The days of eating breakfast on the deck are numbered. But we will adapt to the cool as long as we can!

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons. (Daniel 2)

We took advantage of the fleeting mild late-summer days and went on a field trip to Peck Farm in Geneva. On our way, we swung by and picked up some cousins for added fun!

Probably the coolest thing about Peck Farm is the Butterfly House. Ruthie has been reading Fancy Nancy, and here is the advice Nancy gives about attracting butterflies:

Taking Nancy’s advice, she found the most colorful clothes she could find. Then cousin Ellie bequeathed some butterfly wings to her that morning. We decided to forego the perfume, with the bees at a swarming high these days.

Shortly after entering the Butterfly House, butterflies were landing on one kid

after another

after another

after another

after another

until every kid had a butterfly encounter except Ruthie. She was sad.

We were ready to call it a day at the Butterfly House when, as we were walking toward the door, a butterfly landed on top of Ruthie’s head.

It was an educational experience, as we saw many chrysalises ready to emerge.

We also learned to identify many of the butterflies.

We found a caterpillar

and many hummingbirds.

And did a lot of playing.

The kids discovered that birch tree bark makes great paper.

Best buds!!

This picture was taken nearly five years ago.

The then-toddler-baby duo are now big kids sitting at the school table learning handwriting together.

And he still makes her laugh with his antics.

These pumpkins came straight from our backyard! Planted as seeds back in the spring, we wondered if the showy, fast-growing vine would ever produce fruit. But then slowly, baby bumps began to grow from flowers and develop into beautiful, orange pumpkins.

Jake, our resident horticulturist, was eager to harvest them this afternoon, so out he went with a knife to cut the pumpkins from the vine…it reminded me of cutting the umbilical cord from a newborn baby.

He washed those pumpkins off.

And now they’re happily displayed on the deck.

Heard this morning: “Every time I do school I’m going to wear my brains.”

Translating Ruthie => English: brains = braids

We’ll be reminding her of this for years to come.

Peter and Jeremy are learning Astronomy this school year, much to the delight of a certain teenager in the house.

Jake was anxious to show them Saturn and Mars before the planets set for the season.

At the first sight of a clear sky, he brought out the telescope and focused on Saturn. It brought oohs and ahs from the younger ones. I enjoyed listening to him instruct them on what they were looking at.

Jeremy would say that his favorite school subject is Astronomy, so he especially enjoyed this field trip to the end of the driveway.

We headed to Chicago to watch Jake’s friend Sammy play soccer for his new school, Chicago Hope Academy. All the kids were anxiously waiting to go into the stands to cheer Sammy on.

It was a great game–high scoring for soccer, at 5-2. The field is just south of the Eisenhower expressway, which is ironic because we’ve passed the big “HOPE” sign countless times on our way in and out of the city and never knew anything about it!

Stevie was much loved, both at the game

and at the house.

Jake and Sammy posed for a shot after the game.

Meanwhile, Silas told Ruth all about the new neighborhood.

It was a great night!

This is Fancy Nancy. We checked out some of her books from the library this week.

This is Fancy Ruthie.  She came downstairs this morning quite excited after putting every bow she owns into her hair.

Here is Fancy Ruthie fishing in the backyard.

See all the pretty bows in her hair?

A catch!