Summer Highlights, In Photos

I've been a bad blogger again...I could tell you a whole lot about the summer, but instead I'll just give you some pics of the highlights!

At the Battle Creek Air Show--so cool!

Our first chicken...yum.

My birthday present:-)  Isn't it so pretty?

Some dune jumping at the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

Sleeping Bear Nat'l Lakeshore.  This place was voted "The Most Beautiful Place in America", and for good reason.  Who  would ever want salty sticky oceans over this has got to be out of their mind.

The kids preparing for our group photo on our annual family camping trip--quite a crew!  Hoffmaster State Park, right on Lake Michigan, is one of our favorites.

Ezra got to celebrate his 8th birthday at the campground!!

Our first GORGEOUS tomato from the garden...a Bonnie's Best weighing in at almost 1 pound!

The monarch caterpillar...we got to watch it make its chrysalis!  Still waiting on the butterfly!

Homeschool Convention Recap (and mishap...)

Alright, I'll give you the mishap first so this post can end on a good note later!  Friday afternoon we parked in the DESIGNATED parking lot for the Lansing Convention Center.  Paid the 5 bucks (twice, actually, because I had to leave to pick up Dan and come back) and parked right where the attendant told us to park. We come out at the end of the evening to find our section of parking lot roped off as the "Fireworks Fallout Zone" for the Lansing Lugnuts baseball game and all the vehicles GONE.  No towing company to call, no information about where our van is...nothing.  Thankfully a helpful cleanup crew gentleman at the stadium across the street remembered the name of the towing company so we could find our car.  Long story short, we couldn't get our van until the next morning and had to pay about $120 in towing fees and parking tickets.  Grrr.  But I'm not going to get hung up on it and complain.  You'll see why at the end of the post:)

I did get to enjoy one of the best meals I have had in a loonnnggg time on Friday evening during our dinner break.  Dan and I went right across the street from the Convention Center to a little hole-in-the-wall looking place called "The Knight Cap".  Basically we chose it because 1.  It was close  2.  It wasn't busy because it was obviously a bar and "good" homeschoolers don't frequent such places (watch for a post still coming up about what we thing about that!) and, 3.  They advertised as being the place for beefeaters, which we most definitely are.  Well...from the moment I walked in I knew we were blowing pretty much our whole date/dining out budget for about the next 8 months, but let me tell you, it was WORTH EVERY PENNY.  The service was amazing.  Our server sat down and talked to us casually for a few minutes, explained the menu, gave us his suggestions and favorites...and the atmosphere was so cozy and intimate!  And of course, the food.  I ordered one of their local seasonal specials, veal with Michigan morel mushroom sauce and sauteed fiddleheads.  Heavenly.  If you're ever in the Lansing area and want a really nice dinner experience, you simply must go there!

I could go on and on about all the ideas, good books, interesting people, etc. from our trip to the INCH Convention this weekend, but instead of boring you with all those details, I thought I would sum it up with three quotes I jotted down while listening to some excellent teachers.  I could say much, much more, but this will give you the "essence" of what I came away with from the conference (besides books and curricula, of course!)

First, a quote from speaker Michelle Miller in her presentation, Mom's Role in Raising Men: "If boys don't see an enemy, they will create one in themselves."  Wow.  Even with my oldest only being eight years old, I can totally see this.  My boys want a battle.  They need to conquer things.  And in our culture, it's not like the "enemy" is running at us with a battle axe in his hand wearing animal skins and a helmet with horns.  Our enemies today are usually invisible, or dressed in more innocent clothing.  Presenting history, science, language, math...everything we study together as part of a great battle for the minds and souls of every person on the planet could certainly go a long way in motivating my boys to learn, rather than sinking into self-indulgence or self-destruction.  OK, I'm getting a little heavy here...

Next, keynote speaker Voddie Baucham (which, for the record, is pronounced Voe-dee Baw-kum) said, "Every person who enters your home should be met by the aroma of Christ."  He spoke of being raised in a Buddhist home and how he could still smell the incense, hear his mother chanting and see the shrine on the wall.  His mother's worship left a permanent mark on all his senses.  Through purposeful traditions and intentional daily routines I can leave the same mark on my childrens' memories...cookies in the oven, fresh pine needles at Christmas, songs of praise filling the house...these things are more than "warm fuzzies" to me.  The sum total of all those sensory impressions can add up to a beautiful childhood that points to Christ in big and little ways every day; a comforting, welcoming place where relationships are safe, no matter what.  I know, because it's the same way I feel about my own home growing up!

Finally, a great line from Heidi St. John (check her out on facebook at "The Busy Homeschool Mom"): "Be amazed!  Everything is amazing but nobody is happy."  Oh, how sad, but true!  There are countless things in our little world--even our own backyard--to be amazed over and somehow we still manage to just find the things to gripe about.  It reminds me of one of my favorite little poems by Robert Louis Stevenson that I find myself repeating again and again:

"The world is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

Off to the INCH Convention!

This weekend is finally here...Dan and I get a weekend away all to ourselves!  Well, sort of.  We're going to the INCH Convention, Michigan's annual homeschool conference.  We've been to it a couple times before, but it's been a few years and I could use a little shot of excitement in my veins!  And it seemed like a good reason for the two of us to get away...Hard to believe that our "baby" Percival is big enough to go without me for a night though.  How the time does fly!  Only a month ago he was still waking up to nurse at night, and then all of a sudden, he just stopped.  A little sad for me...but not much:)


I'm eager to hear this year's keynote speaker, Voddie Baucham.  For one thing, I want to hear from his own mouth how you actually pronounce his name.  Voe-dee?  Vod-ee?  Bowcham?  Bawcham?  Never really quite sure...And while I probably don't agree with absolutely 100% of what he has to say, I really have enjoyed what I have heard from him before.  After all, his primary ministry is to restore Christian families to impact the world, which is pretty much what we're all about too:)


Finally, for anyone who is interested, here is my "shopping list" for the exhibit hall.  We'll find out after the conference if I'm able to stick to it:)

Latina Christiana I (elementary Latin)

Ludere Latine (Latin language games)

Memoria Press 2nd Grade Literature Guide

Saxon Math 54

Mystery of History Volume 2: Resurrection thru the Middle Ages

History Through the Ages Historical Figures Timeline set

Art ideas?

Preschool hands-on stuff

Kentucky Vacation Recap (with lots of pictures!)

Good beer, good friends, the Creation Museum, Mammoth Caves and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home made up the last few days of our Kentucky tour!  Yes, I know, many would consider a few of those items a contradiction...maybe one day I will write a nice, deep, theological post about why we believe it's biblical to enjoy a few brewskies now and then.  But that's another whole story, so for now you're just gonna have to wait.

Thursday afternoon we went on the Mammoth Passage Tour at the caves.  It wasn't as long as I would have liked, but Percival and Gawain were not about to put up with anything longer than an hour.  Friday we spent a good few hours at Lincoln's birthplace and his boyhood home nearby.  We weren't planning on being there that long, but it was well worth the visit.  From there we drove up to Cincinnati to visit some good high school friends and their adorable daughter.  Greg treated us to a fantastic evening at The Hofbrauhaus and we spent a fun night with them at their home.  Saturday we headed to the Creation Museum nearby.  We only had about half a day to take it in, which definitely was NOT enough time to really see it all.  The museum is great--everything is of very high quality.  I highly recommend it!  I'm hoping we can go back sometime and see it in more depth.  If you decide to go, try to plan on getting a 2-day pass or at least having a good full day.

OK, on to the fun part...some pics!

Gawain high-tailing out of Hidden River Cave.

Entrance to Hidden River Cave with our personal tour guide!

There she is, Athena with all her 8 lbs. of gold gilding...

Down the stairs into Mammoth Cave

View from a hiking trail "above ground" at Mammoth Cave N.P.

Monument at Lincoln's birthplace.  The house they *think* he was born in is inside.

Isaiah, Moses, and David at the Creation Museum.  I can't tell you how many times Gawain had to ask if all these guys were real.

Dan with the lizard guy.  Isn't he cute?  (My husband, that is?!)

Jaunt to the Parthenon, Nashville, TN

Sorry for the delay in updates here...had some technical difficulties uploading posts from a laptop in rural Kentucky!  Watch for some more posts coming soon covering the rest of our tour!

So Wednesday was my chance to exercise the inner geek in me and take the kids to The Parthenon in Nashville.  It's a life size replica of the "real" one over in Greece (of course!)  As we left Jellystone it was pouring rain and the kids were pretty grouchy about having to get in the car again.  The whole way there I was thinking to myself, "Why in the world am I doing this???  Why am I bothering to drive 100 extra miles for one building?"  Then we pulled into Centennial Park and the kids got their first glimpse of the Parthenon, and I knew why we "bothered".  They were in awe.  I had been there before and they looked at pictures online, but it didn't prepare them for just how cool this building is.  They eagerly raced out of the car and ran (still in the rain!) to check it out.  They counted the pillars (46 around the outside) and marveled at the huge stone steps and intricate carving.  Inside we took a quick look at the art museum in the basement, then headed to the main floor for the "main attraction"...the 45 foot statue of Athena.  The looks on their faces as we emerged from the elevator were enough to make my day!  And I was happy to see how much Lancelot (my oldest, age 8) remembered from our studies of the Greeks this year.  He read the information on the plaques and even knew quite a few things before he even looked at them.  The statue itself is painted with 8 lbs. of gold...we were all pretty impressed with that, and the main doors are solid bronze, weighing 7.5 tons each!  Believe it or not, I think The Parthenon has been their favorite stop yet (except maybe for "The Olde Gener'l Store" we went to this morning...think every KY stereotype all wrapped up in one glorious tourist shop!) 

The most important thing I wanted my kids to understand from this stop, though, was not just how impressive the building is, but what the Greeks built it for.  As beautiful and glorious as Athena may be, they know she is only made of rock and metal.  They know how sad it is that an entire culture would lavish so much time and so many resources on this "thing", and even build temples for it.  We are blessed to know and worship a Living God who does not dwell in statues or temples, but in our own hearts.  

"Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Aereopagus and said, 'Men of Athens!  I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and everything in it is the LORD of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  And He is not served by human hands, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else...'"  Acts 17:22-25