Brownie Service Project, Botanical Garden!

This past weekend we ended up staying in Riverdale. We had hoped to make it up to Tivoli, but Chris had to work on Saturday and it just seemed like too much. As well, our dog Happy got sick on Friday so we had to take him down to the vet Friday night and he ended up being hospitalized overnight until late in the day on Saturday, so we had to be in town to be available to pick him up. So on Saturday I took the girls with me for Wendy's monthly hair appointment (an absolute necessity if family harmony is to be maintained -- she is very tenderheaded and hates having her hair combed through daily, so a braided or twisted style that lasts a month or so is a great solution), and then we went over to Riverbank State Park to help with a Hudson River cleanup project through Girl Scouts.




On Sunday we went to Costco in the morning, and then Fer had a soccer game at 12:30. Sadly, the Green Clovers were just not on their game and lost 4-0. She seemed fine about it though. She played for much of the game and was in there at some key points. Then we went on an outing to the Botanical Garden. Wendy and I had spent some time getting a scavenger hunt together -- I saved the materials from a recent KIPP trip there, and we made prize bags together and got everything ready -- but it turned out they were having some really fun activities in the family garden. The girls each made a cornhusk doll, and Wendy was milling corn to make cornmeal, and then they both got to plant radish seeds with one of the volunteers.








Chris was able to catch a little shuteye while the girls enjoyed the activities:




On Sunday we also went over to our Brownie leader's house because she is an amazing crafter and had Halloween costumes for the girls to borrow. Wendy will be a ballerina/dancer, and Fer is going to be Batgirl. She also had some great hand-me-downs for which we are very grateful. This is our first Fall with the girls, so we are lacking some seasonal clothing. So far we're surviving, but we really need to go through everything and figure out what we have and what we need.

So far school seems to be going really well for both girls. They are very happy with their friends in their classes -- they beg to go to Afterschool so they can have playtime with some of the other students. We decided to stop having them attend the afterschool program in Riverdale because it just proved to be too exhausting, so now they are seeing Mrs. Zamora, who tutored them over the summer, for homework help 3 times a week, attending the St. Peter's afterschool one day a week, and then Fridays I pick them up for Girl Scouts.