Summer Has Officially Begun

It always seems like the busiest week we have every year is the first week after public school gets out.  Summer is starting and there are summer things to do.  This year was no exception.  It rained a lot this week.  Probably at least a bit every. single. day.  sigh...

Public school didn't officially end until noon time on Tuesday this week, I'm guessing because of snow days.  Because of this, Xav did not have PE on Tuesday like usual.  Instead, he was invited to participate in field day with the whole school.  He was even given a mascot T-shirt in school colors, just like everyone else.

Monday night is also the night our first VBS of the summer began.  Yep, the first VBS is in the evening.  There are lessons for ages 2-adult.  So, while I was sorely tempted to nap in the car every night (because exhaustion), I stayed for Bible study.  Some other Friday School families were present, too, so it was nice to visit in our off time.  I also met a few other very sweet ladies.  The theme was Over the Moat: Drawbridge to the King and the study was about King David. 

Since school was in session for two days, gymnastics camp was only three mornings.  The charge this year was higher, the time and number of days shorter, but I still felt it was reasonable.  Honestly, the first time it was $10/kid/session (NOT *day*) and I thought that was crazy cheap, so I'm not complaining.  I do wish it had been all week though.  Xav and Merrick absolutely love it!  Mal chose not to participate this year again.  He didn't change his mind mid-way through, like he did last year.  When it didn't rain, Xav, Mal, and I walked and went to the playground while Merrick was in his lesson.  When it was Xav's turn, I took Merrick and Mal home because his session was longer than Merrick's.

Wednesday or Thursday afternoon (because we're kind of kooky), we went to a resort where we have a Daycation pass.  We spent a few hours getting familiar with the layout and at one of the pool areas.  Caught a shuttle bus, which Merrick and Mal thought was amazing.  We'll be going up again this week and probably head to one of the other pool areas, since they are all different.  We don't just have access to the pools.  There is hiking, a game zone, and a ton of events we can participate in, oh, and lagoons.  Because we want to be sure to get our money's worth out of this pass, I want to get up there fairly often.  I've told the punks we are switching to school in the morning.  It won't be easy for any of us, as we're all creatures of habit, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

So, that wasn't nearly enough to do and we didn't need any rest on Saturday.  So, our week finished out with a VBS closing carnival (and banana splits) on Saturday and the rain stayed away the entire time.  I picked up Greek food from the lady at the Farmer's Market for lunch.  Then we headed to a new (2nd year) Renn Faire.  We didn't stay long.  Then it was off to our favorite cider mill for our first visit of the year.  No, they weren't pressing, since it's summer, but they have samples and we bought cider and cider donuts.  Outside we were surprised by the most adorable little bunny litter.  I saw seven babies around the picnic tables and gazebo.  The most intriguing part was their appearance.  They didn't look like wild rabbits.  There were two albinos and five in various shades of tan or brown.  I have *never* seen wild rabbits like that.  I have myself convinced they were from an escaped pet.

This young lady worked a while to get close enough to pet this cutie.  She said it was the highlight of her whole day.

Little bundles of joy... TEA!

I went to a baby shower last week and had so much fun.  Can't wait to hear all about Holly's little one when she arrives!  Dr. Seuss was the theme.  Kids were welcome for the Seuss-olympics, so I took Xav along.  He's my guy who is really outgoing and loves to be around other people.  Merrick is like that, too, but he also would need my supervision and I don't attend baby showers so I can watch my own kids.  :D

The hosts did a great job with games and fun gifts for Mama.

 and Seussical food

and I had the best time chatting with so many other mamas.  I also won a prize in the baby item pricing game.  I was less than a dollar off from the total.  (Don't tell anyone, but that's because I was under a dollar on a few items and I was over a few dollars on one item.  It all balanced out.)

Ceramic canister with silicone lid filled with tea!

I hope you're sharing and having fun with your friends.  And remember, you're *all* winners!

The week I put about 500 miles on the van and never got farther than B-ton

Oh the insanity!  This week was just one thing on top of another.  Mal is taking TKD all summer on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I also knew we'd have VBS every evening this week.  Mal's case manager meets with him at our home (thankfully) every week.  THEN, then we added in a gymnastics camp two hours each day all week for Merrick and Xav and a speech assessment for Xavier.  Whew!

Mal enjoys tae kwon do and really is coming into his own.  I think the lessons and the instructor have been great for him, and for me.  I get to see him doing hard things and coming through them.  Even though I worry about *his* fear and/or failure level, his instructor has been confident about his ability and has been insistent that I let him just do it.  He was so excited when he got his yellow belt this spring.

The Vacation Bible School we attended this week is, hands down, our favorite.  This was our fourth year attending.  Merrick has been able to attend, I think, three of those years.  They have classes for two year olds to adults.  The adults involved are amazing with all the kids and I appreciate what they do every evening, some of them after working all day, to give the kids a good time and point them to Jesus.  Their love shines through their faces and I just love and appreciate them all so much, words can never say.

Last year, the boys all took gymnastics for an hour on each of five Saturdays.  This year, it was an intensive camp.  Mal decided not to enroll, though mid-week he kind of regretted that.  I think it was all for the best though.  It was very directed with no time to "do your own thing" which is what he wanted to do.  Merrick and Xav had a great time and really it was the first time I left them anywhere before.  Xav went to archery without me, but other homeschool co-op moms were there.  They've been left with my friends before for babysitting.  I'm almost always around at co-op.  It was weird leaving them, but I enjoyed the time with Malachi and I think he did, too.  What I didn't know was that the instructor had sent out an email to the parents telling them flat out to drop the kids off and leave, but it went out before the boys were enrolled, so I never received it.  I stayed in the school vestibule the first couple of days because I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be there!  Oops!  It was controlled chaos, but the instructors and the helpers were great!

When I drove Xav to his speech assessment, I left the other two boys with my friend Trisha.  They were more than happy to play with her big bucket of trains.  Xav's assessment was supposed to be two hours, but it was closer to four.  Micah met us there.  It was the usual assessment you might imagine and I'd already been through a lot of the same thing with Merrick's assessment a couple of months ago.  I have a mini rant about insurance and speech therapy, but I won't go there!

Throw in a couple playgrounds, a Backpack Theater presentation of Sleeping Beauty and Where the Wild Things Are, Lego at the library, and construction watching and that's about it for our week.  Today is Saturday and I am so glad that busyness is over!  Although, tomorrow we will be out and about a bit...  LOL  We're slow learners.  And though I promised Xav we wouldn't have any school this week, you'd be surprised just how much math and vocabulary got slipped in there in the car rides all over God's very Green Mountain State.

I hope you're able to enjoy a wonderful summer!

Heart Island, NY - Field Trip Friday

Every May, our co-op enjoys an amazing field trip that involves a bit of a drive, a hotel stay, and a bigger than your usual field trip kind of destination.  This is what all that fundraising we do throughout the year is all about.  So a big THANK YOU to everyone who buys fruit or fudge and shops at Hannaford's for us!

Boldt Castle on Heart Island was on our list of possibilities last year and came in a close second.  We added it back in this year and chose it.  It was a great trip.  From the hotel, to the boat ride, to the actual castle in the Thousand Islands, everything was perfect.  It was breezy and cool, but not cold or rainy.  Since we were outside a lot, that made a very pleasant trip.

We stayed at The Best Western in Watertown.  The boys could *not* wait to use the pool!  In the evening, Micah was able to get a run on the treadmill, so his schedule wasn't terribly interrupted.  It also had a huge room for breakfast and we took it over for games and a pizza party in the evening.  We also enjoyed their full breakfast Monday before we left for Alexandria Bay.

Uncle Sam Boat Tours took us to the island and to the yacht house on a nearby island.  I don't want to get ahead of myself about that place!  The people were all terrific and no boats sank with us on board, so I consider that a success!

The Castle

The castle was being built by a hotel magnate George Boldt for his wife as a gift.  Louise died before completion and the home was never completed.  It was left to rot where it stood and was vandalized.  The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority owns and is rebuilding the "castle" and other buildings.  Almost all of it is accessible to the public.

I want to say there were six levels from the foundation to the top.  In the foundation, there was a small pool.  One side of the foundation opened right out at ground level.  A tunnel led out to the grounds on the power house side.

The entry and grand staircase with kitchen, dining rooms (formal, maid, and servant), reception areas, den (or library), and sitting room were on the first floor.  On this floor, there also was a ballroom with a pipe organ and doors opening to the veranda that looked out over the gardens.

The second floor housed the family bedrooms and bathrooms.  There also was a small theater for modern day visitors to see a short film about the Boldt family, the life they led, and the building and abandonment of Boldt Castle.  The end of the video was a bit silly, claiming the Boldts' spirits have been seen roaming the grounds.  This is also where the gift shop is located.The entire floor was not finished and part of every level from here up was closed off.

The third floor seemed to be intended for nice sized rooms as well.  Maybe for guests?  I didn't look at the architectural plans on the wall.  I should have because from here up, I'm guessing about the purpose of each area.  (Ah ha!  I found the Boldt Castle map brochure which shows floor plans.  You can check it out.  I'm leaving my impressions of the upper levels here, but they aren't 100% accurate.)

The two higher levels, I imagine would have housed servants.  There was one odd, round window I noticed and couldn't figure out. But when I went out on a balcony, I could see that it made perfect sense on the face of the building.

Around Heart Island

Heart Island has several out buildings.  There was a power house where the generators to power the island were to be kept. It's connected to the island by an arched bridge.  It was severely damaged by a fire in the 1930s and now has some displays and old photographs of life on the river.  It was neat to see the games and other entertainments held on the St. Lawrence.

Alster Tower, or the "children's playhouse" was an incredible stone building surrounded by nooks and crannies and small sized doors.  The bowling alley was in this building as well as a billiards room.  The plans called for bedrooms and cafes and dancing areas.  This was the most castle-like building of them all to me, resembling a corner defense tower that would be set in an exterior castle wall.

The Dove-Cote once held the water tank for the island buildings and is where they kept fancy birds.  It was the first tower built on the island.

There was a lovely gazebo in the gardens around the island which had several heart shaped areas and fountains.  There also is a swan pond, which is actually void of swans.

The entry arch was stunning.  We didn't go in that way, there is another dock where visitors are brought in.  It once was the entry where guests would arrive.  It was never completed, as it was intended to have covered walkways.  Three stags, or harts (a play on the heart theme?), were placed atop the arch.

This is the part where we pointed out the yacht house on another island and the boys asked how we would get there.  Micah said, "Swim, of course."

Swim, little fish boys!

The Yacht House

The yacht house is located on nearby Wellesley Island.  Here, antique boats are housed.  We not only saw all of the wonderful boats, but Xav asked many appropriate questions and we learned about the screw jacks that raise and lower the boat decks for storage or use, respectively.

The steam yacht, The Kestrel, was housed there.  It was donated by a private owner.  Other boats on the premises, have been provided for display by the Antique Boat museum.

The building also housed the Yacht House keeper and his family.  The first floor of their tower home was also open to visitors.

I kept looking at the whole estate, especially from the river, and admiring the beauty of it.  Micah said he looks at it and just sees a lot of maintenance.  I think Dad Boldt probably wouldn't have had to worry about the maintenance himself.  He would have hired plenty of people to take care of all of that.  There is still so much work to be done, it's mind boggling.

I found an inflation calculator which tells me $1,000,000 then is over $24,000,000 today, so the Boldt family certainly had plenty of money.  No matter how wealthy someone is, though, the abandonment of the island was a terrible waste of money.  And I'm a bit romantic myself, but I thought never stepping foot back on the island (where neither of them died) seemed silly.

It was a really fun day with our co-op friends, definitely one of my favorite trips.

The Great Vermont Corn Maze ~ A Friday Field Trip

Our first co-op field trip of the 2014-2015 school year was the Great Vermont Corn Maze.

We drove nearly two hours one way.  We didn't stay as long as we would have liked and we didn't get to do everything, but it was one of those sticky days where the kids run around oblivious to the heat and get sweaty and red-faced.

We arrived just before ten, did the chatting, took our group photo, and headed into the big maze.  As we entered, Mal and Xav read each of the rules for me to be sure everyone was prepared.  There were four entrances; eeny, meeny, miny, and moe.  First, we chose miny.  I took Merrick's stroller, though he only rode 1/4 of the time.  It seemed like the whole maze was uphill.  We ended up being returned to the start at moe.  We started again at meeny, I think.  The four of us walked for about an hour when we saw an emergency exit and decided to take it.  Despite the ten foot corn, there was very little shade because it was creeping up on noon.  We got part way back and saw a tunnel that was begging to be run through.  That seemed to reinvigorate the punks and we headed off again.  It wasn't long and we were turning around and heading back to that emergency exit.

We exited right back at the beginning!  The owner told me we hadn't even left the first quarter of the maze!  Ah well, we headed into the red barn next (a blessedly cool red barn) and the boys kicked off their shoes and headed into the tunnels.  They also rode little tractors, a tire horse, and climbed in the hay.

Thanks, Meghan, for the top two photos!

Next up, LUNCH.  There is a nice, shaded picnic area there with several tables.  We brought along blankets, too.  Mal said he had a tummy ache and rested in the shade for a bit.  He seemed OK after that.  We grabbed ice cream at the gift shop.  Novelty ice cream was only $1 there.  Not unreasonable at all.

Merrick was anxious to see the goats.  He'd already had a nice tantrum before lunch over the goats.  I took him aside near the van and had a talk with him.  Sometimes, I think he listens to reason better than Mal or Xav!  He got to pet several goats and that made him happy.

Kid Village was insane amounts of fun.  For them.  I was roasting.  Some of the kids got sweatier and redder than they already were.  The village consists of a stable, corral, trading post, jail, and a home.  The jail was so cute.  It had a secret escape opening and some of the bars were not metal, allowing the punks to use their superhuman strength to escape.

"H" has a face, but since it isn't my face to share, he has been made incognito (as well as headless).

Nearby, they found an alien landing site and went for a ride into space.

Merrick's face cracks me up in this one!

Next time, we will take the scenic kid tour in the maze.  That looked like a lot more fun than me trying to figure out what in the world we were doing in the main maze.  We never did get to play barnyard golf either...

I recommend The Great Vermont Corn Maze.  Follow the directions on the website rather than GPS.  Go when it's a bit cooler.  Have fun!

Week in Review ~ 7/20/14

    In my life this week…
Goodbye to Jenny.
Went to church tonight for a goodbye party for my friend Jenny and her family.  They're moving.  our loss is Texas' gain.  Gonna miss you, Jenny!

Mom's night out.
Trisha and I finally planned an evening to escape.  We ended up bringing Trish's son and another mama friend.  Isaac was happy to play Kindle most of the time.  We headed to a coffee house where I tried an Italian soda.  We talked about school and Jenny leaving and all the other mama-type subjects.  It was terrific.  And it will probably be months before we manage one again.

    In our homeschool this week…
The boys decided to build Lego towers as tall as they are.  They got pretty tipsy near the end, but the done good.  Here are some pictures we took.

    What we're reading... 
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

    In the yard... 
One thing about gardening I don't care for is the weird bugs (caterpillars and others) that live in cauliflower and broccoli.  Yuck.  I'd bring it in and soak it in salt water.  Then when I chopped up the heads, I'd sometimes find a carcass.  One hung onto the broccoli through a saltwater soak and a blanching in boiling water.  I have a tough time with that.

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Date night. 
We were invited to a hitchin' for a man Micah used to work with.  It was a small event, with good company.  After, we left that party, we went to a new wood fired pizza joint.  Micah told me to choose any pizza that looked interesting to me.  I couldn't decide between two.  I asked the waitress, and God love her, she told me to get half and half.  So we had a white pizza with Buffalo chicken and a red pizza that was all Mexican.  We both preferred the chicken, but the Mexican was also good.

We hired Olivia (probably the last time before she comes back from college!) and she brought Jasmine along.  Mal and Xav were so excited.  They couldn't get us out of the house quickly enough.

    Things Dad is working on...
The treehouse, natch!  The walls are up!  Before we raised the walls up, I told Micah we should just set the house up around the base of the tree and tell the boys, "Psych!"

      Something I am ogling or have my eye on…
A new bridge.  Yes.  This one is gone and the only other one into town from this side is down to one lane this week.  Fabulous planning.

     This week's reviews... 
The Schoolhouse Review Crew's review of Apologia's Flourish

Unicorn Pooooo... Uh, Rainbow Cookies

First, I searched high and low for a good unicorn poop tutorial.  Most had their own cookie recipes or suggested using a package of sugar cookie mix.  I prefer to make my own favorite sugar cookies.  I meant to keep a small ball to make plain cookies for Mal and I forgot!  Unfrosted, homemade sugar cookies are all he will eat.

So, I made a batch of cookies, divided the dough into several bowls, colored them with gel frosting coloring, and chilled.

I took small pieces of each color and rolled them together like play dough snakes.  I even rolled them through some silver food glitter I found.  Then I twirled them up into a spiral cookie, sprinkled with rainbow dots, and baked.

I made a couple dozen cookies like that, then I rolled and cut the dough into trains, hoping Mal would be willing to eat the colored dough if it looked like trains.  He wasn't.  The cookies were delicious and this is the story I gave when I delivered them.

I tried to catch a unicorn for your birthday because fantastic friends deserve fabulous gifts. However, I discovered it is very difficult to capture a unicorn. (Do you have any idea how hard it is to locate enough 24k gold rope to snare a unicorn? Not easy.  Also very expensive.) BUT, the unicorn did leave behind evidence of its presence. I quickly bagged up the unicorn poop and brought it to you. Happy birthday, Trisha!

If you usually need to roll your cookies in flour before cutting out, I recommend adding a little extra flour when you mix the dough.  You won't want to add much to the dough once the color has been added and it has been chilled.  Also, they are just a little more work intensive than normal between adding gel and rolling the cookies.

The funniest part about these cookies is how completely grossed out the boys were by the thought of unicorn poop.  They got so irritated and kept calling them unicorn cookies.  It was fantastic.

THMJ Week of 1/12/14

    In my life this week…
I helped Xav play a prank on his Daddy.
He planned it all out on his own.  He hasn't been sleeping downstairs since the other night. He sneaked down and got into bed.  My role was to send Dad to bed early "so he doesn't miss a second of work." says Xav, tell him I wanted to sleep alone, so he should go downstairs.  (I had to send him early so Xav would still be awake.)  Micah actually didn't see Xav go downstairs.  He played along with the rest of the joke.  When he got to the basement bedroom, he shouted, "Hey! Is this some kind of trick?" just like Xav wanted him to.  That kid was so tickled to be able to pull one over on his Dad!  He thought he could do the same thing the following night with the same results, but I told him I didn't think Daddy would fall for it two nights in a row!

    In our homeschool this week…
I shared this story on FaceBook, but here it is again.

We were having a MISERABLE day. After everyone took a rest (separate rooms, quiet time), I had them come out to the computer to see our first Kinderbach lesson and I told them how fun this game was. Mal crossed his arms and yelled, "I hate singing and dancing and I'm not going to do it!" I told him that it wasn't singing and dancing and he would be playing the game. I started it up and Xav got so excited. "We used to play this game in recorder class!" It didn't take Mal long to catch Xav's enthusiasm. He played along and laughed and flopped around. They enjoyed it so much, they played it three more times. We were all laughing by the time it was done. I wanted to cry, and not out of anger and frustration!
Already, the Schoolhouse Review Crew is blessing us!

    In our homeschool co-op this week... 
Picture day!
Magic Schoolbus Science -  Color!  We watched the rainbow episode, looked at the world through rainbow glasses, did the colored milk experiment, and played with light paddles.
Duct Tape Art - Mal made beads and strung a necklace.
Nature - Xav used two soda bottles to make a tornado.
Amazing Body - Mal took a short break to read a book and then joined the class and started preparing the parts to stuff into his skeleton.
Art Class - Xav created a little snowman scene on a blue paper plate.
Archery was cancelled.


    What we're reading... 
The Boxcar Children #2



    Around the house... 
High temps this week were in the 40's.  After -23* one night last week, it was super pleasant, except for the rain.  I was reminded that old frostbite can still be felt even when the temperature seems high.

    My favorite thing this week was…
Merrick's birthday!  Happy birthday, Baby Monkey!  While he loved the taste, he did not like the mess.

    My kiddos favorite thing this week was…
Xav definitely enjoyed all the cupcakes.  It's all about food with that kid.

    Things I’m working on…
My blog.

    Things Dad is working on...
Organizing files and pictures on the back up drive. 

    I’m cooking…
Birthday cupcakes!  Colleen told me how easy it is to use a decorator to frost cupcakes.  I am not a talented cake decorator, but I have one of those tube jobbies with several nozzle thingies.  The whole time I was messily loading it with frosting, I was thinking about how much grief I was going to give to her over this.  And then I piped the frosting on a cupcake.  Be still my heart!  It was so easy and looked so nice.  The only thing I didn't expect was how much frosting it would take!  Thanks, C.  I take back every mean thought I had that day.

I also made some shortbread-type cookies with these yummy cocoa nibs that Christine gave me.  I'm sad to say, the cookies were NOT tasty, but the cocoa nibs are.  I only used half the package, so I will use the rest in a different cookie recipe.

    Out of the mouths of boys... 
Long after bedtime, I had to go into the Bigger Littles' room and tell them to quit playing and go to sleep.  In a sing-song voice, Mal said, "But, Mom, I'm playing Jer-i-cho.  Bible stories are your fav-o-riiiite."

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
Homeschool Barbie

Follow us over to The Homeschool Mother's Journal Linky.

July - Thomas? Is it really you?

We spent a good deal of the month dealing with thrush, so Merrick had a purple mouth and hands.  Little, old ladies would see him and comment about me feeding him blueberries.  I'd just smile and nod. 

We went to NH again to visit our favorite family from Canadialand.  We had a great time.  I had some grown up refreshment with Heather, the boys enjoyed the playground and pool at the hotel.  Of course, we had to do some shopping at the outlet stores too!  It didn't hurt that *THE Thomas the Tank Engine,* his very own self, was seen on the track behind the hotel.

As one friend said, "That's a lot of boys!" 

The boys wrote thank you letters to Mat and Jen for allowing them to play with their model train when we stopped there.

Mal helped with groceries and even wrote a list for me.

This is Mal waiting patiently for 5 PM so he could do something with Daddy.  {LOVE}