Homeschool Field Trip: The Old Spanish Treasure Cave

To finish up our homeschool geology unit, we took the kids (plus Corbin, who got to play hookey for a few hours) to The Old Spanish Treasure Cave!  This was so fun, and a great hands on review of Erosion, deposition, sedimentary rock, gems, and minerals. The kids saw fossils and several types of stalactites and stalagmites. They also learned about the Dunbar mining company from the turn of the century. It really just blows my mind that are are miles and miles of cave systems and underground pools of water beneath these Ozark limestone bluffs we live upon. After the cave tour, we got some sluice bags for the kid’s and cane home with treasures to add to their rock collections.

Tulsa Zoo

After reading The One and Only Ivan, the kids had questions about whether zoos are good or bad. At Primrose Miner co op day at the Smallwood’s, the kids learned about the AZA and planned a trip to the zoo. I realized the last time any Willies has been to a zoo was  back when Wren was a tiny guy and we went to Saint Louis did the weekend. The twins have never been to a zoo, and the last time I visited the Tulsa Zoo was before Soren was born. So off we went on an adventure. 

It was a sweltering hot and humid day. To account for all of my excessive sweating, I spent a small fortune on strawberry lemonade icees all day long.

This picture below is exactly why Reese loves virtual school. She had one live class on Friday, and she did the whole thing on her phone, while enjoying the chimp exhibit at a zoo. I love the extra time with her and she is living her best fantasies as a pseudo homeschooled child. 



I think Soren’s favorite thing at the zoo was the playground.  This kid loves to climb!  He ran up and down slides and dome climbing structures like a parkour pro. Sloane loves seeing the elephants, Esme loved playing with the chips, and my baby bear loved the Bear of course! 





The California sea lions were rad. The flamingos were rad. The sun beat down but we slipped to an indoor exhibit and cooled off for a bit anytime it was too hot to bear.thenhrabd finale was a trip on the carousel followed by a private chat with a very helpful  zoo staff member. Sloane was so brave to sit on the carousel (after asking all day, she nearly got cold feet but powered on! Woohoo! Baby stepping through kindergarten)

Impossible to capture its beauty with my phone, but a full rainbow stretched over the sky on the drive home. The colors were brighter than I’ve ever seen before.