Castle Chronicles

We were still wearing short sleeves for much of October. We were busy every single weekend.    We took another field trip to the zoo and spent some time exploring parts we often skip. The grizzly bear feeding was super cool.  We took several nature hikes.  We had an impromptu Columbus Day party with friends.  We walked for JDRF to support a friend and in memory of Grandpa Steve. It was a hard day.  We went to a friend's bounce house birthday party.  We went trick-or-treating at Progressive.  We hosted our annual Scary Movie Night and Chili Cook Off. Everybody enjoyed the cook-off.  We waited until the day of our party to carve pumpkins because there was no time before that.  We went to IA the week before Thanksgiving because we weren't busy enough.the girls had a great time...  C celebrated her birthday early  The girls had fun with their cousin Recess the week after Thanksgiving. It's ...

September was busy finding our school groove for the year, exploring and camping, and of course celebrating Hobbit Day. M has been wanting to do a Hobbit Day for a while and she just happened to learn that Sept. 22 is the official Hobbit Day. Who knew? That left 2 weeks to plan and prep. It was a blast and a much needed creative outlet. The Tolkien edit of The Hobbit was approved by most, and the animated version had a few fans as well. But we think most guests came for the food: seed cakes, mushroom toast, cram, apple pies, pork pie, cheese, pickles, and eggses. A super exciting find while exploring the land. A fun field trip to the zoo with lots of friends! Making fun treats and testing homemade bubble pipes. Corncob pipes turned out to be exceptionally annoying so we transformed mini bubble bottles instead and they worked quite nicely as long as the kids remembered not to suck on the straws! Dwarf hoods and capes for those that really wanted to get into...

We survived Utah's scenic byway 12.  We made it to Torrey, UT in one piece, and no one got too carsick. The girls were thrilled with our choice accommodations: a seriously nice Conestoga wagon, definitely a step up from tent camping. Tent camping is fun, but the beds seemed awful luxurious. Maybe if we're good girls, J will build us one some day. (gma & gpa chose to stay in a regular room - we think they missed out).😜 We visited Capitol Reef National Park while staying in Torrey. The girls were excited to earn another Junior Ranger badge and considered themselves pros at this point. We explored the Grand Wash trail since Capitol Gorge was washed out. The girls found some geodes and enjoyed climbing on rocks and hiding in water pockets. It was fun but hot! We visited the Gifford House and bought some homemade pies to have for dessert that evening. But first, we had to explore Sulphur Creek Falls by walking along (and in) the creek until we reached the small falls where som...