We finished a full week of school! It was surprisingly easy to
do so in the Caboose. I feared the close quarters would cause distraction, but
this first week it seemed to serve to keep us on our course. I found myself
much more engaged with the schedule - a less distracted teacher resulted in less distracted students, greater productivity in a shorter amount of time. It is motivating to know exploring awaits the conclusion of school.
One thing we LOVE about schooling in the Caboose is MICHAEL is
home! It has been a lot of fun to have
his input - our science experiments have a much better chance of succeeding
this year - and we all KNOW what the cool activity is teaching us when Michael
is done teaching. Nolan and I were
discussing the fact I didn't have the foresight to bring a 9v battery and
copper wire along. Michael was on it - they created a 9V battery (complete with
testing to be sure they had the voltage right)....and it was easy enough to find
copper wire in his tool box. Anything
Dad is involved in will draw the whole tribe - wala science. We split hydrogen and oxygen (molecules not
atoms ::wink::) and watched the hydrogen burn off (the photo is puny). This science input from Michael is especially
helpful as it appears I inadvertently packed
the younger two's science books in Mom and Dad's garage. Until we make
it back up there, they'll piggy back on Nolan's chemistry. 
Michael was ready to settle in for an afternoon of trailer
repair. He wasn't aware we push hard
through the week, so we can PLAY Friday
afternoons. He was quite willing to switch gears and we headed over to Mom G's.
The sun was out, the water a bit nippy after the two days of rain, but the
river was ours alone to enjoy on a Friday afternoon. Michael surprised us with
this inflatable boat he found on clearance - perfect for our new lifestyle. I'm
wondering if we can fit another one or two in somewhere.
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| Nina and Arrow are always ready to play at the river |
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| Yuuki enjoys checking out neighbor's kayaks more than swimming |
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| No - peer pressure won't work on me |
Nolan found a branch and had a brilliant idea.....the dogs pulled him through the river....
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| Yeah - I'm not sure I see a lot of this from various kids |
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| Michael wondered what they'd do if he threw it..... |
Back at the trailer Michael tried out our new zero-gravity recliners.
I'd coveted them since seeing similar at John and Nadine's motor home. Yep - all the comforts of "home." This
was our "test" for Amazon prime. They can find you anywhere.
I popped in the meatloaf I'd prepared earlier in the day. I am still learning the quirks of this oven.
Some things cook as expected - some take longer. My PLAN was to pop a veggie
patty into the microwave for myself. I'm
not used to microwaves. It's been a source of humor to the family that we HAVE
a microwave in the Caboose. What could go wrong? I came back in from delivering
the meatloaf and veggies to the outside table and discovered smoke billowing
from the microwave. It hadn't even been two minutes. The smoke alarm went off
and everything. We're the talk of the park-
though the 13 yo running around in night vision goggles may have something to
do with that.
I haven't a clue why the veggie patty incinerated - but it did. More cleaning is on the agenda - if the
microwave keeps smelling like smoke, I may gain another cupboard... I found it
hilarious, when I sat down to blog, to find a post in progress on Cooking in
the RV - "smells are magnified" - yep - you betcha!
Mom G joined us for dinner and an evening around the campfire.
We read Patrick McManus, enjoyed S'mores, looked at photos of Pluto, and I may
have drifted off in my comfy recliner by the fire for a few moments. 
It was a "practically perfect" Friday.
