- Last week we decided to visit one more National Park for the month, and we took a trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. We haven't been there for a few years. The last time we went, Georgie was still a baby and cried every time we let her feet touch the sand, but somehow we didn't even make it as far up the dunes as we did last time. We hiked the first short hill, played for a couple minutes, climbed back down and staked out a claim near the water. Every year in May and June, the snow melts off the surrounding mountains and creates a gentle river right in front of the dunes. It's a great chance to cool down and play in the sand without getting your feet burned. We've been particularly enthused about visiting and revisiting National Parks because we got a family National Parks passport book. I may do another post about this, but it's a fun project for us!
- My kids finished their library challenge early this year, mostly at my urging. Last year we finished the challenge in July, but all the finishing prizes were gone, which was rather anticlimactic. This year I pushed them to do a few activities and played audiobooks for them until we reached the 500 points, wondering why it was so difficult for us to finish last year when we flew through this summer. Regardless, they did receive a finisher prize, which were tickets and a free meal at our local aquarium! So that activity will be going on our calendar sometime in July, I'm sure.
- Tonight I am going to see "The Homeschool Awakening" in theaters, a documentary about homeschooling by Kirk Cameron. I think it should be interesting! I know of several people in the documentary already, and I've heard Kirk Cameron speak at homeschool conferences before - but I like to support these kinds of films, and it's fun to go with some homeschooling mom friends! I will report back (possibly on Instagram, or a quick post here, I'm not sure) what I thought about it!
(Unrelated picture of my boys hiking around outside this morning.)
- This week is also my birthday, which is fun and everything, except for the fact that I have jury duty. Now, if you've been around for a while, you may remember that I have always wanted to get picked as a juror - I want to see how the process works, do my civic duty, etc. I'm very interested in it (and well aware that I'm in the minority on this)! I have been notified of jury duty twice before, and was so disappointed when my court days were cancelled. So the fact that my third chance at jury duty happens to be on my birthday is leading to very mixed feelings. Would it be really cool if I finally got a chance to be a juror? Yes! Would I prefer not to spend my birthday in a courthouse? Also, yes. Why must the judicial system do this to me? Let's be real though, it will probably be cancelled again anyway.
- With prices of everything going up, and no indication of this slowing down, I've decided it's time I take cooking at home a little more seriously. I used to really enjoy trying new recipes before I started having kids, and then it was a whirlwind of pregnancy and baby phases on repeat for the next 10 years, and I didn't really have the mental energy to give it another go. Cooking is actually not something that comes naturally to me - I'm more of a baker at heart. But we need to have good enough things to eat at home that we aren't tempted to drop by the store or a restaurant for an easier meal, and I suppose it's my job to make it happen. My goal is to try to make something from scratch every time I have a day at home, and to branch out and try some new recipes while I'm at it. So far, that's been African peanut stew (yum), chocolate chip cookies, and caramel apple pie (what did I say about being a baker at heart?). Next up, I'm going to try Joanna Gaines's biscuits and gravy. I always felt like Joanna Gaines was a little overrated (unpopular opinion, right there), but her cookbook has been fun to read through so far!
- Our local homeschool conference is also this week, and it looks like it's going to be a good one! Ken Ham and Allie Beth Stuckey are a couple of the speakers, and there is going to be traveling display of a life-size tabernacle (based on the tabernacle in the Old Testament) as well. I intended to have alot of next year's curriculum ordered earlier in June, because I don't want to be tempted to buy things I wasn't planning on at the conference, but at this point I'll probably wait until after the conference to see if there are any special sales I should take advantage of. Homeschool conference curricula halls are dangerous places. I am hoping to buy more little "Sermon Notes" notebooks which I found there last year, as well as this book for myself, which I'm sure will be there as well. I guess if I can save a bit on shipping, that's a win!
- Speaking of conferences, there is also a free online enneagram conference going on this week (analyzing the enneagram from a biblical perspective), and this online "life skills camp" for kids that I might let the kids watch (though probably only a few videos, because glancing at the first day, I think many are geared toward older kids).
That's all for now, but I'm hoping to get another post up later this week (assuming I don't get picked to be a juror for a 3-week murder trial or something). Wish me luck!
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