Crape Myrtle's and First Hook

Our first day is past.  The books got assigned; the planners handed out; the excitement of new beginnings and learning.  After a full mornings work, we headed down to the park with our essentials.  We spent a few hours under the shade of a gorgeous Oak Tree.  The kids always find things to keep themselves occupied, nothing out of the ordinary.  My girls on the other hand... well, they both continued with the spirit of a new school year.

My fourth grader took out her nature journal and made her first entry while under the "pretty wrinkly paper like flowers" (as she described them) of a Crape Myrtle (Lagerstromia):

My oldest has never been interested in much of handicrafts.  She enjoys baking and cooking but does not consider herself artistically creative or crafty.  She is my bookworm!  Yesterday, while I was crocheting, she decided she wanted to learn crochet this year too.  I was so excited and quickly looked in my crochet bag for a hook and ball of yarn.  Her first hook:

Nature Study, check!

Handicrafts, check!