Now, it is time to relax

My "work" life has been hectic since the end of summer. Camp season went right in the the fundraising campaign, Harvest Festival and yesterday's Holiday Festival. While there is no shortage of work, I can relax a bit now.

Yesterday's event was a great success. We had clear skies, below freezing temps, and an over abundance of cheerful volunteers.

 

Happy turkey

Instead of traveling halfway across the country to be with family for only a few short days this thanksgiving, we spent it with friends. In another country! We went to Whistler, BC to ski and play with four other couples and assorted kiddos. We all had a blast. We feasted on Thursday; turkey with all the trimmings. A group of us went skiing on Friday and the rest of the time we explored the village, soaked on the hot tub, and played games.
The kids has a blast playing together and having a four night slumber party.

Building, one brick at a time

Through school, Odin has been involved in a lego engineering club. It is a part of the first lego league. Each year there is a theme and the students build a model that will be helpful to some aspect of the theme. This year the theme was natural disasters. Odin and another student worked together and decided to build a large fan on top of a bridge to blow away tsunamis.
 It has been so much fun for him to learn and build and play each week. A few weeks ago, the club went to the expo  (much like a science fair). There were also robots made by high school robotics teams to look at and a police bombot, a bomb diffusing robot.  It was a great event that got me (and Odin) excited about engineering and robotics.

John's Phone

We have recently upgraded technology at our house. John has a new windows phone and we recently got a new computer. All of this is great until you need to figure out how to make it all work together. We all have our own log-on on the computer and I do not have full access to the image files from John's phone. Lame excuses, I know, but that is the reason for delays in my postings.

 These first three are from our Labor Day camping trip on the coast.

I am pretty sure Odin is up there in the tree.

smores fail

 The new outdoor exhibit area at the Children's museum.

Scarecrows at the farm.

Big leaf maple leaf pile on an evening walk.

Freki as Dino Dog

Halloween Party!

Last weekend we went to a Halloween party at a friends house. Only the friends live about 80 miles away. So we took the RV and had a wonderful time.

It was a great weekend with loads of great company and fun for all. This was our second year going to the party and it was the hosts 18th annual Halloween party.

Happy Halloween!

For his 7th birthday, I made Odin a cloak.  Not even a week had passed before he announced that he was going to be a Jedi for Halloween. Last week, he wavered a little, when he saw his flying squirrel costume. Today however he was ready to be a Jedi. Anakin before he joined the dark side to be exact.
Judging by the amount of candy received his costume was as success!

 We went trick or treating with friends in a neighborhood that look like Halloween on TV. There were throngs of happy people, wild decorations, and much giggling and laughter.

I went dressed as the lizard king.

Harvest Festival

The farm held its harvest festival on Saturday. It was a blast. I was taking pictures the whole day, but John and Odin were able to run around and play.

That giant orb in the sky

The sun came out today for hours. From late morning until sunset it was beautifully clear, and the sun's warmth brightened much more than my mood. For the past week, it has been raining, and grey. We have had a few lovely sun breaks, but mostly, it's been a bit blah.

Today I was fortunate enough to spend most of the day in the sun. As I sit and write this, my cheeks feel flushed like I got a tinge too much delicious sunshine. I rode today in the late afternoon light.The long shadows were streaking through the trees and my horse's hooves crunched through the leaves. It was the kind of afternoon that reminds me that time is precious and we much choose how we want to spend it.

I so love the change of seasons. In each season there are days when I think, yes, this is my favorite time of year. There are parts of each that are my favorite. But mostly I like the newness of each, and the transition into the next.

October? Really!

The first month of school has positively flown by. The weather around here is making it feel like fall, and the calendar agrees, but I find myself still stuck in the end of summer (read :  vacation) mindset.
Today Odin had a one hour late start at school. The district does it the first Wednesday of each month. This morning as we were getting ready to go to school, I realized that I completely forget to make him lunch. I had a whole extra hour to do it and it still didn't happen! Instead of trying to whip something up lickety-split I just had him buy lunch today.

Tomorrow will be his first meeting at the after school lego robotics club. I am very excited for him, and he is beyond excited. The club is totally parent run and part of the First Lego League. Where basic robotics are paired with lego bricks. There was a parent meeting last week, and guess who is the assistant coach? It's Me! I will let you know how it goes.

Friday was a big day.

As you may know, I spend great deal of time at a wonderful nonprofit farm. I started there leasing a horse, then I volunteered at the summer camp, and this summer I was the summer camp director. About a week ago, the farm launched an online fundraising campaign to help raise funds to overcome an unexpected financial burden (you may have seen the link that I posted).  Friday afternoon the farm's director received a call form a news station wanting to do a story on us, in two hours! It was a crazy whirlwind evening trying to do what we could to get things ready for a tv crew, but by the time the van arrived we were ready. It aired Friday on the 10 and 11 pm news and also Saturday morning. link to King 5 news story (Be on the lookout for me right at the beginning!).

It has been such a rewarding experience for me to be involved with the farm. I have watched the farm grow so much in the last year and touch the lives of so many people. The farm's mission statement is to bring young people and animals together to build empathy, teach responsibility, and inspire hope. You know that I am not a born fundraiser, but this is something that I support all the way. I have donated countless hours of my time and also to the fundraising campaign. If you still have donation based money in your annual budget would you consider spreading the love? Every little bit helps, and I promise I will not ask again!

Here is the link to the farm's website
Nature Nurtures Farm

New pictures!!

 

Odin got this haircut yesterday.

And then about an hour later, this one.

My happy place, and it needs help!

New beginnings

About two weeks ago while I was working at camp I received a text from John stating that there was a spot for Odin in the Montessori school that we had applied to in the spring. We were to respond two days later. After the initial shock wore off, we realized that it was what we really wanted for him, and we took it. Today was his first day at his new school and I am hopeful that he will find it fulfilling, challenging, and engage his curiosity.

2nd grade, can you believe it?

Really its all of our achievement.

I have loads of other summer doings that I hope to put on here in the near future. . .

You get what you train for

When I was in Michigan a week or so ago I bought a new top for my triathlon. That night I was shamed into going for a run by a tag on the top. It read "Nobody gets lucky in a triathlon, you get what you train for". My training plan was not very dedicated or organised. I tried to fit it in where I could. In the end I did a fair job training.
Today was the race and I am very pleased with my result. My performance matched my training with one large exception. I did not train in changing bike tubes. I got a flat at the beginning of the bike portion and it took me a long time to change it. How long, I am not sure, because my watch battery died 5 minutes before my start time. Did I have a good race? Yes I did! I even met my personal goals despite my setbacks. And yes, I think I will consider doing another one.

Fun times

Today after work (or play) we all went to the county fair. It was opening day today so admission was only $1 and the rides were also a buck each. We did some rides first, then ate, checked out the dogs, rabbits, chickens,cows, horses, and then, back to the rides.

Want to hear one of the most exciting parts of our adventure tonight? We left Freki at home! All by himself, and he did great! This is so far the longest interval that we have left him. It was just about three hours, I am very pleased, and very happy that we have taken it so slowly and that he feels comfortable at home. He will likely still come to the farm with me for camps because he loves it and is loved on by many, but at least now I know he doesn't need to come EVERYWHERE with me.

Tri your best

Did I mention before, that in May I thought it would be a good idea to register for a sprint triathlon in August? Well, I did. And I was diligent about training, until about July. Once July hit, I lost some steam. Then lost more when John was out of town for work (a lot!).
Do I still plan to do it?
                                   Yes I do!

Are my expectations lowering?
                                                Yes they are!

I am mostly interested in finishing. I think if I do that I will be pleased. If nothing else, this has helped get me into better physical shape, and that is just fine.

Summer whirlwind

The first month of summer is already gone. EEK! Not that we haven't lived nearly every day to its fullest, but it has gone by so fast. There are six weeks left until school resumes for Odin, and he will be a 2nd grader.
My days have been filled working at the farm for summer camp. Officially I am the camp director in reality I lead games, manage volunteers, and teach campers about life, respect, responsibility, and we all have fun. Odin joins me most weeks with a few weeks for other camps that he was interested in.  In case you are wondering Freki joins us too. I am very fortunate that my job lets me bring so much chaos to work with me.

Last week this article came out in our local newspaper. I knew they were coming yet was caught off guard when they wanted to interview me. Our campers love the camps that we run and the response from parents has been wonderful too. It is so exciting to be a part of something so great.

Zarah has been doing great with the campers. She loves her job at camp!

New things

Today I did something new. I paid somebody to come to my house and watch Odin. In 7.5 years I have never done that before. Odin reminded me this morning that we used to do a childcare exchange with our neighbors in Minnesota. We would go out one evening as they watched Odin, and then we would watch their kiddos while they went out. It worked out great but no money changed hands. This time it was the real deal.
Want to know what I did today when I paid somebody $28 to watch Odin? I went and rode "my" horse.
John is out of town on business and it's my weekend too. I think all parties had a good time. I know I did!

After I came home this afternoon, Odin and I stopped by the fabric store. I wanted to buy some fabric to make a saddle bag. While we were in the store Odin noticed all of the fleece fabric and commented on how nice it would be to have a blanket made out of the cuddly fabric. So, on a whim, I decided that we would make him a new blanket. He picked a Star Wars theme for one side and brown with bear paw prints on the other side. I thought we would do one of those no sew tie fleece blankets. He wanted nothing to do with that. He wanted to sew. And sew we did. He ran the foot pedal as I feed fabric into the machine. It turned out great. He was so proud that he helped make his new blanket. I am very glad that he wanted to sew it. It looks so much nicer than those no sew ones! . . Pics hopefully tomorrow!

 Don't be fooled. He is only pretending to sleep because he doesn't want to be in the picture!

Last day of 1st grade

Odin's last day of first grade started like this:

After a few short hours of school we hit the road for the Lower Deschutes River where we spent three lovely days. What a great start to the summer!