Halloween weekend

Avery woke us up at about 5 this morning...sick. Rhys had been sick the day before, but he'd made a miraculous comeback and was ready to play in his tournament today. He had a great day today and went 6 for 6 with several triples, batting left-handed. Thankfully Avery was well on Saturday (while Rhys was sick), and she spent the day at her first debate tournament and had a great time. But today was a different story.

We were planning to host our annual Halloween party, but of course we had to cancel. We had a very quiet Halloween. Avery started feeling worse towards the end of the day, and barely had the will to get dressed in her costume. She was a trooper though and got all dressed up for pictures and even walked with her brothers to a few houses. It didn't take too long before she was worn out, so she and I headed back home to pass out candy while the guys went on.

Avery dressed as the Red Queen from Alice with in Wonderland, Rhys was Colt McCoy, and Griffin was a vampire. This won't go down in history as our favorite Halloween, but the kids looked great and are happy with their loot!

Pflugerville Lake

We are finally beginning to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Temperatures are dropping into the 70s, and with help from the doctor, I've recovered enough from my seasonal allergies to step out of the house now.

Not wanting to waste these gorgeous days, a friend and I took a herd of little boys to Pflugerville Lake while the older kids practiced for an upcoming debate tournament.

Avery's costume recital

Avery, aka the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, performing Handel at the fall recital.

Pumpkin patch

The Lost Hero

Rick Riordan (of Percy Jackson fame) released a new book this month, which means, of course...a World Release Party at Bookpeople! The kids live for these events (see past release party pics here and here), but unfortunately, this year's book party came on a day that the boys had baseball games. A friend was kind enough to take Avery, so at least she didn't miss out. (Many thanks to Courtney of The Woodland School for the kid toting and the fabulous photography!)

The party had fun activities set up: javelin throwing, an armory show, and an amazing face painter. The author also read from the book and had a long Q&A, for which the kids managed to squeeze up on the edge of the stage! After the party (they decided to forgo the long line to get their books signed) they wandered over to Whole Foods for dinner on the rooftop patio.

Back to School

Well, we've been back to homeschooling in earnest for the past 7 weeks, which explains the lack of new blog posts. It didn't take us long to get back into the groove and things have been going very well.

Avery has a new "system" this year; instead of giving her a daily list, I've essentially given her a syllabus and deadlines for the amount of work I'd like her to complete each week. Then she is responsible for managing her own time. So far, it has gone very well. We've had a few wrinkles, but she's learning how to juggle it all, which is the whole point! Her course load includes: early modern history, pre-algebra, earth science, Latin, literature, grammar, geography, and art. She's also doing debate this year (not that she needs the encouragement!), book club, writing group, and she spends most of her free time studying music. In addition to playing the violin, she has also been teaching herself piano and has become surprisingly proficient!

Rhys's work load hasn't changed too much this year, but I am trying to have him do more writing. He has come a long way in OT and really has pretty nice handwriting! He tries very hard, and we're so proud of the strides he's made. I've also been really impressed with how well he's reading. He hasn't turned into the bookworm that his sister is, but he can read pretty much anything now. He has a goal of reading a novel a week and has been plugging away at it. His work load consists of: early modern history, math, earth science, reading, grammar, spelling, geography, and art. I also do read-alouds with both boys, and we always have fun with that.

Griffin is kindergarten-aged this year, but we're taking things very slowly. Besides working a little on the three R's, we're using Five in a Row. It's a unit study approach, using a different picture book as a spine each week and incorporating activities associated with the books. For instance, when we read Make Way for Ducklings, Griffin made a duck life cycle wheel, we watched duck videos on Youtube, he illustrated a duck poem by Ogden Nash, and we went to feed the ducks at the park. We have all been having a great time with it!

Here are a few pictures from our first seven weeks:

Griffin and Avery working on a project together:

Griffin making crepes to wrap up our study of Madeline and France.

Griffin's "Metro City" plan after reading Katy and the Big Snow.


Rhys's weather vane.


The Great Fire of London.


Griffin making an apple pie with Bill after reading How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.

GMRT: Winter Park, CO

The final stop on our Great Mountain Road Trip was Winter Park, CO. Now Winter Park is a well known ski resort, but while planning for this trip, we discovered that it's a fabulously fun summer destination too! They've set it up with lots of outdoor activities, and of course the scenery was amazing.


We had wristbands that allowed us to do all the activities as many times as we wanted. And with school back in session, we practically had the park to ourselves!

The first the we did was the maze, and we had so much fun we did it multiple times.


We also went back several times to the bungee trampoline (although once was enough for me).


The rock wall was pretty fun too...


...but, really, the alpine slide can't be topped.



You ride a ski lift to the top of a mountain and slide down on these luge-type things.

Griffin, of course, was the biggest daredevil of us all, and he smoked anyone who dared to race him.

Bill, another daredevil, might be the only one that had a different favorite activity. He spent the afternoon doing a private lesson learning how to downhill mountain bike. Apparently Bill was a natural, and his teacher kept taking him on higher and higher jumps. He got a little beaten up, but overall he thought it was awesome. I'm just glad I didn't see the spills!


All in all, a completely wonderful vacation. We can't wait to go back!

GMRT: Boulder and Denver

After our three nights at the national park, we were desperate for a shower. We were so desperate that we ended up at Dad's Laundromat and Showers in Estes Park and took the best $5 showers of our lives. Finally clean, we headed toward Denver.

On our way, we made a quick stop off in Boulder for a tour of the Celestial Seasonings tea factory. What a fabulous tour! We were able to see how the tea is made and packaged, and the mint room isn't something we'll soon forget.

After our little detour, we made it to Denver easily. We checked into our hotel (it's a little surreal to go from camping out in the mountains to a nice hotel in the middle of downtown Denver).


From our hotel, we walked the few blocks to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.


We saw the Rockies play the Phillies, and although we were baked in the sun for the first half of the game, we had a fun time. Well, some of us did...



...others of us were less enthused.

GMRT: Rocky Mountain National Park

We were able to make it to our site and set it up before dark, while the kids busied themselves with a rousing game of "pinecone baseball."


It got pretty chilly at night, but we were well prepared and managed pretty comfortably. In the morning, after hot chocolate and warming by the fire, we decided to spend the cool morning on a scenic car trip to the highest peak of the park. The drive up was beautiful...


...but I don't think we were prepared for just how cold it would be at the peak. Snow? In August?!


Although the mornings were cold, the afternoon weather was perfect. We spent the afternoons hiking, playing baseball at our campsite, reading, and enjoying the sunshine. It was such a wonderful, relaxing few days.