Technical note: still no pictures until we get the computer thing figured out, will have sooooo much to share of our summer time adventures soon!
Today was our first day back to homeschool. We're starting out slow for now, just math, some writing prompts for Freckles and Stud, and reading for all three of them. After Labor Day we'll bring in all aspects of the curriculum and really get going.
The day went well, Sassy and I did her first real math page in her workbook. Stud and Freckles took an assessment test for Math also to make sure we have the right grade level book for them (we do). The boys had fun with a writing prompt about what they thought the best invention ever is and why, then we all settled down to some reading. This was a little bit of a struggle for Sassy, but I believe she'll get back in the groove easy enough.
Little Man was a whole other story. I've spent the evening looking for ideas to keep him busy and occupied while I'm working with the others one-on-one. He's a handful and wants to be the center of attention at all times. We clearly need to change his routine and let him know how this homeschooling thing works. Got any ideas?
Freckles starts band tomorrow, learning more with his trumpet this year. Sassy has requested dance class for almost two years now and this is the year it finally happens. I signed her up with a studio not far from our house and she'll be going once a week for 45 minutes starting in September. Stud is still trying to figure out what his 'special' is going to be.
After Labor Day we'll bring in History and Language Arts along with all the accessories,that entails. We have decided to go with Winter Promise curriculum this year and selected their All-American package. Together we'll be learning about the United States from its founding through the World Wars. Next year we'll continue through 9-11 and we would like to finish off the two year study by heading back East to explore all the landmarks we will be learning about. That's the plan anyway.
For now, it's easing back into routines and enjoy school in pajamas every now and again. Looking forward to a fun year with these kiddos!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Technical Difficulties
We're back from our amazing adventure and have some spectacular pictures to share with you all! Unfortunately the computer we use to retrieve pictures from the camera has what seems to be a fatal error right now. Hoping we can take it in somewhere and get at least the files off of it before it is declared officially dead.
More coming as soon as we can!
More coming as soon as we can!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Aurora Borealis
The Captain's family dog passed away this last week. Our hearts are sad she is no longer with us, and at the same time we are at peace knowing she is in an amazing place where he can run and jump and play with no hurts or illnesses. This is a tribute written by The Captain's mother about their beloved pet.
IN MEMORY OF AURORA BOREALIS
JANUARY 31, 2001-JULY14, 2012
RESERVED, OPINIONATED & ALWAYS A "LADY"
FROM A SHY LITTLE PUPPY TO A SHOWGIRL.
FROM A SHOWGIRL TO A CHAMPION!
FROM CHASING WITH A BEAR CUB AND AN ENCOUNTER WITH A PORCUPINE IN ILLIAMNA - AKA "AURORA'S ADVENTURES"
TO DINNING ON BOUILLABAISSE IN HOMER,( PRESENTED BY THE CHEF!) AND GARY? WELL, HE'S MUNCHING ON A NOT TOO GREAT EXPENSIVE SANDWICH.
TO A ROAD TRIP ALONG THE GOLD COAST - QUITE THE SHOPPER YOU WERE, HITTING ALL THE STORES EXCEPT ONE. (AND TREATED ROYALLY BY EVERYONE, I MIGHT ADD.)
TO BECOMING A "MOMMY".
FROM BEING A VERY, VERY SICK GIRL
TO A HEALTHY GIRL. (YOU KNEW IT WAS THE COFFEE NIPS THAT WERE MAKING YOU WELL.)
TO A CAR-TRIP TO ALASKA WITH FRECKLES AND STUD. (A WELL-SEASONED TRAVELLER - WHY, OF COURSE!)
TO BEING AN "AUNTIE" TO ABIGAIL.
TO GRACEFULLY GROWING OLDER.
TO FIGHTING HARD FOR OVER FIVE MONTHS TO BEAT AND ILLNESS THAT WAS TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO OVERCOME. (JUST THE OTHER DAY YOU WENT FOR BICYCLE RUN.)
TO TRAVELING TO A PLACE WHERE POSITIVELY COFFEE NIPS ARE THE MAGICAL CURE!!
YOU WILL BE MISSED BY ALL!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Adventuring with Family in Town
The Captain has family in town! We love playing tourist when friends and family come to visit. Heading around Alaska enjoying all our state has to offer thru a new set of eyes.
This days adventures took us to the Portage Glacier and Whittier area. The kids had a blast!
On the way down we stopped at "Sno-Blo", a large snow clearing train engine that has a recorded geocache. I completely forgot to take a picture, but we left this area cache-less for the umpteenth time. So frustrating! This cache has been logged before and after our family has visited it each and every time. Yet each and every time we come up empty. We even found another out-of-state cacher on the hunt as well, and felt slightly better when he couldn't log a "find" either. One of these days this cache will just jump out at my eyes... I just know it.
Driving down past Girdwood, just before the Portage/Whittier turn off is the Alaska Wild Animal Conservation Center. The kids had fun checking out animals they normally wouldn't be able to see or get quite as close to.
Checking out a porcupine:
Baby reindeer:
Obligatory group pic:
We cheated and let Cooper ride in the front seat during our less than two miles-per-hour tour of the Conservatory. He loved cuddling with his Auntie!
Found this bald eagle perched over the bear area. There is another one that has been rescued and is actually part of the Conservation Center... but this one posed nicer LOL
We found a bear!
A worker at the Conservation Center tossed in some King Crab legs for this bear to snack on... It is so amazing how strong these animals are!
Kids petting a reindeer:
Two Lynx:
After some lunch on the go we headed to the Portage Glacier Visitors Center. Auntie and the girls found some hand puppets:
Out of the corner of our eye we spotted this treasure! We can find this one which we didn't even know was here... but that silly Sno-Blo cache alludes us. Hmph.
Total Chaos in all it's glory:
King of the Worllllllddddd!!!!!!
Freckles quickly found the scientific area... always ready to learn:
Silly girls!
Ummmm who do you think you're calling?
Each of the kids went for they're own little kayak ride too! (Don't they wish! One of these days...)
I had a Thirty-One party planned for this night, so I took Little Man and the girls and headed home while The Captain took everyone else through the tunnel for some more adventuring. This was the view from my rear view mirror:
I think it's safe to say we wore them out! Time to rest up for some more adventures...
This days adventures took us to the Portage Glacier and Whittier area. The kids had a blast!
On the way down we stopped at "Sno-Blo", a large snow clearing train engine that has a recorded geocache. I completely forgot to take a picture, but we left this area cache-less for the umpteenth time. So frustrating! This cache has been logged before and after our family has visited it each and every time. Yet each and every time we come up empty. We even found another out-of-state cacher on the hunt as well, and felt slightly better when he couldn't log a "find" either. One of these days this cache will just jump out at my eyes... I just know it.
Driving down past Girdwood, just before the Portage/Whittier turn off is the Alaska Wild Animal Conservation Center. The kids had fun checking out animals they normally wouldn't be able to see or get quite as close to.
Checking out a porcupine:
Baby reindeer:
Obligatory group pic:
We cheated and let Cooper ride in the front seat during our less than two miles-per-hour tour of the Conservatory. He loved cuddling with his Auntie!
Found this bald eagle perched over the bear area. There is another one that has been rescued and is actually part of the Conservation Center... but this one posed nicer LOL
We found a bear!
A worker at the Conservation Center tossed in some King Crab legs for this bear to snack on... It is so amazing how strong these animals are!
Kids petting a reindeer:
Two Lynx:
After some lunch on the go we headed to the Portage Glacier Visitors Center. Auntie and the girls found some hand puppets:
Out of the corner of our eye we spotted this treasure! We can find this one which we didn't even know was here... but that silly Sno-Blo cache alludes us. Hmph.
Total Chaos in all it's glory:
King of the Worllllllddddd!!!!!!
Freckles quickly found the scientific area... always ready to learn:
Silly girls!
Ummmm who do you think you're calling?
Each of the kids went for they're own little kayak ride too! (Don't they wish! One of these days...)
I had a Thirty-One party planned for this night, so I took Little Man and the girls and headed home while The Captain took everyone else through the tunnel for some more adventuring. This was the view from my rear view mirror:
I think it's safe to say we wore them out! Time to rest up for some more adventures...
Monday, July 2, 2012
An Unplanned Trip to Valdez
Day 2
Last night we discovered a minor problem with one of the batteries on the boat. More of a comfort problem than a real problem to worry about. But either way you slice it, we needed a new battery. The Captain and I discussed our options; head back to Whittier to buy and install a new battery and head back out, head back to Whittier to buy and install a new battery and go home early, or head to Valdez to buy and install a new battery. Since we haven't been to Valdez in our Alaskan adventures yet, we decided to go.
Little Man woke up at 4:30am and would NOT go back to sleep. Trying every possible option for about an hour, we finally gave up and decided to pull anchor and start the trek to Valdez. First stop was to pick up our shrimp pots.
A little back story: We have not had much success with shrimping. This season is our first and last month when we headed out with Sun Dog they attempted to teach us how. We learned how to fill the bait, lock up the pots, set them on the line, attach the buoy.... aaaaannndddd apparently our line was too short because a few minutes later there was no buoy to be found. The line we had must have been to short and the weight of the pots pulled it under. Oops.
Our next trip out we set the two pots we had left and came up with starfish and mud. No luck there either.
Needless to say, I hadn't left any meal planning "open" due to doubt of actually catching anything.
Back to the morning of Day 2: We pulled up to our string of pots and waited and waited and waiting while hauling 600 feet of line back on board. Finally the first pot appears and we have SHRIMP!!!!
This string of pots brought up 77 of them!!! Whoohoooo DINNER!!!
In the middle of pot pulling I spotted this off the starboard side:
Another whale!!! Since we still had a pot in the water we couldn't chase to get closer to this one. But he had it's own special way of saying "Good Morning":
Ahhhh... that right there made it worth being up with Little Man soooo early.
Lover Boy finally woke up and had this reaction when we told him there were shrimp onboard:
Getting closer to Valdez coming past Glacier Island we were once again graced by the giant beauties of the sea. Two of them this time:
There was also a sea lion playing in our wake while we were stalking these whales, but he was so darn quick I couldn't capture him on camera. Fun to watch though!
We set our shrimp pots again, pulled into Valdez Harbor, walked to the parts store, hitched a ride back with our new (very heavy) battery, and left The Captain to install it. Someone told us if the kids went to the Harbor Master's Office with their life vests on, they would get a ticket for free ice cream! So the three of us headed out on an ice cream mission. After getting our ticket and finally finding the ice cream shop, I had three happy monkeys on my hands:
Shrimp Pasta dinner on the boat and after much debate we decided to make a late night departure from Valdez Harbor hoping to be underway while the little ones were sleeping to leave in order to have as much fun tomorrow as possible!
Last night we discovered a minor problem with one of the batteries on the boat. More of a comfort problem than a real problem to worry about. But either way you slice it, we needed a new battery. The Captain and I discussed our options; head back to Whittier to buy and install a new battery and head back out, head back to Whittier to buy and install a new battery and go home early, or head to Valdez to buy and install a new battery. Since we haven't been to Valdez in our Alaskan adventures yet, we decided to go.
Little Man woke up at 4:30am and would NOT go back to sleep. Trying every possible option for about an hour, we finally gave up and decided to pull anchor and start the trek to Valdez. First stop was to pick up our shrimp pots.
A little back story: We have not had much success with shrimping. This season is our first and last month when we headed out with Sun Dog they attempted to teach us how. We learned how to fill the bait, lock up the pots, set them on the line, attach the buoy.... aaaaannndddd apparently our line was too short because a few minutes later there was no buoy to be found. The line we had must have been to short and the weight of the pots pulled it under. Oops.
Our next trip out we set the two pots we had left and came up with starfish and mud. No luck there either.
Needless to say, I hadn't left any meal planning "open" due to doubt of actually catching anything.
Back to the morning of Day 2: We pulled up to our string of pots and waited and waited and waiting while hauling 600 feet of line back on board. Finally the first pot appears and we have SHRIMP!!!!
This string of pots brought up 77 of them!!! Whoohoooo DINNER!!!
In the middle of pot pulling I spotted this off the starboard side:
Another whale!!! Since we still had a pot in the water we couldn't chase to get closer to this one. But he had it's own special way of saying "Good Morning":
Ahhhh... that right there made it worth being up with Little Man soooo early.
Lover Boy finally woke up and had this reaction when we told him there were shrimp onboard:
Getting closer to Valdez coming past Glacier Island we were once again graced by the giant beauties of the sea. Two of them this time:
There was also a sea lion playing in our wake while we were stalking these whales, but he was so darn quick I couldn't capture him on camera. Fun to watch though!
We set our shrimp pots again, pulled into Valdez Harbor, walked to the parts store, hitched a ride back with our new (very heavy) battery, and left The Captain to install it. Someone told us if the kids went to the Harbor Master's Office with their life vests on, they would get a ticket for free ice cream! So the three of us headed out on an ice cream mission. After getting our ticket and finally finding the ice cream shop, I had three happy monkeys on my hands:
Shrimp Pasta dinner on the boat and after much debate we decided to make a late night departure from Valdez Harbor hoping to be underway while the little ones were sleeping to leave in order to have as much fun tomorrow as possible!
On the Way to Day Care Bay
I had grand intentions of fully detailing this trip, day by day, story by story. Seeing as how it has been a full week since we returned and the post hasn't happened yet, I thought you all would enjoy seeing some pictures and captions over waiting however much longer for the full details. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day!
Fair Warning - the next few posts will be overloaded with pictures... hope you enjoy!
Day 1 - We came down to Whittier the night before, loaded the boat, did a little maintenance and some safety briefings with Lover Boy, Handsome, and Sweetie. Slept the night away and left Whittier Harbor bright and early heading for Day Care Bay.
Made a stop along the way around a cluster of islands to try our hands at fishing. Handsome had the first catch of the day:
Lover Boy didn't take too long to bring up one of his own:
When they had their fill of fishing, we made tracks for Day Care Bay. This is how the kids occupy themselves while underway:
Just as we were rounding the corner to pull into Day Care Bay, there in the distance was a whale spout! We turned to port and scurried over to get closer. Our first whale sighting on the Sound!!!
After setting a string of shrimp pots and setting anchor we all loaded up in the dinghy and went out exploring. The Captain and Little Man made a rock tower... that Little Man knocked over each and every time with many giggles.
Lover Boy was walking along this log when it moved! He and Handsome quickly turned the log into a teeter-totter.
After our exploring fun we came back into the little bay and found these two Harbor Seals basking in the sun. We idled our engine and drifted by while they checked us out.
We had dinner and settled in for a sunny night at sea.
Fair Warning - the next few posts will be overloaded with pictures... hope you enjoy!
Day 1 - We came down to Whittier the night before, loaded the boat, did a little maintenance and some safety briefings with Lover Boy, Handsome, and Sweetie. Slept the night away and left Whittier Harbor bright and early heading for Day Care Bay.
Made a stop along the way around a cluster of islands to try our hands at fishing. Handsome had the first catch of the day:
Lover Boy didn't take too long to bring up one of his own:
When they had their fill of fishing, we made tracks for Day Care Bay. This is how the kids occupy themselves while underway:
Just as we were rounding the corner to pull into Day Care Bay, there in the distance was a whale spout! We turned to port and scurried over to get closer. Our first whale sighting on the Sound!!!
After setting a string of shrimp pots and setting anchor we all loaded up in the dinghy and went out exploring. The Captain and Little Man made a rock tower... that Little Man knocked over each and every time with many giggles.
Lover Boy was walking along this log when it moved! He and Handsome quickly turned the log into a teeter-totter.
After our exploring fun we came back into the little bay and found these two Harbor Seals basking in the sun. We idled our engine and drifted by while they checked us out.
We had dinner and settled in for a sunny night at sea.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
This Boy Keeps Me On My Toes!
He found the ONE puddle in the driveway that hasn't dried up yet. Gave up on trying to keep the shoes on too. This is why I'm exhausted at the end of the day! But he's happy, what more can I ask for?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)