2021/2022 School year

 After a year of homeschool, I decided to let each kid decide where their educational journey was going to take them for the new school year.  Living near dozens of charters gave them many (hard) choices to make. I assumed they each would want to go back to Channing Hall where they attended before the lockdown, or even continue homeschooling. However, each of their different personalities led them to very different adventures.  

Blake decided to continue homeschooling for second grade through Canyon Grove.  This year mask mandates were removed and more opportunities opened up to him.  I still taught him Math, English, Handwriting, Spelling, and Reading at home, but he got to attend school 1.5 days a week where he learned the other subjects.  One day was a full day of learning (Epic Day), and the other half day was called "adventure day"  where a bus would either take him on a field trip (like paddle boarding), or to the main campus to garden, work in the space center, learn art, and so on.  This was really an amazing program, and I'm so happy he got to experience two years of homeschool. 

Chase decided to attend our local elementary school (Oak Hollow) for fifth grade. The last time he went here was for Kindergarten. We loved it, but ended up moving him to Channing Hall for first grade where we wanted to send Wesley due to the more rigorous and challenging curriculum. However, due to Covid, a lot of his friends that attended Channing Hall ended up leaving.  He wanted a fresh start for 5th grade, and also wanted to attend the feeder school for the middle school he wanted to go to next year so he could make more friends.  The hard part about Charter schools (besides the fact that friends come and go each year) is the fact that kids come from all over the valley to attend, which makes playdates hard when your buddy lives 45 min away.  Oak Hollow helped him make friends that lived within walking distance of our house.  Also, because I had three kids at three different schools, Chase had the new and exciting opportunity to get to ride his bike to school occasionally.  

Wesley decided to give Beehive Science and Tech Academy a try.  He wanted to go to a smaller school that would challenge him academically, while also supporting his unique learning style.  He knew it would be filled with other like minded kids with similar interests. The small enrollment (there were about 50 kids TOTAL enrolled in seventh grade) meant he could get to know the teachers and fellow classmates a lot better than in a larger school, like Draper Park where thousands of kids attend.  He had all his classes with the same 25 kids, and ended up making a lot of really amazing friends this year.  Unfortunately, in true Charter fashion, many ended up moving away the following year.  

This year was a good year for each child - they each got to attend a school that was best for their individual needs.  However, my sanity struggled a bit this year.  Three schools (one over 20 minutes away), three districts (all with different days off), plus homeschooling Blake on top of everything AND still working as a volunteer Ranger in the Fall and as a seasonal Ranger the following spring meant I had to do something a bit different the following school year! 

Blake - second grade 

Chase - fifth grade (last year in elementary school)

Chase with his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bell 

Wesley - seventh grade (first year of middle school for him since he was homeschooled for sixth grade) 

Glacier National Park Part 2

Our epic hike led up to one of the most gorgeous natural landscapes I had ever led eyes on - Grinnell glacier.  It was heaven on earth. The turquoise blue waters and the glacier carved mountain views created a stunning backdrop worthy of being on any calendar.  I felt like I was in another world.  It was so unlike the world I grewup in - a world surrounded by concrete, graffiti, trash, humans, and pollution.  This is what I live for.  This is what life is all about.  

The next day we drove far up north near Canada to Kentla lake.  It was a long ways away, but this was another top memorable life experience.  We had almost the entire lake to ourselves.  I used our paddle board to drift into the middle of the lake, and I didn't see another soul.  It was one of the most beautiful and serene moments of my life - calming floating in the middle of a lake in Glacier National Park and having it all to myself.  I was surrounded by trees, crystal clear water, and the call of the birds.  I could have floated there forever.  I felt so free and alive.  

On our way home we stoped by Idaho and spent a few days with Jasons' dad in McCall Idaho.  The boys got to drive a boat and Butch also took us on a tour of the area.  It was also gorgeous and made for some fun memories for the boys.  I started coming down with a cold, and we were staying in a family member's camper.  I was uncomfortable and stressed these last few days, but I'm grateful the boys got to make some fun memories with Butch.  

These photos are incredibly out of order...

Idaho:

Glacier: 

I love that every vacation we have taken, I have a handful of pictures of Wesley in the middle of a random body of water.  In the same way that nature calls to me, water calls to Wesley. 

Hidden Lake overlook trail /continental divide 

Beautiful Kentla Lake that we had almost all to ourselves.  This was one of the most magical and amazing moments of this trip, or of any moment I have spent at a National Park.  It was breathtaking.  

The water was crystal clear 

Waterfall Hike:

Grinell Glacier - This area was so beautiful is seemed fake.  The vibrant colors and the Jurassic Parkeque landscape - It was unlike anything I had ever seen.  

 

Glacier National Park part 1

 I cannot even begin to describe the happiness that fills my soul anytime I step foot in nature.  The very cells in my body seem to vibrate at a frequency that aligns with the trees and the mountains and the earth, and when ever I am away from them, my soul seems to be in an almost hibernation like state.  The moment I step foot outside, I am alive.  My soul awakens and connected with Mother Earth and I feel free.  I am nature.  She is me, and we are connected at a molecular level.  

In the Summer of 2021 we went on one of my most favorite trips to date - Glacier National Park.  It was a long trip, and taking young kids is always a hard and exhausting task.  However, it is always worth it to give my kids such amazing and life changing experiences.  I love watching them explore, hike, and adventure in our national Parks.  

On our way up we stoped by Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana.  my Ranger friend Jake used to work there and suggested them to me.  They were amazing, and there was even a section where we had to slide down the formations!  

We also found a Buddha garden in the middle of nowhere Montana.  One of my favorite parts of traveling is finding these hidden gems that we normally would never ever get to see. 

Once at Glacier we got to exploring.  I love that Wesley will jump in any body of water, even fully clothed.  He has such an adventuring heart.  We found this serene body of water, and it called to him.  He went out pretty far in his clothing while his brothers watched from the shore.  The next day we walked around the lodge a bit, and then decided to embark on an epic glacier hike to Grinnell Glacier.  It was about an eight mile round trip hike with some elevation gain.  Blake was only seven, but had been on many epic hikes in the past. One of my favorite things about my little family is the fact that we aren't afraid to go on really challenging hikes, even at the last minute.  It was a hard hike for everyone, but goodness - the views were absolutely incredible.  I had never seen anything like it before in my life.  (End of hike phots in the next post). 

It doesn't matter how small or plain - Hotel pools are always the most fun for some reason!