Nana & Papa Bear's New House
Nana and Papa Bear moved to a new house this summer, and they are much closer to us now (at least until we move again). We took advantage of a three day weekend to get in a quick visit and see their new place--complete with 10 acres of woods. The girls had a blast walking in the Nana and Papa Bear's woods, riding the tractor, exploring a neighbors property, and just getting to be with Nana and Papa Bear again! We also made our way into town to explore a cute little downtown area and stop for ice cream on the way home. We also got to visit their new church (the girls were amused to discover they're using exactly the same Sunday school curriculum as our church), and enjoy a quiet afternoon before heading home.

Other Highlights

• Lion's been participating in a homeschool gym class this fall, which she loves! She's made a handful of friends and has had a ton of fun doing exercises, playing games, and learning a few sports as well as health and wellness information. Icing on the cake: there's a yoga class scheduled for the same time slot. Perfect!
• Monkey and Bug have been both amused and frustrated with their public school music program. They are in fourth and fifth grade respectively, and in our local school's fourth graders learn drum, which Monkey's been playing for 3 years, and the fifth graders learn violin, which Bug's been playing for 3 years. Monkey experienced her first class with a whole roomful of beginner drummers. "No one can keep rhythm! It was terrible!" (holds head in hands dramatically) Bug is dreading the day her classmates are permitted to attempt to play their violins (so far they've just been learning about the violins.)
• Lion and I got to visit the zoo with some friends who just acquired their membership. We toured the Asia exhibit, and played on the "playground," a field with a small hill scattered with the kind of manipulatives the animals in the zoo get to play with. So much fun!
• Lion and I also took advantage of a membership swap and

  

  Classic children's museum pic!

  got to visit the local children's museum for free! We couldn't find any friends to go with us, but we had a great time anyway. We completed literally every activity in the museum in only an hour and half (we've spent several hours there with the Monkey and Bug along, and still didn't do everything). She's a speedster!
• Our church hosted, and therefore our family participated in, Rise Against Hunger. Our church raised $11,000 and packed 40,000 meals to be distributed to victims of the recent hurricanes. Monkey and Bug spent the evening diligently weighing bags of rice and beans, and Lion helped me seal them shut before we needed her to step in as a runner, taking finished bags to the people packing them into boxes. We did this for 2 hours, and they were troopers! 
• Wednesday Night Church is finally back! (It didn't restart until October.) The girls were so excited to be able to see their church friends a second time during the week. They've been doing lots of fun activities (watching a magician's show, painting pumpkins) and beginning choir practice again. 
• Lion, Potato, and I got to meet Grandma for lunch at Cracker Barrel. The big girls were very disappointed that they had to miss out, but I assured them we'd do it again once they're home schooling again.