This is the second week in a row that we have not made any progress towards homeschooling other than when opportunity presents itself. We did manage to set the kids up with a summer reading program at the library. Both Audrey and Asher LOVE the library, though Asher has a difficult time with the "quiet" aspect, haha. Once the program is completed, the kids will get a free ticket to a water park in town, which will definitely be on the list of summer highlights.
As for what has been keeping us busy, last week I was planning a friend's baby shower (she's have twin girls!) And this week has been fraught with home projects, day trips, and vehicle mishaps. Nonetheless, I have some fun family pictures to share.
My favorite day this past week was when we went up the nearby mountains. From our front door to the top of the mountain was only an hour drive. Eli and I kept asking ourselves why we don't take advantage of going up the mountain more often. Here in the Valley of Tucson, it's been triple digits every single day since June first. On top of the mountain, the weather is cooler, and shaded! There are trees up there! So, on a whim, we packed up the kids and drove to a veritable paradise. It was SO worth it. Asher, though small and mostly unable to keep up, loved the hike. I could tell that he loved it because he talked the whole time. Nobody understood what he was saying, but it was definitely joyful chatter. Audrey did a great job holding daddy's hand for support, but she is sure-footed and did not complain once. She was wonderful with
warning Asher and me about things to watch out for on the trail (she and Eli were quite a bit in front of slow-moving Asher and I). After the hike, we went to the cookie cabin in the nearby town, Summerhaven. They make plate-sized cookies and put ice cream on top should you desire that much sugar! Audrey and I shared the chocolate chip and Asher and Eli shared the peanut butter. Next time, we'll just get one cookie since two was way more than we could eat. I still have left-overs in my refrigerator. So, here a few pictures from that day.
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| There were several fallen trees, but this one was right on the path. So Audrey, Callan and Eli posed for a photo opp! |
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| Audrey actually found this treasure, but she let Asher carry it during the entire hike, along with her treasure bag (purse). |
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This is where the hike ended for us as we were trying to get back to the cookie cabin before it closed at five. I grabbed a few branches to set up the timer on the camera. The running back and forth between the camera, uphill to the rock was a workout. It took probably ten tries to make sure we got a decent picture.
The other big thing this week was Callan's six month birthday! This baby boy is rocking my world and I am astounded at how a mother's love can just grow and grow with each new child.
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| He's pretty much the happiest baby ever! |
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| Love that squishy little body and he loves this toy! |
Don't push the home schooling. She's young, and you haven't made it official yet. Take the Summer to make a plan, gather supplies, set up an area, work out a schedule that will go well with the boys' schedules, revamp chore charts, etc. That way, the first day of school can be anticipated! That's huge. Make it a celebration. Until then, plan, and enjoy that mountain! Sounds like you have your nature study trips worked out. :) I told myself that I MUST escape the heat this Summer and forget school and get the kids to the coast. The heat just makes me so crabby. Not worth it to drag on in it trying to accomplish stuff all grumpy. Anyways, hope that's not too much advice. I've just been there.....starting them young, jumping in in the Summer, etc. I wish I hadn't.
ReplyDeleteI will never tire of your advice as I think it is important to listen to women who have "been there." So thank you, and keep it coming. We aren't pushing the homeschooling at this point, but we haven't even done around the world stuff, which I was really looking forward to. I had been thinking about how the CM Method puts an emphasis on nature walks and exploration. Since we live in the desert, I had previously thought that those walks would have to be limited to wintertime since there are snakes and cacti and all manor of dangerous things in our nature from April to November. When it took us only an hour to drive up, I knew that we would definitely include the mountain in our walks. Isn't it nice that we both have two (at least) completely different habitats to let our children explore. I hope you make it to the beach often before school starts again!
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