Hiking!

 With school out, we are getting into our summer routine. First up, always, is hiking! We went on two this week- to Roxborough and to Castle Rock.

Roxborough was perfect- it was overcast (of course), but this time I was glad because it felt really nice for the hike. We did a hike we hadn't done before- the moderate South Loop. It was beautiful!

Ben has every Friday off now, so we were able to all go to The Rock at Castle Rock. It was much warmer today. The girls wanted to climb to the very top and touch the star. They did it a few years ago. But, it's a rather dangerous area you need to climb to get there, so I'm glad they chickened out. It helped that Ben was there and he is the biggest chicken, so he was able to talk them out of it.

Audra's Birthday Party

For Audra's Birthday, she decided she wanted to do an Escape Room. We used the one we did for Camille's Birthday last year as family. It's been a year, so she didn't remember the clues.

The weather gods once again showed their disapproval and gave us a tornado warning. It was cold and windy and overcast the whole time.

It was fun seeing all of her friends. And, the best part: we kind-of just left them to their own devices. We stayed at the park, but walked around and played soccer with Claire and Camille, and had a fun time. 

Thankfully, they did solve all the puzzles and escaped with their lives.

Camille's Birthday Party

We decided to rent parks for the Birthday parties this year. Sadly, the weather gods did not cooperate. It was supposed to be nice and warm. Sadly, it was cold and stormy. Thankfully, after the first 30 minutes it started to get a little bit warm and we survived.

Camille has truly been waiting for an entire year for this. She was so upset that she couldn't get her party last year- and it was sad! All throughout the year she would randomly say, "remember, mom, I get a Birthday party this year. I get one I turn 9 and when I turn 10." It was really cute.

She has also been planning! She came up with a list of games, with instructions, for the kids to play.

I couldn't get Plum Valley for the Friday night party, only for Saturday. Camille said, "but I want my party at Plum Valley!" I said, "that's fine, you can have it at Plum Valley, but then your party will be on Saturday and Audra will have her party on Friday." She very quickly said, "Never mind, I'll have my party at Marcy."

I think it went really well. Camille said she had a good time, and I think she even smiled once or twice which was wonderful.

A water relay:

The donut game on a string is a family favorite:

I was glad it was at a park as the kids ended up playing on the playground a lot. It was really, really fun to hear the kids running around, laughing, and playing. That's one of things I missed most about Covid! I hope we can hear the happy noises of being a child more and more!

Here's some sweet cards she got:

Woah!

 Take a look- what do you see:

This is me feeling awkward, naked, and totally guilty at the store for the first time in 14 months. Getting back to "normal" is sure going to be weird!

Audra's Art

 Here's some of Audra's beautiful art work from the past year:

End of Year

 

Time to turn in our curriculum after another great homeschool year.

We learned history from Greece to the Renaissance. We studied Gothic architecture, The Chronicles of Narnia, multiplication, algebra, fractions. We read books, books, and more books. We wrote 5 paragraph essays, did Friday free writes, and enjoyed weekly poetry tea times. We learned about genetics, sea creatures, and growing plants. We didn't take as many field trips, but we still enjoyed weekly homeschool recess. Audra went to Ranch View every day for band, while Camille and I enjoyed our daily one-on-one time.

I have said this before and I will say this again: I will never, never, ever regret these years that we have spent homeschooling.

Audra's Birthday

Only three days apart, after Camille's Birthday, we jumped into Audra's Birthday.

What a whirlwind week!

For her, we went to Cava for dinner, got Gelato after, then came home and watched Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban.

Her Young Women's leader came and left this sign in our yard and decorated our front door for her which was really sweet.

She also got a Birthday vaccine! Yay for science! Her arm was sore, but it wasn't bad.

We even ate INSIDE! Of course, we had been eating inside all last week at Disney, but now we did it here at home. Of course, the only reason we did was because the restaurant was completely empty.

We had A LOT of cake already this week, and the girls had just had Gelato, so she got a Birthday brownie to blow out her candles.

Camille got her a cute Winnie the Pooh Pin from Disneyworld. All week, Camille was begging us to take her to a souvenir shop to get her a pin. Camille really wanted to buy her one- it was very sweet. Claire and Camille also got her a Harry Potter adult coloring book.

Since she is 14, we are now allowing her to wear make-up.

Wow. That's weird.

So, she got a how-to book from Grandma High, and we got her some nice make-up brushes. Then I took her to the mall to buy a bunch of make-up and she has been practicing. It's very weird, but she truly is a beautiful young woman- inside and out.

Audra at 14:

-Her favorite food is still breakfast burritos

-She maybe wants to open up a Day Care when she grows up. She is great with kids.

-She works hard, and it shows. She is doing really well with algebra and all her other subjects.

-She still LOVES piano and playing the trumpet

-She is extremely nervous to start high school next year

-Her favorite color is purple

-Everyone adores her. She just has the sweetest personality.

-She almost never gets angry. She never yells, she never talks back, she is always extremely polite and kind.

-She LOVES to read. She loves Hunger Games, False Prince, and Harry Potter.