in a snowball fight (Southern California style). I rolled up several white socks into balls and gave each team a bag of the "snowballs." All the kids had a blast! There was so much laughing and running, it was very memorable. I highly recommend this activity for the holidays.

SPIRITUAL EDUCATION
     Later in the month, my brother was able to go through the LDS temple.  This is a very big deal in our faith.  Being worthy of going into the temple is a wonderful milestone and I was very emotional and proud of my brother.  This turned into a field trip for my girls.  I believe it is very important for children to have experiences and lessons regarding religion and/or faith.  I am certain that the human mind has a part that is stimulated solely from spiritual experiences. This was a perfect opportunity to explain the temple a little more to M.  She was very excited for her uncle to enter, because she is always telling me she wants to grow up and get married in the temple "like mommy."  The best and most effective way of teaching children is to lead by example.  M has so many wonderfully righteous family members who are great examples.  Since the temple was a very special day, I helped M get dressed up for the occasion.  She was so excited to wear a new dress she had been saving for a special occasion.  These pictures don't do the cuteness justice! She was very proud of her big girl dress.

A LESSON ON COURAGE
     We took M ice skating for the first time! I have been looking forward to this day since she was born.  I love ice skating and hope she enjoys it also.  When we first arrived and M saw the ice, she refused to go on the ice. She was very scared and said she wanted to go home.  My husband talked her into putting on her skates and just standing on them.  We told her that she didn't have to go on the ice but that we would give her a treat if she did.  Yes, we are incentive based sometimes, and I see nothing wrong with it.  The world itself is incentive based.  The treat peaked her interest and she walked over to the ice.  When she got to the entrance to the ice, she started to back away and refused again.  At that point, daddy pulled her out on the ice and hugged her to calm her down.  He assured her that we were both so proud that she was on the ice even though she was scared.  Little pep talk after another, she became more comfortable being there.  Baby steps, baby steps.  By the end of the session, she was smiling, laughing, and skating on her own holding onto the wall. I was so glad we pushed her a bit beyond her comfort level.  I was thinking if we had left when she refused to skate, she would not have learned how to face her fears, and she would not have realized how much she liked ice skating.  Pushing your limits can result in great accomplishments and epiphanies.

Ballet Class 2013

     One of my promises to my husband when agreeing to homeschool was to make sure our children participate in recreational social activities. Of course! Those are the things I will look forward to the most.  This year I picked ballet for M.  She was thrilled to go to each class, made lots of friends, and had a darling little recital on the last day of class.  She is very comfortable with other kids and makes friends easily. She also was very good at being patient waiting for her turn and following the teacher's instructions. So far so good! She had so much fun and ran into class on her tippy toes each time.

     Here are two out of hundreds of photos I took. And yes, I cried a bit. I'm such a sap and since I am a dancer, seeing my daughter passe and saute just made my heart glow! And as theatrical tradition goes, my husband brought M some flowers after the performance. She felt very special and could not stop smiling and talking. It was one of those mornings you wish you could re-live over and over. Priceless.
     I truly believe education in performing arts stimulates parts of the brain that are so important. Creativity, confidence, and artistic perception all enhance other skills in life.  She also became more physically coordinated and came home talking about growing healthy and strong. Loved it! I plan to always involve some sort of artistic activity for each theme we discuss. These are the things that make the world beautiful!