Week 3

Fun 'n games

The thing I've learnt about being outdoorsy in Summer, is that we are more prone to insect bites. Bleh. In the past, E has taken the brunt of it, like a human shield combined with a insect pin cushion. And shame, he'd blister, swell, itch, welt and bleed with his battle wounds. This Summer, we're changing things up a bit... and I'm on the Hitlist too! A two minute walk across the road with Baby on Sunday earned me 3 bites on the arm, 2 behind my knee and 1 puncture mark on my baby toe. Aaaaargh! I mean, Baby was right there - how was she spared?? Of course, I am happy that she (and the other two) are not falling prey to these pesky stingers. I'll take one for the team. 

Spot the insect bite, win a prize!

A surprisingly familiar drive out to Bridgewater earned us a baseball bat, a pair of wedges for the budding tweenager and a George Pig toy - all for a bargain. The drive out is therapy in itself - albeit in Vermont's version of "Friday traffic". In the car on the way back, we discovered that the shoes were still quite a bit too big, but Missy is doing her best to convince us otherwise. E has taken a few successful swings with the bat (easier said than done) and Baby loves the new addition to the doll daycare she's building. I've decided that the day I get to go and shop me for me, I'm taking my purse and no.one.else.

Testing out the merchandise

As part of our Nature Study outing on Saturday (postponed by the heavy rains that hit on Friday, subsequently resulting in the aforementioned road trip) we visited Quechee Gorge. J and E had vague memories of our previous visits circum. 2014 [see here] but not one of us remembered the descent to the rock pools...that inevitably morphed into a steep incline upon our return. The silver lining was when we realised that there was a free swimming spot at the bottom. Note to self: pack in bathing costumes! Maybe the heat played a part too, but we'd like to think that we battled out-of-breathness due to being an additional family member fatigued... oh okay, and terribly unfit! Thankfully, we made it back to the top and to our car. We'll be back.

The long walk down...

We made it back up!

News from South Africa is that the J's class is doing some clay modelling for Handwork this semester. So Dad prepped some solid gunk and the kids took their first stab at shaping it into mammals.

Here's the recipe he used:

3 small bottles cold/craft glue
8 cups of corn flour

Heat on a stove until well combined and then roll out on a counter top (use gloves!!) until cooled off.

Mammal in the making...

After a while, he started sticking koki pens into portions to add colour. Of course, traditional food colouring could work too!


And that's a wrap of this week's highlights!