We had a nice first week of the New Year, despite the strange weather (sub-zero, then tropical, but no locusts yet). The dinosaur theme saturates the days. On Monday we went back to the Natural History Museum to look at ancient mammoths, particularly the Warren Mastodon that was discovered in Newburgh, New York in the early 1800s.

In Central Park we've been looking at contemporary dinosaurs, doing some bird watching near Azalea Pond behind the Loeb Boathouse. Downy Woodpeckers are all the rage.

Friday for a change of pace we went up to Harlem to see the Three Kings Day Celebration. There were camels! Yes, three camels for three kings, lurching up 3rd Avenue. We all dug it. The Beast is a big fan of the three kings song.

In the kitchen it's been a week of pickles, soup stocks, yogurt, granola, and bread. We are finally tackling bread-making and it's pretty exciting. We bought spelt kernels from the farmers and we've been grinding them and soaking them overnight in raw milk to release the nutrients from the grain. It's a moist milky bread, which the beast refers to as "cake-bread."

Now, on January 21 we head to London for a week and a half. We're looking to connect to some unschoolers there. Anyone have leads? Please email us at ljarnot@gmail.com.