First day of summer vacation...

How are you spending your first day of summer? Reading a book? Playing a math game? Going for a nature walk? Yes, all three of those sound good to me. :-)
These are some of the critters I've found in my backyard...
What have you found on a nature walk?

Baby snapping turtle

Hungry squirrel

Mother goose with her baby

Taking a Hike

This weekend was beautifully warm, so I went for a walk out in the woods. I went to Capen Hill Nature Sanctuary in Charlton and hiked a couple of their trails. I heard a lot of frogs and birds. I found all kinds of insects and some flowers, and I saw two deer! I also saw a lot of signs of erosion. This would be a great place to bring the class for a nature walk...
Did you get outside this weekend?

a zoo and a cave

Today I went over to City Park and took a walk through the zoo. 
I saw the baby giraffe, some baby wild boars, lots of antelope, and a beautiful cat. Then I had some fried dough with lots of powdered sugar. After lunch, I went on a hike through an underground cave and got to see some stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. Did you know it takes a hundred years for a stalactite to grow one centimeter? 
I'll be heading home tomorrow. I hope you're enjoying your last few days of vacation as much as I am. 

Castle Hill and the Fishermen's Bastian

Today I got to explore the grounds of an old castle. We walked up a long road, then passed through a gate into a round yard with a wall around it. We climbed up some narrow steps and were able to look out through narrow windows where the archers used to stand. Furthers up the road, we came to the castle area and were able to watch the changing of the guard. They marched in formation, passed their rifles back and forth, and then the new guards took their positions in the gate houses. They have to stand perfectly still there for hours! Then we climbed up one of the turrets to look out over Budapest. We also got to watch a 3D movie about the history of Hungary down in the lower floors of the castle. My feet hurt from all of the walking, but I had a lot of fun exploring.

Exploring Budapest

Yesterday I climbed a mountain and looked down over Budapest. It's absolutely beautiful.
Today I rode the city boat to get to an island where I rent a cart harm I had to pedal. I also Spent some time doing homework in the cat cafe. It's so much more fun to do your homework while eating chocolate cake and playing with cats! We should get to class cat ...
I also got some shopping done. Should I pick you up some snacks? Do you want escargot? Goulash? How about I surprise you. :-)
I am having a wonderful time here in Hungary. I hope you are all enjoying your vacations, too.

Istanbul, Turkey

Greetings from Istanbul!
As I'm typing this, I'm listening to the call for prayer outside my hotel window. It sounds like the whole town is singing.
I hope everyone is enjoying their vacations. Get some rest and have some fun - get we've got a lot of work to do when we back to school next week.

Snow Day!

It was great not to have to get up early and get ready for school, wasn't it?

So, what did you do?

I went for a walk in the snow, and slid around a bit on a frozen lake. Then I hurried home and curled up in front of my electric fireplace while I waited for the water to boil so I could make some hot chocolate. It sure beat doing math. :)