Farewell to Summer

The summer has rushed by far faster than I imagined possible! Once again the days of camping, parades and swim lessons are behind us and school is looming in the near future. We have been busily preparing and shopping sales, the weather has turned chilly and I've also spent a lot of time contemplating our homeschool experience last year. No matter how much thought and effort I put into it, there's no denying it was completely an experiment; a new adventure into a way of life we'd never tried before! There were times that were fantastic and wonderful, and some that were torturous for me and the kids.

That said, we're definitely doing homeschool again this year. I'm working with an online school program called K12 Online for math for the boys, as well as Spanish and Art (which they'll be doing with Nick). K12 also has activities and fieldtrips and a teacher who will support us. Fortunately, we can do these classes with them and still do the things we loved on our own, such as science, history, social skills, unit studies, lapbooks and language arts. It seems to be a good middle ground and I'm excited to get started.

Here are a few pictures of our wonderful whirlwind summer...

Brandon on a playground









Jumping pillow at a family reunion in Wyoming









Sadie at This is the Place Park









After a fun hike with the Larson kids