Amelia and I took a virtual cookie decorating class through True Girl ministries. The beautiful part of homeschooling: Amelia started school early so we could make cookies in the middle of the morning while brother & sister were in physical school.
Then we made royal icing for the first time and got all of our piping/flooding bags prepared.
The instructions were great, and we had a fun time learning a new skill.
At our homeschool co-op, the kids had the chance to "earn" hot chocolate with various toppings by completing and memorizing grammar charts. Amelia was super-motivated and earned every possible option. That was one amazing cup of hot chocolate!
First snow flurries of the season as Colleen was getting picked up from preschool.
Super excited to go out and play in the snow for the first time this season.
The landscaping crew was blowing/vacuuming up all the leaves during this first snow, so the kids had added entertainment.
Hot cocoa with the first snow
The next day, we returned to a cache that we had previously found because Erica had left a surprise treat for the kids in it (since it is within walking distance from our house). They were thrilled to find some coins just for them!
A cache found at the base of an old tree near our CC meeting church.
We met some friends at White Oak Park to look for caches there; most of them were a higher difficulty level and were unsuccessful. But we did find two; one was just lying under a branch & took us awhile to find. The other was found in a tree. Our friends brought their dogs; the kids loved walking them and watching them.
When we left the park to return home, we stopped by this cache that was at a handicap-accessible baseball field right next to a police station. We're pretty sure that the three officers who were outside had a good laugh at a mom & her 3 kids crawling around the bleachers, trying to find a hidden cache. At first it seemed that it had to be in the bases of the bench, but then we rechecked the logs and the hints seemed to designate somewhere "high." So we tried all of the fencepost caps & one came off! It was a struggle, but Austin was able to pull it out & return it. We felt pretty proud of ourselves for this one.
Saturday morning project: replacing the other garage door opener
Our first Saturday without tumbling class = lazy day for the kids. The enjoyed the freedom quite a bit.
On Sunday afternoon, we headed to Round Valley Reservoir to show Patrick our beloved "Scuba Rock" as well as look for a cache on a new-to-us trail. It was a chilly day, but the kids enjoyed wading with their boots on and soaking up the sun.
Found it! We left a squishy airplane behind.
Even as the weather gets colder, we are so thankful to live near such lovely places.
