Four families, eighteen kids, two cabins, one lake, countless book discussions, two races, one week of wonderful fellowship with some of the dearest people in the world!
Montana Reunion
Jul 17th, 2018 by ECM
Tommy’s 11 (and a half) Year Stats
Jul 6th, 2018 by ECM
Tommy went in for his annual check-up a couple weeks ago, and when I went to file his little stats sheet in his baby book, I realized that I haven’t written in it since he was seven. So I guess I’ll continue the trend of recording those details here, in the hopes that someday I’ll get around to printing off this blog and having a physical copy of this all!
All went well at the check-up. He should be eating more fruits and vegetables, but he is appropriately average in all areas, so no concerns.
Weight: 81 lbs (47th %)
Height: 57.5 inches (55th %)
BMI: 17 (47th %)
Our Seventh SoCal Fourth of July
Jul 4th, 2018 by ECM
We started the day off as we always do, with a trip to the Reagan Library for their Independence Day festivities. There were some notable changes this year–the gentleman who always runs Patriotic Bingo was conspicuously absent, Betsy Ross has gotten so heavy that she doesn’t even stand up anymore to do her stars, and the Boy Scouts had a bracelet making station instead of necklaces and lanyards. Apparently the popsicle stick flags weren’t a big hit, so they were back to the windsocks this year, with an additional booth where you could make a windsock hat for your head. You notice the little things after seven years…
This year, we decided to sit in on one of the reenactor presentations. Ulysses S Grant invited the kids up to learn how to be US Army recruits!
Then later in the afternoon, we finally joined the Great Mariposa Water Balloon Fight for the first time ever. Those other side of campus folks don’t mess around. There were thousands of water balloons. Sunde just sat at her post through the whole fight, filling and filling. At first, Janie dropped balloons on people from the deck above, but she finally ventured down, shielded by a chair, and did her bit for the cause.
Then down to Baxter Park, where we grilled paella and banana smores boats and enjoyed the view (perfect for seeing the rich people’s private fireworks over the water when night falls).
Swimming Lessons
Jul 3rd, 2018 by ECM
Today the kids finished up their session of swimming lessons at CLU, our old stomping grounds. Maybe it’s because I did summer league swim team for years growing up, but there’s something so appropriately summery about spending your summer days at the pool! The kids all passed into the next level, but honestly, after privates and semi-privates with Pepperdine students for the last couple of years, group lessons seemed really inefficient. We’re going to try to find a student to work with them right here on campus this fall. On the plus side, they all had fun, and Susie made a new friend whose mom and I exchanged info for future play dates!
Chapter Books We Read This Year (2017-2018)
Jun 29th, 2018 by ECM
Last year I made a list of the books we’d read together as a family, and I was disappointed at how few books we’d actually done. My vision for homeschooling is centered around reading aloud as a family, so this was an area that I wanted to improve on over this past year! I feel like we read a lot more together in Iowa, but looking at this list, we did a bit more chapter book reading and a lot more reading picture books to the little girls. (An * means we listened to the audiobook together.)
Chapter Books I Read with the Kids 2017-2018
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Madeleine Takes Command *
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
Farmer Boy
The Children of Green Knowe *
The Sign of the Beaver *
The Matchlock Gun *
Secret Water *
The Big Six *
Ben and Me
Mr. Revere and I
Calico Captive *
Johnny Tremain *
The Winter of the Red Snow
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Tom Sawyer *
Eight Cousins *
Rose in Bloom *
Zia
By the Great Horn Spoon! *
Patty Reed’s Doll
The Adventures of Lewis and Clark
The Story of the World: Early Modern Times *
Al Capone Does My Shirts *
The Cruise of the Arctic Star (this was the only dud in the whole lot!)
Al Capone Shines My Shoes *
Al Capone Does My Homework *
The Princess and the Goblin *
The Princess and Curdie *
Mother Carey’s Chickens *
Streams to the River, Rivers to the Sea
The Story of Dr. Dolittle *
Derek also read aloud to the kids:
The Boxcar Children
Surprise Island
The Yellow House Mystery
Also in process (but not completed yet): Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, The Cottage at Bantry Bay, Minn of the Mississippi, The Mitchells: Five For Victory
Busy Summer Days
Jun 28th, 2018 by ECM
I thought that we had a pretty low-key summer planned, but we actually have barely caught our breath all month. This week the kids are doing just a six-day swimming lesson session to kick start their skills before a summer at the pool. We couldn’t find anyone to teach lessons on campus, so we’re driving back to TO to do lessons (Janie’s first!) at our old parks and rec pool. While we’re through the canyon, anyway, we’ve been knocking out orthodontist and pediatrician appointments, play dates, and the like. Yesterday we drove up to Camarillo after our swimming lessons to do a book club on Dr. Dolittle with the Neals! Analyn arranged for us to visit their friends who have three varieties of chickens, a duck, rabbits, and a dog so we could get a taste of what Dr. Dolittle’s house might be like! Then we stopped off at Leo Carrillo on the way home and met the Daughritys for a few hours of tide pooling. Today after lessons, we hung out with the DenHartogs (and Sarah and I split a Sprouts run like in the old days), had our last French class with Marion, ran errands, stopped in at the TO library to get our next set of summer reading program prizes, then drove back up to Camarillo to meet up with our old community group for a food truck festival for dinner. We finally got home TWELVE HOURS after leaving, and everyone pretty much collapsed in bed. Tomorrow we have to take Derek to the airport and do our last piano lessons in Santa Monica before summer break, but after that, I think we’re all ready for a stay-at-home day of lounging and reading…
The Beginning of Summer Break
Jun 18th, 2018 by ECM
We haven’t officially done our last day of school traditions yet (though our last day for legal purposes was last Wednesday), but we’re taking advantage of the sunshine and wide-open schedule to play, play, play, inside and outside!
Blueberries!
Jun 15th, 2018 by ECM
This week we made our annual trip to Underwood Farms Somis to pick blueberries! This time we took along Judah and Ari, and the kids picked over 11 pounds of berries, not counting the ones they ate in the fields. Now we’re feasting on blueberries at home!
Nature Hikes With Our Favorite Washingtonians
Jun 10th, 2018 by ECM
The Arguellos actually live in North Bend, which is about 45 minutes out of the city. They’re surrounded by spectacular nature in all directions, so they had to take us on some nature hikes to see the highlights.
Fun fact: Snoqualmie Falls, just a few minutes up the road, is where Twin Peaks was filmed.
Rattlesnake Lake was formed when a dam on the other side of the mountain caused seepage through the mountain and flooded the town located there. They say you can still occasionally find artifacts from the old settlement washing up on the shore, 100 years later.
Even on a cloudy day, the views are breathtaking.
We loved the cottonwood seed pods floating all over the place.
We couldn’t fit the leaves into our suitcases to come home, so we had to take some pictures to show Tommy and the little girls how huge they were!
This eight year old knows more about nature than most of us ever learned.
Next we hiked up the Twin Falls trail.
The kids explored the woods…
We got some great views of the Snoqualmie River…
We learned to identify the Western Hemlock, Washington’s state tree, which often grows into or on top of old, fallen trees.
We got a far-away look at Twin Falls…
Then we hiked further and climbed down to the river’s edge.
The kids stripped off their shoes and waded into the river to get closer to the falls.
My bum knee could only handle so much clamoring over rocks, so I stayed back and photographed their progress!
Back at the farm, Elizabeth read aloud to Bash, to their mutual delight.
Devin and I spent several satisfying hours pulling out books and discussing our homeschool plans for next year!
Charlotte is the Anne to Lizzie’s Diana. She’s the brilliant dreamer with insatiable curiosity, love for nature and books and poetry, and the most affectionate heart. All week, she’d say, “Lizzie, I need a hug!” And my girl happily complied. We miss her already!
Seattle Adventures with the Arguellos
Jun 9th, 2018 by ECM
Elizabeth and I just got back from a visit to the Arguellos in Washington state. Their move up there a year and a half ago left a huge void in our lives, and this was such a sweet time to reconnect with them!
Elizabeth’s birthday present was getting me to herself for five days!
The first morning, Charlotte took Elizabeth along on her morning chores of feeding the animals and collecting the eggs.
Charlotte knew all their hiding places!
The pictures can’t do justice to how beautiful their property is, with the mountain in the background!
This is one of the “teenager” hens they’re raising from chicks.
Then Devin and I packed up the kids and headed into Seattle for some sightseeing, starting at the space needle!
They’re midway through a construction project that is replacing the old wire railings with solid glass panels. It’s a bit scary.
The views are amazing!
Since we got a selfie at the Hancock Observatory last fall, we had to get another one here!
Lizzie wanted to show her siblings how far down it was…
It was so fun to just be able to focus on Elizabeth for the day.
As you can see, Trenton was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, and Bash was a little scared!
Then we took the monorail over to Pike Place Market.
I’m pretty much over Starbucks anymore, but I had to go to the flagship store, just to say I had. Also, I was working on about two hours of sleep.
We ate at a yummy French bakery and then explored the market.
The infamous gum walls are as gross as you’d expect!
On the way home, the kids snagged the front seat on the monorail and peppered the driver with all sorts of questions.