We went out to visit some homeschooling friends this morning! C and M are in our homeschool group and invited us over to do some grammar games and hang out. M is J's age and they get along very well. He is a gorgeous, exuberant boy who's never been to school and I feel is such a positive influence on J. C is one of the most creative moms I've ever met and I could sit and talk to her all day. She and M have always unschooled and now that he's 10, she wants to start him on some "skill sets" and will do some brief, fun lessons/games reviewing the basics. I loved that she invited us along for the ride, since J loves learning games - and with others involved, it's just that much more fun. She couldn't wait to play and wanted to keep playing after they were finished! The board game is called "Go To Press" and involves moving around the board into different rooms, correcting the grammar in newspaper headlines.

C has lots of those cool educational games that I always see in educational catalogs, but are too chicken to buy, lest my kids hate them and there goes $20 down the toilet. So I got to check a bunch out and now I plan on buying most of them! W liked one in particular with plastic cars that teaches logic and spatial reasoning. He didn't feel so good today. He's a bit constipated and had a tummy ache all afternoon.

After the game, the kids went outside and played on the trampoline for hours. My kids loved it. They also have a cat which kept them entertained as well. I enjoyed watching the kids have so much fun, spend time playing outdoors, and get along so great. I was hoping J wasn't tiring herself out too much because she had dance in the evening. She did fine, though. Speaking of dance, she has a lot of performances coming up over the next 2 months. Now she might do Madison Square Garden again in November! Cool!