If life were as perfect as it seems, Carin Lilly, photojournal

So, Lonely Planet Kids is putting on a competition... About an arctic adventure and what it could look like... Well, it is 5 degrees (with a -14 windchill) outside today, and it's school vacation. Rather than being stuck inside, we decided we would actually become the Arctic explorers and then make some stuff about it after returning. Consider this an arctic explorer entry by Luna Rose Lilly, age 3, Amos Marshall Lilly, age 9, and Damien Joseph Lilly, age 5, and their photodocumenterarian mom, Carin.

(This blog post could also be titled: Wherein Carin proves she is capable of homeschooling awesomeness with three children if there is enough coffee involved.)

So after telling the kiddos about this competition they were stoked. The arctic and all within it has fascinated them forever. They've got all the arctic legos, they've seen Happy Feet, March of the Penguins, and Planet Earth's dvd on the Poles... with a special interest set aside for penguins and polar bears. They are extremely worried about global warming....

Being still in their pjs, the two olders were given free rein to put on what they felt was appropriate, while I helped the three year old. Lots of layers and woolens were included, and mama deemed it all appropriate. Also packed were two friends/stuffed animals: Odin the wolf, and No Namey polar bear (designed by Damien, age 5 and sewn by his mom a few months ago). Keep an eye out for them on our expedition. Drawing below by Amos. Note: he realized he forget his fabulous Bog boots and gore-tex mittens in the drawing, but, rest assured, he was wearing them.

The sea caves are right here in Burlington, Vermont and are part of a wetland, and therefore, inaccessible unless everything freezes over. That wasn't a problem this year. We went and explored, the kids taking the lead, while I photodocumented it.

When we got back to the car, we recorded a very specific voice memo saying all we did, documenting details etc. I would post it, but the technicals of turning it into an mp3 is frustrating, as is the sound of my voice... Anyhow, they used that as a basis/reminder for their drawings. Luna, age 3, made a map. It included South America. So there's that. She really knows the arctic...

Damien, age 5, first drew an arctic explorer and then plotted our course, including leaving our driveway, driving and parking, walking down the hill to the caves, walking back and stopping to climb and slide on the way, turning around halfway back up hill to get No Namey Polar Bear who got left behind, driving to the coffee shop (where they ate ice cream cones--Hay Chocolate and Vanilla Oak! Love you, Scout and Company) and back to home.

Amos, age 9, mapped and labeled the Donahue Sea Caves location.

Lastly, there was a tableau built of an arctic base which included the past few months' worth of things built for said base.

We are so glad we got out. Not always an easy thing to do when it is so darn cold. (Note: we have a friend from Siberia who lives here. The last two winters have been colder than her hometown). I've been wanting to see the caves since we moved here thirteen years ago... Yay, Burlington, VT, for being so awesome! And thanks, lonely planet kids, for the inspiration!