First Day of School

If you're reading this blog, you probably know by now that we do school at home with our children. It's a hard job for Cindy, but we're convinced its worth it and the best option for our family right now. Lots of benefits, lots of flexibility (especially since I work from home), but sometimes it makes for some funny situations. Just last week Andrew and I went to a neighbor's house to see if Andrew's buddy could come out and play, but his mom reminded us that Nathan was still at school. Woops! We forgot that our public schools opened SO early and we were taking a more leisurely schedule until after Labor Day.

Anyway, today was finally OUR first day of school and the kids were great. When the kids are asking to start school you know it's time. Andrew is starting second grade this year and will still go to the Greenhouse (Classical, Christian school) on Wednesdays. Katie is starting kindergarten at home and is very eager. Josh is, well, very attention-hungry and a real challenge.

There are some things about homeschooling that are the same as public school and some things that are different, but something that's still special to us is taking pictures on the front porch.

Our Trip to Great America

In Andrew's words:

Last week dad and I went to Great America, an amusement park.



Our first ride was the merry-go-round.



Our second ride was the Hometown Fun Machine. It was really fun!



I liked spinning really fast on the Fun Machine.



Then we did the Whizzer, which is a small roller coaster. I was scared at first, but I liked it very much.

We did old fashioned race cars and had a lot of fun. I drove the car and dad sat and helped me a teeny bit.

Then I wanted to go on a roller coaster that went upside down.

When we were waiting in line we saw it go through two loops. It looked a little bit scary.

We also saw it go up and down a big hill. 

We had lunch at 3 o'clock and I sat in the trunk while I ate my sandwich.

We went on a water ride and it was fun. We got wet when we went on this ride.

We did bumper cars and had a fun time bumping everybody else. Dad pushed the pedal and I helped turn the wheel.

After that we had dinner at 9 o'clock. We shared a pizza dinner and a funnel cake for dessert.

This is us riding the Condor. It spins and goes up high in the air. I liked riding it at night with the lights. I also liked riding it in the day.

This was us leaving the park.

We had a good time and we got home at midnight. I fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Squeezing the Life out of Summer

Considering last summer was spent packing all of our belongings into our basement and ripping our house apart for our renovation project, this summer has been SO much more relaxing. Still busy and fast, but the pace has been a bit slower and we've enjoyed lots of special treats including frequent meals with friends, lots of trips to the pool, and many evenings (like tonight) at a local park. Just last week we had our annual pool party with Legacy, our adult Sunday school class from College Church. One of our families graciously opens their home (and pool) every August and we always have a nice evening swimming, grilling, and squeezing the last few drops out of summer.