This last weekend was a big one for our family! Let’s jump right in!
Friday, I hosted my book club. It had been months since our schedules allowed for us to meet. I was excited for us to gather again, especially for our Christmas party. It’s one of my favorite nights of the year! I’ve been experimenting a little with gluten-free baking. I adapted an easy pumpkin cake recipe using a GF yellow cake mix. It was tasty, but you could tell it was GF by the texture. I filled a crockpot with apple cider and spiced it was cinnamon sticks and cloves. So good! We nibbled on treats, talked about what books we’ve been reading, and then did a wrapped book gift exchange. In years past, we’ve done a white elephant style game were we draw numbers and steal. With a smaller group, I thought a dice game might prolong the fun. It worked quite nicely. While I hosted book club, the boys went to see Zootopia 2 which they greatly enjoyed – both the movie and the treats!
Saturday, Graham was under the weather so I stayed home with him while Jeremy and Owen went to church for the big Christmas musical dress rehearsal. It was finally the weekend to perform The Carol of the Toys! I was bummed that illness decided to hit our house the same weekend as the musical. Isn’t that how life goes? We didn’t miss a single practice until the dress rehearsal. Resting on Saturday was the right choice. Graham was well enough to participate on Sunday which was a huge relief to us all.
The Carol of the Toys is a bit like Toy Story. The toy room toys come to life and are excited to celebrate Christmas with their Christmas toy friends. Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus don’t arrive with the Christmas toys, so a search party is formed to go find them. Owen played Toy Solider, who leads the search party. The musical was silly and sweet while keeping the true meaning of Christmas at the center of it all. It’s not Christmas without Jesus! Owen did an awesome job with his lead role this year and Graham stepped up to the mic for the first time to be part of a quintet. I’m proud of them for stretching themselves and all the hard work they put into making the musical great! Now we rest! I’m thankful for a few quiet recovery days after the big weekend.
Book Club Treats: Gluten-free pumpkin spice cake and a crockpot full of spiced apple cider. Yum!
Book Club Gifts: Scott Family Christmas cards with heart shaped bookmarks.
Book Club Games: A wrapped book gift exchange!
While I hosted book club, the boys went to see Zootopia 2 with their favorite movie treats!
The title of my post is a line from our upcoming Christmas musical at church. We’ve been preparing for this production since September. I’m always a little ahead of the Christmas season thanks to kids choir. However, the season has finally caught up to the soundtrack of my life. Holly jolly hip hooray! Christmas time is here! Okay… I get that Thanksgiving hasn’t happened yet and there are strong feels by some about Christmas before Thanksgiving. I’m not one of those people, though. The stores and even the houses I drive by confirm this – the Christmas season has started! Hooray!
Reusable Red Cup Day at Starbucks was last Thursday. Jeremy was kind and picked up this year’s cups along with festive treats! He brought a snowman cookie home for Graham and a tray of cranberry bliss bars for me. He also got me a peppermint hot chocolate. Owen isn’t purposefully excluded… He just doesn’t like anything at Starbucks right now other than milk. Silly kid!
After we wrapped up school last Thursday, it was time to pack and get ready for another weekend away. We spent one November weekend at the beach and this last weekend was a kids leaders conference hosted by our Assemblies of God network. I’m not a huge fan to being gone two weekends in a row, but sometimes it happens. Thankfully, I’m done with packing suitcases for a while. The boys got a few days away with Nana and Papa. They always have a blast at their house. Jeremy and I enjoyed connecting with other kids leaders and hearing great content. We also loved plenty of kid-free time just being us! During our free time, we did some Christmas décor shopping, visited multiple Costcos, and ate at restaurants our kids wouldn’t like. Very fun times!
Sunday after church, we decked the halls and made the house merry and bright! Decorating for Christmas took a little more thought this year. With our new fireplace and an extra bookshelf, we had to add some new Christmas décor to fill in these spaces. I also had to rearrange a few items from their usual homes of years past. I love having our stockings hang on the fireplace. It might be a my favorite part of the house right now. I also love our advent candle wreath and I haven’t outgrown our Little People nativity set. It’s so cheerful to bring out these Christmas favorites with all the traditions they represent. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
Now, don’t worry! Thanksgiving has not been forgotten. Jeremy and I have had many conversations about what we’ll be making and taking to share next week. Jeremy’s aunt requested I bring sugar cookies to our Thanksgiving, so now I’m planning a few baking/decorating sessions next week. Jeremy is our family chef and he is covering the side dish offerings from our family. We are looking forward to celebrating with family and friends over good food! Bring on the turkey! Yum! We have so much to be thankful for this November!
All the special treats from Starbucks!
Jeremy requested this photo! We couldn’t believe how tall these yard decorations are!
Graham’s Snoopy Drummer Boy Ornament 2025
Owen’s Violet Green Swallow Ornament 2025
Putting the star on the top of the tree
Love having a mantel to hang our stockings on! Makes my heart so happy!
Advent is a beloved family tradition
Nothing beats the light of the Christmas tree at night!
The boys have learned how to play multiple versions of The Game of Life this last week. The dark winter nights are perfect for board games!
As I mentioned in my monthly book blog, the last weekend of October was a stormy one! We had already planned on a low-key weekend and the weather made me appreciated being hunkered down at home even more! To fully embrace the chill weekend, I wrote different “days” on the calendar. Friday was Turkey Day. We made a small turkey breast in our crockpot along with some traditional Thanksgiving fixings. I made a favorite pumpkin cake for dessert! Yum! Saturday was Cider Day. We simmered cider in the crockpot all day long. Sunday was Pumpkin Day (it was actually National Pumpkin Day according to my phone). We carved pumpkins as a family activity. To keep the crockpot theme going, I made chili and cornbread on Sunday. It was a good eats weekend! The wild fall weather paired well with the comfort food and cozy, restful moments! I loved all our travels and adventures in October, but I equally loved our weekend at home!
Other highlights to wrap up the month?
The kids both got parts in our Christmas musical. Owen is going to play one of the lead roles and he got the part he was hoping for. He was a pretty excited kid and we’ve already been diligently practicing. He has a month to memorize all his lines! Eek! Graham didn’t want a solo despite the many efforts of our choir director… They did find a compromise, though. Graham will be part of a quintet. Coming forward with a small group was much more his speed. This is his first time stepping out of the choir for a role. Maybe next year he’ll feel up to a solo. No worries if he doesn’t. We have tried not to pressure him (even though he is a great singer).
Soccer wrapped up last Tuesday! It was a great season and, thankfully, it didn’t rain at all when we were at the soccer fields. The last one looked like it might be wet, so I focused more on the potential for rain than on the temperature. Turns out it was a freezing and I should have dressed warmer… Okay, it wasn’t freezing, but it was 42 degrees and that felt like freezing to me! We celebrated with a round of Boo Buckets at McDonalds. The kids love collecting those things. Owen has plans of hoarding them until he is an adult and selling them. He is positive they will worth something someday. We’ll see…
Thursday, we helped Jeremy set up for Fall Fest, our church’s annual harvest event. It’s a warm and dry alternative to trick-or-treating on Halloween. It poured this year for Halloween, so I know an indoor event was appreciated by our community (and myself). The set-up was fun! The boys got to test everything out and enjoy the offerings before the crowds overtook the building the next day. They enjoyed the carnival style games, inflatable bounce houses, and sampling the candy for quality control.
On Friday, the Fall Fest highlights were the free snow cones, cotton candy, and meeting the Mariner Moose! We got the official Mariner Moose mascot to do a photo opportunity at our event! The theme was PNW (think forest, animals, Big Foot) and the moose fit right. Not to mention, the Mariners almost made it to the world series, so hype around the team is pretty high right now. For not being super sportsy, the boys had their hearts set on meeting the moose. Due to weather and traffic, the moose gave us quite the scare by being late. Thankfully, he stayed late and everyone who wanted a picture got one. Our family got multiple pictures with him. I’m sure it’s a memory the boys will take into adulthood.
Now it’s November! The weather looks like it and feels like it… The wind and rain have done a decent job of removing leaves from the trees. It looks like November outside. Now that the rain has settled in, I’m looking forward to more cozy time inside! This a great month for baking, reading, board games, puzzles, and visiting with family and friends around the table. I’m excited for all November has to offer! (Especially holiday red cup at Starbucks this Thursday!)
Pumpkin cake and candy corn blondies are some baking favorites this time of year!
Excited for parts in the Christmas musical!
Pumpkin Carving 2025
Pumpkin Carving 2025
Owen’s Kirby Pumpkin
Graham’s Poke Ball Pumpkin
Pumpkin Carving 2025
A chilly, but beautiful final day at the soccer fields.
Graham opted for no costume this year. Instead, he went with a seasonal t-shirt. Owen wore this hand-me-down costume from Jeremy for about 5 minutes. Costumes were not a big deal this year.
Cotton Candy Taste Testers
Meeting the Mariner Moose
Photo opp with Nana & Papa and the moose!
Family photo with the Mariner Moose! Jeremy, Owen, and Graham each got their own individual pictures with the moose. I figured sharing three more photos would be a bit much!
I used to believe that September was a chill month where we’d fall back into our school year routine and everything settled down. Haha! It’s been years since I’ve held those false assumptions. Going back-to-school certainly does change our calendar, but September is not calm or quiet. Expectations and assumptions can be tricky little things. Now that I have more realistic understanding of September, I enjoy it so much more! Funny how that works.
We tried something new this September. We did a week of swimming lessons with our local homeschool sports group. It had been a few years since we’d done swimming lessons. Graham had just learned to swim when we stopped taking them and Owen loves to improve his strokes and diving techniques. We figured a little more practice and skill improvement couldn’t hurt. This was our first time doing swimming lessons with this group and it was a new location for us. The boys were nervous about the unknown, but once they got into the water, they were all smiles!
Since we aren’t apart of a co-op this year, we plan to lean into the offerings of our homeschool sports group. After a week of swimming, the boys kicked off soccer season this week. They’ll have six weeks at the soccer fields building skills, running out energy, and playing with friends. Graham even scored the first goal of the game on Tuesday! I’m grateful that this homeschool group allows us to experience team sports with a very manageable weekly commitment.
A few of our friends moved to a new co-op this year. While we aren’t able to join that group on a weekly basis, we’ve been invited to tagalong for field trips. Our first field trip with them was on Friday to the Oregon Zoo. This is one of our favorite places to visit and the group discount was amazing! Our boys enjoyed going around the zoo with friends. The weather was perfect and we saw so many of our favorite animals, including baby elephant, Tula-Tu! We made it to a keeper presentation for a South American porcupine that was also pretty neat. The zoo is always a wonderful field trip!
September is also hunting season. Jeremy and the boys have been out looking for elk to fill the freezer. The elk have been elusive this year, but the list of critters they come home seeing is pretty long. The highlight is all the different kinds of owls they’ve seen this month. Owen loves the hiking and the critters. He is very motivated by the idea of meat in the freezer. Graham enjoys the animals and time with family, but he is less interested in the hunting aspect. It’s a great nature walk and father/son bonding experience.
I’ve kept busy this month with school, the house, and coordinating the calendar. While the boys were out hunting on Saturday, I attended a women’s conference at our church. The worship and speaker were encouraging and it was nice be with other women (since I’m usually with the kids ministry). I attended a holiday themed workshop filled with tasty treats to sample. Yum! I led a crafting and conversations workshop in the afternoon. It was a good day. We also kicked off our Christmas musical practice on Sundays at church. I’m back to clicking through lyric slides and learning the music alongside the kids. It’s a fun season in children’s church!
As you can see, September is not a low-key month! But… at this moment, my menfolk are in the woods for the final hunt of the month. Rosie, the Roomba, is vacuuming my house. I have a few more steps to reach my daily goal. I hope to nibble on a slice of pumpkin bundt cake and start a new book. Not a bad way to spend a September evening, if you ask me. There are a few chill moments to be found in September!
September Swimming Lessons
Baby Tula-Tu
Keeper Talk
Silly Boys!
Friday field trips are a family favorite!
Last week it was Krispy Kreme and now Nothing Bundt Cakes. Give me all the pumpkin spice treats, please!
New fall décor for the fireplace! So fun to have a new space to decorate!
Loving this new wooden book stack! Give me all the bookish décor and add a pumpkin! Perfect!
A week ago, the boys loaded up for summer camp! I was so excited to send them off on a great adventure, but I also knew I would miss them deeply! All the feels! Jeremy directs two weeks of summer camp for our network. Week one runs from Sunday to Wednesday and week two from Wednesday to Saturday. The boys are such good pals while Jeremy is a way for the first half of the week. The second half of the week is such a novelty because I am home alone. This is my second year of having “Mom Camp” and I enjoyed it immensely. But, I’m always very ready to have all my boys (hubby included) home and under the same roof again. Life is truly better together!
The kiddos were super jazzed to head off to camp this year. There was a bit on rain on Wednesday that threatened to “dampen” their spirits, but once they connected with their cousins and friends, they were ready for a good time. I enjoyed hearing about their summer camp escapades from Jeremy. The lake at camp is a huge draw for both swimming and boating. The kids had a blast with field games and free time activities. Jeremy shared about chapel moments and praying with the boys. They came home with all the camp songs stuck in their heads. It’s been so sweet to hear them singing the worship songs to themselves throughout the day. Being a year older, Graham had a better year at camp. He was homesick less and he engaged more fully than the year before. He is definitely maturing and it shows! Owen is glad he gets one more year as a camper and hopes to come back as an intern when he ages out.
I filled my days at home with good things. I took long walks everyday, often chatting with my mom in the fresh air and sunshine. I did a lot of baking and reading. I worked on house projects. I get a thrill out of productivity without interruption. Such a treat! I also watched the old Anne of Green Gables movies. My family doesn’t appreciate them so no one complained when I took over the TV with seven hours of Anne. I had some social plans as well. I wasn’t a complete hermit. I went out to dinner with a friend on Wednesday. I had another friend over on Friday for a movie night. I’ve been dying to see what is so terrible about the new Snow White and my friend indulged me. Overall, it was the perfect balance of social and solitude. I was able to be productive and restful. Such a good time. I look forward to Mom Camp 2026!
Being reunited with my family meant a fair amount of laundry. I think my washer and dryer sighed on Saturday night after 8 loads of laundry. I get some serious satisfaction from cleaning up all the luggage and getting everything back into its rightful place. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday involved a lot of rest and recovery. We made it to church for VBA on Sunday. I made cinnamon rolls on Monday for our cozy home day. Tuesday, we adventured to Mt. Rainier for a family outing. It’s been a few years since we visited the mountain in wildflower season. They were so pretty! We saw marmots, ptarmigans, squirrels, and chipmunks. Owen is all about the mountain birds while Graham is all about the mountain rodents.
Now I’m strategizing on how to fit the rest of summer plans into the next two and a half weeks. I’m praying the weather will cooperate! This weekend has an atmosphere river moving in that definitely has me rearranging premade plans. The summer is winding down and yet I feel like there is so much left to do! We’ll see how it all pans out. I’ll just keep doing my best to savor the summer.
Ran to Staples for the last of the school supplies and stopped by McDonald’s for lunch. We treat ourselves a lot when Jeremy is away. It’s how we cope!
We also play lots of games while Jeremy is gone. Keeps us busy and distracted from how much we miss him!
Packed and ready to go!
About to load up!
Summer Camp Moments
Dinner out with my forever friend, Christa!
Anne Marathon
So much baking! From scratch raspberry crisp with raspberries from our garden, gluten-free coffee cake for movie night, vanilla “welcome home” cake, and cozy cinnamon rolls for our rest day.
July tends to be a super social month of us. Somehow most of our social engagements landed in a two week span of July. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but also incredibly fun! Jeremy had jury duty in July which added a unique vibe to the month. He never had to report, but he did have to check often. We didn’t make any out of town plans, due to jury duty, so our days were spent locally. We often hosted company at our house or met up with friends at parks. We also had some extra time with family this month while Jeremy’s aunt visited from out of state. Our big outing was a trip to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. It was a cool and cloudy morning which made for great animal viewing. The red wolves are our favorites! Our library summer reading program provided tickets for both kids and adults this year. What a treat!
True to life, not all summer moments are fun and games. The boys had their first dental work this month (beside their biannual cleanings). Graham had a tiny cavity that needed a small filling. No numbing was necessary and the entire appointment took about 20 minutes. Easy peasy! Owen had two baby teeth that were getting in the way. Despite a month of wiggling, they didn’t come loose so the dentist had to assist. This was Owen’s first time getting numb at the dentist. He was nervous, but handled it like a champ. A few days after the dental work, Graham had his first consultation with the orthodontist. It looks like a palette expander and braces are in his future! Oh goody! I’m glad those appointments are behind us. We can give thoughts about teeth a short break.
August comes with it’s own set of adventures! On Sundays, our church runs our Vacation Bible Adventure program for the month. We kicked off True North VBA this Sunday. Week one was a hit! Our kids love VBA! Jeremy and his team do a great job of decorating and making the theme come to life each year. We can’t wait to for the next four Sundays!
An annual August tradition is summer camp. Jeremy co-directs two camps for our Assemblies of God network. The first camp started yesterday so the boys and I are on our own for a few days. We taught the kids Boggle on Saturday before Jeremy left for camp and they loved it! We played again yesterday and another game has been requested for today. I picked up a few Dominos pizzas yesterday as a treat and we’ll live off the leftovers for a few days. My meal planning skills are strong when I’m the only adult in the house. Haha! Graham baked himself cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning. Our days are filled with games, books, baking, playing outside, and yes, some screen time, too. I try to keep the boys and myself busy while Jeremy is away. We sure do miss him!
I’ve been using the quieter days to work on some projects. My biggest project has been back-to-school planning. I have our first homeschool semester all planned and written down in my official planner. I even have first-day-of-school signs ready to go. It feels good to have the fall prepped. It will allow me to truly savor this final month of summer. We are starting a new state history curriculum this year and I need to pick up to two binders for it. Then I’ll be officially, officially ready for school to start! We usually start school the last week of August, but we’re waiting until after Labor Day this year. It feels nice to know we the full month of August to enjoy the last days of summer break. We making the most of our summer days before they disappear!
Red wolves at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Puffins!
Playful sea otter!
Sharks!
Lunch out with family! The boys love cousin time.
So grateful for lots of time with Aunt Sandy!
The current summer obsession
True North VBA
True North VBA
Living off of pizza while Jeremy is away
So excited for the fall!
My cinnamon kid! Have to pass along the skills to pop a Pillsbury can on to the next generation!
June has held a variety of activities for our family. We certainly haven’t had a quiet start to our summer vacation, but it’s been good, fun, and productive. We’ve been busy, which isn’t my favorite speed, but I’m hopeful that some slower summer days might be around the corner for us… I need to go back to putting a non-negotiable “X” on at least one of the week. Turns out God had the right idea when he created the Sabbath. My body, mind, and soul crave a day off after a period of “go, go, go!” I could wax poetic about the intentionally slow life, but let’s move on to the assortment of experiences we’ve had recently.
The backyard pool is up and running! Or swimming… Anyway, the warm weather last week super heated the pool and made for some delightful June swims. It’s been a bit of a project to re-inflate all the pool toys and to sort out which ones had leaks. We replaced a couple floaties and got the kiddos new googles. We are ready for the summer swim season! We’ve already had one pool playdate with friends. We also had our first park play date with friends and we have another on the books for next week. Pools, parks, and pals are a great way to spend our summer days!
Our family project has been moving Jeremy into a new office at work. We have new staff members joining our church team at the end of June/beginning of July. In order to make space for their arrival, a new office hub was built and Jeremy relocated to this space. We’ve been working in phases to make this transition happen. It’s been quite the project!
First, we spent an afternoon sorting his old office. We decided what would move to his new office, what needed to find a new home in the church, and what needed to be donated. Let’s just say a children’s pastor can collect some wacky stuff over 20 years of ministry! The second phase was moving the remaining items from Jeremy’s old office into his new office. After that, we did a shopping day to gather new organization and décor items for his new space.
Just yesterday, we put the organizational items into place and started arranging all his things. Today, he got a loveseat for additional seating. The final phase will be getting wall art up. It hasn’t been a speedy process, but it’s nice to see it all slowly coming together. Interior design isn’t my strongest skill, but I love organization and making things tidy. It’s been fun to work together on this project as a family. The boys have even lent a hand. It’s been a team effort!
Father’s Day was in the June mix. We celebrated a different dad each day. Friday was Jeremy’s day. He opted to head to Portland for an office shopping day. We treated Jeremy’s to Chick-Fil-A and Salt & Straw while we were in the big city. Saturday, we had pizza and cake with my parents and sister. We celebrated both my mom’s birthday and Father’s Day. Sunday, we had bomb pops after church as a way to honor all the “pops” in our congregation. We did a fun bomb pop themed craft with the kids and had a bomb pop photo op in our lobby. It was a super “sweet” way to celebrate! We had dinner at Nana and Papa’s house with family to celebrate another birthday and Father’s Day. So many festivities!
Add in an orthodontist check-in for Owen, dental cleanings for both boys, sorting/pricing items for an upcoming family garage sale… June has felt a bit like a jumble! Friends, family, celebrations, changes, projects, appointments on top of the everyday stuff like chores and summer school. It’s been a lot! We are tackling our to-do list while making time for family and friends. Now to just balance a little more rest into the mix. We’ll get there!
First official swim of the season!
My ideal way to spend a summer afternoon!
It’s been a few years since I updated my profile picture. Plus, I needed a new photo for an event this fall, so this is what I came up with. Natural Amy – curly hair, sweatshirt, books. That’s as authentic as it gets!
Jeremy’s new office as a blank slate
Jeremy’s old office in the sorting process
Taco Bell lunch with the Birthday Girl!
Salt & Straw
You’re the bomb, Pop!
True love is resurrecting all the floaties and finding the sinkies before a pool playdate.
Officially moved in to his new space! Jeremy still has more to do, but it’s a workable office.
Officially moved out! Kind of sad, but we are excited for a new team member to settle in here. It’s a good space!
P.S. Stephanie from Stephanie’s Ninth Suitcase tagged me in a fun summer blog tag. I had hoped to participate this week, but I’m running low on time. In case I don’t get to it, I wanted to highlight her post here. It’s such a fun idea and I’m honored that she thought of me. Thanks, Stephanie!
The last two weeks have been a break from the our usual routine. We’re coming off of back-to-back travels which led to an extra long “spring break” in our school calendar. I love that homeschooling gives us the flexibility to travel during the school year (yay for avoiding crowds). Our first adventure was a work trip for Jeremy and I while the boys stayed with Nana and Papa. The second trip was a family vacation which was packed with educational experiences. I can list it a field trip in our school records. I love experiential, hands-on learning. The great outdoors and the real world make a wonderful classroom! It’s also a nice break from learning at the dining room table.
The work trip was a conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Every spring we attend Network Conference with the Northwest Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God. Our church pastoral team and spouses come together to enjoy this conference together. It’s full of good conversations, many laughs, and lots of food. I love the time away with Jeremy. We talk a lot about ministry due to the nature of the conference, but we also talk a lot of life, parenting, goals, and dreams. It’s a great getaway for us. The boys always have a blast with Nana and Papa. It’s so nice to know they are good hands and having a great time.
Our family vacation was a trip to Redwoods National and State Parks surrounding Crescent City, California. We used Crescent City as our jumping off point to explore both Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. We also spent a decent amount of time at the California coast exploring tide pools and bird watching. We took a tour of Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City. We did Tour Thru Tree and Trees of Mystery in Klamath. Tour Thru Tree is a big tree you can drive through. It’s a quick stop, but a big hit for the kids. Trees of Mystery was a first time experience for us. The Canopy Trail, which was a series of high ropes suspension bridges, and the Sky Trail, a gondola ride, were the highlights of our visit and worth the admission cost. We definitely tested our comfort zones when it came to heights. Overall, our boys loved the majesty of the redwoods. They felt so much wonder as we wandered the forest. The redwoods are a beautiful example of creation declaring the glory of God. Jeremy did a wonderful job researching which trees to see. He made it feel like a scavenger hunt adventure!
The second half of our vacation was driving up Highway 101 along the Oregon Coast. We stopped at West Coast Game Park Safari for a truly unique experience. The park itself is small, but has a large selection of exotic animals. The big cats were a family favorite, but it was also neat to feed the free roaming goats, sheep, deer, donkey, and peacocks. The highlight of the trip was getting to pet Lyla the lynx. It’s not everyday you get to pet a lynx! We also stopped at the Sea Lion Caves before making it to our destination of Newport, Oregon for the night. On our final travel day, we visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area. We saw so many seals and even some pups with mamas. There was more birding and tide pool exploration. We’ve investigated this spot numerous times and it has yet to disappoint. We also made a stop at the Tillamook Creamery. Yes, we were there a month ago, but we couldn’t pass up cheese and ice cream for brunch! Our final adventure was a walk in Cannon Beach to look for puffins nesting on Haystack Rock. The puffins were sighted and we ended our vacation happily exhausted!
Now we’re home and back to the real world. We enjoyed celebrating Mother’s Day with family yesterday and we got back to school (around the dining room) today. We are in the final weeks of our school year. The end is in sight! Hooray! We also have a couple more homeschool co-op commitments this month and we are starting a month of homeschool soccer tomorrow. Lots of a good stuff going on. We are happy to be home!
We enjoy watching travel videos before we visit a new place. Jeremy and the boys thought it would be fun to make one of our adventure to Redwood National and State Parks. Hike along with us and explore some big trees with our family!
Enjoying time away with Jeremy in CDA. Love visiting this area each spring!
We spent so much time at the beach while visiting Crescent City.
Tree huggers! Howland Hill Road in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
Searching for all the big trees! Here is Screaming Titan in Grove of Titans.
The Wonder of Creation. Boy Scout Trail in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
Family bonding through hiking!
Junior Rangers for yet another National Park!
Battery Point Lighthouse
Taking advantage of the city pool since our hotel pool was gross.
Sir Isaac Newton (the name of the tree) in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. It’s hard to tell with the lighting, but the base of this tree fills up the end picture.
The bonus of being a homeschool family is we have lots of flexibility with our calendar. We don’t take a traditional week long “spring break” like most schools. Before you feel too sorry for my kiddos, we do take breaks throughout the spring season. It’s fun to add some extra adventures in alongside our normal schooling schedule.
The first mini-break we took was for Jeremy’s birthday. He took the day off of work so we could celebrate the day with him as a family. Our adventure day found us down south in Oregon. Our morning was spent at the Woodburn Premium Outlets shopping for a few clothing items. Shopping can be an educational experience if you make it so. We talked with the kids about what makes factory outlets cheaper than other shopping options. We also talked about the math involved with sales and discounts. I love highlighting these economic elements while our kiddos tagalong on errands. After a tasty lunch at Red Robin (where Graham ate his weight in bottomless fries), we took off for Bullwinkle’s Family Fun Center for a round of mini-golf (which the birthday boy was the winner). We took a drive to admire Willamette Falls, Multnomah Falls, and Horsetail Falls. The weather was in the 80’s and beautifully sunny. It felt like a summer day, not spring! We couldn’t have asked for a better day to celebrate Jeremy!
Our second spring break was with the whole Scott family. All 16 of us Scotts met up at the beach for a vacation together. The house was the perfect size for our large family. The boys loved the game room and the media room. The house was also right on the beach! The view was stunning and you can’t beat a minute walk to the ocean! Family games, beach adventures, and chilling around the house were all highlights of our time together. Again, the weather was beautiful for this adventure – dry and sunny! You couldn’t have asked for better beach weather at the beginning April! Our family came down through Tillamook so we could stop at our favorite place – the Tillamook Creamery! It was a great way to kick-off our vacation time. We also stopped at another favorite, Pig’N Pancake, on the way home. The boys are definitely going through cousin withdrawals now that we’re home. We are so blessed for the genuine friendships with our family. We packed this beach vacation with family memories that our kiddos will take into adulthood. I can’t what to hear what they remember of these wacky and wonderful times we spent together!
We have more spring “breaks” planned in the coming month! Yay! I look forward to sharing these adventures with you soon.
Birthday celebration #1
Just a boy and his bottomless fries!
Birthday Mini-Golf
Cooling down after mini-golf
Multnomah Falls
Happy Birthday, Jeremy!
Storm watching with the drone
Birthday Celebration #3
Church Spring Work Party
Church Spring Work Party
Tillamook Creamery
Tillamook Creamery
Tillamook Creamery
The Scotts invade the beach
Have books, will travel
Making friends
Go Owen!
Telescope Time
Arcade Fun
Beach Exploring
The Scott Family
Tide Pools
Date Night
What happens when the parents go out for dinner… Papa and Nana said they could handle all the kids… that seems debatable!
The title of this blog is two-fold. First, it’s been super chilly here in the PNW. Ice, snow, winter weather and what not. Second, we’ve been fairly low-key due to a flu/cold bug that kept the boys down for almost a week. Snow is fun, sickness is not. The highs and lows of life this winter. Here are a few highlights before sickness grounded us…
Our family took a walk around Carlisle Lake on a sunny Sunday afternoon after church. Jeremy had heard reports that part of the lake was frozen and that river otters had been spotted in the lake. The boys found the frozen lake a novelty. They tried to break the ice by throwing rocks. One very shaded part of the lake had thick enough ice that they would stand on the frozen lake. It was a very exciting experience for them. On the sunny, unfrozen side of the lake, we encountered four river otters. They were so neat! We had a blast watching them in their natural habitat and not a zoo enclosure. It was a chilly walk, but the sunny, fresh air and the exercise along with the ice and otters made for a fun adventure!
The kids enjoyed learning about natural disasters at co-op. They made houses out of dough and toothpicks to see how their structure held up to an earthquake. They loved this project! They also learned about wild fires and volcanoes. Owen loved sharing his volcano experiences with the teacher. We’ve enjoyed visiting Mt. St. Helen’s and the volcanic areas around Bend, OR. He had lots to contribute to the conversation. It’s been dry on co-op Tuesdays and as a result there has been plenty of time to play on the playground before and after class with friends.
We had a lot of time around the house while the boys were down with the flu/cold bug. The weather kept us entertained with lots of snow flurries each day. The ground was white occasionally, but it was never much snow. I have a thing about the grass being completely covered and we never reached my ideal mark. Oh well. I’m not sure the boys would have had the energy for an actual snow day, so the snow flurries were perfect to watch from couch without them feeling like they were missing out on fun.
We watched church online a week ago so the kiddos could see themselves in the Genesis recap video. They did so well! Thankfully, we made it to church yesterday so the boys could watch Jeremy (and I) be honored for 20 years as children’s pastor at Bethel Church! We are so proud of Jeremy and his faithfulness to the Lord and the families in our church. On our very first date, Jeremy shared with me how he had accepted the position of children’s pastor. While we haven’t been married those entire 20 years, I’ve definitely been along for the ride the entire time. There is no one else I would want to do life and ministry with! Jeremy is the best!!!
The boys are feeling better now and we are thankful to be back in the real world. We have a fun week ahead with a field trip, a holiday, and plans with friends and family. Back to the fun stuff! Yay! We are doing our best to stay warm during the continued chilly weather and praying that the only time we need to “chill” at home is to balance all the fun we’re having (not because of illness). We’ll see how the rest of February pans out!
Icy adventures at Carlisle Lake
Otter Buddies
Building a house to see how it holds up to an Earthquake
Their house made it to about 8 on the Richter scale
Watching the boys recap the seven days of creation for the adults at church. Such a fun opportunity!
Beautiful flowers as a thank you from our church! They sure brightened up all the extra time at home with their cheerfulness.
Amy Scott's Thoughts 