Weeks 15 & 16 (12/12 - 12/23)

Scripture:

1. Boys - ORDERLINESS: I find a place for everything and put everything in its place.
2. Girls - Let all things be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne. Catherine has been a fan of Magic Tree House books since this summer. Now Chloe is too! I like that it introduced us to the Revolutionary War in simple terms and allowed us to talk about how our nation was formed.
2. Madelyn - Finished reading Morning Girl. She constructed a diorama depicting the setting in this book. She also read In Their Own Words: Christopher Columbus by Peter and Connie Roop. These two texts have given her different perspectives on life around the time of America's 'discovery'.

Social Studies: In our version of homeschool, reading is social studies and social studies is reading. Sometimes there are different assignments but they generally address each other. So, in addition to the learning they did about our nation's beginning in reading, the girls also learned about the Constitution. We read A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy and Giulio Maestro. We did worksheets to support this and today, we learned about the National Anthem. Our goal in this unit was to learn something about government but I think we've more accurately addressed the larger theme of patriotism.

Math: We have doubled up on math as we found ourselves on Singapore Math's Week 11 and our own calendar's Week 16.

1. C&C - Completed Unit 3, Chapters 4 & 5 on length. Also completed Unit 4, which was on weight. Finally, they completed Unit 5, Chap. 1 on multiplication. All math is from Singapore Math 2A.
2. Madelyn - Completed Unit 3, Chapters 1 through 5 and some of chapter 6 in Singapore Math 4A. She is becoming a fraction wizard!

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Weeks 9-11 of Writing with Ease.
2. Madelyn - Continued to do reinforcement paragraphs from Lesson 3 in IEW. Also started on Lesson 4. Now that she is adding more 'dress-ups' her writing is starting to differentiate itself from the original text.

Science: We have completed a unit of study on matter. We used Experiments with Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Salvatore Tocci as our guide. We did all the experiments in this book and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Preschool: The boys completed Weeks 11 & 12 of their Pre-K Sonlight program. They finished learning to print their capital letters and have now moved on to lowercase letters using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Weeks 13 & 14 (11/28 - 12/11)

We did it! We started a business. Check it out...

Here's the letter I sent to help get us started. It outlines the process we went through.

Good Morning Friends & Neighbors,

This weekend our girls will have the experience of going into (and out of) business. We have been studying entrepreneurship as part of our homeschool curriculum. For the culminating learning experience, the girls were given the task of starting their own business. After great debate on whether to offer a service or product, they decided to do what they do best and that is craft. They secured a loan from the Bank of Mom & Dad, procured all the materials, created MANY products, and finally worked on an advertising campaign and now they are ready to share it all with you!

So, this Saturday 12/10, The Crafting Kids invite you to our home starting at 9 a.m. for a Holiday Bazaar. They will offer handmade crafts such as bracelets, soaps, ornaments, and games. In addition there will be a mountain of yummy treats like fudge, old-fashioned peanut brittle, and buckeyes. There is much more however supplies are limited, so come early.

Finally, because this is a school project, each girl has selected a charity to donate her proceeds to. Madelyn will be donating her share to Animal Humane New Mexico. Catherine will be donating her proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure (in honor of her Aunt Kelly), and Chloe will be donating to the Roadrunner Food Bank.

We thank you all for your support of our girls and their learning endeavors! We hope to see you tomorrow.

-Heather

Our girls waiting for business! They did a great job selling for two days in 40 degree weather.







The business broke even on the first day and made a $75 profit on day two. Each girl donated $25 to her charity. They learned something in every content area during this experience. For example, they observed how glycerin can change from solid to liquid then back to solid again during our soapmaking. They also did quite a bit of mental math when figuring totals and calculating change. They practiced public speaking and we got to know our village a little better. The best part for them was the crafting though! We are very proud of all their efforts.

Week 12 (11/21-11/25)

Catherine made these neat patterns all on her own one day. I love self-directed learning!

Scripture:

1. Boys - DILIGENCE: I work hard to finish a task.
2. Girls - Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Proverbs 10:4
   

Reading:

1. C&C - Finished Piper Reed. They both discussed liking the characters in the book. Piper taught us that you can be too entrepreneurial.
   
2. Madelyn - Started Morning Girl by Michael Dorris. I've asked her to really focus on the setting. I'd like to explore with her what the United States was like prior to its 'discovery'.

Social Studies: We didn't do a lot this week in Social Studies. We will be doing mostly Social Studies over the next two weeks as we launch our small business venture. The girls have selected their crafts. Now it's time to execute!

Math:

1. C&C - Completed Unit 3, Chapters 1, 2 & 3 in Singapore Math 2A. This unit is about length.
2. Madelyn - Finished up Unit 2 in Singapore Math 4A and did a cumulative review and test.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 8 in Writing with Ease.
2. Madelyn - Completed a keyword outline, draft, edit and final composition on Pearls. While she is doing well with this program, I learned this week that she needs a little more teacher supervision to ensure that she is understanding the content of the texts she is working from. Regurgitation of information does not equal understanding.

Science: We did labs this week on solar heating and on food energy. For solar heating, we made sun tea. For food energy, we made a food pyramid showing how energy is passed from a producer through a chain of consumers.
Preschool: The boys completed Week 10 of their Pre-K Sonlight program. They learned to print capital C, O, Q and G using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 11 (11/7-11/18)

At the High Desert Museum in Bend. We learned a lot about Oregon history!

It's taken us two weeks to get a week's worth of schooling done. We travelled to Bend, Oregon for 9 days. We tried to fit in some schooling there but learned quickly that playing with our 1-year-old niece/cousin was much more fun!

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Chapters 9 & 10 in Piper Reed.
2. Madelyn - Finished Toothpaste Millionaire.

Social Studies: We visited the High Desert Museum in Bend. We also spent a lot of time in the car estimating distances and direction.

Math:

1. C&C - Took the Unit 2 Cumulative Test. The girls are so excited about test for now. Also completed Unit 3, Chapter 1 from Singapore Math 2A.
2. Madelyn - Took the Unit 2, Chapter 2 Test. As a 4th grader, Madelyn has developed a healthy amount of test anxiety. It's a good thing she takes them often. Also completed Unit 2, Chapter 3, Lessons 1-3 from Singapore Math 4A.

Writing:

1. C & C - Finished Week 7 from Writing With Ease. Started Week 8. Still a little behind on this one.
2. Madelyn - Completed Week 2, Lesson 2 from IEW Program. She's really liking this.

Science: We learned about renewable and non-renewable resources. We built a terrarium to demonstrate the second.

Natural gas is non-renewable as demonstrated in this lab. The girls were more excited that it worked after a delayed response.

I love when the girls take charge of their learning. While in Bend, they took samples from all the trees and identified them with a field guide.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 9 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital X, Y and Z using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 10 (10/31-11-4)

Happy Halloween!

Reading:

1. C&C- Read Chapters 8 & 9 in Piper Reed Gets a Job.
2. Madelyn - Read through Chapter 16 in The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill.

Social Studies: We decided to have a holiday bazaar as our business venture. We'll be on a tight timeline for this but I hope the girls will enjoy it. We also volunteered at the food bank.

Math:

1. C&C - Completed all the tests I missed in the first two units. They did a great job!
2. Madelyn - Completed Unit 2, Chapter 2 in Singapore Math 4A.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 7 in Writing With Ease. I can definitely see improvements in their comprehension and dictation skills.
2. Madelyn - Completed Week 1 in the Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Writing Intensive A. She likes having her own writing teacher even if he is on a DVD.

Science: This week we learned about currents, batteries and magnetic potential energy. I wish I took pictures of our labs. The only one to fail so far was the battery one and that's one they've done a million times at our local science museum.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 8 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital V and W using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 9 (10/24-10/28)

Scripture:

We decided that last week's Scripture lesson merited an extra week of study.

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Chapters 6 & 7 from Piper Reed Gets a Job by Kimberly Willis Holt.
2. Madelyn - Started reading Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill. She's reading two chapters a day.

Social Studies: Interviewed Mr. Brian, the home builder. The girls were sold on his homes. Mark introduced charisma as a vocabulary word. He explained that owning your own business takes charisma.

We also brainstormed possible kid-friendly family businesses. We categorized them as either products or services. I'm not sure how much time we're going to have for this but I hope that I at least planted the seed to entrepreneurship.

Math:

1. C&C - Completed Unit 2, Chapter 5 from Singapore Math 2A. The concept is subtraction with renaming. We did a lot of block work this week in order to construct meaning before introducing the algorithm.
   
2. Madelyn - Completed Unit 2, Chapter 1 from Singapore Math 4A. The concept was Addition and Subtraction with an emphasis on estimation and mental math. Madelyn scored a respectable 92% on her end-of-chapter test.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 6 in Writing with Ease. Mini-lessons were given on 'drop the -y + add -ies' as well as on the structure of poetry. I love that homeschooling allows you to do unplanned, on-the-spot mini-lessons!
   
2. Madelyn - Completed Wordly Wise: Grade 4 Lessons 1A through 1D. She did a great job with the vocabulary work offered by this program. I think we'll take this program up sporadically and what we don't finish during the formal 180 days of instruction, we'll complete over the summer.

Science: We're still investigating energy. This week we learned more about thermal energy. I'm hoping to pick up the pace on science next week.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 7 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital H, K, L and U using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

The girls performed in their first piano recital on Friday.

Week 8 (10/17-10/21)

Scripture:

1. Boys - Obedience: I obey right away without delay.
2. Girls - Obey your leaders (because) they keep watch over you. Hebrews 13:17

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Chapters 4 & 5 of Piper Reed Gets a Job by Kimberly Willis Holt.
2. Madelyn - Read Chapters 8-10 of Eddie, Incorporated by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Completed a timeline of Eddie's business ventures in Excel. We're hoping Daddy will help us create some kind of neat graph with our data.

Social Studies: Madelyn interviewed Ms. Veronica (her dance teacher and owner of the studio) and scheduled an appointment to interview Mr. Brian, the homebuilder.

Math:

1. C&C - Completed Unit 2, Chapter 4 or Week 6 from Singapore Math 2A. The concept was adding with renaming.
2. Madelyn - Completed Unit 1, Chapter 6 from Singapore Math 4A. She learned about negative numbers and took a cumulative review test on Unit 1.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 5 in Writing With Ease.
   
2. Madelyn - Completed Lessons 158 through 164 in Primary Language Lessons. The book is now complete! Onward to apply her knowledge to a new program.
   

Science: We completed labs on mechanical waves and heat transfer. If nothing else the girls should all know the law of conservation of energy. We have witnessed time and again how energy is transformed, not lost or gained.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 6 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital R, N and M using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 7 (10/10-10/14)

Our fall is flying by! As eager as we all were to start school, we get easily distracted by other outdoor learning opportunities. My plan book is always so lofty just as I remember when I taught in the public schools. I like having this space to reflect on what we actually accomplished over the week.

Scripture:

1. Boys - Honesty: I speak truthful words and act truthfully.
2. Girls - Tell your neighbor the truth because we belong to each other. Ephesians 4:25

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Chapters 1-3 in Piper Reed Gets a Job by Kimberly Willis Holt.
2. Madelyn - Read Chapters 5-7 of Eddie, Incorporated by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

Social Studies: Madelyn worked on interview questions for our entrepreneur friends, Ms. Veronica (dance studio owner) and Mr. Brian (the homebuilder). We also volunteered at the food bank this week.

Math:

1. C&C - Completed Sprints! Also completed Unit 1, Week 5 (Addition and Subtraction w/o Renaming) of Singapore Math 2A.
2. Madelyn - Completed Sprints! Also completed Unit 1, Week 4 (Order of Operations) of Singapore Math.
   

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 4 of Writing with Ease. The good thing about having purchased the workbook version of this program is it's exposing us to great texts, thereby giving us many book recommendations.
2. Madelyn - Completed Lessons 148 through 157 in Primary Language Lessons. She should finish next week.

Science: We studied potential and kinetic energy this week. We used the slide and origami frogs as examples.

Potential energy=top of slide

Kinetic energy = moving down the slide

Potential energy = preparing to leap

Art: The girls started taking stamping classes with their Great-Grandmother. It's a great art lesson and a good multi-generational learning experience.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 5 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital D, P, and B using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 6 (10/3-10/7)

When I was a public school teacher, I charted out year after year of instruction using conceptual planning. Although my classroom now looks much different and my pupils are far more multi-aged that I previously worked with, my planning method remains the same. Our concept for the year is interdependence. We spent the first five weeks laying down the foundation for this study by really articulating our family's interdependence on each other as well as with our country, our Earth and our God.

Now, we are shifting our studies to consider entrepreneurship. We will be looking at how people in our community work individually and within groups to develop an interconnected local economy of unique services and goods. I hope that our children will contribute to this web with their own small business venture.

Scripture:

1. Boys - Thankfulness: I show gratefulness with words and actions.
2. Girls - Let the peace of God rule in your hearts...and be thankful. Colossians 3:15

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Arthur's Pet Business by Marc Brown.
2. Madelyn - Read Chapters 1-4 of Eddie, Incorporated by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
   

Social Studies: We are exploring the concepts of small business ownership and entrepreneurship as a group. We started this week defining entrepreneurship and brainstorming friends we know who are entrepreneurs. Then we brainstormed business ideas for our family. Finally, we researched the elements of a business plan.

Math:

1. C&C - Continued working on Math Sprints, which they will finish next week. Also completed Unit 1, Week 4 of Singapore Math 2A.
2. Madelyn - Also continued working on Math Sprints. Completed Unit 1, Week 3 of Singapore Math 4A. After Sprints are done, I need to continue reviewing factors and approximation with Madelyn. The test this week was tough on her.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 3 of Writing with Ease. The trouble with not making everything up from scratch is that the objectives sometimes become clear after, rather than before the lessson.
2. Madelyn - Completed Lessons 140 through 147 in Primary Languge Lessons. It won't be long before we get to start the Excellence in Writing Program.

Science: We are now looking at Energy. We defined energy as the ability to do work. We also quantified it as work=force x distance. We studied the law of conservation of mass. I demonstrated this by weighing two liquids and then combining them to create a solid (chemical reaction) and proving that even as a solid the weight was unchanged. We are using Energy for Every Kid by Janice VanCleave for these labs and information.

(Experimenting with friction during work experiment)

Preschool: The boys completed Week 4 from their PreK Sonlight program. They also started handwriting using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 5 (9/19-9/23)

(Junior Ranger swearing-in at Volcanoes National Park)

We spent 17 days and 16 nights in Hawaii. While not all of it was educational, a good bit was. I am counting five days toward our schooling.

The objectives I laid out for this trip are as follows:

1. Math - Devise and solve word problems regarding the value and expense of goods and services in Hawaii. Work on mental math, especially multiplying by 8.
2. Writing - Record experiences in journal format.
3. Science - SEE the impact of crustal movement in the form of volcanoes. Observe and explore the diverse ecosystems (including desert and rainforest) on the Big Island.
4. Art - Sand art; Conservation poster
   
5. Social Studies - Learn as much as possible about the culture and history of America's 50th state. Learn about land masses and the geography of our only island state. Complete Junior Ranger program.
   
6. Reading - Read for information and read for pleasure (this is vacation after all).

The proof that we met these objectives are locked in our 1,000+ pictures. As much as I'd like to document our learning it's just too great a project that would take away far too much time from present and future learning. So, you'll just have to make a visit to our home to see our photo album and if you're really interested, you could look through all 1,000+ raw photos.

Week 4 (9/11-9/14)

This was a compressed week as we were preparing for a trip. Some things were left out, while others were doubled up on.

Reading: We finished our read aloud of Shiloh. The girls liked it so well, they begged me to start Shiloh Season as our next read aloud. They also performed their final Reader's Theater based on Shiloh Season.

Social Studies:

1. C&C - The girls finished their Neighborhoods & Communities book. The final lessons were on compass directions and measuring distance on a map.
2. Madelyn - Madelyn finished the formal lessons from Map Skills: The United States during Week 3 so this week she worked through the 50 Questions of the Day. She really got to know her country and became quite comfortable with the US map.

Math:

1. C&C - More Sprints. They also completed the Unit 1, Week 3 work from Singapore Math 2A. This included their first formal test ever. No problem for our girls!
2. Madelyn- More Sprints too. She also completed Unit 1, Week 2 from Singapore Math 4A. This included her first test of the year on place value up to a million. She is a little rusty and tends to let anxiety hamper her performance on tests (kind of like her teacher). We'll keep working on it though.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 2 in Writing with Ease. We are still working on getting into a routine with this new program. I like the activities but sometimes struggle with knowing what to emphasize in the lessons as I present them to the girls.
2. Madelyn - Completed Lessons 136 through 139 from Primary Language Lessons. Our daughter has tremendous memorization skills. She amazes me every time I assign her a text to memorize.

We did not do science or preschool this week.

Week 3 (9/5/11-9/9/11)

Scripture:

1. Girls - God loves a cheerful giver. 2Corinthians 9:7
2. Boys - Generosity: I share my things with a cheerful spirit.

Reading: The girls worked on their final Reader's Theater. The script came from Shiloh Season. It was a great tie to our read aloud. The girls really used their knowledge of each character when making the puppets. We continued (as suggested) reading Shiloh aloud.

Social Studies: We went to the Food Bank on Thursday. We went to the NM State Fair on Friday. We had a great time exploring all the different exhibits, especially the ones featuring NM animals. We enjoyed the Native American dancing and Mariachi group in the Hispanic Village as well.

1. C&C - Continued working from Neighborhoods and Communities book. They worked on a calendar and explored different types of communities (rural, urban and suburban) and how they work together.
2. Madelyn - Continued working from Map Skills: The United States. She explored concepts relating to latitude and longitude, regions of the US, map scales and population maps.

Math:

1. C&C - The girls continued to work from their Sprints books. They completed Unit 1, Week 2 from Singapore Math 2A.
2. Madelyn - Like her sisters, Madelyn continued to work from her Sprints book. She completed Unit 1, Chapter 1, Week 1 from Singapore Math 4A.

Writing:

1. C&C - As anticipated, the girls reviewed Week 1 from Writing with Ease now that they have their workbooks for that program.
2. Madelyn - Completed Lessons 126 through 135 from Primary Language Lessons.

Science: We continue to study the Earth. We made observations on our salt bed and crystals that we started Week 1. We also demonstrated how the crust of the Earth moves using paper towels and PlayDoh. We continue to use Earth Science for Every Kid as our lab book.

Preschool: Seth and Sam completed Week 3 from their Sonlight program. They also worked from Essential Math and Developing Early Learners.

Week 2 (Days 96-99)

Preschool: The boys are such eager learners. They participate fully in their schoolwork and love to do pattern block puzzles as a 'reward' when they're finished. How lucky am I?

Scripture:

1. Boys - Faith: I believe and act on God's promises.
2. Girls - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Reading: The girls worked on another Reader's Theater called "The Water Cycle." They were very creative making water drop puppets and lots of props to go along with the play.

We also continued reading Shiloh aloud.

Social Studies: We volunteered at the local foodbank on Wednesday. We try to go twice a month for an hour and a half shift. This week we labelled and boxed cereal.

1. C & C - Continued working from Neighborhoods & Communities book. They completed a scavenger hunt.
2. Madelyn - Continued working from Map Skills: The United States. She learned about rivers in the U.S. and landforms. She also continued to work on memorizing the state capitals.

Math:

1. C & C - The girls continued working through their Math Sprints workbook. In addition, they completed Week 1 from Singapore Math's 2A program.
2. Madelyn - Madelyn's workbook has still not arrived so she doubled up on sprints this week. She'll start her Singapore Math 4A program next week.

Writing:

1. C & C - Started Week 1 in Level 2 Writing with Ease. We are awaiting the workbooks so I think they may have to repeat this next week.
2. Madelyn - Completed Lessons 119 through 125 in Primary Language Lessons.

Science: We continued our study of the earth. We looked at crustal movement this week. We made a landform out of mud and then broke it up to demonstrate Pangaea.

P.E.: We had an active week. Catherine and Sam started soccer practice and Seth had a t-ball game. We also did some swimming in Heron Lake. The kids climbed trees and hiked around our mountain property.

Week 1 (Days 91-95)

The school year began this week in our home. We were all filled with anticipation and excitement!

First, we welcomed our two and a half new students. Seth and Sam are in pre-kindergarten this year. They are following the Sonlight PreK4 program that Catherine and Chloe used. I am supplementing this with Singapore Math's Essential Math. Harrison is joining in for coloring and block play and whatever else he finds interesting.
Scripture: Boys: I will listen with my eyes, ears and heart.
Girls: Pay attention, my child, to what I say. Listen carefully. Proverbs 4:20
We started reading the Family-Time Bible by Kenneth Taylor.

Reading: The three girls studied a Reader's Theater script called "The Animal Trainer". They made puppets and performed it for the family.

We are reading a chapter a day from Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor as a group read aloud.

Social Studies:

1. C&C - Working through a Scholastic book called Neighborhoods & Communities. They played charades, ten questions, and followed an errands list as they got better acquainted with maps and how they're used.
2. Madelyn - Working through Map Skills: The United States (another Scholastic workbook). She has been studying a map of the United States finding similarities and differences among states. She's also working to learn all of the state capitals. I like how she organized her flash cards. I was quizzing her on the capital of Rhode Island. I hinted to her that it's another word for Heaven. She said, "p, p, Pittsburgh". I couldn't stop laughing.
   

Math: Unfortunately, all of our Singapore Math workbooks did not arrive in time to start the year. So, we continued with our Math Sprints from the summer. We hope to start our 2A and 4A work next week.

Writing:

1. Madelyn - Completed Lessons 109 through 118 in Primary Language Lessons. She worked from this book throughout the summer and looks forward to finishing her lessons and starting a new writing program by October.
2. C&C - After a botched order for the Wordly Wise program, I purchased Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer to use with C&C. It's more aligned to what Madelyn is doing. They completed the Year 1 placement/assessment tasks this week and will begin Year 2 next week.

Science:
We are studying the earth. We did some reading about the Earth from the DK Eyewitness Series and completed labs from Janice VanCleave's Earth Science for Every Kid. We have learned that the Earth is made of an inner core, outer core, mantle and crust. The children pretended to be geologists and learned to identify limestone, conduct a mineral streak test, and did core sampling. We are also growing a salt bed and crystals. We are planning some field trips supporting this for next week.

When we conducted an experiment showing how metamorphic rocks are made using pressure, the kids piled on top of each other in their own layers and said, "Look Mom, we're metamorphic rocks."

Week 12 - Chama

We made one last get-away last week before our life becomes consumed by soccer, tee ball, dance and piano. We headed north to some beautiful country. We love Chama because it offers altitude, water, and trees!

We made a visit to the narrow gauge train yard. Definitely a hit with Harrison. Someday, we'll have to actually take the train.

Worn out travellers!
Cliff jumping into Heron Lake! Sam loved it!

Preparing for a hike down to the Rio Chama, we spotted these vultures getting ready for the day.
Harrison hitched a ride into the canyon and out.

We've had a wonderful summer! Now it's time to get back to school.

Week 11 - Denver

Mark was asked to participate in a recruiting event for work up in Denver so we all tagged along. While he interviewed and networked, we hit the town. Our first stop was the Butterfly Pavillion in Westminster.

The girls held Rosie the Tarantula. Quite the way to wake up!


While the girls enjoyed a guided nature walk, the boys played duck, duck, goose.
Madelyn was lucky enough to have a ladybug land on her neck.
Next, we went on the Hammond's Candy factory tour.
We learned about how candy is made, but really we were biding our time for the treat shop at the end.
Yum! Free samples!
Our last stop was a visit with Mark's parents and sister and her family. The kids had a great time with their cousins at a water park in town.