Last week, we were so thankful to be able to take all the kids and grandkiddoes to the beach for our annual vaca. There is probably no greater feeling than to have all my chicks in the nest (for a while anyway) and see them SO enjoy being together! Luke certainly got his share of studying "marine biology"--he caught crabs, geckos,skinks,--and touched a baby shark,a squid, many fish, and several frogs. He participated in putting on a pirate birthday party on the beach, played golf,babysat,collected all manner of shells, read, drew,watched endless episodes of "Cash Cab"(sort of like Jeopardy in a car?), and boogie-boarded for HOURS a day. My point is that learning never stops--especially in a large family setting interacting with all ages, interests, and sensibilities. The freedom we have as homeschoolers should be EXPERIENCED sometimes!! I still remember years ago one of my brothers offered to give my then 10 and 8 year old boys their first "trip of a lifetime": he wanted to take them to Washington DC, show them all the sights and then take them by train to Boston where they would continue to see all the historical sights. He said,"But what about their school?"...and I realized that I had failed to tell him what we were actually doing,because of course all of it WAS SCHOOL!!! Curricula cannot be our master...but we need to keep a balance of texts and real-life learning...have fun...kc