No, we are not talking about me.  That would be the last adjective I would apply to myself.

What it does apply to is the beauty of home education.  Today was a glorious day in Wellington.  Bright sunshine, light winds and the promise of summer.   What that meant for the Oh Waily children was an impromptu beach visit.

For them it involves buckets and spades, sand, waves and picnics.  For me I slip in discussions about our five senses (which is my planned topic for November) and what we see, feel, hear, smell and, their favourite, taste.

Today we watched a tern* diving into the surf for its lunch, repeatedly.  We also saw a regular gull dropping a shell of some sort on the beach, repeatedly.  I guess his lunch was taking a bit more effort to get.  Lots of wildlife on the go today.   We watched and were able to see, close up, the skill of the seagulls as they hovered and came to a landing spot next to our picnic table, repeatedly.  Such control and hovering and glide.  Even if they are pushy and greedy, it was lovely to watch.

We talked about the colour of the ocean and why it is dark in some parts and light in others.  We saw the different colours of the ocean and discussed why we shouldn’t take the “short cut” to the beach through the plants and possibly the penguin nesting areas.  We learned to balance on the rocks that make up the protection along the roadside edge of the beach and we enjoyed some time in a park refining our climbing, balancing and swinging skills.

To cap it all off we indulged in a little taste therapy before heading home.  There isn’t anything quite like hokey pokey ice cream.  Yummo.

Here’s to the flexibility to get out and enjoy nature, when nature is happy and welcoming.  And thanks to the local birdlife for putting on a brief, but interesting show for us today.  It was great fun.

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* probably one of this variety