The Cahill's

Brian’s mom offered to watch the kids if we wanted to have a little time to ourselves. So we took her up on the offer two weeks ago and took a three night getaway on Caddo lake.

We stayed in a converted caboose – played games, watched movies, ate good food and had wilderness adventures!

Backgammon on the dock

A friendly neighbor.

The highlight (and main activity) of the trip was canoeing through the channels and swamps that make up the huge lake on the border of Texas and Louisiana.

The first day we spent 9 hours paddling through forests of cypress trees.

We found a very cool “tree fort”/abandoned dock. It reminded us of the computer game Myst.

Brian brought topo maps and a compass to help us find our way around.

There were also “road signs” to guide you along different channels which could be helpful….if you knew where they were going.

We followed these license plates back to an abandoned dock and boat launch. See the canoe trail winding through the trees? This is not algae but tiny lily pads growing in the shallow water.

Here are some more of the plants – some bigger “lily pads” and little flowers too. It was odd, like canoeing on the ground. The water was only a foot or so deep in the “woods” and our canoe was perfect for exploring.

We found many duck blinds – this one being the biggest and best. You could pull your canoe (or boat) all the way inside and then climb up to the blind and hunt ducks….or eat a snack 🙂

On the second day we found a beaver lodge and on going closer to inspect it we found it occupied by three beavers! We could see them through the sticks and one by one they slipped out and swam away in perfect view from our boat. Amazing! We also spent a while in a Heron “nursery” watching the parents glide in and out of the trees. I counted at least 6 nests in that area.

It was a beautiful and amazing trip! Many thanks to our sponsors – Nana, Benj. and friends 🙂

The book this week was Goldilocks and the 3 bears – spellbinding and a tad on the scary side (when read with great drama) but a great starting point for all kinds of fun!

Monday was a little crazy so all we managed was eating “porridge” (cream of wheat) for breakfast. Both of the kids thought it was great!

Tuesday was a spur of the moment visit to our friend’s house where we shared our craft idea and their space. We made a “texture bear”, putting eggshells and coffee grounds on a bear shape. Why these two items? Because that’s what we had lying around.

Ivy LOVED squeezing out the glue. I forgot to read the story this day but Grammy saved the day with the bear story on CD that they listened to on the way home.

Wednesday was another craft – character masks. We practiced talking with the different voices.

Flora played Goldilocks.

Thursday we explored temperatures, chairs and beds – just like Goldilocks. Here we have water that is hot, cold and “just right”. 

Lance tried papa bear’s water before I could stop him and discovered that it was “too hot.” Ivy wouldn’t touch it after that. A sip of mama bear’s ice water helped and then they both drank baby bear’s water all up.

This bed was supposed to be “too lumpy” but it seems it was “too bouncy” instead. This was right before naptime and I tried to convince them that their beds were “just right” but I guess they weren’t as tired as Goldilocks because they didn’t fall fast asleep until I had read a lot of books.

Today was another take on the bear theme. We went on a “bear hunt.” This is another book from the library that we have been reading. Brian does such a good job that Ivy is half scared of finding the bear but both kids adore having it read.

We went down steps, climbed over a wall…

waded through the water, ran across a grassy “field”….

and found a bear in a dark cave!

It has been so much fun doing these little projects with the kids and they love it! I enjoy watching their little brains make new connections and have something to tell daddy when he gets home. Thanks to all who submitted ideas, time, items or encouragement.

A friend gave me some materials for a music class so I took the plunge and started it up this week.

There were four moms (including me) and 8 kids (with baby Flora).

We did songs about chores around the house and learned about high and low sounds. Here we are “dusting” with our rags.

At the end we rocked our animals to sleep.

And because this post is on music, here is a video of Ivy singing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Listen very carefully and if you know the song you can make out the words.