There is a neat little place hidden deep within the majestic little community of Garden Ridge that is lovingly referred to as the Bamboo Forest. How poetic. Haha.. okay, so this is actually a secret known by some who hang out at Paul Davis Park. From the park, on the other side of the ball field, there is a wooded area. When you head back there, you'll find a path that leads through the woods. This area is mostly cedar/ juniper and live oak. The ground is somewhat rocky. We visited with this little striped guy who posed for the camera on the way there.
After walking on the trail for a while, you'll suddenly find yourself among bamboo towering over 20 feet high. Bamboo is fascinating! We took a look at the leaf type and arrangement, the "trunk" structure, and the root system.

Bamboo is the largest member of the grass family (no kidding... grass!) and they're some of the fastest growing plants in the world. I speculate that this is the reason we now find this little forest among the oak and cedar. Someone probably planted some in their back yard and off it went!Daniel thought that maybe we were really in China at this point and wondered where the panda bears would be.
Cool roots. Time to do more research on those.
Blurry picture... Daniel wasn't in pain there... just making another face for your benefit.On the way out of the woods, we found a bagworm moth. This is a big one! These are interesting creatures. If you see a lump of sticks or lichen moving right along, it's most likely a bagworm moth. They start building their cases with silk, then attach interesting items to it for camouflage.
For more information on bamboo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo
For more information about bagworms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagworm_moth

We started using a new art book called the Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas. I've had it around here, but haven't put it into use.

So, we decided to pull out our art supplies. What a mess! I have a huge box of crayons that used to be several separate boxes. The crayons were discouraging for the kids to use because they could never find the color they needed. So, I pulled out a plastic drawer from one of our organizers, found some cardboard and cut it to make dividers in the box. Then, we sorted by color family.... kind of. Reds, pinks, oranges, browns, yellows, blues, greens, purples, grays, whites, blacks and metallics. They're much more excited about using the crayons now!
On another note, Daniel is enjoying math activities. Talley sticks, matching and order, and abacus. His reading is coming along well, too.
I'm learning that you really have to have fun with your kids if you want them to learn. Some of my greatest learning experiences were with teachers who had a love for teaching and learning and having fun with it all. I will never forget those teachers.

In other classes (which sadly was the majority of my elementary and middle school classes), the teachers did not have a heart for the children or the subjects. I often wonder what happened to them. They must have had some reason for wanting to teach, but they were always in a bad mood. They must have had to become hard shelled due to educational politics or one too many kids disrespecting them. I don't know.

As parents, we are the natural teachers for our children. We love them like no other person can.
A close friend of ours recently asked me if I thought it was right for a child to see their parent also as their teacher. I was totally confused by the question. It made no sense to me. Don't we teach our children about every other aspect of life? When children come home from the educational institution, aren't parents expected to do homework with their children? What's the difference here? It just seems more natural to me for children to learn from their parents than from anyone else as they did for thousands of years before government enforced institutionalized schools were created. I have nothing against other methods of education. If we faced the possibility of having to place our kids in public or private school, I'm sure things would turn out fine. I'd be involved as much as possible and that's what makes a difference in the education of our kids.

I'd love to read your comments on this if you'd like to post. Positive and negative perspectives are welcome.

The Tiger Cubs went to visit with the Firemen at the station in Boerne last night. They had a blast. Here's a pic of Daniel in the fire truck with an official hat on.
The most humorous thing about it was that Daniel, in all his curiosity, was intrigued with the crank on the door. When asking what that was for, all of the adults nearby went into laughing fits. Apparently the little tike has never seen a window crank. Dates us, doesn't it?