Fridays=farm days!

Today, just like most Friday afternoons, we went to "the farm." Nearly every Friday, we hop in the car around noon to drive to the Trover Farm in Lebanon, IL. We participate in a program called Outdoor Adventure where we do just that--have an adventure outdoors.

Since 2002 (the first year we homeschooled), at the beginning of each school year, I have said that we would spend a portion of each week going out and exploring God's marvelous, beautiful, mysterious, breathtaking, inspiring creation! But, when left to my own doing, I found that although my intentions were good, life often got in the way, excuses were easy to make, my creativity was lacking, and quite honestly, we'd hardly ever make it outdoors past the back deck.

Then last summer, I discovered Outdoor Adventure(OA)! It was exactly what I wanted the kids to experience. The Trover Farm is over 200 acres of fields, woodlands, wetlands, creeks, levies, and pastures for us to explore. The farm caretaker is Alison Lewis--a former Air Force cargo pilot, equestrian, self-educated naturalist, and homeschool mom. She runs a not-for-profit organization called Roam on the Range (ROTR) for homeschoolers to come out and enjoy the benefits of the farm. ROTR also offers a horse co-op, organic gardening, archery, and a few other opportunities in addition to OA. Alison comes up with great activities for us each week!

This school year we've identified trees, birds, animal tracks, unusual insects, and snakes. We've spent afternoons swinging on grape vines, trapping crawfish, and hunting tadpoles. We've gone swimming in the duck pond, canoeing in semi-frozen water, digging for edible tubers, and picking persimmons. We spent an afternoon in a field testing the aerodynamics of various boomerang-type toys. In the fall, we waded through thigh-deep waters to explore the wetlands; and then this winter, we had afternoons of ice play on those same wetlands after they had frozen up.

We've learned that poisonous snakes tend to have diamond-shaped heads and fatter tails than non-venomous ones. We can identify a woodpecker by its flight pattern. We now know the difference between a possom track and a raccoon track. We can identify Jerusalem artichoke and have even eaten it. And we have seen a rare water scorpion.

I am so glad we discovered "the farm"! It has enriched our lives! We have met new friends and learned new things! We have experienced part of God's creativity and wonder!