Summer arrived and we hit the ground running. We have been busy, but in the best way possible. Our days have been full of homemade popsicles, morning swims at the pool, picnics under the tree, long slow evenings until dusk, fireside s'mores... and we have loved it all.
I know I say it every month, but I love our co-op group. We meet together every week for different activities. Each family is expected to run/facilitate an activity or event 1-2 times a semester (or 4-5 times if you're like me and just love that :)). The families in our group have such creative and fun ideas, as well as, great connections. It has been such a cool thing to design from the ground up.
This month we took a field trip to the Decatur Zoo, which is about an hour south of us. And then got to swim at a grandpa's house of one of the families in the group. It was such a fun day! And the kids enjoyed visiting a new zoo, learning about different animals, and spending time with their friends.
The next activity was family night! One of the sweet mamas and her husband hosted our whole, big gang at their house. We had a big cookout where the kids played and the parents talked. And the dads were invited to this one! It was so fun to meet everyone's husbands and get to know each other as a family. I love doing life with them.
(missing 7 kids from this, plus Ewan who refused to join the picture)
(missing 4 moms from this picture)
We were supposed to have a lesson on butterflies for our teaching week, but that fell through. So we agreed to go to State Farm Pool since enough of us are married to State Farmers and could get everybody in, but then it was oddly freezing that day. So we agreed to go to our favorite nature preserve. We ended up spending SIX AND A HALF hours there. The kids were so dirty, but I would argue more learning happened in that day then an entire week in school :)
Then the group headed to a local beach for the day, but we headed to a much bigger beach in Michigan ;) (read all about our Michigan trip here). So, we missed that co-op day. I love our group and the mamas in it.
Oh, I almost forgot! Isla and I both set out this year with some reading goals, so this is me staying accountable. Here is our reading update for May and June:
I finished Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It was a hefty book, but I started it because Michael and I love the show. I have to say, I prefer the show over the book, which is usually not the way that goes. I've decided not to continue in the series haha.
I found a quick fun read that I finished in a few days called Every Summer After by Carley Fortune and then oddly enough my book club chose the author's second book for our June read, Meet Me at the Lake.
I'm supposed to be finishing Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis with my best friend, but I'm having trouble picking that one up (sorry Crowder!). And now I'm reading Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne for my book club and it's quickly becoming one of my top favorite parenting books I've ever read! Stay tuned for that review.
Isla has finished ALL NINE Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder on audio and has started the entire series over again. She just loves it and I have to agree with her. They are very dreamy and nostalic books. We also read The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (same author as Charlotte's Web). It's a classic, but I can't say I loved it. We also started Pippi Longstocking and Isla declared she hated that book after a few chapters in, so we put it down. I love that she knows what she likes (and doesn't like). And that's the beauty of reading, you get to read what suits you! We also found a book called Zoey and Sassafras that has a whole series. We read the first one and will probably continue with that.
My kids love books and they love reading and they love the library. I'm so grateful for that. Giving them the gift of reading is like opening the doors to the world. We all turned in our summer reading logs at the library and picked up our little prizes (like a smoothie coupon and a free trip to the ice skating rink), but I would say the real prize is reading itself!
And that was a wrap on June. It flew by! We are already in July and our calendar is full to the brim. I actually have to schedule in "rest days" because otherwise they don't happen. And Lord knows we need them.
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