Dinosaur National Monument :: September 2017

In the beginning of September, we drove 13 hours (in two days) to Dinosaur National Monument, which is in Utah and Colorado.  Jeralyn had liked dinosaurs for a season and we thought it would be fun to take the family there because of her interest.  She informed us, a few days into our time in Dinosaur, that she "doesn't like dinosaurs anymore."  I had a good laugh about that!  Despite her change in interests, she did enjoy her time.

The first night in Dinosaur, Natasha met us (she lives in Colorado now).  She surprised the boys in the morning (Jeralyn saw her that night).  It was fun to have her with us!

The first morning in Dinosaur, we went to the visitor's center and hitched a quick shuttle to see the quarry.

This was one of the coolest things I've ever seen--dinosaur bones in the rock!

They even allowed you to touch some of the fossilized bones.

After the quarry, we had lunch outside the visitor's center.  Some went on a little hike up the hill.

During one of the evenings, we went on a hike.  We forgot to pack the Joel backpack carrier, so he goe to ride in Quent's backpack instead.  It worked out just fine.

We found a little cave.

The trail was so beautiful.  I am still surprised at all of the red rock and canyons in this area. I had no idea!

I loved our evening walk; it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

In the morning we went on a short jaunt to see more beautiful landscape.

We thought that formation (in the center) looked like a face with a bulbous nose.

An old homestead in the park.

And then we found some petroglyphs.

Our last hike/walk in the evening while we were at Dinosaur.

The next morning we said goodbye to Natasha and then we drove over to the Colorado side of Dinosaur.

I loved seeing the canyons!

Quent and Aunt Janet (back when we were visiting them in Wyoming this spring) mentioned how Joshua holds his arms behind him like Grandpa Smith used to do.  Quent caught it on camera.

Joel slept through most of the Colorado portion of Dinosaur.  He needed the nap!

The next morning we left Dinosaur National Monument and headed back toward home.  I'm so glad we got to experience this beautiful landscape. It's so fun to be able to drive places.  Vroom!  Vroom!

Eclipse 2017 :: August 21, 2017

Warning: Quent did not edit these photos.  He takes them in RAW format so then they have to be edited to JPEG.

In the morning, we drove a couple of hours toward Lake Cascade, Idaho, where we would have totality of the eclipse.  Quent wanted to go up higher in elevation to watch the eclipse, but we didn't have enough time to get up there.  We found a quiet and peaceful spot to view.

The kids attention span lasted a few minutes and then they were wondering when we would be leaving.  Oh kids!

The light was so fascinating.  It got darker and colder as the sun was more and more covered.

I took a video when it was in totality from my phone.  If I ever upload it to YouTube I will share the video.  I don't even know if words could describe how awesome this experience was.  I talked to my dad (who is into astronomy) shortly after this experience and I was just ga-ga over it.  It was amazing!  I couldn't believe how dark it got!  And when it was in totality, you could hear people from all over cheering.  It was eerie and just awesome all at the same time!  I'm so glad we experienced the totality of it, even if it was only a mere 40 seconds.

Riggins, Idaho :: August 20, 2017

We drove about 1.5 hours south to Riggins, Idaho to camp overnight so we could watch the eclipse on the 21st.  Riggins was about 2 hours from the eclipse's totality.  We weren't sure how crazy it would be farther south, so we camped in Riggins and planned to drive the rest of the way to the totality spot in the morning.

Riggins is a hot spot; I'm not sure if it's because it's in a canyon.  It's really popular for river play.  It's a small town.  Almost every time we have driven through, we stop at the school playground.  Here we are running through the green grass (which is quite amazing that there was GREEN grass when everything else was brown, brown, brown).

Mini Bride :: August 17, 2017

Jeralyn was playing dress-up.  She looked like a bride!

Library Math & Science :: August 10, 2017

The library in Kamiah is pretty small.  And when I say small, I mean tiny.  Like tiny.  But they have a lot of fun activities going on; I've been really impressed with their outreach to the community to get people into the library.  I am passionate about books and reading, so I try my best to take advantage of the library's programs.

During special hours, they opened up the library for a few hours of math and science learning for the kids.  They had set up stations that the kids could go to and do a project.

Here's Joshua sorting M&M colors.

And since the eclipse was right around the corner, they made eclipses out of construction paper.

And then they had a magnet table set up.  They also had a table with magnifying glasses to look at things like fossils, leaves, and other objects.

The kids had a fun time!

Grandma's Visit :: August 2017

In mid-August, Quent's mom (aka Grandma Smith) came for a visit.  She was on her way home from Alaska and was lucky enough to experience some hot temperatures here in Idaho.  Ha!  I'm sure it was a big climate change coming from cool Alaska to hot Idaho.  I prefer the cooler temps myself.  She also got to experience some of the smoky days due to many forest fires southeast of us.

The kids enjoyed her visit.  They showed her how we do school, how we play at the park, how we get up early and play, how we eat ice cream...and live everyday life.

Grandma Smith gave Jeralyn her first sewing lesson.

Joel the busy mole.

Grandma reading to Joshua.

First day of school :: 8.7.17

We are (so far) doing school year round.  And since I don't really want my kids graduating super early, I am doing chunks of breaks throughout the year.  Last year we took about 14-15 weeks off of school, with a 1-3 week break here and there.  I'm really glad we are doing it this way because I notice a difference with mood, focus, memory even with just a short time off.  I can't imagine what 2-3 months would do!  Right now, this is working for us (who knows, I may change my plans as the years go on).  We had taken a little bit of time off between changing grades and then we started fresh in the beginning of August.

This year, Joshua joins us as a pre-preschooler.  He is doing what Jeralyn did at that age (letter recognition, counting, learning shapes, etc).  It's short and sweet (with some wild boy energy).

Jeralyn smoothly sailed into first grade.  She says she doesn't like math, but she's so good at it (although she would argue that point).  Her favorite subject is science.

I'm truly enjoying being a homeschool mom.  I take the commitment very seriously.  It's fun to plan, prepare, and be involved with their schooling.  And I'm even learning things along the way!  I feel really blessed that I get to be their teacher.  It's not always easy, but I know it's worth it.  The relationship-building is what stands out the most to me.  It's what is working for us right now.

These photos pretty much sum up what life is like with these kids.

Joel's blanket :: 8.2.17

Last year I made a blanket for Joel.  You can see all about it here.

Silly kids :: 7.31.17

Love these little darlings!

There's a Joel in my bucket :: 7.25.17

"Dear Liza, dear Liza, there's a Joel in my bucket, dear Liza, a Joel."  Do you remember that song?

Who knew a 5-gallon bucket could hold such a sweet?