Our weekend was the perfect mix of busy and laid-back. We had a couple of activities each day with plenty of down-time too. The boys have become obsessed with balloons (again) after the balloon-extravaganza that was field day. There are balloons everywhere!
On Saturday morning, we went to our church's annual Breakfast with Santa. Our game plan is to get there early and take our Santa pictures first, and then go eat breakfast.
Even early, there was a bit of a line for the big guy, so Will taught us all how to play Sticks, which is a great game because all you need are your fingers! Plus, it's quiet and uses math. Now if I could just beat Will once!
Santa pics!
Henry asked for more balloons.
After meeting Santa, we ate breakfast and did a few crafts. We made our reindeer food (oatmeal plus glitter) and wrote letters to Santa. Henry's wants are so few; he really wants crayons (150 pack!) and balloons and has also asked for a marble run.
Will wants a marble run too, plus a chemistry set and chemistry books.
Our last stop was cookie decorating, which led to cookie eating at 9:30 a.m. Awesome!
After breakfast with Santa, we had several hours at home. The boys helped me clear out their bookcases, which turned out to be a major undertaking. Will had so many books that he could never put them away because he simply didn't have room. He decided he wanted to remove all storybooks from his shelves to make room for nonfiction, poetry and chapter books. Then Henry went through the stacks and stacks of storybooks, early readers and early chapter books and we sorted them into piles: donate to the book drive, pass on to the cousins, move to the playroom, store for later and move to Henry's room. In each room, we through the same process and now we have organized books again, just in time for the book fair and Christmas!
After organizing books and a quick lunch, Henry and I headed to the Arboretum for our last Naturalist Explorers class of the fall. It was all about eagles and osprey. We saw lots of osprey in Maine and Vermont last summer, and apparently there is a bald eagle in downtown Houston. Gene's boss saw it eat a pigeon and a news helicopter caught it on video in October! After learning all about eagles and osprey, we headed outside for a very chilly hike to build an eagle's nest.
Brrr! It was so cold on Saturday -- high of 38 degrees. If that sounds cold to you for early December in Houston, you're right. It broke the record for the coldest high temperature on December 7 by a whopping 7 degrees! It has been a chilly winter for us indeed, but apparently Henry was toasty warm inside his many layers because he actually wanted to go hiking after class!
Did you know that eagle's nests are 6-8 feet wide and are added to year after year. They can be very deep (up to 20 feet deep!).
Henry gathered sticks and carefully wove them into the nest.
So cool!
All the little eaglets in the nest!
After nature class, we decided to head home instead of taking an extra hike, and all four of us gathered in the family room to watch "A Christmas Story" and eat roasted chestnuts in front of a roaring fire. It was the perfect end to a perfectly chilly December day!
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