On Thursday, during our “break” from Charybdis and Scylla formal schooling, we took a day to visit the Exploratorium in San Francisco again. I’ve blogged about it multiple times including here, because we visit it often, and it is a fabulous place. It was particularly refreshing after our visit to the disappointing Academy of Sciences….
Category: Out & About
The New California Academy of Sciences
When my fellow homeschooler Kay invited us to ride along with her on a trip to visit the new California Academy of Sciences yesterday, I jumped at the chance. For years now, peering out from the De Young Museum’s observation tower, we’ve watched it being constructed, and it looked awesome. A huge science museum with…
San Jose Art Crawl
I’ve been working hard and been rather stressed lately, so I decided to give Charybdis and Scylla Academy a spring break. To begin, I gave Neil a minimal day of academics: a paper on the late middle ages (for which he wrote about Philip the Fair), a few chapters of Ivanhoe, and learning how to…
Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009
I have to say this year has been exciting, and at times spectacular for me. In February, I got to revisit Germany for the first time in many, many years. I had a great time, but I missed my family much more than I expected to. And one lasting part of the experience is that…
Struggling into the Christmas Spirit
Christmas seems remarkably subdued this year, and I’m sure it’s not just us. In comparison to other years, the Christmas songs as stores are muted, fewer expressly-for-Christmas items are on the shelves, and the mall (at least whenever I’ve gone) is uncrowded. But Kelly is carrying the Christmas spirit for all of us. I set…
Tying Up Loose Ends
Next week, we’re leaving on a grand adventure: a driving trip across the United States. In one month, we plan to see Yellowstone Park; South Dakota’s Black Hills; Chicago; Niagara Falls; Boston with MIT; New York City; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Disney World; New Orleans; Austin, Texas; Roswell, New…
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Since the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum is in San Jose, we happen to visit it just about every year. But this was the first year we went there after a course of study on ancient Egypt. Needless to say, we noticed and absorbed more than we had on other visits. For one thing, after taking the…
The Tapestry of Arts Festival
On Saturday morning, Peter took us all to see the Tapestry of Arts festival which had appeared overnight on the streets of downtown San Jose. The last time we went to see it was 11 years ago when I was pregnant with Neil, and I remember it being big, but also awfully hot. In short,…
Summer’s End at Seacliff Beach
For Kelly’s last summer day before she had to officially step into school, I took her to the beach. I let her choose the beach, because while my favorite is the relatively quiet New Brighton Beach, I though Kelly might have her own preferences at this point. And she did. She asked me to take…
The California State Fair 2008
Peter took a day off work so we could visit the California State Fair on Thursday. It’s one of our regular summer highlights, a fair that celebrates all things Californian in such a big and spectacular way (and changes up its entertainment every day) that it’s impossible to take it all in. This year’s theme…