(pre) Halloween Fun

Our friends throw an annual Halloween party on their family farm which far exceeds any Halloween party (or ANY party, for that matter!) that I've ever seen.  They pull out ALL the stops, and the kids are in their glory! 

Beautiful skies for my little fairy butterflies.  :)

A butterfly and an axe murderer out for a friendly stroll...
maybe this is what peace on earth looks like!  :) 

Oh dear, this one. 

Gourd Tossing Contest

Tossing gourds proved a little challenging
with wings and purple pigtails.  :)

Eyeball Race

Balloon Pop

Prizes?  How about TWO tables full?? 

It's my friend's sister-in-laws who throw the party, and let me just say we spent approximately 9/10 of the day being SO JEALOUS of her amazing in-laws.  They had a house full of spooky treats, craft tables galore, fun games, and each kid left with a bag full of prizes, covered in filth and sugary sweetness.  :)  These girls know how to party! 

And of course, having a party like this just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't on the farm.  Every surface is draped in beauty and bounty and Fall colors. 

Celebrating the sweetness of friendship

and fun times with my favorite pumpkins. 

Pianos, Panpipes and Public Speaking

We wrapped up our music/sound portion of our unit with a visit from a piano tuner.  We descended upon our friend's mom's piano like a flock of seagulls :)  and the tuner pulled the whole darn thing apart to show us what was really going on inside the instrument when played. 

Like, literally, pulled the whole thing apart.  (!)  There are pieces and parts I never knew existed!

Trivia time...can you guess what type of instrument the piano is??  (I always thought it was a stringed instrument because, well, the strings...but it turns out it's actually a percussion instrument because of the mallets hitting the strings to make the vibrations!) 

Making PVC pan pipes!  Click HERE for the "recipe" and some songs to play.   

The older kids gave oral reports on an assigned composer.  It's always shocking to hear the true stories behind such genius.  Brenin had Johann Sebastian Bach.  I was a little worried she'd just be too shy to get up in front of a group to speak.  I guess she muddled through.  ;-)   (doesn't she look TERRIFIED?!?)

This is actually one of the aspects of the group that I most appreciate, the opportunity for the kids to speak, perform, learn and even instruct publicly.  While this might not come as a challenge for Brenin naturally, it may become one if it's not practiced and preserved, and it's a gift and a skill she'll most definitely be needing later in life. 

We're well into frontiersmen, tracking and trapping now....never a dull moment!  :) 

We have not forgotten about you, Leo!! :-)

Our hearts were in Taiwan this week as you celebrated

your birthday!  I wish we could have been there to sing

happy birthday in person, but know we were thinking about you

and sending lots of love from your second home. 

We love you and wish you a very happy and blessed year ahead! 

All in a Week's Work

Finally found a working "sound scope" with the help of some dry rice, plastic wrap and a rubberband.  :) 

The girs loved seeing what happens to the sound vibrations with high/low pitches and loud/soft noises.  Of course this rice was no competition for the noise these girls can make, so some of it ended up on the floor.  :) 

It happened that the community orchestra meets each Fall for 6 weeks, and it coincided beautifully with our music portion of the unit.  I play in the orchestra, so the girls tagged along and got to explore the conductor's role, the "anatomy" of an orchestra, the acoustic panels on the walls, as well as get an up close listen to all the different sounds working in unison.   

Bren was photographer and made sure to capture all the details. 

This week we're wrapping up the sound/music portion of the unit with the group and will be giving oral reports on a designated historical musician (Brenin has Bach and Luca has Vivaldi, so we've been having fun exploring their stories), a "tour" of the inside of a piano, and homemade instruments.  (phew!)  :-) 

Next week we're moving on to tracking and trapping, and guess who we happened to find at a local Rendezvous.....a trapper!!  The guy was incredible.  He spent a good hour with the kids, demonstrating all his trapping tools and sharing some of the history, future and philosophy of trapping!  It was so fun to see the kids get such a live view....their interests were most definitely piqued! 

My Ethiopian beauty! 

Love this one.  A lot. 

Bren's first "treasure" of the day....a feather!  :) 

Trapper Tour. 

I LOVE the looks on their faces.  Completely engrossed. 

Music to a teachers's heart.  :) 

The kids playing with a trap.  Bad idea?  Yeah, I thought so too. 

The trapper's "neighbor" was just pulling in to set up camp and allowed the kids to assist in his camp set up.  Third grade engineering?  Yes, please!  :) 

Surely the most beautiful form of lodging....the tipi. 

Tipi Tour

From the Rendezvous, the girls and I headed up north for our final camp of the season.  Always sad to pack the camper up the one last time, but I suppose camping in 40 below just lacks some of the luster that a summer camp offers.  :)  Snow will soon be flying up there, but we had a surprise stint in the 70s this weekend, so PERFECT camping weather! 

After a full day, the girls snuggled in for a movie and a snuggle....really roughing it!  :) 

Harvest Fest with Grandma and Grandpa

This picture pretty much sums up the Up North experience.  Pigtails flying in the wind, breathing deep and living free. 

We feasted on apple cider, caramel apples, walking tacos and all those goodies that taste best when camping....one last time *sniff*sniff*. 

Ooh, and giant pumpkin-shaped marshmallows!!! 

On the road again...dreaming of next year already!