Catching Up

It seems like forever since I last posted. Still battling my infection and basically feel Yucky. It's been a LONG six weeks but I'm trying to keep my head above water and the kids on track. I had a PICC line put in this week and am currently on IV antibiotics. If you could say a little prayer that this clears up my infection, otherwise looks like I am headed for surgery.

Anyway enough about me! The kids have been busily learning about the middle ages. They have been submerged into the world of King Arthur, Chivalry, Knights, & Maidens. We watched the movie "Camelot", the musical that was made in the 60's, last week. The girls enjoyed it more than Wolfie. They liked the beautiful costumes that Guenivere and the her maidens wore. We have also focused on the castles that were built back then and the detail of the Gothic Era. I found out that the Biltmore House was having a fall festival for homeschoolers and I thought that would be a good way for them to get to see a real castle even if wasn't built in the 1100's. So, a few weeks ago, we drove up for the day and they had a great time! Mommy just rested alot :) We were not allowed to take pictures in the castle but here are some of the shots from the outside.

Front Picture of the Castle

Their daughter, Cornelia's playground was up at this Gazebo.
Guess she needed to ride her horse up there!

Outside picture of the Conservatory

Our Tour Guide telling the kids about the castle

Some of the homeschoolers really got into the theme!

DQ hamming it up

The view from the terrace of the castle

After we toured the castle we walked down to the garden area. There, the kids saw saw a sign that said there was a Bass Lake down the trail so we decided to go see it. Well, little did we know that we had to go down the mountain to see it! Going down was fine but coming back up was the though part :-O

The infamous Bass Lake. It really was worth the hike. Just Beautiful

Wolfie couldn't believe how big the fish were!

So he decides to go down for a closer look.....

Guess who decided to follow him, fell in the water, and soaked her pants!

While DQ's pants are drying in the sun, the kids decide to have a try a some of the stations that were set up for the homeschooler's. They had exhibits for games, calligraphy, coat of arms, costumes, and dancing. The games were a big hit with my kids (ofcourse).

Anyone for Dominoes?

All that hard work for a few seconds of thrills



This game was a big hit





I think Wolfie played this for at least 45 mintue before he figured out how to catch that ring!Wish he was that determined with his school work.

How about a game of croquet with no pants?




Mommy enjoyed looking at Mrs Vanderbilt's wardrobe. People were so elegant back then....

They even had a couple showing the kids the dances from that era.

Even though it wore me out (and probably wasn't the best thing for my health right now), I'm so glad that we went. The fun thing about homeschooling is being able to read things in a textbook and then be able to go out and really be hands on and see things up close and personal. I think the kids really "got it" when they saw how BIG the castle really was and that people actually lived like that. In fact, just the other day, thay showed a picture of the Queen mother's castle on TV and Princess said..."she lives in a castle like the Biltmore House". I then was able to go on and tell her about England and France and how there are lots of castles there and those are the castles that really were built back in the time of Camelot .... Connections.... Just like weaving a tapestry.....that's what its all about.