Embracing Summer

It's been a busy year and overall I'm not sure I'll be able to keep this blog up going forward but right now in the trows of minimal scheduling, I thought I would add a little update.  We are enjoying the beautiful weather of Minnesota in June and looking forward to just spending time together this summer.

A few little highlights of the week.

William is a total love.  Totally.  He is so sweet with his sisters and immediately runs over with concerned voice, tilted head, hugs and taps if they are upset.  He adores our new cat Lucy and she is very patient with him.

Artwork is a daily activity over here and  takes many forms.  

We have been encouraging milkweed to grow in our side garden.  We had a few plants last year and this year have a whole patch.  We added some other pollinator plants too and are waiting for them to bloom.  To our delight, we discovered several monarch caterpillars on the milkweed and Ada decided to draw one.

She came in and went to one of the insect identification books to write it's name, on her own.  Love it. The little circle above the caterpillar in her picture is a hole where it had nibbled.  

We are only a week into summer and already the girls have created a "school".  They busily set up the roof and equipment they needed including a table, books, and writing supplies.  Ada came and got a bike bell and attached it to the rope with a screwdriver (with minimal assistance;), and they labeled the school with the ages allowed to attend.  "4 to 36"  Their form of payment is a hug per day and the name of the school  is "Learning Day".  I just love it.

They decided to eat lunch together as if they were teachers and packed up a lunch and ate up top.  The kids eat down below I'm told ;)  I plan to bring my payment to the school soon in order to see what I can learn!

And the mud.  Yes the kids love to play with mud.  I like to think of it as an outdoor version of dress up, and if you have ever been to our house you know how popular that is around here!  

First thing this morning.  Ada wanted to be a butterfly and made some antennae.  I'm pretty sure Emma is a queen, as usual.  

Happy Summer everyone!  Hope to add more updates....but don't hold me to it!