Giving Thanks

Our day of thanksgiving dawned bright, clear, and cool. A perfect day for a morning hike. After a few days at home with a sick Julia the fresh air and activity was welcome. 

you have to climb the BIG rocks... and explain the graffiti!  

a perfect New England Thanksgiving day... woods and water... imagining Pilgrims coming ashore...

a favorite spot

we found an addition for the shell tree

our turkey scultpure

what I'm thankful for

beach treasure - a whelk egg case

my loves

After the hike, we headed home changed, watched a bit of the taped Macy's parade, and then headed out for the evening feast!

yum!

Culmination of Co-op

Fall session of our first co-op is over. It was a little sad because we are done with this co-op for now. We have had a fantastic time and the kids have loved all their classes but two days of co-op a week is too much for our schedule and the new one we've joined is a better fit for us. 

The final week of the session had many highlights though, including watching the concert band perform, Julia opening her play dough shop in Mini Markets, Ben participating in an archery expo and creating a woodland mobile from all his sewing creations, a final challenge for all my secret code kids, and a last Pokemon tournament!

a woodland mobile with handsewn creatures

ready... aim....

fire!

nice shot!

#1 Archer

she bought a slime-making experience from another mini-maker!

all Pokemon... all the time.

The Mathematician

Ben requested that this photo be taken (and posted on Facebook) to commemorate the day he started multiplication! He's a math-loving boy!

yup he's 5.... going on 15.

Julia's Playdough Shop

Julia's favorite class at co-op this fall was Mini Markets, a class in economics and starting a business. They spent seven weeks learning about owning a business and earning money by completing tasks. Then for the last week they opened their own shop.

Julia's product of choice was playdough. So she spent an afternoon this week making, packaging, and creating advertising!

Ben, the supervisor!

creating her signage

finished product!

The store was a great success! Her shop made plenty of money that she then spent on everyone else's fabulous creations.

Christmas Prep - Tree Hunting

We lucked out and had a gorgeous day yesterday to go Christmas tree hunting. We found a very pretty tree and now our fingers are crossed that it is still there when we go back next month!

ready to hunt

who brought Pikachu?!?

1 tree found!

an autumn bouquet

my guys

hmmmm.... a Halloween tree????

Great White Sharks by Julia

Fridays are "Friend-days" around here! This our 4th year joining a small group of families to get together 2 Fridays a month for a co-operative group. Last years format of having both the kids and the parents present topics of their own choosing was so successful that we decided to stick with it again this year.

So for our first meeting of the year, I worked with the kids on how to evaluate news sources and recognize and identify fake news. In our second meeting, Julia did her first presentation of the year on Great White Sharks. It has been so fun to see the kids become more comfortable with each other and with their speaking skills. Julia was excited to present this to everyone and had a great time doing it!

Down One!

Halloween was doubly exciting this year as Ben lost his first tooth! Thankfully, missing a tooth didn't interfere with his candy-eating abilities!

see how wiggly it is? hanging on by a thread!

Happy Harry!

Happy Halloween

Astrid the Dragon Trainer

ready to fight for her dragon

our own Harry Potter

Professor McGonagall and Mr. Weasley

the trick or treating crew

scary faces!

Halloween Parade - escorted by a band!

here come the trick or treaters! hurry to the candy bowls!

Ben's Gallery: Pokemon

Charizard 

Gengar