Wednesday is often an easy-going day for us. We usually don’t have anywhere we have to be in the morning and allows us to get up and decide what inspires us that day.

This morning the boys played for a while and then we went on a walk.  It took quite a lot of convincing to get Owen ready to go but Simon and I remained calm and patient (which is rare for both of us so I am proud of us).

Owen spotted this Millipede crawling on the ground he thought it look like a tiger Millipede.  

  
We always enjoy looking at this maple tree turn colors in the fall it is in the yard in front of the St. Luke United Methodist Church.

  
We talked a little bit about how and why the colors change in the leaves. Owen’s class had been talking about it in preschool in more magical terms and I was hesitant to give him the scientific words just yet.

  
Next the boys did a little climbing in the tree that Simon first climbed when he was at parents day out at the church.  Yes he’s been a tree climber since he was 2 years old!  I watched them with a mixture of pride and sadness as I realized how big Simon is becoming.  Just his legs are taller than he was all together when he used to climb this little tree!  Owen was quite proud of himself as he often sees brother climbing limb to limb in all kinds of trees.  He was happy to have his own tree to climb successfully.

We had a little fun with the slow mo camera.  They were pretending to be birds, I don’t recall the names but they each had a particular species of course.

  
  
We spotted a little caterpillar hanging from the trees!

  
Big brother gave Owen a lift part of the way home!

It was a lovely morning and it’s been pretty peaceful the rest of the day too.  They have been playing, planning and building forts outside all afternoon.  Math can wait til a lull in the action!

We took to the forest for some adventures while Rick was off for fall break.  Giant and teeny tiny crayfish, stinging caterpillars, little minnows, falling leaves, tossing rocks and all that jazz.  This was along Suck Creek.

  
  

I’ve been offering some nature exploring classes to other homeschoolers, Outdoor Ed stuff like I used to do pre-kids.  It’s been REALLY fun for me.  Sometimes both boys are with me, sometimes just Simon comes to the class while Owen is at preschool.  We’ve covered seed dispersal, wild flowers, camouflage, and habitats/adaptations so far.

   
 

The boys and I have been working on learning more German so we can be ready to travel with Rick at some point.   

   
Here they were working on parts of the head and face.  They drew in the details and then labeled them.  These ready made face sheets are fun.  Owen received them as a birthday gift, I believe they are Melissa and Doug brand.