Homeschool Retreat

We were "up north" (to me - Gravenhurst area) recently for a homeschool retreat. It was fantastic to experience SNOW in abundance! It was also great to hang out with a lot of other homeschool families, and have some good chats with the other moms! The older children were in a program that had classes and curriculum, their theme was the Olympics. One of their activities was making Olympic torches and having a torch relay. Here is Tim doing his part:



They were also taught some sports in a more formal way. But we also got to try out some winter sports on our free time. Here is Tim again, learning to cross-county ski! (I know his poles are way too big for him, but they were the only green pair, and Tim loves green!)

The little ones pretty played the whole day, and slept really well at night! Here is Ben on a large snow hill where a "luge" run had been created (luging only on your bottom please!).

We also were able to snowshoe, play hockey, go tubing, and - new for all the Marshwiggles - go ice fishing! One of the camp staff drilled a number of holes in the ice of the lake, and set up these interesting fishing poles:

There is a line coming down into the hole, with bait on the end, and then when a fish bites it, the top of the pole bends down. You are supposed to be quiet near the fishing hole, so as not to scare away the fish! While Pip and I were out looking in one hole, another one several metres away suddenly bent down, and we all rushed over! The staff member (Andrew) started gently pulling up the line, as he got the fish close to the hole, the fish started to wiggle violently, and then - it bit the line! Andrew thrust his hands into the (COLD) water and flipped the fish out on to the snow! Wow! It wiggled around - to the great interest of Pip and other children who had gathered around. Then Andrew took his drill and made a little pond for the fish (not connected directly to the lakewater) and the fish stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. Here a group of boys keep an eye on the fish - it was a northern pike.



In spite of all the talk about eating him for breakfast, I have a suspicion the fish is still swimming in the lake (quietly returned by Andrew after we all went up to supper). Here he is - the hero of the hour - the fish:

We returned home with many damp mittens, but it was worth it!