Quote #18.

Okay, I think I'm finally somewhat coherent: 

There is more to life than increasing its speed. –Mahatma Ghandi

Ghandi was on to something here. I went running this morning. I’m still very definitely a beginner. ;) Using the Couch to 5K program, I’m still in the walking and then running sort of stage. And, I have to be honest. I’ve had my moments. Moments where I ask myself why in the world I’m doing this and moments where I get frustrated that I can’t do more, can’t go faster. It would be easy to get caught up and get down on myself for not having better times…to allow that to keep me from moving forward. But. As Ghandi said, there’s more to life, right? It’s taken a wee bit of talking to myself and reading inspiring stories and such; but, for me, right now, running isn’t about how fast I can go. For me, the most important thing is that I’m doing it and have reached a point where I know that this is just a stage along the way. Running is becoming a habit and I’m on the way to a healthier lifestyle. That’s what matters.

Obviously, too, you could take this same quote and apply it to a broader view of life. For instance, whilst my boys are determined to hurry and grow up, I keep reminding them (and myself) that they should enjoy the moment. Faster/older will come in time. We’ll appreciate it more if we experience the journey to get there.

Backlog.

I'm a little behind here. Sorry. Let me try to catch up...

So. We had a lovely, uneventful Easter. Spent it mostly at home enjoying each other's company (and watching the crazy Colorado weather that had me doing my morning run amid light snow, though I did see an actual little Easter bunny on my route, and then squinting into the sunshine by afternoon). The boys decided they didn't need/want to dye eggs this year, which was a welcome break. Instead, we still hard boiled eggs and used them for some egg and spoon races in the front yard. Course, being who they are, they couldn't leave it at just eggs and spoons. No. By the end of the races, we had boys balancing eggs on spoons while dribbling a soccer ball and shooting it through a hula hoop...

 
Such talented boys I have. ;)

The next day, during Options, Asher's science class had a mini science fair. He dressed up as a black hawk and stood in front of his biome and told people about the black hawk and where it lives.

 
He wasn't thrilled about the whole thing (mainly because it meant that he missed his recess time during lunch) but did a fantastic job.  

Later that same day, all three boys started a session of swim lessons. Normally, I only do swim lessons in the summer, but...for various reasons...opted to start a session sooner this year. So far, so good. The boys go twice a week, which will make for a busier next few weeks, but I just keep reminding myself that swim lessons have all three boys at the same time in the same place and, thus, is preferable to three separate soccer practices and three separate soccer games. Plus, this session is four weeks. Soccer seasons are more than 8. Whew. :)

Let's see. What else? Ah. Last week, in archery, the boys started learning how to score target shooting. They were so delighted and it provided an impromptu opportunity for a mini lesson on modes and means. Yes, I'm sneaky like that and had all three of them figuring out both, along with their averages, right after the session while they were still all hyped up. (For the record, the scoring involved ten rounds ("ends") of three arrows each, so it was a decent set to work with for the math involved.)

In other boy-related stuff...I'm very open to any suggestions on things to do during "stuff." As in...things to do that might potentially/preferably be productive...things to do while boys are in karate (45 minutes twice a week) and archery (1 hour each week) and swim lessons (30-45 minutes twice a week). Right now, Noah and I have been walking during karate, so that's good. I generally chat during archery...which is actually nice. But during swim lessons, I feel like I'm just sitting there wasting time. :) When it was soccer practices, there was generally so much overlap that I was usually dropping one off and then driving one somewhere else and then back to get one and then off to drop off another...you get the picture. So there wasn't as much "down" time.

For the record, yes, I often end up reading. I read pretty fast and a lot, though, and sometimes I'm just out of stuff to read right then. And, no, I don't know how to knit. I've seriously contemplated learning but can't figure out what I'd need to knit if I did. The pool isn't the best place to take a laptop, so doing some digital scrapbooking isn't really an option. I'm thinking I may just start walking during swim lessons, too. As I said, though...very open to ideas. Can never have too many, right? (Particularly if you consider that I probably won't want to walk in the middle of a thunderstorm and will likely need alternatives for winter, lol.)

That's all for now. I have blog entries in my head for my weekly quote and a couple other things, but they're just not coming together at the moment. Will work on that. :)  

Quote #17.

For this week:

I don’t know if the optimists or the pessimists are right. But the optimists are going to get something done. –Craig Venter

I am an optimist. Definitely. Sometimes, though, I get stalled in the allure of inactivity and doubt. At times like that, I need a quote like this…a kick in the behind…to get me going again. 

Spring break...of sorts.

So. As homeschoolers, we don't really take a spring break. With our three weeks on, one week off schedule, we generally get the breaks we need. But. Last year, on our way home from California, we were able to take the boys briefly into Arches National Park. We loved it and vowed to come back. Fast forward to this year.

We knew we wanted to go before public schools were out for the summer (and before the high temperatures of the summer, lol)...not while it was crowded with spring breakers...and when the ground wouldn't be covered still with snow (like last March when we stopped there). Between this, that and the other, last week/weekend turned out to be "it" for us. (I'll add here that we're also very thankful for the flexibility in Nathan's work schedule.)

We headed out on Thursday morning...amid the snow (click on any image to make it larger):

Yup, lovely Colorado April weather that stayed with us until we were over the Rockies. Much needed moisture but icky driving conditions. Sigh. (The semi trucks were being required to chain up over parts of I-70...which we thought was overkill but just goes to illustrate the conditions.)

After a bit of driving (altogether, drive time from Fort Collins to Moab is just under 7 hours) and a few stops, we made a detour to see the Colorado National Monument...which isn't actually a single monument but is a lovely park with fabulous views and landforms. Nathan and I had been there years ago and loved it. Here we are in the foreground of "Kissing Couple":

And here are the boys at a further viewpoint:

After our short visit, we continued on to Moab, ate dinner at the fabulous Moab Diner, checked into our hotel and got ready for the next day. (FYI, when we road trip, we tend to eat out of our cooler for everything except dinners.)

Friday morning, we headed first for Canyonlands National Park and started with the short hike to Mesa Arch. The view at the arch was spectacular...definitely more than we'd been expecting:

The weather, by the way, was completely perfect...warm enough to not need jackets but cool enough to not be hot. Anyhow, after Mesa Arch, we also hiked to Upheaval Dome, ate lunch and then stopped at the Grand View:

Seriously, folks, this was awesome! The natural wonders to be found in our national parks never ceases to astound. Along the way, the boys completed the Junior Ranger program for Canyonlands, earning themselves Jr. Ranger badges on our way out of the park. (They love these Jr. Ranger programs and I think they're fabulous! We've done a number of them...at Rocky Mountain NP, Yellowstone, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rushmore, Jewel Cave and probably others that I'm forgetting. Even if we skipped out on "school"...the boys learn plenty when we're at national parks and traveling in general.)

So. We then headed over to Arches (about 30 minutes drive?). Last time, we'd done the hike to Landscape Arch and knew that this time we wanted to tackle the Delicate Arch hike. It's 3 miles round trip and has 480 feet of elevation gain. It's listed in their "strenuous hikes" category and recommended for late afternoon (for the great lighting of the arch for photographs) or early morning (for cooler weather). Off we went...

(Note: Yes, it was listed as strenuous. Yes, we have a 5 year old with us. We're pretty good at prepared hiking, though. Nathan and Asher both wore camelbacks with water and Noah wore a hip-pack with two more water bottles. Nathan's pack was full also of snacks and a trash bag. I had the camera bag and mini first aid kit. We wore appropriate footwear (unlike the folks in flip flops that I did actually see). And, we've hiked enough to know that the boys could handle it.)

Anyhow, here's Micah heading up the last bit of the trail (yes, there were sections of rock ledge after plenty of slickrock):

And then we took our picture in front of Delicate Arch:

And then we hiked a little further and got someone to snap our photo actually under the arch:

 
And then we hiked back down...here's Nathan about half way down (??)...off in the distant right you can see the parking lot:

 
After another delicious dinner (complete with ice cream) and some down time, we hit the hotel pool and hot tub and crashed for the night. Whew.

Saturday, we checked out and headed back into Arches to do the hikes to Double Arch and The Windows. Micah declared Double Arch to be his new favorite arch:

(Yeah, at this point, Noah was pretty much done with my taking pictures, lol.) After these last hikes, which was pretty much the end of Micah's tolerance, we hit the Visitor Center one last time to check out the exhibits again (the boys really liked Arches' Visitor Center for some reason) and turn in the boys' Jr. Ranger programs for Arches, collecting another badge. We ate a late lunch and got on the road toward home... 

On the way, we detoured again quickly to visit the Colorado National Monument Visitor Center (it had been closed when we came through the first time). We had to take some pictures by the Balanced Rock:

...and then we continued home...getting in late Saturday so we could have Sunday to unpack, do laundry and such before getting back into the swing of things Monday. Fun times. ;) 

Quote #16.

Sorry. Was busy catching up from being out of town last week. Here's this week's quote:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. –Mark Twain

I love that as homeschoolers we can pursue random adventure…at least some of the time. One of the biggest advantages of homeschooling is the flexibility of schedule. I’ve had a number of people lament to me over the years about how they wouldn’t have the time to homeschool. For me, though, homeschooling means we have so much more time…and we have so much more control over how we spend that time.

Case in point. Last week, we took our own version of spring break. We ditched the books and lesson plans and headed out for a quick trip to Moab to do some hiking in Canyonlands and Arches. It was perfect. (More on that in a bit…)

My point, I suppose, is that…for all that I’m a compulsive listmaker and calendar follower…sometimes it’s far better to blow off the schedules and routines.