Almost Official

I finally defeated my procrastination and turned in our paperwork to homeschool Gabriel next year. We are signing up for our district's Homeschool Resource Center, at least in the beginning, to get a feel for what options we have and to build a support network for ourselves. I had a strange feeling dogging me all day, and it took me awhile to figure out what was wrong. I think I was panicking. I know most new homeschooling parents feel this way, but the daunting responsibility combined with my lack of confidence and knowledge of what I am doing filled me with anxiety. School doesn't even officially start until after Labor Day, but Gabriel is begging me to start already. I think I need to work out a plan and some simple routines for our days. I'll try to keep you posted on our progress. Should be interesting!

Hanging Out at the Beach

On Wednesday we spent most of the day at the beach. The weather has been wonderful this summer, and we really needed a day out of the house. The beaches around here really calm down in August; it seems everyone is on vacation and getting ready for school. So it's a nice month to go and get sandy. I got smart this time and brought a chair to sit on and my knitting and a magazine. We had friends join us, and were delighted to find other friends already there. We came home with sunburns where the sunscreen wasn't applied properly, and I think it was old anyway and not as effective. We had forgotten the beach toys, but I convinced the kids that they would make friends with other kids who had some, and that they could try improvising with what was there. They seemed happy enough throughout the day without special toys. They dug with sticks, borrowed others' shovels, ran and ran, jumped waves, buried themselves, and picked up kelp and seaweed. The tide was low when we got there, and rose throughout the day, eating the beach. We brought lots of sand home. I hope we'll be able to get there a few more times before the weather cools off too much. Such relaxing, refreshing days.

Checking In

I haven't been spending much time in this space lately. Yes, we've been on vacation, and busy with other things, but I guess the root of the matter is that blogging just hasn't been a priority. However, I am working on revamping our daily schedule and recommitting to being committed to it, and am trying to set aside time in the day for writing and other personal development. Hopefully my family and friends will see more of me here! At least until the next change in plans!

Our family spent the first week in August on vacation with Aaron's extended family. Every other year we get together at Holden Village, a remote retreat in the heart of the Cascade mountains. To get to Holden, we have to leave the house at 4:15 am and drive four hours to Chelan. Then we get on a boat with all of our stuff and join the other "pilgrims" on a long ride up the lake.

We get off the boat at Lucerne, board ancient school buses with Holdenesque names such as "Pookie," and ride 11 miles up a bumpy gravel road (the only road for miles and miles) away from the lake and into the mountains. It takes most of the day to get there from here. If we didn't want to make this multi-vehicle trek, we could hike in from the western side, taking 3-4 days. Some of the cousins did that this year, as others have in the past, but we drove and boated it, and arrived tired and hungry in time for a late lunch and a nap.

I'll plan to share more about Holden in the coming days, but for now, I hope you enjoy these photos. Many of the pics from our vacation were taken by Aaron, who spent much of the time learning how to use the camera and various lenses.