August 30 - September 3

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston attended a kickoff for classes he will be taking this fall on Thursday.  It was all all day event with hiking, biking, climbing and repelling.  They also did a service project, piling up big sticks and logs to prevent forest fires at a local bible camp.  They had a book discussion, activities like archery, 9 square, water balloon volleyball and nerf gun wars.  Dinner, dessert, a speaker and then a dance.  It was an incredible day and he can't wait to get started with classes next week!

9 Square

Repelling

Rock climbing

MARISSA

Marissa's favorite thing this week was completing her Doodle Crate that came in the mail for her tech class.  It was making her very own working clock.  She got to paint and design it and then line it all up and put the parts together to make it work.  It was so fun for her and now hangs proudly in her bedroom!

CALEB

Caleb decided he wanted to do a Kiwi Crate when he saw Marissa's arrive so we pulled out the box (we have a few left in the attic from previous years).  He chose one that was all about stars and the solar system.  Caleb got to make a lantern with constellations on it.  We pulled out a book with constellations and he chose 4: The Big Dipper, Scorpius, Leo and Orion.  He did a great job and his lantern is so much fun, especially in the dark.  

He also made a gear that turns around to show how the earth rotates and orbits the sun and how the moon orbits the earth.  It was a little technical, but he loved it once we figured it all out.  

When we were reading all about stars, one of the optional activities was to make s'mores in a homemade solar oven...so of course we had to try that.  That may have been the highlight of the whole day!  ;) 

OTHER

Caleb is obsessed with gardening, cooking and nature in general.  We didn't get much of a garden going this year because it was super busy, but we did end up with a couple tomato plants that grew on their own.  Caleb was thrilled to picked a cherry tomato from his plant this week!  We also are lucky to have friends who own a farm close by.  They invited us to go pick peaches.  We've been enjoying peaches, peaches and cream and peach cobbler for a week! Caleb also got really excited to find a ladybug outside one day.  

As part of Caleb's garden, he used his screen time allotment this week to build a garden in Minecraft.  He also put a dog named "Pinkie" in his garden because Marissa's favorite stuffed animal is a dog named "Pinkie."  Cute kids! 

Marissa loves her bunnies!  We had them neutered this week.  Well, that was the plan at least.  We were all surprised to get a call from the vet telling us one of the bunnies is a girl.  Their names are Oreo and Ash and we were told they were both boys.  Ash is actually a girl.  The kids could not believe it and said her name must really be Ashley.  We still call her "Ash" for short though.  

Caleb built his Minecraft Lego set that he earned for finishing his curriculum last week and Preston filmed him to put on his YouTube channel.