Creve Coeur Park

2025-26 School Year–Week Twelve

It’s been quite a week!

On Saturday, we went on our annual autumn walk around Creve Coeur Lake. It was a beautiful day!

Chickadee and I had fun playing tennis:

We made challah from the American Girl Sweet and Savory Treats Cookbook inspired by Chickadee’s original American Girl doll, Rebecca Rubin:

And then Chickadee broke her ankle. We still got quite a bit of work done, but I’m not going to lie…some things got skipped this week! In algebra she reviewed everything she’s learned about solving systems of equations, and then graphed them, too. In history we read about the Boxer rebellion and Japan’s victory over a European army when they defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. In science we continued to discuss the naming of compounds. We continued reading Treasure Island. And we stopped by Dunkin’ Donuts to try their new Wicked for Good drinks…the matcha variety was especially delicious!

I’ve had to rearrange our field trip plans for the next few weeks due to Chickadee’s broken ankle, and I definitely don’t think we’ll be playing tennis anytime soon!

Chickadee Thursday

On Saturday, we took our annual autumn walk around Creve Coeur Lake…the weather beautiful, and there was some good color!

As it turns out, it’s a good thing we went on that walk when we did, because Chickadee broke her ankle two days later and is now in a walking boot and not really up to such a long trek!

2024-25 School Year–Week Twelve

First let’s take a look back at our annual fall field trip to Creve Coeur Lake, where we walked the almost 4-mile loop and Ladybug took a bunch of pictures:

Ladybug identified hasty generalizations and analogies in logic. She started Book Two of A Tale of Two Cities. In writing she worked with the dictionary and thesaurus. In psychology she read about classical and operant conditioning and Pavlov’s dogs. She read about slave uprisings, the Civil War, and the Trail of Tears in A People’s History of the United States. In religion we discussed Augustine of Hippo. She started a 30-day photography challenge. She received her ACT scores…she was very pleased, as am I!

Chickadee learned how to calculate simple interest in pre-algebra. We finally finished Tom Sawyer! In history she read about Peter the Great in Russia. She learned about the different types of unconformities in science. We continued reading The Wizard of Oz and also made a pair of recipes from The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook: “Monkey Goes Bananas,” a beverage with the unusual flavor combination of coffee syrup, spice syrup, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, banana, and chocolate, with a lemon-cardamom sugar that rimmed the glass, and lemon “Always on Hand Cake,” served with a dusting of powdered sugar, cream cheese whipped cream, and strawberries.

Next week, we’re planning on our annual visit to Cahokia Mounds…I can’t wait!

2023-24 School Year–Week Nine

This was a long week. I don’t even know why, but it was a struggle for me. Ladybug read about the persecutions of Decius and Diocletian in religion. In pre-calculus, she had to prove trigonometric identities, and she likes doing proofs about as much I did. In physics, she continued to read about Newton’s laws. She worked with semi-colons and colons in grammar. In world history, she read about the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and the rise and fall of the Mayan Empire. She’s halfway through The Divine Comedy: Hell. In health, she read about peer pressure. She covered some familiar territory with the end of the American Revolution in US history, as well as the beginning of the US as an independent nation.

Chickadee worked with factor trees and exponents in math. She finished the section of her religion book on Moses and Joshua. In grammar, she identified and diagrammed adverbs. We finished the chapter about nutrition in science, focusing on fats and vitamins and minerals. In history, she learned about Clovis and the unification of the Frankish tribes, as well as the Moors in Spain. We’re almost finished reading Anne of Green Gables, so we made one last dinner from The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook: Rachel Lynde’s North Shore Fish Cakes, Fire and Dew Sweet Potatoes, and Maritime Gingersnaps:

Today we took our annual trek around Creve Coeur Lake. It was a little earlier than we’ve gone in recent years, but the weather was perfect, and both Turkey and Moose were available to come with us, so we decided to go sooner rather than later. We didn’t see as much fall color as we’re accustomed to, but there was also more than we were expecting, so it was a win!

A Walk Around Creve Coeur Lake

Last Tuesday was one of my favorite days of the year…the day where we take the walking trail all the way around Creve Coeur Lake! Even though this is about the time we usually go, there were far fewer leaves this time, probably due to the winds we had last week. While I missed the foliage on some of my favorite parts of the walk, I appreciated that we had a whole new perspective this time around!

2022-23 School Year–Week Thirteen

This was a busy and fun (not to mention short!) school week! We had one day that was a field trip day (Tuesday) and one day off (today, for Veteran’s Day). But first…cooking! Ladybug helped me make another three recipes from Recipes from the World of Tolkien…Lembas Bread (spicy cornbread), Sam’s Coney Stew (but actually chicken thighs according to the suggested substitution in the cookbook), and apple and blackberry cake:

Chickadee also did some baking with me this week…we made “Canterlot Cornbread” from the My Little Pony Baking Book. It was some of the best cornbread I’ve ever had!

Our previously mentioned field trip was to Creve Coeur Park for our annual walk on the four-mile loop around the lake. We timed it so Turkey, Bunny, and Moose could come with us, and he had a great time!

We did get some school work done, too. In algebra 2, Ladybug learned how to identify discriminants. In chemistry, she learned about decomposition, formation, and combustion reactions, and did an experiment to break down water into its constituent parts using an electrolysis machine. She read about dynasties in Japan and China in history. She has almost finished the second part of The Scarlett Letter. She tried her hand at crime and horror writing in creative writing.

Chickadee had mostly a review week in math, covering many of the topics she’s worked with so far this year. In science, she learned about chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. She learned about early Greece and the Mycenaeans in history. We continued to read through Centerburg Tales. And we got to tag along with Bunny on a visit to the St. Louis Art Museum today!

Next week we have a full week of school, with some Thanksgiving fun thrown in, and then it will be Thanksgiving Week already!