::: what a trip, plus the nickel puzzle :::

Tonight we began discussing what we will do with the balance of our summer. I feel funny saying that, because with all of the rain we've had, it doesn't seem like summer has been here very long at all.

But it has, and now we are faced with making the most of it.

Because we've spent so much of our time working on the house, there hasn't been a lot of recreational time. Our down-time has consisted mostly of watching videos or actually eating dinner. Pretty sedate.

So tonight we started discussing options for making the summer a bit more active. The options ranged from going to the Indiana Dunes to heading to the local water parks. We'd particularly like to become more involved in biking on Rail Trails, something we did fairly often before the beginning of The House. Bohemian and I have both put on weight since we've moved here, which is a surprise, because I really thought a move to the country would solve our weight problems. Actually, we seem to drive more now, eat more (those doggone Amish cooks) and are less active. Plus, Bohemian has a desk job and spends about three hours a day commuting, not to mention all of the time he spends in his car for work-related errands. Very sedate.

In other news, I've been working on my notification letter for this year. I think I have it finished, but I'm nervous about sending it because I gave exactly what the Ohio regulations ask for, but I think it's less than the district wants, and since this is a new district for us, I'm not sure how homeschool-friendly they are. Also, the district instructs us to send notifications to a liason that "handles" homeschooling notifications, though regs say we only have to send them to the super. I suppose I'll send it in, and if it's inadequate to them, I'll contact the homeschool list I'm on and see what I should do.

And in still other news, we've been watching a lot of musicals lately. June 28th was the birthdate of Richard Charles Rodgers', of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame. We rented The Sound of Movies from Netflix, followed by Oklahoma!, both the 1999 stage play and the original movie. The Light Opera is performing South Pacific this month and next, so I hope to take one or several of the kids to see that. I just wish it weren't so expensive! We also watched Pirates of Penzance and Funny Girl. Oklahoma! has been the most popular so far, and everyone seems to agree that they like the stage production best. Do you have a favorite musical that's suitable for families? Post it in the comments. I'd love to hear about it.

Yesterday, we went to see a friend of ours playing music on the lawn of the Arts Center. We took a picnic and hung out for a while, followed it with a trip to the bookstore, then lunch at Subway, and, finally, a trip to Wal*Mart, where Bard helped Monet pick a few goodies with his "good job" change. I also picked up some more loot for the Quiet Time Box--a couple more Bionicles and Magnetix and a Hot Wheels car that has magnetic wheels.

Today, Monet was preparing a stage play of his own. He created puppets out of paper lunchbags, construction paper and yarn. He gave each a name and personality and wrote a script on the computer, asking Bard for spelling help. We had a bit of a meltdown because he couldn't figure out the logistics for the actual performance location, but he finally settled on using the porch.

Bard just finished the book The Westing Game and insists that it's a really great book, so I'm reading it now. So far, she's right. It's holding my interest, though by the end of the third chapter, I've figured out the first set of clues.

Edison and I went out to run errands today. We had to buy chicken feed, pay a bill and pick up some groceries. While we were at the store, he weighed the grapes that I bought, determined the total weight, divided it to determine the average weight per bunch, and determined the price per bunch based on the average weight of each bunch. He also calculated sale prices when we went to a local gift shop that's going out of business, determining the final price based on the original price and deducting the percentage off.

Bard and Edison have both been reading Math for Smarty Pants and The I Hate Mathematics Book. Bard presented me with the following riddle. I got it right...can you?

You're at a carnival game booth.  The sign says "Pay a nickel to win a quarter!  Increase your 5 cents by 500 percent!"  At the booth you see three full sacks labeled as follows:

Quarters

Nickels

Quarters and Nickels

The carnie explains that the bags are indeed full of coins and explains the game with the following rhyme.

One sack has quarters; another has nickels;
The third sack, however, is really a tickle.
It's a mixture of both, a fair share of each;
finding which sack is which is within your reach.

The carnie also gives you these two clues:  First of all, every sack is labeled wrong.  Second, he'll reach into one sack and pull out a coin for you to see.

 Which sack would you have him pull from?