Homeschooling: Pirates, Raccoons, Magical Fish!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling5 Comments

First, can we talk about how big this kid looks these days? What is happening? Where is my baby? Lol.

We have been so busy the past two weeks! We have established a pretty good routine – we start with Language Arts and phonics, then move on to math in the mornings. Then in the afternoons we rotate between history and science, along with whatever extra unit study I have thrown in the mix. It seems to be working well!

This week in Language Arts we were supposed to read Magic Fish but being me, I remembered we had a similar book, The 1000 Star Hotel. Wyatt absolutely loves this story, written by the Okee Dokee Brothers, whom he also loves. And even better, there is an accompanying audio for it! We were able to read it together, and then listen to it (for the 1000th time maybe but he loves it so it was perfect), before getting to work on our copywork/journal/narration pages and projects. The “fun” project was decorating a magic fish, which was supposed to be made from a sock, but I didn’t have an extra so I sewed these little felt fish instead for him to decorate. They turned out pretty cute! We skipped the rabbit trail suggestion of studying a specific fish, Wyatt just wasn’t that thrilled with any fish suggestions and I figured we had enough to learn about so we moved on.

For our extra study unit, that I will probably refer to as our nature study, we started a month long unit about nocturnal animals. Our animal for this week was the raccoon. It was a cute little study – we read a few books about nocturnal animals and raccoons, played a matching game, and then matched shadow pictures to the animal. Wyatt also completed his journal page about raccoons which I am going to put together in a book at the end of the month. I also felt quite clever in finding this craft. We are talking about simple fractions in math, and I talked about halves and equal sides and all that while I was showing him how to cut hearts out of construction paper. We have to do this sort of thing hand over hand, so I did a few as demo and then cut a few together before he assembled it all. I think it turned out super cute!

We are using The Waldock Way’s Passport to Adventure for our history unit this year, although I am doing a rather poor job of connecting the historical parts to it in our lessons. It is turning into more of additional language arts right now – although, one of the GLCE goals for first grade is about maps, and we made a treasure map, so I guess I hit one goal. This curriculum is based on the Magic Tree House series and this week we were reading Pirates Past Noon. These books are super fast reads and pretty cute! We completed notebooking pages and journal pages based on the reading, talked about pirate treasure, what Wyatt would choose to put in a buried treasure (fruit snacks, a Mickey Mouse toy, and a book), made a map, crafted a cute pirate puppet, and painted a treasure chest, which I filled with “treasure”. This was Wyatt’s favorite thing we did. I find him going through this treasure chest all the time, and putting on all of the jewelry. I think today we are going to watch Peter Pan, eat Pirate Booty, and hide the treasure somewhere and make a map for Billy to find when he gets home. We also have to make time for our art project today as well.

We did other things as well, like sight words (which we call cake words) and word family activities, learning about the layers of the earth, make a felt model of the layers, fractions, telling time, and all the other things you learn in first grade.

I will post about our nocturnal animals study in a future post, with links and activities for anyone who is interested! I am going to combine that post into multiple weeks as well, so I will probably post that information next Friday.

Next week is all about coyotes, mountains, turtles, and the Choctaw Nation! And with that, I better get moving! I have a lot to get together before Monday!

Currently.. October

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized9 Comments

It’s that time again! I’m joining up with Anne in Residence for her monthly Currently..post. This month we are talking about what we are borrowing, buying, planning, prepping, and reading!

Borrowing: Lots of books from the library! We are homeschoolers and the library is a place I visit at least twice a week. My mom is also unable to drive right now so I am also borrowing books for her as well. Our library has also started offering activity kits, which we are loving. Crafts for kids, and hobby introduction kits for adults, with kits for birding and crocheting and all sorts of things. These kits come with books and all the supplies you need.

Buying: Christmas gifts. I have Wyatt almost completely done already! I was never an early shopper until last year and I loved having December free to just enjoy the season without having to worry about getting my gifts all bought. Wrapped? Well, that is a different story.

Planning: Different fall activities, field trips, summer vacation trips, lesson plans, different winter projects, autumn inspired meals… really, when am I not planning something?

Prepping: Our bedroom for the update, finally! We were planning to do our room months ago but different factors came into play, and then we redid our son’s room, so now..it is our room’s turn! I am going through everything and deciding if we need it or not, buying new things – like our new duvet cover, which I love. It is always exciting to refresh a room!

(not my bedroom..photo from Etsy)

Reading: All the scary and spooky books! Mysteries, thrillers, horror for me; fun Halloween picture books for Wyatt.

That’s about it from me today! What are you all borrowing, buying, planning, prepping, and reading?

Spooky, Creepy, Dark and Twisty: My October Podcast Playlist (2021 version!)

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Podcasts15 Comments

It’s a gloomy gloomy day today, and I’m looking forward to tonight and listening to a podcast. As it is October, I like to indulge in all things spooky and ghostly and downright creepy. I have scary books on my nightstand, a long list of movies to watch, and on my Stitcher and Spotify playlists, a plethora of podcasts just waiting to scare me! I have some new favorites this season that I am loving setting down in those quiet moments for a listen, with a cup of tea or a glass of red wine. Perfection, especially on a gloomy or rainy night.

First up, my current favorite:

Camp Monsters

Since attending Franken Fest a few weeks ago, I have been seeking out these stories of cryptids and monsters. I had no idea there were so many! And this podcast – Weston Davis is the writer and host and his voice is so soothing. Like you could listen to him read a phone book, he just has a way of storytelling that is lost almost in this day and age. And this format, like stories being told around the campfire, emphasize those storytelling skills. There is atmosphere to this podcast, y’all. The crackling of a fire, little noises and sounds that fit the story and the mood. I can’t speak highly enough of this pod. Fave Episode: The Jersey Devil (so far, I have so many left to listen to!)

The Haunted Coffee Pot

I love this one for it’s versatility – these hosts are my kind of people! True crime and ghosts? Yes, please! And coffee too? It can’t get any better. I love that I can pick and choose which path to go down for whatever mood I am in all in one podcast. There are so many to pick from too, true crime and hauntings and just weird tales, they are all there. Plus yummy sounding coffee drinks! If you are a coffee lover like me, if you pop over to their website they also include recipes for those drinks… I just need a personal barista to make them for me. Fave episode: The Mothman of Point Pleasant

Women and Crime

I just recently started listening to this one as well. I like how these hosts and criminologists have a goal and a mission, and it is not just about being sensationalists about these tragedies. From their website:

“As criminologists, we study females who have been victims of crime, those who have committed crimes, and those involved in the criminal justice system through their work.

In this podcast, we tell the stories of these women, but we also look at the causes of female crime, and victimization.  We will cover cases in which women have been wrongfully convicted and exonerated, and we will use a criminologist lens to look at how women are treated in the criminal justice system. 

Some of these women you may have heard of but we promise to also bring you cases of women whose names will be new to you. Regardless of the type of case, we will cover a new story involving women and crime each episode. “

I am reluctant to say fave episode because of the nature of the story, but I thought they did a very good job at covering the Ellen Rae Greenberg case.

Supernatural with Ashley Flowers

I discovered Ashley Flowers from a different podcast that she hosts, Crime Junkie, and I just like her style. This is another podcast that covers a range of topics, some that can’t be explained logically or just have a twist of the supernatural. Fave Episode: The New England Vampire Girl

Haunted American History with Christopher Feinstein

This podcast is relatively new, and the host Christopher Feinstein has a full time job outside of the podcast, so there are not very many episodes yet. Feinstein also likes to keep the quality high so instead of rushing his process he takes his time, and it shows. I have enjoyed all of the episodes I have listened to! Also, the intro music is perfect. I only wish that the show summary actually gave a synopsis of what the episode was actually going to be about. Fave Episode: Robert and Friends

True Crime Garage

This podcast is already well-known, especially among people who listen to true crime. However, I just recently started listening to it. I think the guys do a fantastic job of covering the cases and delivering the facts. Again, not a favorite episode but the one that I think they did a tremendous job of covering is the Danielle Stislicki case. Danielle Stislicki is a case local to my area, and a fairly recent one. I vividly recall when she went missing and how hard her parents worked to bring attention to her case. Her family is sadly still waiting for answers.

So, this is the list of pods I keep gravitating between this month! Have you listened to any? Have any to recommend?

If you are interested, you can see my list from last year here!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized17 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

It’s finally October, and I am so excited! Last week was a great week. I feel like Wyatt and I had a productive and fun week of school, I got a lot of stuff done around the house, and I even had the opportunity to hang out with friends twice! One night for drinks in the yard at my friend Kelly’s, the other a morning walk in the woods. Both were perfect and what I needed. We also finished changing Wyatt’s room around. I wanted to get him a different bed. I have mentioned he has cerebral palsy, and it affects his gross motor. So I wanted a bed that was really easy for him to manage on his own. I found one that matched his needs without seeming too young and we put it all together today, with the comforter he chose, which is space themed. He is very pleased with it! We still need to pick out and hang artwork. He requested a room that is space and animals…two things that are sort of hard to combine. I will figure it out though. Right now it is sort of bare but coming along! I also need to move that shelf, which is leftover from how the room was set up before. It is giving me anxiety to have it over his head! Note to self – have Billy move that today!

Read Last Week:

I finished this book in two days- I could not stop reading it although my brain felt broken after reading it. It was so good and so weird and so crazy. I loved it though.

Reading this Week:

A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford : I need a little break from the reading I have been doing. I have been reading some pretty intense books lately, and I needed some cozy. So I grabbed this mystery from the display at the library Saturday and took it home with me. Sure it is the fifth in the series and I have not read the previous four, but that is not unusual for me. This drives everyone around me who reads crazy – that I will just pick books up and read them from the middle of a series and circle back around, or just never finish a trilogy. I don’t know why I do this but, I do. It doesn’t seem to bother me. So far, I am enjoying this book! I started it before bed last night and only put it down because I was tired.

Posted Last Week:

Hello October!

A Few Short Book Reviews (Small Favors, The Lost Apothecary, and Bunny)

Listening To:

Science and true crime podcasts, mostly. I hope to get a post out about them next week, and maybe even a playlist of my favorite episodes. We are also listening to a lot of Lord Huron and The National Parks – something about their sound really resonates in me this time of year.

Watching:

We started Vera on Acorn (I think Shelleyrae recommended it?) and we love it! We might save it for the winter though when we want something to binge that has lots of seasons. We also started Only Murders in the Building (thanks Deb for that rec!) and we are addicted! There is mystery and intrigue and secrets and humor! We were cracking up watching it last night. The cast is is amazing too. We love how Selena Gomez can hold her own with Steve Martin and Martin Short in a scene. We are also hoping to start Nancy Drew now that October is here.

And that is it from our home today! How are you all doing?

Hello, October!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized17 Comments

Finally it is October! My very favorite month of the year! I love love love fall and all that goes with it. The chilly mornings, crispy leaves, apples and pumpkins, sweaters, jeans, boots – just everything. I feel like I started the month off right today. I met my friends at the park for a morning walk, coffees in hand, and it was such a great way to start the day, even though our feet were soaking wet by the end of it from the dew on the grass. But we had great talks and spotted some new mushrooms, and also, more leaves on the ground, that had changed color. When I went a few weeks ago, the leaves were still green and on the trees; today, the leaves were starting to change and fall to the ground, red and yellow and orange.

I love the drawing in and quieting down that fall signals. We are still running around, busy, but I know that soon we will be tucked up at home, cozy nights with soup and tea and blankets, good books, board games. I love our fall and winter evenings, having dinner around our table, music playing in the background as we enjoy the time together, usually Carole King or Lord Huron or the The National Parks, connecting with each other about our days. Weekends spent outside in the chill, coming home to chili that we turn into nachos the next day. Fires and cider with my brother and sister-in-law as our kids play in the yard then snuggle on our laps once it gets darker.

And it is also spooky season! I love scary books, witches and ghosts especially. I used to love scary movies but I have become a bit of a wimp – now I am very choosy about what I watch. And I am lining up all the Halloween kids movies to watch with Wyatt this year – Disney’s cartoon The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice, Casper – and I saw that there is going to be a Muppets Haunted Mansion movie too! I am super excited about it! Wyatt and I have watched the trailer a million times! He loves Halloween too, and is looking forward to trick or treating again this year, masked up, but trick or treating. He wants to be Pete the Cat and he is going to be an adorable. I might be biased though, just a little.

We’ve been slowly adding in our Halloween decorations, and Luna decided to get in the act and pose on her castle. Soon my SIL Chrissy and I are going to get the kids together for an autumn walk after school to gather leaves to dip in wax and string up as a garland, and of course, the traditional visit to the orchard to get apples, doughnuts, and pumpkins!

Do you do anything special in the fall? What do you most look forward to?

A Few Short Book Reviews

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review2 Comments

My reading has taken a turn lately … into the supernatural and spooky and weird. I always try to read and watch creepy type things this time of year, and so far I am succeeding.

Let’s start with… Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

Out of the three I am reviewing, this one is my favorite! I love the worlds that Craig creates, I find them so unique and unusual, slightly darkly whimsical with imaginative plots and interesting characters. In Small Favors, the book starts off gently, with the working of beehives by a father and daughter..then slowly, slowly things start to go off the rails, building to a crescendo of an ending. Ellerie is a great mix of strength of vulnerability, even if the vulnerability is hidden. And, I loved the character Whitaker so much that I named one of my released butterflies after him. I highly recommend this read if fantasy/horror is your jam.

Next up.. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

This one was my least favorite, however, that doesn’t mean I disliked it. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I feel like it was a bit rushed and I would have liked to hear more about these characters, especially Nella, and about the mystery in the past of the “apothecary murders”. I felt the ending was a bit hurried, but overall I did like this book. When I checked this out from the library, there was a note from another patron who had read it that said “Good book. Fast read”. And I would have to agree. (although, this cover is my favorite. It is gorgeous right?)

And finally, the mind bending book that was Bunny by Mona Awad.

This book was crazy insane; my mind felt broken after reading it. I felt like I had lived through some sort of nightmare. It made me uncomfy. The writing was brilliant, and made me think of creepy bars with concrete floors and bad lighting, unfamiliar feeling and intimidating. I absolutely loved it, although I don’t feel like I can definitively explain what it was about. I was trying to tell my husband about it last night but instead sounded like I was telling him about some sort of drug fueled fever dream. It is lonely and busted and reminded me of Alice in Wonderland but told by Chuck Palahniuk. It might be one of the best books I have read all year, based more on the actual writing than the plot which was…confusing… It was crazy, but also crazy good.

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Sunday-Monday Post16 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

It’s fall!! At least officially on the calendar. And I am so excited! I love autumn – everything about it, even the rainy days. Fall means more fires, crunchy leaves underfoot, trips to the orchard and pumpkin patch, ciders and spooky reading and scary movies – I could go on and on. I am sure I will talk about it much more before winter…

Today is the birthday of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman). We are celebrating him today, by reading a few books, visiting an orchard, and of course, eating apple pie. I find his life and personal philosophy interesting. When I was younger I always thought he was fictitious, like Paul Bunyan then of course learned that he was indeed a real person. Anyway, I could probably go on for a while about Johnny Appleseed too. Lol.

Books! Last week I read:

This was such a great read. I still haven’t read Gichigami Hearts- it always takes me a while to get to books on my Kindle rather than physical books. But, I do plan to start it this week. My Kindle is charged up and everything! I also picked this book up too! I need something scary, and a reviewer on Goodreads said this book is like Heathers meets The Craft meets Frankenstein, which makes it sound amazing! ( I LOVED Heathers and The Craft in high school and then Frankestein in college when I understood it more)

Posted Last Week:

Franken Fest

Field Trip: Fossil Park, OH

After Dark Musings

Watching:

We are still watching Agatha Christie’s Marple (BritBox) which is fantastic. We also finished LuLaRich (Amazon Prime) which was fascinating. We also started Owl House on Disney+, which we thought Wyatt might like but we like it better than he does.

And that is about it from around here! What’s going on in your world?

After Dark Musings

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized8 Comments

Somewhere along the line I gravitated from night owl to early riser. This is late for me. I am usually tucked up in my bed about now, reading a book. Tonight though, I didn’t feel like reading.

Night time used to be my favorite time to sit outside, late when everyone else was sleeping, neighborhoods quiet except for the creaking of the crickets and the distant whoo-whoo of the trains that constantly run through our town. I’m not outside tonight, but curled up in my office chair, cats at my feet, Luna the leopard gecko sprawled out on her rock, Freddie the frog in his water bowl, Harry doing who knows what in his house in the other room. I can hear the crickets and the trains, the cars whooshing by on their way home or their way out to a party, a bar, to work.

I am content here in my home, with my child sleeping across the hall, Billy working in his office for a bit. There used to be a time I would have loved to be out and about, soaking up the night and hitting all the restaurants and staying out way too late. But now, I am about different things. My family and my animals and my plants, my books and my thoughts. I am happy. I know some people, friends of mine, who were in such a rush to be back to “normal”. And while I want some things to be back to the way they were, I don’t mind this new part of me that enjoys being home. I always have different projects going, books to be read, notebooks filled with ideas and lists of those books or shows to watch or topics to learn more about, things I want to try. We have embraced new patterns and routines, found joy in in the smaller everyday moments. Things that used to seem so important don’t anymore; activities I once merely poked about with I am now making much more time for.

Living slower. More deliberately. Isn’t that what Thoreau moved to the woods to do, live deliberately? To live on purpose, carefully. With intention. Not rush about to the point that we no longer are enjoying our lives, which I feel I may have done, just spinning wildly from one thing to the next. We may not have moved to the woods away from it all, but the past year and some months our lives were stripped bare, leaving plenty of time for re-evaluation for what we wanted to resume. For some, that does mean resuming it all over again, those who thrive on activity and crowds of people. But I have realized that never really served me or my soul. My soul has been ready for quiet. For enjoying slow times with my own little family, my parents, my brother and his wife and my niece. A few of my closest friends.

I am sure tomorrow morning I will read this and think to myself what a strange mood I was in when I wrote this. And maybe even feel embarrassed to have shared so much of my innermost thoughts. But this is where I am tonight, so I am going with it. And with that, I think I will get tucked in, to my book and my bed. Sweet dreams everyone.

Field Trip: Fossil Park, OH

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, homeschooling9 Comments

One perk to homeschooling – being in charge of your own field trips. So if we felt like packing up early and driving to Ohio to check out a fossil park on a Monday morning, no big deal. Bonus – going at that time pretty much assured we would have the place to ourselves. Which we did.

I had been looking for some places to take Wyatt to introduce him to the idea of fossils and rocks- we are about to begin a whole rocks and minerals unit in science and when I can get him outside or hands on, I do. I found one north of us, about four hours away, and then my brother sent me the link to another, this one only an hour drive south. This is where we ended up going – Fossil Park, Ohio.

I will admit at first look it is a bit underwhelming. Like a place teens would go to have fires and beers or like a crumbling parking lot somewhere. I was like, well, regardless of how this turns out, Wyatt will have gotten out to play in an environment that is unlike any other he has been to before. There wasn’t too much to see, just gravelly ground, a large container of water, and a few little tables and benches. Pretty simple set up.

We were optimistic, as we generally are. I had read the website and printed out a few materials before we left, including an information sheet that had illustrations and descriptions of the types of fossils we could hope to find, which we had reviewed in the car on the drive. Fossil Park is the remains of a shallow sea bed from the Devonian Era, 375 million years ago. No dinosaurs. We had our milk jug with the top part cut off, also suggested per the website, to use to keep our treasures in. After a brief glance around, we plopped onto the ground and started searching.

I found a piece of a trilobite right away, and I felt very victorious. Giddy almost. Billy was systematically combing through the dirt, I was sort of attacking things a bit more energetically and also trying to teach Wyatt, who was busy stuffing his overalls full of rocks and fossils, neglecting the milk jug in his excitement. He was pretty proud of his collection.

Let me stop a second and talk to you about these overalls. This is not an ad or affiliate or anything, I just really love them. I bought them for him in the spring – as Wyatt scoots a lot right now while we work on walking, he literally goes through pants like crazy. Anything harder than grass just tears the seat right up – and eventually, him, if I don’t watch. These Key Apparel overalls are like the toughest purchase I have ever bought him. They have withheld an entire spring of playing outside, and now, a rock quarry. They are a little worn but still intact. I can’t stress enough how durable these overalls are! They are from a farm supply outfitter, so they are made for hard work, but if you have an active kid that goes through clothes like crazy, I highly recommend these overalls. I only wish he could wear them in the summer – but the very thing that makes them so durable would also make them too hot for the summer. So we will count our blessings and be happy that he can wear them at least in the spring and fall.

Back to the fossil hunt. We were busy at work, Wyatt and I near the top of the quarry, Billy near the bottom, sifting and examining. I was explaining different things to Wyatt, showing him different pieces. We were alone in the quarry for quite a while before a man came walking in, and after a few minutes he came up to us. It turned out that he was the Parks Project Manager and super nice! He told us about what we could find, and even dug with us for twenty minutes, giving us his finds and telling us what they were. It was really cool and like having a personalized guide. He was telling us as well, that they have big plans for the quarry and next year it will be built up more.

We stayed quite a bit longer than I anticipated, almost two hours. Wyatt had fun, and so did Billy and I. I felt sort of like a kid again, sitting in the dirt, just exploring and looking for neat things. I think Billy did too.

We came home with a nice collection in our milk jug! We found a bit of trilobite (top of the big rock), brachiopods (the shell looking piece), and then lots of crinoids, which are bits of sea lilies. I am holding a bit of stem (the long cylinder) and then bits of the stem, the flat washer looking cheerio thing.

If you plan to visit: Expect to get dusty! We were cracking up at how much dust we had on us. Also, when Wyatt’s overalls came off at home tons of small pebbles fell all over the floor, so expect that too. You can only take your collection jug/carton, and water on hot days, no eating or drinking is allowed in the quarry. You can take a brush to dust your specimens. As for being ADA accessible, I would say it is pretty accessible honestly. There is a wheelchair ramp leading down to the quarry, and while it would be a rocky ride inside it can be done. It would be trickier if using a walker or crutches, unless the person scooted like Wyatt. Alternatively, you can sit at the tables and benches and collect from the pile behind the tables as well. Also check the website – it is really informational, and has great printables available, including how to use your visit in your lesson plans.

Overall, we had a really good time! We would definitely go again.

Franken Fest

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Detroit5 Comments

My husband is more of a social animal than I am, and for the duration of COVID, has been locked down pretty tight due to our son’s different needs. I know he has been missing the liveliness of being somewhere that has high energy, people, things to see… so Saturday left the house early, masked up, and went to Franken Fest.

Franken Fest has apparently been around, but this is the first time it was in the Detroit area. We are huge Halloween fans and love monsters and cryptids and spooky stuff so we thought this event would be pretty neat to check out! Bonus – it was on the site of Fort Wayne in Detroit, which has been around as a fort since the War of 1812, and was used by the military until as “recently” as Vietnam. My dad actually shipped out from Fort Wayne. Now however, it is a series of crumbling buildings that historic preservationists are trying to save. We are going to go again one weekend when it is not a festival, the grounds deserve their own post..

Back to Franken Fest. I learned about it through the reptile rescue group Saving Scales Reptile Rescue. I want to adopt a rescue tortoise sometime this winter and was doing some research – in particular, I wanted to see a Russian Tortoise in person to get an idea of their size. Saving Scales was doing on the spot adoptions (I did not give in to temptation and adopt a tortoise…this weekend at least) so we headed there first. I enjoyed talking all things reptile with the volunteers and meeting their adoptable animals – leopard geckos, snakes, tortoises…all so cute! They also do educational outreach to schools and parties so I met their educational assistant, a blue tongued skink named Emma. I have never seen one in person like that and I was surprised at how big it was! I

After checking out the animals, we walked around the festival, perusing the art and creations. Since we were there at the time it opened, 11 am, we were really the only ones walking around, which was nice. Everything was scary, horror themed which was different from what we usually do. It was a fun change! I found a few really cool booths and creators! I did not buy anything, only stickers from an artist whose store is called Monsterologist. He had stickers and patches and posters based on legends like the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, Sasquatch – it was fun! Wyatt picked out a mothman sticker, I chose a Loch Ness Monster sticker, and we bought a mothman sticker for my brother’s family, since this summer they vacationed in the area that legend derives from. (Not intentionally) There were also a few things I have never heard of – what is the story behind that frog, I wonder?

We also really liked this booth. Artist Jess Sheeran creates these adorable little critters! We are thinking of maybe gifting some at Christmas time, they are so cute! There was one with a mushroom themed headband that was cute, and also the little “nuggets” are so squishable!

Artist Stephanie Ellis really captured my attention though, with her more nature based art. She had prints and t-shirts, and I loved that she will reuse vintage t-shirts or t-shirts that are thrifted to screenprint on. Can you see why she caught my attention?

Finally, the art at the Gnarled Barnacle was definitely worth stopping in for a chat. They make “electric art” which I had not heard of but Billy had. They somehow use electricity to burn the wood, like a lightning strike in my mind but I am sure it is not that dramatic. Billy just told me they are passing an electrical current through the wood so I don’t think I was that far off. And how perfect was their booth for an event called Franken Fest!

After about an hour of wandering around, it started filling up so we decided it was time for us to go. We had seen everything anyway so we were ready. It was nice to do something different though and now I feel like I am really ready for fall!