The Ominous 4th Grade Mission PROJECT

And when I say project, I mean it.  I've always been someone who has some kind of "project" going, but I've come to really despise... DESPISE, LOATHE... the projects that come home as homework.  Lexi is hard for me to work with.  We're like oil and water.  {I'm sure you're thinking it should remind me of my mother and I.  It does!  We are different and it's okay... I know that!  But trying to help her is like wading through a muddy, murky swamp filled with crocs!  You just never know when you'll step on one and get totally chomped.  Meaning... Lexi has quite a few breakdowns and stomps around having tantrums when things aren't perfectly going her way with said projects.  It's torture for all of us.}   But you'll be happy to know that I did back off after teaching her the basics of using my cutting board, my new computer program, and the Cricut.  She really did do her picture collage mostly herself. 

She had set out with high expectations and wanted to do 2 projects:  a photo collage and a 3D model of a Mission, but... after wasting away 3 weeks and having done nothing but visit the Mission San Juan Capistrano to take pictures, I nixed the 3D model.  It was just tooooo MUCH and I wasn't going to spend the time to hunt all over for all the materials she needed.  And we weren't allowed to just buy a kit to build it... obviously.  So out the window that went!  She edited pictures and we printed them out at Costco and she still let them sit around for a few days.  {Here is where she is more like me than I would like to admit.  We are very good at procrastinating.}  And then when the pressure is on... well, that's when it gets ugly.  Sigh.

Fortunately we had started during Spring Break and were able to enjoy a few hours in San Juan Capistrano while my mom was here!  I don't think she appreciated or enjoyed the ride to and from over Ortega Hwy, but she did it!  It was a nice day for a tour!  And despite all the things to learn about, guess where my kids gravitated?  Yep... to the fountains that were filled with Coy.  They would have stayed there for hours were it not for the fact that we had something to accomplish and we had to be home in time for Ella's soccer practice!
Here are most of the pictures that made it onto her project poster collage!  Enjoy!

Gma Pam and the kids!  We all got the audio tour things... that's what's hanging around our necks!  Interesting stuff!

Part of the original church destroyed by an earthquake!

Arches in the courtyard...

California Poppies and the bells.

Yes... I was there!  Yay!  Ella and I!  Lexi got it just so... and I look like I have a flower perfectly placed in my hair!  :o)

She did most of the photography, but I had to get some of her, too.  This is a model of the original church... since it's not all standing anymore.

My favorite thing I learned there was that they used this large courtyard for rodeos and other family events... way back when!

Ella and Braeden

Gma Pam and me!  Lexi made us all do it... several times.

Ella and Lexi

The best part as far as the kids were concerned.  The fountains filled with Coy.

I love these lily pads!  

Braeden, Ella, Gma Pam, and Lexi all enjoying the fish!

Lexi, Braeden, and Ella  

Ella making a rub of the cattle brand.

Braeden being a goof with a fan.

Interesting cement work.

And if you don't know the story about the swallows... look it up.  It's worth reading... once!

The church now... rebuilt on the opposite corner.

The finished product on display in her classroom.  She got a 5!  Yay!  And it's true... she did most of it by herself.  I did have to help her lay out some of the pictures so she could effectively tell the story of the mission with the small amount of space she had left, but she did the research, edited the pictures, and typed it all herself!

And her dad and I helped her give it a touch beyond just a collage!  See the 4 arches in all the pictures where the bells hang?  She drew an arch and Damian cut it out, then they retraced it 3 times and cut some more, and I had picked up these little bells at the craft store, and she figured out how to attach them!  

This is quite the project.  Seriously!  Though it wasn't too bad, it was still enough to warrant a couple of tantrums and some yelling.  We're both trying to be better... one day at a time... usually failing, but still trying.