Monkeying Around

We took a little field trip last week, with some of the other homeschool kids, to the San Diego Zoo. In fact, I think we might have even done a little learning. (Sshhh! Don't tell!) Trevor worked on a "shutterbug safari" which had him finding and photographing all kinds of different animals throughout the day. We'll get to work compiling all of the papers and pictures from the safari this week. I think the Big Kids enjoyed seeing how excited the little kids were, and the little kids were enjoying getting lots of shoulder rides. (I'm pretty sure Braden only walked for about 5 minutes the whole day.) What else can I say? It's always a great time at the zoo!

Rapids

Soccer season is in full swing, now. Trevor is on The Rapids this year, and he's moved up to a new age level which spans from ages 6-9 years. That's quite a spread, as you can see from some of the kids that he's playing with. Still, he's having fun, and gets to work out all that excess energy.

Seeing Orange

I love locally grown food. And around here, that means citrus. We don't have our own orange tree, as many people do, but we have roadside market stands in abundance. Everything is all mixed up here, so winter is our time for farmers markets and fresh local produce. This abundance of local juice oranges led me on a binge of orange cooking. The jury is still out on the orange marmalade. (None of us eat marmalade, so we're not sure if this is good marmalade or not.) The orange muffins were great, and the orange sherbet was out of this world! How do I ever forget that things are so much better homemade!?

Pretty in Pink

A new bundle of joy has arrived in my cousin's household. This was finished and mailed just in time to be ready for her arrival. This is another great flower design from Sublime Stitching. I just love the little tropical edge it gives this sweet swaddling blanket. Welcome, Baby Jemma! Congratulations to the new parents and the new grandparents!

Marine Recruit

No, it's not the first time Braden has had his head buzzed. But this is the first time Daddy has taken matters into his own hands. Apparently the Mom Barbershop was not in compliance with current haircut regulations. So now he's ship-shape and seaman-like. Ooops...I think I'm mixing my metaphors.

Here Fishy Fishy

The boys have anxiously been waiting to go fishing again. It's cute- they never catch anything, but they still enjoy it and are optimistic every time. They waited patiently while Ev fixed their poles. Trevor gets a real hook now. Braden fished with his little rubber tire attached to his Lightening McQueen fishing pole. We didn't catch anything this time, either, but we learned some things.





We learned that fish do not like Cheetos. Neither do ducks. We learned that fish don't like worms. They looked at them, followed them, but had no interest in eating them. We thought the fish would be licking their chops. Maybe they were long lost friends. Oh well. We don't need any silly little fish to have a good time.

Story Time

Ev and I have started reading a new book together. It's one of those things that we really enjoy, but don't do nearly enough. Back when we were poor Newlyweds and had no TV he read several books aloud to me- usually something that he had already read, enjoyed and wanted to share with me. This book is the same- he started it and wanted me to join in. So he started over, and we're steadily working our way through the nearly 1300 pages. I keep wondering: why haven't we done this for so long?

Mt. Hannauea

Here is our first big science project for school. Okay, okay...technically it's not our project. It's not really our project in any way at all. The volcano was crafted by a friend at church, who invited us to watch the eruption. But we did talk about the scientific principles behind how the volcano works. So it totally counts.

Making Music

We've all been dusting off our musical skills recently. Ev has been wanting to pick up the trumpet again for a while, and now he really has the time and opportunity. Trevor is practicing his embrasure, as well, and puts out some pretty good sounds! We love hearing Dad play each evening as he plays through his repertoire of old fight songs, marches and our hymnal. The kids love it when he goes through bugle calls. That's fine- just as long as he doesn't wake us up with reveille.