Family Workday

Truckloads full of mulch.

Mike tilling area for perennial bed.


Fill soil added and ready for plants.


Clair planting


Brian transplanting


Garrick spreading mulch.

Overflowing Umbrella plants uprooted from Sophia's house.


Garrick and Brad dig space for umbrella plants. We hope they survive the tranplant and winter.
They do well at our house because they're planted around a fountain so they get the water they need and we can protect them easily when it gets below 20. We placed them behind the mudpie kitchen since that area will be more wet than other areas of the yard.


Mark putting the final touches on the mudpie kitchen he made.



Mel doing another round of sanding.



Goodwill Picnic Table. I passed it up the first time, but when I went back the next day, it was still there, so I snatched it up.


 Before and After



Adrian and Michael finishing up on mudpie kitchen table refurbish.
Viola! After a pressure wash, sanding, and staining.  Perfect for our new mudpie kitchen.

Tinkering

We love when Kami busts out with the drills! What a clever way to make a bow and arrow.

Writing and Work Spaces

[Field Trip] Sweet Berry Farm

[Field Trip] ASNC: Fossils and Faults @ Pease Park

This field trip was hosted at Pease Park and we explored the banks of Shoal Creek. We searched for evidence of ancient marine life and discovered the geologic forces that shaped Austin’s unique landforms that we see today. We also identified and collected marine fossils.



In the above photo, each child holding a number represents a layer of rock that was laid down over a period of time, arranged from the oldest layer on the bottom to the newest on top. On the right, a fault line is slightly visible, which cut through the layers.





Clair took the parent education class and she found out that there are many different kids of limestone and that our area is diverse in geologic zones. Our area has the most abudant amount of granite in the world too. There are also some dino prints in Leander, so we'll have to check those out for those who haven't seen them.









Damon's grandmother is visiting Austin and was able to join him on this field trip. It's always nice to see grandparents join when possible!

Fossils, cont.

Tree Map, different types of fossils.



Violet brought in this terrific fossil collection that was handed down to her by her grandmother. We added it to our fossil table for all to investigate. Damon brought in a large piece of petrified wood that his grandmother gave him. What wonderful things for grandparents to hand down!



Our fossil table. I could sit here all day admiring and investigating.


The children later chose one fossil from Violet's collection to write an informational paper about. Here, the children are beginning with their circle maps. Later, they created a tree map, and finished by transferring to a short paragraph.




Garrick and the children made fossil imprints of their feet too!

[Field Trip] National Fossil Day @ Texas Memorial Museum

National Fossil Day was October 17th, so we took a group field trip to the Texas Memorial Museum.







Where the Paleontologist works. She showed us all sorts of fossils.


















UT film students interviewed some of the children for a film they're making on how children interact with dinosaurs.



Such a phenomenal museum. We will be back!