There might be more nature and food pictures in this blog post than people pictures! It’s been a fun couple of weeks and I’m excited to share the highlights with you. Let’s start with our last family field trip. It was an extra special one for me. I spent a good part of my childhood years in Woodland, WA. I remember visiting the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens many times. I especially remember touring the historic farm house as a child. (I have a thing for touring old houses; I love them!) It’s been on my field trip list for years to visit these gardens as family. I was so excited when our calendar lined up with the Lilac Days and we could finally make it happen! The gardens smelled amazing. I had forgotten how fragrant lilacs are. We explored every inch of the gardens before waiting in line to tour the house. The house will filled with historic and time-period appropriate lilac décor. Our final stop was the plant sale where Owen purchased his very own lilac. We all agreed that the Sensation variety was one of our favorites. We’ll see if it survives and thrives in our little corner of the world.
After the lilac gardens was book club for me and preparing to be out of town yet again in April. Jeremy and I attend Network Conference in Coeur d’Alene, ID with our pastoral team every year. We gather with churches from around Washington state and northern Idaho. The content is always top notch and it’s a great time to connect as a team and also with friends around our network. The main focus of this conference is also the eating. We are always discussing our next meal. I enjoy the break from cooking and our team appreciates good food. Another highlight of the week away was going to see Project Hail Mary in the theaters. I read the book at the request of a friend and we were supposed to see the movie together. Unfornately, sickness derailed our movie plans and I thought I’d missed my chance to see the movie in theaters. Jeremy and I shared our plans to see the movie on the final night of the conference and most of the staff joined us. So fun! (For those that are wondering, I thought they did a good job of translating the book into a movie.)
We came home from conference and poured ourselves into projects around the house. Jeremy spent most of Friday and Saturday in our yard. He cleared our new fire pit spot and laid down two loads of gravel. The boys helped him. It was fun to watch them all working together. This project isn’t quite complete yet, so I’ll save photos for later. My projects were indoor this weekend. I had lots of laundry to do after our travels. The boys spent the week with Nana and Papa at their house. I had a lot of laundry to catch up on. The travel laundry also corresponded with my bedding washing schedule. My laundry room saw a lot of action this weekend! While I was waiting on loads of laundry, I typed up my school record notes. Every year I create documents that list what curriculum we used, what extracurriculars we joined, what field trips we took, and what books each boy read. All of these notes help document our 180 days of school. As I work to tie up all the loose ends of this school, I’ve also made our complete summer school plan. It’s now all written down in our official record planner. It feels good have these projects tackled! Hooray!
The last adventure to share was more hiking in our local state parks! We’ve been putting our Discover Pass to good use! In April, we made to Ike Kinswa State Park. This month, we hiked at Lewis and Clark State Park. The next park we hope to visit is Seaquest State Park. We’ve been meeting up with friends to make the adventures extra fun. The trails at Lewis and Clark wander through a lovely old growth forest. At the front of the park is a stream that the kids could have spent hours in. I drove home with wet, muddy, and happy kids! I love that we get to enjoy nature like this right down the road from our house!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 