Teepee completed.
J. took a fire and knife class, and it was thanks to Papa’s help they got the bow-drill working before class one afternoon.
It was the perfect class for him:
We wanted to visit my mom in Spokane, WA, before the holidays kicked in, and, hopefully get some snow. It just so happened, the first snow of the season came the day after we arrived.
The boys built 2 snowmen in the dark and falling snow before bed that night.
Wetook advantage of the *world class*! outdoor skating rink Spokane has to offer:
and they stopped to pose with Nana before running down to the river.
After the snow melted, we had a lot of energy. Manitou Park was calling us:
We not only discovered how easily Willow branches make black snake whips, but also how to identify ducks:
The play structure was some good, clean fun.
The snow melted before we left, leaving only a couple of snowballs and plenty of grass to be dragged around by ropes on.
After we returned to CA, Papa brought home an electric light meter that was fun to test out on various light sources…
Butter mushrooms started sprouting up everywhere; a good chance to collect the variety of mushrooms around the property which we could get help identifying them at the upcoming Fungus Fair:
Our Friday Friends group came to our house to play, hear the story of Stone Soup, make stone soup, and work on making paper lanterns for our upcoming lantern walk.
I didn’t take any photos of the lantern walk, which we did here at our place. We set up a spiral of greens in the garden, and the children walked into the center to light their candles while we sang a song. I have kindly borrowed a photo from here.
Work continued down at Papa’s shop, so did the fun.
And so did the chores; the house don’t heat itself!
Our fishtank was getting so black you couldn’t see the fish inside, so Mama decided it was time to relocate the fish to a better home, the pond of our good friends, Owen and Theo. We transferred them to a jar, then headed over.
They readily adapted to their new home.
Time for a new block on Native American people of the plains and their shelters, wigwams! J. gathered some oak branches and made the cover for the wigwam with roofing paper:
Our first craft of the season was rolling beeswax candles with J.’s buddy, Ailan, whom he has known since he was a baby. I can think of no better smell than that of beeswax…
An evening boatride with our youngest at the helm is always a treat.
With full bellies after our thanksgiving meal, we took a nice walk with the family under a big moon in the sunshine of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
We also went on a hike in Henry Cowles Park with some very happy doggies later that week.
There was a fun math lesson to be found ~ measuring the large redwoods with our dog leashes.
Rancheygal 