So as you can see...

So as you can see, all this activity going on, PLUS our Mon COOP, Tue Tennis lessons (Brenda), Tu and Wed Dance classes (Bret Lily), Th and Fri Girl Scouts (All three girls), T Th Basket Ball (Gaige), Th Unschoolers Park Days. With our left over time, Bret and I hang out and work on our love for Botany, we knit, do puzzles, Lily and I work on our weekly letter (this week is J, we made a jelly roll yum) play math and lang arts games, and just mostly "live" happily. See you soon!

Camp Spookybrook

She is finally old enough! Brenda has been waiting for years to participate in the PA activities of Girl Scouts. Camp Spookybrook is put together by girls for girls. The older scouts work as tour guides, haunts in the haunted house, crafters, fun house leaders, camp firers to put together an amazing halloween treat for the younger scouts. THey spend the morning setting up the camp to be spooky and halloweenish. By one o'clock the troops begin to arrive.

Brenda and Miranda chose to be tour guides. They get one troop at a time to guide through the maze of halloween fun. They lead the girls in song, help them through the house, feed them snacks, etc. (Brenda was Mother Earth this day, and Miranda, a baby.)

This is the girls with the new Camp Director, Itchy. We have known Itchy since Bret and I went to Camp WhipPoorWill for Me and My Gal Camp, three years ago. She used to be a camp counciler there but has recently taken the job of director at Stonybrook. She is Bret's favorite camp counciler, and my most memorable one too.

And of course, it was an opportunity to make new friends, and connect with a bunch of girls their own ages while doing something good for the Girl Scout community at the same time.

I was supposed to stay, but turns out there was nothing for me to do, but go for a hike and hang out in the beloved Camp Stonybrook forest. SO win/win for everyone involved.

To Kentucky and back

We headed to KY for some fun before the weather turned.
Scott has a trailer out there about 10 minutes from the land so we stayed there, did some hunting, and made it a weekend.

The trailer park where we stay has a merry go round! The kids have never been on one before so this was big fun every day. Also they have those swings like the old days where the bars are high so the chains are long and you can swing real high on them. This park is such a blast from the past!

There is a lake right by the trailer. We scouted out cool rocks and took walks on the land.

When Lily was hunting with her dad, we sat on the bed for hours laughing, making jokes, taking photos of us with silly faces.

Brenda was there to work on her photography project so we took a hike on the land looking for natural frames. This is me posing for Brenda under one of Dad's blinds.

Hallowe-'en

We started our holiday by Trunk-or-treating at a local church. There was free chili (even amazing vegetarian chili for me!!!!) and hot dogs, a jump house, balloon animals, cotton candy and pop corn, and of course trunk-or-treats.

Next we headed over to Carie's Seventh Street Gifts in Newport for their amazing halloween festival they throw! There was food, fun, fire, friends, and more.

Brenda met "life" at this party. Life handed her a lemon. When she got home we made lemonaid. lol.

Let out the ghouls and goblins, we are heading back to Hebron. Bret was working overtime again and the girls wanted out of town for their Tricks and Treats. Paula was throwing a party so we headed to KY to visit old friends and collect some candy.

Bret was an 80's girl until too many people called her Belinda Carlisle, during Trunk-or-Treats. She turned into Belinda for Paula's house.

Here is Marley with Paula and her son. Marley was actually several things this year, Rapunzle, a witch, a vampire...

And Brenda, lots of people thought she was rain, but she was really a jellyfish. Her facebook has been Brenda Jellyfish for months now. lol.

So Much So Little

Updating my life is seeming to be an impossible feat. We are growing and expanding our lives this year so much. It seems like to give any extra attention to anything other than what we have going on already would be to take from what we have. The kids have been so amazing this year. They are all growing into these perfect creatures of lovliness. (Don't tell them I said this or they might puke.) :-)

We went to Niederman Farm Pumpkin Patch this year with a bunch of friends. Here is Bret and Sophie in the corn maze. We finally had to go in and get them! They were actually wandering around in the corn (not in the maze) having a fine time together! There was a jumping pillow, pig race, duck races, hay ride, pumpkin picking, two corn mazes. We all had such a good time!

We have a weekly gathering this year of unschoolers. We meet at a park and hang out together. When it is warmer there is a water park area, the park, a track, a skate park. Something for everyone. There are a bunch of teen kids showing up too which is great for Brenda. It has made a huge difference to have her around homeschool teens this fall and backing off from hanging out so much with the friends in the neighborhood. She is really coming into her own. Anyway here is Lily playing in the skate park. It is like an empty pool. The kids all go to the top and slide down on their butts. lol.

Here is Bret's girl scout troop making a spider web snack for their meeting. Her troop has really expanded into a great group of kids! I am really excited about what Tina, my co leader, is doing with the girls!