Katharine Zoo Drawings

This week's Cal Arts homework. 

Katharine took a trip to the zoo and the pet shop.

Kassidy Zoo Drawings

Kassidy joined Katharine at the zoo last week, and sketched some animals with her.

Walnut Grove

Walnut Grove is probably the best known location from the Little House books/tv shows, but they didn't live here very long. Grasshopper swarms and prairie fires made life difficult, so they ended up settling a little further west in De Smet.

But the prairie, temporarily free of grasshoppers and fire, made for some scenic and beautiful country.

The dugout that they lived in has long collapsed, but you can still see its small indention in the earth and put your feet into Plum Creek just like Laura did almost 140 years ago.

Tyler State Park

We took a family outing to Tyler State Park today, with a few frousins in the mix.

It has always been a favorite spot for us, because I think that deep down we all really miss seeing pine cones..

Little Homesteads on the Prairie

In DeSmet South Dakota, Keira and I visited a few of the Ingall's homestead sites.

First up was Almanzo and Laura's first homestead. The structures are long gone, but the prairie grass remains.

Next up, we visited the Ingall's family homestead (before Laura got married). The structure is a recreation, but it was built on the same spot as the original. 

This was part of a bigger exhibit that included farm animals, prairie era structures, crafts, and a wagon ride.

Reflection

Katharine has been rocking the art class this summer.

Here is a great portrait sketch of Keira from a week ago.

Back from the Prairie

Keira and I returned from our prairie road trip (+ plane flight) yesterday, and had a great time.

Lots of pics to post- but here is Keira's favorite.

Making Ice Cream

I started making my own ice cream, because it is easy and fast and  a perfect thing to do on hot summer days. So far I have made dairy free chocolota ice cream, dairy free vanilla ice cream, regular dairy "filled" vanilla ice cream and mint chocolae chip ice cream with fresh mint.

 This is the dairy free vanilla ice cream with my home made triple berry buckle (oh yes, I have also been baking quite a lot of delicious summer berry dessert cakes).

 Infusing the cream and sugar with fresh mint.

 The finished product. It is amazing how much more refreshing the ice cream tastes when it is made with fresh mint!

Collgege Visit to the 40 Acres

Katharine and I drove down to Austin to vist University of Texas at Austin Wednesday last week. It is a very pretty campus with lots of old, old trees in a cool city, but for sure not at the top of Katharine's list for colleges to attend, however, we did learn a few cool things about the college of fine arts at UT Austin. Also, the sqirrels there are extremely curious and tame. This one came up to Katharine to sniff her shoes. We also found the other Bass performance hall.