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4th of July Weekend/Part II/Parade & Fireworks 2010 | Plymouth, MA

July 15, 2010 By Laura Leave a Comment

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Most every year, we make it down to the Plymouth parade.  Being in America’s Hometown, it’s a big deal around here!  (As is Thanksgiving, and our parade for that.)

This year, it was HOT-HOT-HOT.  Full blazin’ sun, humid as anything, the works.  We enjoyed the majority of the parade, and then were all happy to cut out a little early, and get out of the sun!  It’s always a great parade though!

4th-july-parade-fireworks-2010-plymouth-ma-americas-hometown-9 The kiddos brought their American Pinwheels and Liberty Shakers they had made.  Other parents and kids were buying those $10.00-20.00 souvenirs off the carts,  but they were looking at ours, wondering where they could get those. ; )   {JM} also brought his Republican Beanie Baby elephant ‘Righty’.  I love that thing!

O.K….some parade photos…..

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You see this guy?  They were saying he’s a very old veteran…..102 YEARS OLD! (Yes, one hundred and two).
WALKING in the parade?!! In the heat!? That’s what we kept hearing. Talk about impressive.

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4th-july-parade-fireworks-2010-plymouth-ma-americas-hometown-6
I have no idea who this fool is.

lol. Just kidding.  I mean…I really don’t know, but…

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I love corevettes, but {JM} asked me to take a photo of this car.  Not because it’s a vette, but because it’s purple.  It’s his other favorite color.  We may have another Donny Osmond on our hands.  (…….”I’m a little bit rock ‘n rollll…..”)

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This one the big boy asked me to take.  That would be Michael.  He loves GTO’s.  I think it’s petty nice too, but he likes some other old style cars, that I think are as ugly as sin.

So listen…….you know how some pre-teens might see, say……The Jonas Brothers, or one of those vampire guys, and freak out on the verge of tears of excitement, jumping up and down, just coming out of their skin with disbelief at seeing their idol with their own eyes?

That would be {A} when she saw this guy….

.

.

.

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Scott Brown!!  (If you don’t know, {A} is prepping to be the next hot-and-ticked-off-enough-to-do-something-about it, politician.   She has talked frequently about a seat in the House Senate.  But today she was talking about her plan to have a bowl of pistachios in every room of the White House.  Anyway….NOT the best photo.  {A} like…RAN up to him in a nano-second and asked for a photo with him…..and he said it had to be FAST, because there was a trolley behind him.  And there was!  I had not a second, to adjust setting or get some fill-flash.  It KILLED me.  But to {A}…..this photo is a treasure.  I have not printed it out yet, for fear she will sleep with it under her pillow, or something.

That night we all went to the Plymouth fireworks, too. Someday, when my kids are older, I’ll really get into getting great firework shots.  But I really just want to enjoy my kids on exciting nights like this for them.  They sat on top of the car to watch this year.  The fireworks were happening all around us, actually….down on the beach, and out from the barge in the harbor.

Our whole weekend was just one blast, after another. ; )  (Oh brother….. O.K….sorry.  lol. )

It was far from over too.  Stay tuned, and tell us about your 4th!

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Filed Under: Celebrations, Holidays, The Big Picture, Traditions Tagged With: 4th of July, America's Hometown-Plymouth-MA-4th-July-Parade-2010, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, GTO, parade, purple-corvette, Scott Brown, triplets

Politics, the House Senate and Voting | Homeschooling Elementary and Middle School

January 20, 2010 By Laura 11 Comments

The exciting and intense campaign race for the Massachusetts House Senate seat has been another golden homeschooling opportunity to teach our younger children more about politics, the house senate and voting, following the opportunities that came with the the most recent presidential race.  Granted, we weren’t sure how much they could really grasp or follow at 7 years old, but they have pleasantly surprised.  If nothing else, with their interest and enthusiasm.  {A} is already rather informed on this subject, as she has a very strong interest in all Politics & Government, which she has elected (pun!) to study in depth this year.

house-senate We began with more general talk about the the government, a little about how it runs, and then got more into the purpose and duties of the House Senate. To help them get the visual of the state representing senators, we showed them this photo above that I found online, of the House Senate quarters, that helped them get some kind of visual.

img_0175 We took a field trip, to one of the (8?) campaign offices for Scott Brown, right here in our home town of Plymouth.   Note: Michael went back and took a photo of the office, as the parking lots was full the day we were there.  The windows were also full of Scot Brown posters. Our plan was just to stop in and hopefully get some buttons or something, and show them what a campaign office is like.  But we all got so much more than that.   We went in and a very nice woman started talking to us and our kids right away. We told her we were on a home school field trip, and that made her very excited, as she is a supporter of home schooling.  She took us right in and started talking to the kids about what they were all doing and why. The manager for this particular office also talked to us, and really educated us all about what their goals were for the duration of this race.   The office was jam packed with volunteers, making calls to promote and ask for a vote for Scott Brown.
They offered us pizza, bumper stickers, yard signs and even had the kids help make a phone call or two!!  What a great experience for all of us!

homeschooling-house-senate-voting They took our picture on someone’s camera phone,  and it emailed to us! 

On the ride home we counted Scott Brown yard signs to pass the time.  We put our sign in our front yard when we got home.

homeschooling house senate Over the next couple of days, the kids were quite the little political cheerers for Scott Brown!

homeschooling house senate Voting Day, was another educational day, through experience.  All 4 of them came with us to vote, and to see first-hand
the process of casting your ballot.  They thought that was THE most exciting thing!!  On the way out of the local elementary school gym, after voting, {S} asked us, “What do we do next?”  And I replied, “We go home, and bite our nails while we wait!”  But then I gave him the serious answer.

That night, knowing voting was over at 8 p.m., they were begging to stay up to find out who won.  But we knew it would be too long and late of a wait.  So I promised them I would wake them up when the final numbers were in.  I tried waking them up, and stirred {S and JM} enough to tell them the news, which was received with sleepy smile. (So cute!)  But {O} wasn’t waking up for anything. She was happy to hear in the morning though.

homeschooling house senate We will continue to teach them what we can about these things, and look forward to this book coming in that we have requested at the library. It may or may not be too elementary for the kids, but if nothing else, will be amusing, while still being educational.  Here is the description to this book:

In a big country, it’s not always easy to get everyone to agree on an important issue. So when Miss Tuftmore’s second-grade class writes from Moussouri, asking for a law to declare a National Cheese, the Squeaker of the Mouse and the Senate Mouse-jority leader have a lot of work to do. By following these congressmice (who live and work alongside their human counterparts) through the steps they must take, readers will gain a greater understanding of this important aspect of civic life — and have a lot of fun while they’re at it.

This delightful sequel to the Barnes’ popular Woodrow, the White House Mouse, told and illustrated in the same whimsical style, offers another detailed but easy-to-follow explanation of the inner workings of American government.

It was a wonderful experience for all of them, that we’re glad had a happy ending. (Well, for us anyway. ; )  They are very much looking forward to the mid-term elections, this November.  ; )   Their interest and embrace of our civic duties, is taking root muuuuuuuuuucccchhhhhh younger with them, than it did with us adults!  You have no idea.   We’re late-comers to the whole political thing.  But, as they say,  better late, than never.

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Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, History / Social Studies, Homeschooling, Politics and Government Tagged With: 7-year-old-triplets, elementary-homeschooling-election-year, homeschooling-elementary-history, homeschooling-elementary-house-senate, homeschooling-elementary-politics, homeschooling-house-senate, House-Mouse-Senate-Mouse-book, middle-school-homeschooling-politics, Scott Brown, triplets

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