We will check in tomorrow after a good night's sleep--sweet dreams everyone!
We are having a blast! Bowling with the black lights right next to a volcano can't be beat! The teachers are still trying to work out how this fits into the curriculum--physics, maybe? Certainly team-building. We are all cheering for everyone no matter what the score. In fact, Mrs. Cable is tied for last at the moment, and she is getting cheers too. (Don't I get some kind of handicap for bowling and blogging?)
We will check in tomorrow after a good night's sleep--sweet dreams everyone!
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What a wonderful day! We are now showering and finishing up day 2 in our study guides. Dinner in a few minutes. We have had so much fun today. I heard, "This is the best excursion EVER," more than once. Since we last posted, we took a look at the Jagger Museum and got to create an earthquake on a sensor by coordinating a group to jump at the same time. Since last year, they have put in a new, more sensitive sensor that doesn't require the whole group of 24 to jump at once! I think we definitely have more than a few budding geologists in the group. The highlight this afternoon was stopping at a lava flow and getting a chance to poke around in the a'a. We found some great Pele's tears, pumice and Pele's hair. We left most of it behind for future explorers, but we took 24/1,000,000,000 or so Pele's tears as souvenirs. And yes, we are taking them off the Big Island because our God loves scientists and eager learners. There is no God but GOD. Amen!
Just in case you were worried that your kids can't entertain themselves without electronics (or maybe it was them who doubted they could!) they are deeply engrossed in a dry-land Marco Polo game right now. Ah, the sound of happy kids. One thing we have noticed they need a little work on when they get home is making beds! :-) Our surprise activity later tonight is bowling! We would be so excited if we knew it was coming up! We all were amazing hikers and conquered the four mile crater hike with ease! We lifted large chunks of lava over our heads, impressing each other and ourselves very much! We inspected the chemical traces that make rainbow swirls on the black lava chunks. We took lots of pictures of each other with smoking craters in the background. A good lunch at the visitors center has restored us back to 100% and we are now watching a movie about the park that tells us about lava tubes, lava trees, cauldrons of molten lava and the progress of the latest eruptions of Kilauea.
The kids are still in great spirits and really enjoying being together. Toby said, "This is the most incredible national park I've ever been to! Well, it's the only one I've ever been to. But it's still the best!" With all the mist, they had a chance to run around inside a cloud. We refilled our water bottles with rain catchment. Our next stop is Jagger Museum and a closer look at Halema'uma'u, where the lava is just under the level of the rim. We will also have a chance to explore a 1965 lava flow up close to look for Pele's tears and Pele's hair. No rest for us! We are having far too much fun for that. Here we are in the middle of Kilauea Iki crater! (cell service? Who knew?) we feel like we are on the moon! A misty drizzle is keeping things cool, but we are warm and snug under our ponchos. We have tasted ohelo berries (food of the nene) and gathered around steam vents to feel the warmth. It's still hot way down there! Mrs. Cable is falling behind with all this blogging. More later!
October 3, 2012 Finally, brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 The lead articles in this year’s Tabula will focus on Philippians 4:8, our theme verse for the year. During the month of October, we will examine the concept of truth and how it relates to raising children. A book that our faculty found compelling was Saving Leonardo by best-selling author Nancy Pearcy. A former agnostic, Pearcy writes: “Many thinkers were so impressed by the scientific revolution that they began to regard science as the sole source of truth. Whatever could not be known by the scientific method was not real. Science was no longer merely one means for investigating the world. It was elevated into an exclusivist worldview -- scientism or positivism.” (p 91) We are all products of 20th century education when there was a shift from teaching moral statements to the philosophy of empirism, that is, all knowledge is derived from the senses. With morality reduced to subjective preferences, all truth became relative. This book is a “must-read” for parents who are concerned that our society is no longer guided by moral vision and want to raise children who will stand for truth and make an impact in our society. At Trinity, we want our students to know truth and how to defend it. I urge you to read this compelling book. Nancy Shaw Head of School What a beautiful day! We have been so busy that we haven't had time to blog. We rested well last night and we were up and ready this morning. A big breakfast of sausage, eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit got us prepared for our big hike. We have already explored the lava tube and the unique hapu'u fern forest filled with native, endangered birds. We are now listening to our guides, Susan and Rob McGovern, who have given us a fact-filled adventurous experience every year. We are now heading out! Pray for God's blessing on our hike today as we experience his fascinating world.
All checked in at home camp. We are taking showers and getting a last few things done in our study guide. Some of us are playing a little volleyball or basketball. Dinner is at 5:30 and then we will have devotions afterward. We will be learning the story of what life was like for ancient Hawaiians. We will try to get one last post in before lights out. Energy is still high, but we predict a fast fall when they hit those pillows! Enjoy some more picture from our day! Hello everyone! We just finished up at Imiloa after exploring telescopes, infrared cameras, plasma balls and interstellar elements. We watched a show about all that scientists are learning using telescopes that can see other wavelengths of light like radio and infrared. Did you know that black holes don't always just suck things all the way inside themselves, but they can also sling planets and other objects so hard that they are flung clear out of our galaxy? Wow!
It's cloudy with rain right now, but we are snug inside our bus traveling the 45 minutes up to Kilauea--our home away from home. We had a temporary lull of energy when the lights were dim inside the planetarium, but NO WAY did we fall asleep for a second. No matter--we are back up and ready to keep going strong. Looking forward to hot showers and a big meal! We learned what stars we will see tonight--hopefully God will provide a peek through these clouds. Spirits are good! We are having a glorious time at the park. We just had lunch and thanked God for bringing us safely here and providing so many interesting sights to see. This park has a series of ocean-fed ponds weaving in and out of grassy areas. There are footbridges connecting green spaces; it looks like a place for a grand adventure, perhaps with trolls and unsolvable riddles! We can't wait for the astronomy center next!
We are here at the Lyman House Museum touring a missionary house built in 1839 by David and Sarah Lyman. They started Hilo Boarding School for native Hawaiian boys. The school was in operation until 1940, first training them to be missionaries and later becoming a trade school. The Lyman's original house is here and we can see where they lived as well as the workshop and storage rooms used by the school. Also in the museum is a wonderful rock and mineral collection, a shell collection, and areas dedicated to ancient and more modern Hawaiian history. We are learning a lot about what life was like for the first Christians in the Islands.
All the kids are so well behaved and cheerful. We all got hungry for a snack about 8:30 after getting up and eating so early! Our favorite tour bus driver, Uncle Keith is with us again this year keeping us laughing with his jokes. He says he loves getting to spend time with the kids every year. Unfortunately, Hale Koa is taking over running KMC and has decided to discontinue the full tour bus service. We may have to make other arrangements next year. :-( We plan to wear out Uncle Keith so much this year that maybe he will need a longer break this time! We are taking loads of pictures and plan to share them all around when we get back. We are having such a great time so far--God has everything under control! We love all of you--even if we are too busy to think about you very much! More later! (Pray for a longer-lasting iPhone battery!) |
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