All of August

 It's about time for a blog post, because SO MUCH life has happened. It feels like that has been our whole summer- a lot of life! My mom recently commented on how busy we are and I reassured her winter was coming for us where there is nothing to do and we hibernate all season. The summer just happens to be when events are happening, when it's fun to be outside, when get-togethers are regular. And we don't want to miss any of it! So while it's busy, it's also all fun stuff. 

We finished out our July with a really quick trip to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana with some of our good friends. They recently got some kid kayaks and they already had canoes, so we made a fun adventure out of it! We spent the day canoeing and kayaking down the river and it was so much fun! Isla was a pro at kayaking and she definitely belongs on the water. Nobody tipped and we all had a great time.

Mapping out the route!

Isla and Huxley are the sweetest little buddies. They really have such a special friendship and care for one another. I'm glad she has such good friends in her life.

Then it was off to the cutest little hole in the wall restaurant and hotel for some night time swimming.

We were up and at 'em for a quick day 2. But first, breakfast.

Hiking was so fun! We did almost 4 miles through some rough terrain (Eleanor did it all herself too!). We picked a really magical trail that included ravines and mini waterfalls and it felt like we were in an enchanted land. It was hard to believe this was Indiana!

The best trooper of them all- baby Banx :)

We have continued with co-op this month, even though most families are not doing school throughout the summer. One week, we met at Weldon Springs to hike and find some flowers. We dissected them and learned all about classifying wildflowers. 

The following week, we met for fairytale day at the Food Forest Refuge, where the kids picked berries to incorporate into our snack, built pig houses to withstand the big bad wolf's powerful blow, and planted beans to grow for Jack. It was a sweet, peaceful day.

And our most recent co-op was at the Peoria Riverfront Museum where we got to play with all the toys through the decades. It was a lot of fun ! And for a bonus, we saw a great planetarium show.

The garden this year has been difficult. It was so cold for the first half of the summer, then really hot and wet for the second half, then some of the worst storms I've ever experienced. A lot of my veggies didn't stand a chance. However, I still think the garden is magical... weeds, stunted growth, bugs and all. And this year I was able to preserve some fresh sweet corn with our farmer friends. We spent a whole day shucking, blanching, cutting, and freezing corn. I think I can finally call myself an Illinoisan.

Squash bugs and their eggs have destroyed my pumpkins this year :(

We recently began a "soft start" to our school. I'm not ready to jump fully in when we have a big trip coming up at the end of August, so we're slowly easing in. I interviewed the kids about the upcoming year and what they want to learn, we have been learning about the Great Smoky Mountains (foreshadowing of said trip), and we've been trying to find a home-day rhythm again.  

Another end-of-summer-start-of-school event that I always host is the annual meeting for our co-op. This year was Americana themed with a big barbecue cookout and cherry pie. We gathered to talk about the year ahead, reflect on the past year, express our excitement and struggles as homeschoolers, and share our curriculum and family goals with one another. It was a great night and I think it's going to be a great year! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful group to do life with every single week.

My mother-in-law sewed these cute bags for me to gift to the moms with a little jar of homemade jelly. Every year we have a gardening theme to represent our year and this is the year of "preserving". We are preserving their childhood, our family time, our friendships with one another, and our children's education. So a little bag and jar of jelly was a perfect gift for that :) 

The kids had VBS at our church, which is always a fun time. This year, they didn't get home until 9:00 or later every night, so it was a long week of exhausted fun for us, but I'm so thankful we have found a home church that we love!

We had our very last State Farm Pool day with our good friends. It's hard to believe a whole summer of swimming has come to an end. The kids are all little fish this year and I'm proud of their swimming abilities.

My biggest summer accomplishment was cleaning out our school closet. I'm embarrassed at the state our closet was in, but my minimalist friend who is an expert organizer helped me find great solutions and storage options. Now I'm excited to find everything we need in the closet this school year.

(Before)

(After)

A sad part of our August has been my parents selling their Bloomington house. After almost 5 years, it was time for them to say goodbye to the sweetest little house near us. Michael made a trip to Michigan with all their things and we got to spend some extra time with Mimi and Bupa because the storms affected everything. It's been quite the whirlwind with the whole thing, but we're all sad about this change.

On a happier note, August always means a big celebration in our home. Ewan turned SIX this year. We had so many celebrations for him. The first one was with his cousin Easton, who is only a week older than him. The boys are so different in what they like and enjoy, but they are still the sweetest little friends. Easton's gifts were sport-related and Ewan's gifts were all about tinkering and building and imagining.

We swam, ordered pizza, and ended with a car show!

The next week, we celebrated Ewan with Mimi and Bupa. He requested bowling, golfing, and pizza. So we did just that. Mimi and Bupa are always good sports with the kids. Afterwards, we came back to our house for an icecream sundae bar with all the toppings per Ewan's request.

Then he was showered in presents from Great Grandma June and Mimi and Bupa.

Then we had a birthday celebration with Ewan's best little friend from co-op and his family because his birthday is only a couple days a part from Ewan. It worked out because their family had been without power and air conditioning due to storms, so we had a late night of celebrating in the air conditioning :)

And finally we got to the big day, Ewan's 6th birthday! We started with our traditional birthday donuts and presents. This year Ewan asked to keep his birthday a surprise so he could wake up like Christmas morning to a room full of presents :) His favorite gift was a REAL sword!

Ewan requested we go back to the duckpin bowling and order pizza for lunch. 

Ewan is our sweet, snuggly boy who loves tinkering, imagining, and exploring. He loves pretending to be a ninja or a soldier or a knight or a cowboy and he's always dressed up accordingly. He loves riding any and all vehicles and is still obsessed with trucks/race cars/tanks/anything that moves. I'm so proud of his sweet spirit and love for adventure and we're so glad to call him ours. SIX balloons for SIX years!

Our days are long and full. Summer is definitely our busy time. Here's all the in-between moments including good food, zoo class, pool days, donuts for breakfast, library visits, tea parties, and days at home!

And now we're anxiously awaiting our next trip... so, stay tuned...