Breakfast

This morning, I was greeted by this plate in the kitchen, courtesy of Noah. It was just as tasty as it looks!

Boy Scout Camping

Lukas and Noah completed their last cooking requirement for the camping merit badge this past weekend by cooking for their patrols at the camp out.
Thursday evening, the two headed to the local grocery store with a meal plan and shopping list in hand They emerged an hour later with 110 items and money left over!

The car was loaded to the max with all the gear, the food for 20 scouts, and these three handsome men.

Snack Break

Two boys, two popsicles, two electronic devices = perfect school break

Shoe Shopping Lukas Style

Lukas needed new dress shoes and given his size Zappos is his friend. Mama spent a few minutes searching the large selection of shoes, placed several in a virtual shopping basket, and Lukas then eliminated those he disliked. A few days later, a LARGE box appeared on our front step. Any girl would have leaped for joy to see such a big box from Zappos, pondering the many possibilities it might include. Not so Lukas who first finished all his work, and then needed a few gentle reminders to open the box, try on the shoes, and select a pair to keep.

His total investment in time: less than 10 minutes and now he has dress shoes for church and other formal occasions. If his feet stop growing, these might last him a while.

Michael Faraday Research

Noah's research project this week was learning about Michael Faraday, known for his work in electromagnetism. He compiled interesting facts about this scientists and capped off his project by creating a model to demonstrate electromagnetism. 

Learning by doing - the best kind!

Harvest Keeps on Coming

What looked like a relatively small garden of a few tiny tomato plants is bringing forth an abundant harvest, one we can barely keep up with eating.
There are countless green tomatoes on the every one of the no longer tiny plants. How many of these will wine ripen before we hit our first cold snap?

Thes little yellow ones are amazingly sweet - it is like snacking on candy!

Challenge Fun

We spent Friday afternoon on a lake. It has rained and been cold for part of the week, yet Friday morning the sky was clear, and by mid afternoon it was almost hot again. The boys were able to go tubing, sailing - although there was hardly any wind -, and playing in the water. Bob graciously took up the role as floating lifeguard, constantly counting bopping heads in the water.

All the children and the adults enjoyed this mini vacation from daily chores and routines.

More Harvest

Noah's experimental muscat melon growing is yielding great results. We are indulging in sweet, tender melons for dinner and will probably be hard pressed to ever purchase a store bought cantaloupe again.

Just an Ordinary School Day

School happens all over our house and is best conducted while wearing the school uniform - pj or the gym clothes.

Geography lesson

There is more than one way to practice geography....

Healthy Treats

Noah is trying out some healthy fun treats - chocolate dipped cherries, raspberries, and bananas. The new favorite is chocolate covered cherries after our daily run.

Latin Reward

Lukas' Challenge B tutor challenged her students to memorize all the Latin vocabulary over the summer and if they did, she would take them to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. Well, several students took up the task and earned a ticket to the park. On Thursday, we piled two cars full of teenagers and steered south. The boys were given the freedom to go on their own as a group and took full advantage of the short lines to ride everything they wanted. It was a very tired, warm, yet excited group of boys who rode back with us to Michigan after a long day of fun, sun, and friendship.

At the end, there was only the carousel left to ride....

Crossing the Finishing Line

On Saturday morning, we participated in the "Sweat for Nets" 5k run at Riverwood Community Church. The boys achieved new personal bests - a great start to their 90 days Fitness Merit Badge program.

Amusement Park Practice

On a sunny Thursday, we attended the Warren Fair. TACOM hold its family day the first day of the fair and we took advantage of the free rides. All four of us enjoyed the roller coasters although Lukas is almost reaching the upper limit for fitting into the smallish seats of these portable amusement rides. We finished off our Fair event with an 'Elephant Ear.'

Too tall, will not do that one again!

Soo Locks

We stopped at the Soo Locks in Sault Sainte Marie and had front row seats as two large barges moved through the locks - pretty impressive. Before we steered the car south, we stopped at an ice cream store for some local flavors. What a fun end to a great weekend!

Lighthouse and Lunch

We stopped at another lighthouse to enjoy our lunch and a dip in the water.

Camping

There can be no camping without a fire....