Homeschool Mothers Journal June and Mid July

 In my life this week…

We have been busy this summer, so I have not updated in a while. We have been doing lots of gardening and lots of swimming since it has finally stopped raining here. Little BBQ has been jumping off the diving boards like a pro, and Miss Bubbles has been progressively getting better at swimming. She keeps trying to swim on her own, but she does not have the muscle mass yet to swim on her own. My garden has produced well. I harvested a bunch of carrots this week. My tomato plants are large, and I am waiting for my tomatoes to change color. I got my first three purple bell peppers this week. I am waiting for many more peppers to change color. This week Bushka (AKA grandma) came to visits, so we went to the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens in Indianapolis, IN. You can read about it here. It was an amazing trip.

In our homeschool this week…

We have been taking a break from schooling to enjoy summer. I have been busy planning for next year. We will be studying the 50 states, so I have been planning some hands on projects to keep Little BBQ interested.

I am inspired by…

Pinterest. I have found some many good ideas on that site. Send me an e-mail at nirvanaandlazy@gmail.com if you would like an invitation. I still have a few left.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We visited the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens in Indianapolis, IN.

My favorite thing this week was…

Swimming with Bushka and the kids. I enjoy summer. I love the heat and the sun. Swimming is one of my favorite activities.

Things I’m working on…

Canning. Lots of canning. I made glazed carrots, cherries in apple juice, blueberries in apple juice, blueberry butter, blueberry pie filling, cherry Danish sauce, cherry almond jam and cherry pie filling this week. You can follow my canning adventures here on my cooking blog.

I’m reading…

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser which is good, but I am not enjoying as much as I thought that I would. I just read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study by Howard Freeman and Leslie Martin which were both amazing, so I think Fast Food Nation is just having two tuff acts to follow.

I’m cooking…

Lots of different things. I made homemade ravioli, and tonight we are having a roast with rutabagas from the garden.

I’m grateful for…

I am grateful for Bushka coming to visit. I am grateful that everything in my life seems to be falling in place after a rough few years.

Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Garden in Indianapolis

We have had a very busy summer this year. The kid’s grandmother whom prefers to be called Bushka since she is too young to be a grandmother ;) has arrived to visit the children. We decided to take a trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens in Indianapolis, IN. For one dollar you can tour the conservatory on your own for as long as you wish from 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday or from 1 pm to 5 pm on Sunday. The sunken gardens are open from 10 am to 9 pm from April 23 to October 11^th and 10 am to 5 pm from October 21^st to April 22^nd.

I consider this trip to be a bargain. The conservatory has an amazing array of different tropical plants that are all picture perfect. The conservatory has beautiful landscaping with small little ponds and waterfalls. Because the plants are all tropical, it is a very hot and humid location, so I would recommend wearing shorts when you visit. My words can not relish enough praise upon this fabulous location. I think pictures can do more justice to this amazing place. Here are some of our favorite pictures from the conservatory:

Unfortunately, we went to the conservatory first, then we went outside into the sunken gardens. While the sunken gardens were nice, according to Bushka, “they sunk” compared to the elaborate conservatory that puts you inside of a tropical paradise. The sunken gardens are a nice formal garden with nice blooming flowers in large patches, but they just don’t compare to the amazing conservatory.  Overall, I recommend anyone visiting Indianapolis to take a trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory. For one dollar you are getting an amazing deal.

Some pictures taken by Little BBQ (he has improved a lot):