They began with computer games and pokemon watching.  Then puzzling and a bit of balance play on the balance beam.

There was oatmeal muffin baking.  And talk about rising batter and baking powder and falling as the muffins came out rather flat.  But they tasted delicious anyway!

While Gavin worked more on our latest puzzle, Lilah glued some flowers we pressed from a hike earlier this summer onto card stock to give a friend.

Gavin wrote some thank you letters for friends.  He embellished one with a Spiderman illustration.

Lilah read several Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems to me.  They are some of our favorites!

There was lunch, more writing and balancing.

We did some silly walking, inspired by Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks and some more lego play.

Then off to City Creek Canyon to go up to the top for the last time before they close the road for the season.  We went two miles up, to the snow data collection whiz-gigs.  Right near the bottom we spotted a lynx cub a little bigger than our pug heading down toward the creek.  No pictures as I was busy watching and pointing it out to the kids.  I didn’t expect unschooling to pay off like this, but I was very excited! I’ve never seen a wild lynx close.  It looked like a big cuddly cat with a short tail.  Amazing!

 

We saw many kinds of mushrooms that I hope to research later based on pictures we took.  We climbed and tossed rocks in the creek.  We saw a snake, lots of grasshoppers and butterflies.

On the way down, the kids were world-spinning, each choosing a weapon to master and having their own school to master it in, with elaborate backstory.  “I learned to use the sword as a kid from my father.”  “Well, my mother taught me to use a staff.”  Then they were bears, eagles, rhinos and a rhino-corn, evolving into different forms.   They found curved sticks and used them as pretend bows to hunt, “but not really, Mama, because I don’t hurt animals in real life.”

Finally, back home for dinner and evening rituals.

It was good.