Camping

Not too exciting of a title, but atleast I am posting, right?

Sunday night we headed to the mountains for our first camping adventure as a family of six. The kids were more than excited, I really didn't think Sunday afternoon was going to come quick enough for them.

Friday, Clay and I set up the tent in our backyard to see if our tent would hold the six of us. After reconfiguring a few times, we decided that it would work. It is technically a 5 man tent, but 4 of the "men" are little people, so we thought it would be fine. Once the tent was up and sleeping assignments were given, the kids were dying to start out on our adventure. Paige had all her belongings packed and ready that night.

Finally Sunday came, the sky was filled with clouds. If you aren't familiar with California, clouds are a rarity and when it happens it gets everyone talking and everyone wondering why on earth you would go camping when these clouds are in the sky. But being Indiana folk and knowing that our tent has weathered a few storms in the past, we decided to go ahead and head out. We checked in at the park entrance where the park ranger showed us the weather forecast which consisted of 90% chance thundershowers. Oh well, the kids are most excited about the tent anyway, so we will just spend most of our time in it.

Well, we were able to spend the whole afternoon outside of our tent. We went on a hike, started our fire, roasted hot dogs, and the kids played flashlight war with each other. It turned out to be a wonderful evening. No rain yet.

We got tucked in our beds, all snug. (actually snug is an understatement). The kids fell asleep pretty fast. After a while of Jathan and I not falling a sleep we decided that our 5 man tent was not intended for a family of six, and we were going to have to reconsider that the next time went camping. But it was fun lying there and thinking through our other camping trips. Nine years prior in the same month, our Sunday School class from Clarks Summit, PA went camping in Eastern PA. Then, it was just the two of us in that same tent. (Unless you count Paige, I was pregnant with her) We had plenty of room then. But there was certainly a contentment that came over me as I listened to the breathing of my four beautiful children sleeping. We are truly blessed.

Early in the morning the thunderstorms hit, lots of lightening, thunder and rain, but our trusty tent kept us dry. All the next morning we were in fog and it was a bit cold, but it didn't matter to us. We were together, in the outdoors. The fog kept us from looking up to the higher mountains, instead we focused more on the up close. The kids discovered a tree where a wood pecker was keeping it's winter stock of acorns. We found a mouse in a hole and enjoyed watching it nervously eat seeds around it's hole. We watched the leaves fall from the trees as the wind blew. Despite little sleep, it was a wonderful time, looking at the beauty of God's creation both the massive and the small.

I am so thankful.

Zoo

Last weekend we took the kids and one of Paige's friend to the zoo to celebrate Paige's birthday.

The kids had a great time, and it ended up being a beautiful day weather-wise.

Here are a few pics from our day...

(Above) Paige and her friend and the bird show
(below) Paige's friend got to participate in a demonstration with one of the birds.

(Above) Drew is very interested in the "keeper talk" about this lizard.
(below) One of the kids' favorite things at this zoo is Stingray Bay where you get to pet stingrays.

(above) The Tropical Rainforest

Let it Snow!

Last week we took a short Spring Break (3 days off of school) and then eased back into school slowly with a field trip up to the mountains for our first day back of school on Thursday.

We spent the beginning of our day on a Spring nature hike, looking, feeling, listening and smelling all of the signs of Spring in the lower elevation. My hope is to go back to this same trail for each season to see the changes. It was enjoyable walk.





After the walk, the kids decided it was time to go to winter and see some snow up close. So we journeyed and additional 4,000 feet up and found it. This is the first the kids had been in the snow all winter. We had seen it in the distance up in the mountains (which is the way I like it, at a distance!)

Even though I am not a snow lover, I have to admit it was a perfect snow day. It had snowed the day before, so the snow was fresh and it was perfect for snow balls. We played for quite a while throwing snow balls and making snow angels and a snowman. It was fun, but I was glad to journey down the mountain to the warmer valley after the day was done.

So what have we been up to…

August started with construction and school. The construction is because we are adding on to our home. Off of our family, there will now be a bedroom, bathroom and loft. The bedroom is so my mom can stay for as long as she would like and have her own space, the bathroom is for obvious reasons and the loft is for Jathan, whatever he would like to use it for. The builders are great, the kids actually miss then when they aren’t here for a day, but it is definitely a change in our life. For the most part we truck through school, able to ignore some of the extra noises and people around, other times when the drilling is a few feet from you or the hammering is above you, it can be a bit distracting. All and all despite the mess we are surviving. However, we will definitely be happy when it is all behind us and we can have our yard and house back to normal.


School started in August, my third year of homeschooling. I can’t say that I am any closer to being a veteran than I was at the beginning of Paige’s Kindergarten, but I am learning as we go and I do think that every semester is getting better. Paige is now in 2nd grade, Clay in 1st grade and Drew in preschool. I am grateful for the this opportunity.

One of the beauties of homeschooling is the flexibility in the schedule. Labor Day weekend we were able to turn the 3 day weekend into a trip to visit friends from college. Instead of the usual Sat-Sun-Mon holiday we left Thursday afternoon and had a Fri-Sat-Sun holiday. We had a great time playing on the beach, playing games and visiting. Jathan left Saturday, taking the Greyhound back home, while the kids and I stayed an extra day.


On that Sunday, the kids and I picked up my mom from the airport and headed to Palm Springs for the week. We stayed in a condo, had school like normal, but got to enjoy the pool on our breaks. In school we were studying the desert, so we took a few fieldtrips while we were there. We had a great time!

Currently, in October, we have been busy with school, Jathan working and I have tried to get our home as organized as possible. With the construction going on and things a bit out of place, I am fighting for organization in the areas of the home that have not been affected. At least have someplace seem neat and tidy. Jathan is coaching Paige and Clay in soccer. This year they are on the same team, which is so much more convenient than last year. Clay is taking a month of art lessons. We are trying them out to see if this is something we want to continue. Art seems to be his love, to the extent of him telling me that he doesn’t need school, since he is just going to paint. We will see about that! Last week we took a dairy field trip, which was great fun. The kids (actually the moms too) took a hayride through the dairy and got out to see the cows milked. Following the tour we had a nice picnic lunch drinking milk of course with ice cream as dessert. A great time!