How a walk to Storytime at the library turned into a discussion about decision trees

So, we attended our library's preschool Story Time this morning. T tags along to so many of S's activities that I wanted to go to something just for him. It had rained, and I wasn't sure if more was on the way, so I packed umbrellas and we walked (as opposed to biking) there. (I considered driving, but really couldn't justify driving that one mile, especially since we had the time.)

The program was... just ok. T didn't want to participate at first, but then warmed up to it a bit by the end. It seems like the more we do outside of the "conventional" sphere, the more critical I'm becoming. Or, maybe I'm just getting crotchety in my advancing age!

After the program, we hung out in the library for a little while - S read books, T picked one out to "read" as well, and I poked around in the craft section, finding two kids' knitting books that look promising.

S's assignment for his Nature Center class is to write an origin story. Coincidentally, I found a book along those lines as well. I showed it to him, and he immediately launched into the first chapter. Coincidentally (are you sensing a theme here?!), this book looks like it will tie in well with the legends/fables/animal stories for Grade 2. So, it could be a win all around.

On the way home, I asked the boys to collect leaves they thought were nice. The leaves are dropping in earnest now - the trees and the ground beneath them are lovely. My plan was to use the gathered treasures for leaf rubbings.

We made the rubbings, but then I was curious about what some of the leaves were. (See, I'm learning right along with the boys!) So, I suggested to S that we hit the Internet for some tree identification. With leaves in hand, we started clicking, and soon located the very, very handy and easy-to-use "What Tree is It?" from the Ohio Public Library Information Network.

We used this tree ID tool to identify (thornless) honeylocust leaves, a red maple leaf, and some others. And that's how S and I ended up talking about the decision tree model on our way to karate (him) and yoga (me) tonight.