It is finally fall! This was a long, hard summer and I am so glad to be moving into a new season. School got off to a good start this year, but I'm realizing that I've planned too much. I'm pruning just a bit and making time for the things that are really important to us.

One important thing this fall is going to be spending time with each other and with friends! And spending time outside now that it isn't so incredibly hot! Our field trip yesterday combined those very nicely! We went to a beautiful nature trail with just a few other families. I had intended to plan some activities (and I probably will when we get together with our larger group), but the kids mostly just ran around! They did stumble on several learning opportunities, though. Grasshoppers, different kinds of dirt, flowers, trees, etc. They made leaf and bark rubbings. We all explored a beautiful pre-Civil War home (that was a highlight for me!) and relaxed in the sunshine. Of course, I'm paying for that with a nasty sunburn...I should've been running around in the shade like the kids.

So now I'm making our fall plans - and trying to decide between good and best. There are just so many wonderful things to do this time of year!

Time to catch up...

Even for me, it's been awhile since I posted. We've been busy, busy, busy over the last month and a half. We wrapped up school for the year and we're taking the whole month of June off to catch our breath. Since summer is so miserably hot, I'm planning to start next year in July, right after the 4th, and take a few weeks off in August/September. The weather then should be perfect for some little trips and lots of playing outside. Almost accidentally, I managed to work out our calendar for next year so that we have some time off around every child's birthday (except Jack who still will get his big day off).


While we've been off, we've been busy relaxing:) Casey had some time off to go with us to Dauset Trails and Indian Springs! It was so good to get away even just for a little bit all together. We will definitely have to plan another trip!

The kids and I took another short trip with my family to the beach. We had a wonderful time with my parents and grandparents and favorite sister. As a kid, I was blessed to get to spend a lot of time with my grandparents and I'm always so thankful for my kids to get to do that, too. We attempted to take some family pictures on the beach, but some of us were less than cooperative...

We did get some good pictures, though, and we had a great time. Watching the kids see the ocean for the first time was so good for me. I was surprised at how refreshing even a short trip could be - we may have to squeeze in another quick trip before too long! And I'll definitely have to post some more pictures later.

And now I'm ready to jump back into life at home. I have so much planning still to do for next school year. I'm so excited about everything we're going to study! And I'm debating about squeezing in a yard sale. I would love to haul everything to the Salvation Army and be done with it, but our thrift stores are terribly disorganized - tons of good clothes get sold for rags because they simply don't have the manpower to sort it all. So I would rather have a yardsale with extremely good prices and just donate some of the money. I'm just trying to decide if I have a free Saturday and if the kids will need to be relocated:)
We still have fun stuff planned. Father's Day, Brenna's birthday, VBS and the fourth of July are coming right up, after all. I'm already looking forward to the relative slowness of our school schedule!

Field trip with Grandma Mary

The first is a series of field trips I'm calling "Not everything comes from Walmart" - my grandma took us to visit her cousin and see how cane syrup is made.

Brenna did not care to have her picture made, but Levi didn't mind. He was impressed with the whole process.

Jack was impressed by the fire! Here he is by the wood pile.

We had a wonderful time and got to spend the day with Grandma Mary. The kids went back to her house to decorate gingerbread men over the weekend. They are lucky, lucky kids to have great-grandparents who take up so much time with them. And Casey and I are truly blessed to have such awesome babysitters!