Storm Chasing 101

Today's school experience did not follow Mommy's lesson plans in the slightest, and I couldn't be happier about it!

We had finished up the boys' lessons (with Abby participating, as well) and needed to go get the rental car cleaned out and washed (loooong story, but our "bus" has been in the shop for almost 2 weeks now).  I figured we would get that done and then come home for lunch and do Abby's lessons.  God had a different plan for the day, however....

I decided to stop and let the kids run off some energy at a park before going to the car wash, also giving me some time to spend on my nature journal, but noticed some pretty dark clouds rolling in not 20 minutes after we got there.  I loaded everybody back up and started to drive, only to see that the rain was surrounding us but we were not getting a drop.  In that moment, an idea hit me.  We would be storm chasers!  The car needed to be washed, and it is not often in this summer heat that we get a good soaking rain, so why not kill several birds with one stone??  We would wash the car, entertain the kids, and learn a little bit at the same time!

We magically transformed into amateur storm chasers, with the kids taking turns telling me which direction we needed to go next.  Mommy couldn't move the car if they said "that way" or just pointed, so they had to work on their directions: left, right, straight, turn around, etc.  I have to say, they did a pretty good job, too!  We managed to stay in constant rain for over an hour, even though the storms were scattered!  We had so much fun, and there were so many little lessons hidden in the experience; it is definitely something I will never forget!

We are now working on creating "Storm Chaser Badges" to show Daddy when he gets home.  The kids are so proud and can't wait to "teach" Daddy how to be an expert storm chaser!  I happened to have my camera in my diaper bag, so I even managed to get some pictures and videos to share with him :)  Good memories in the makin'!!

And, I didn't have to wash the rental car ... one less chore for Mommy today ;)