Our House in the Middle of Our Street

kayakers off the coast of Bellingham Bay This past week the kids enjoyed a full week's schedule of games, activity stations, skits, sugar, and friends. Apart from me. Full on 6 hours a day in someone else's care. It was glorious . Our local church holds a day camp from 9AM-3PM every day for one full week in July every year. It's an outside group called CEF who puts it on, Northwood is just the landing place for their first week. Last year, Lukka was able to participate and had a really fun time. Ani cried on the two-block walk home, because she didn't get to go. We spent almost the entire week hanging out at the local jazz festival , and playing with friends. Now that she is kindergarten age, she could attend.  It is not an exaggeration to state that I was possibly the most excited .  In nearly 18 months since we moved, I had had one other extended break (4 days) away from my kids. Four days. In a  year and a half. While homeschooling full-time. I...

Well, sorta. We were only about 20 minutes from civilization, but when you have to backpack and hike to your destination spot where there are no modern amenities (I'm looking at you electricity and plumbing), it feels like the deep woods. Realistically, we were just north of the valley town of Mission, BC . This spot is Devil's Lake, and it's very close by to massively-more-impressive Stave Lake . This is probably the smallest lake I've seen yet up there, so small, in fact, I was surprised they even called it such. Stefan was used to smugly calling our Nebraskan lakes ponds, so with a body of water you couldn't even take more than a rowboat out on, I was a bit taken aback. Apparently the fishing is good here, because Saturday there was a large family fishing almost the whole day and then early Sunday morning two more guys showed up to fish. The kids, of course, love camping and found instant gratification in catching 9 baby bullhead fish in the c...

Last week was Lukka's second year of attending an annual Miniature Horse camp out in Ferndale, WA. For less than $100 (that we had paid months ago to reserve our spot!), Lu was treated to his pony Ali for a week, learning about the ponies and how to care for them, and practicing obstacle courses and showmanship skills. There are only six spots per class and only two or so weeks of camp per summer, so when I saw the ad for it this year, I jumped at the chance because I knew we'd still be in the states during June. Lukka was so excited to do the camp again, even though the basic outline is the same year to year. The camp focuses on horse care including daily grooming, water and feeding, and mucking, along with learning to show one's horse in 4-H-like competitions. Here is an example of a large  mini-hose jumping course . The final day of the camp is competition. The students get 30 minutes to groom and dress up their ponies with ribbons, flowers, etc. in their tails a...

One of my favorite pictures of her, ever. Messy hair, slight stink face, and sunglasses that are just a peek into her personal style. This was on the drive home from camping at Indian Cave State Park.    Join others remembering a favorite moment from the week. 

*Taken at Indian Cave State Park .

This picture really cracks me up. This may have been the only time on our recent camping trip that he actually sat down, but crossing the legs? Yes, that's classic "older than his age" Lu. Love that dude! Join others savoring a moment from your week. Enjoy the weekend!

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