NOTES ABOUT THESE WEEKS:
Because Phil was able to visit us from Korea after an eight and a half month absence, we took an "unschooling" approach to homeschool for a month while we reconnected and toured Europe. It was heavenly!
The kids played with their Dad like crazy. They went sledding, had snow fights, went to an indoor swimming pool, played games on the computer, watched movies together, played board games, went on walks, talked,reminisced, and laughed like crazy.
We also took a vacation to Oxford, England to visit our new home! It was great to get a feel for the city we'll be moving to in just 3 short months. We saw so many wonderful places. First, fresh off the ferry, we saw the white cliffs of Dover and the Dover castle. In Oxford, the colleges and winding alleys are so reminiscent of Harry Potter. Oxford is the best possible city for us! We are all starry-eyed.
On the way to Oxford we spent a day in Brugges, Belgium, where we went to the Salvador Dali museum and soaked up the sights. It was wonderful. Then we headed to the coast, where we played at the beach. We identified the North Sea, and guessed where England was on the other side of the water. We discussed the life of barnacles and witnessed their eating habits.
Later, we took a ferry across the English Channel (we've also taken the train underneath the Channel, and flown over it). We discussed the water displacement beneath the ferry, and how fish get sucked into the vacuum created. All these fish are sucked to the surface of the water behind the ferry, which is why there is a profusion of seagulls in the ferry's wake.
There were countless other teachable moments along the way, too numerous to recall (and travel is an education in and of itself). And of course, seeing their Daddy is exponentially more important than solving mathematical equations. : )
