but it just doesn't guarantee it will be a good hike.
This was the last smile we got out of this one. Right after taking this picture, he slid down the rock to get back down and got a friction burn on both arms. I'd forgotten to repack the first aid kit, so had nothing to put on it, didn't have food that he wanted for lunch, and we were about 3 miles from our car. He was hot and tired and there was no turning back from all of that.
So what started out as a fun adventure ended in us splitting up--Daddy-o ran back to the car while we hiked a mile farther to get to a road where he could pick us up. None of us were enjoying the day at that point and it was almost enough to make me wish we hadn't even tried.But we hadn't hiked hardly at all this summer and I keep going because some days ARE magical. Some hikes we're all pretty happy, and the views are incredible, and we have fun conversations. Sometimes an adventure goes down as a family memory that we'll hold on to forever.
I don't want to miss those incredible hikes because we're trying to avoid ever having a rough one, so we'll keep trying and pushing through the hard times because the next one just might be a legendary adventure.
I didn't take a lot of pictures this week, but the few moments I captured sum up our week pretty well.
We had a couple days of doggie visits. I only have one semi-regular client these days, but we love her pups (and cat) and look forward to the days she needs us to drop in and play with them.
Peanut has a new desk setup in the family room that we're both excited about. Hoping it gets some use this year, or, at the very least, gives us a place to put projects we're in the middle of.
Water Polo had their first scrimmage. It was an hour away, went way late, and we drove a few of the boys, so we didn't get home until after 9 and I'm already feeling how crazy this is going to make our lives for the next 2 months.
But it was fun to watch Bug play. The team isn't good overall, and they are working with barely a coach (more of a warm body than actual coach), so there isn't a lot of hope for a good season, but Bug enjoys the other boys and he is still trying his hardest to keep improving, so as an individual player, we're looking forward to seeing what he can do this year.
Peanut spent most of his "school" time this week working on the dreaded work samples we have to turn in to our charter each fall. He hates them, I hate them even more, but it's a pretty small requirement in exchange for school funds, so we do them.
However, he spent most of his time doing this. He's been flying through The Sisters Grimm series, and it's fueled a serious interest in fairytales and their history. I need to find him a few books that go over the original fairytales because he keeps encountering characters that he doesn't know much about.
I got a dinner date with Daddy-o to celebrate the fact that we survived this first week. I'm not going to lie, it was rough. Not pictured were the calls from Bean as she's trying to navigate her first week of college and roommates who think it's okay to party and vape in their room, the crying over work samples and assignments from the homeschool contingent, the late nights Bug is already putting in trying to keep up with the workload of AP Bio and IB Histories of the Americas along with his other two classes, and me trying to work because I did not get to much of the science planning I thought I would over the summer. School is back in session with a vengence!
While one kid started his junior year and all the craziness that is going to entail (two IB classes, one AP, year-round sports, seminary, practicing for his driving test, church service and activities--he's a busy boy!),
the other one spent 5 hours in the pool getting his PE requirements for the week taken care of ;)
The first day of school for our district always falls on a Tuesday, which happens to be our homeschool Park Day, so this year, we decided to have a pool party just because we can.
The kids all had so much fun. I couldn't believe how long most of them stayed in the water. It was the perfect way to celebrate the flexibility of homeschooling.
And just like that, we're jumping into another year! This summer has felt like both the longest and fastest summer we've had in a long time. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that it's over, but ready or not, we're back at it.
I didn't get very good before pictures (these are more like halfway-through pictures),
but we spent the last day of summer break moving Peanut into Bean's old room and shuffling everything around.
His new Harry Potter themed room is ready to go!
We were able to move all of his Lego into his bedroom which is going to be fabulous--both for his being able to set things up and play with them and leave them set up without disturbances, and for our family room to no longer look like the disaster it has been. Those black cubbies are pretty much full of Lego creations, as well as being displayed on just about every horizontal surface in the room.
He did keep up Bean's California map and pictures in the corner--he thought it would make her feel a little more at home when she comes back for vacations. Such a sweet brother.
Bug's room still needs a little work, but he's happy to have a little more space now and was able to take the rest of the Legos into his room. Now to clear off enough shelf space to display them. . .
Before we had to say goodbye to San Diego, we wanted to squeeze in a few more things. We went for a walk on Mission Beach
and then back along the bay. Weird to think that it's just these two boys now (and so fun to catch this moment--I have no idea what prompted this because they were far enough in front of us that we couldn't hear their conversation, but it was sweet.)
Then, we drove over to Coronado for some dinner and walked around the Hotel Del for a little bit.
It's such a beautiful property.
Having a reason to get back down here more often is going to be great. We are definitely fans of San Diego.
Can't believe the day has come, but this girl is off to college. First goodbyes were to the animals (well, I guess she'd also had to say goodbye to her friends throughout the last week or so.) She got one last "baby" snuggle with Poppy--Poppy is going to miss this because for whatever reason, she loves when Bean holds her like this and is never quite so relaxed with anyone else.
As much stuff as it seemed like she was packing up, there was plenty of room in the car for her things and for our bags for the weekend. We made the drive down to San Diego on Thursday so she'd be ready for her move-in time the next afternoon at the Chapultepec dorms.
We went for lunch in Old Town before we dropped went to campus.
They only allow 2 people to help each student move in, so they boys stayed in Old Town to do some sightseeing--they went to the Mormon Battalion,
and had a great time exploring some of the history of San Diego.
They even got some sarsaparilla from the General Store.
And while they were off exploring, we got this girl set up in her new home for the school year. Just about all of the rooms were turned into triples this year, which means it's a tight fit, but Bean was happy that her roommates wanted to share the bunk bed and offered her the loft. It means she gets this little part of the room all to herself.
It's not much--her bed up top,
and her desk and wardrobe below.
There's not a lot of space, but hopefully they'll be able to get along well enough to make it work. We keep reminding her that she doesn't have to be best friends with her roommates, just get along with them in a civil, respectful way. And that may be all she can hope for--she doesn't have anything in common with them and we're not sure how the school matching system read their questionnaires and decided that this would be a good match, but at least with the move in, they were friendly and have already gone a couple places together--to buy for storage for their dorm and to dinner at her more local roommates' house. She's not planning on joining them at the nightly frat parties or for the sorority rushing that happens in a week or two, but we'll cross our fingers that they can respect their different lifestyle choices and not get in each others' way too much.
We didn't have to say a real goodbye until Saturday but it was still a little weird driving away from her Friday night. We ended up picking up the boys from Old Town and coming back to her dorm because her roommates both went off with family members. So we walked around campus and then got sandwiches from the cafe by her dorm before we left her for the evening.
Then we were back the next afternoon for the Convocation ceremony where they introduced a few of the department deans and basically had a graduation type ceremony, but for the beginning. It was a nice ceremony--not quite the must-do it was made out to be, but still nice.
Our college girl.
And then, it was time to say goodbye for real.
This girl is going to be really missed.
These two have had a really good summer with lots of late movies, working together, water polo--I think Bug may feel her leaving more than any of us. But we're ready to see how this next stretch goes!
I realized that our zoo pass was expiring soon and we hadn't been all summer. Luckily, Bug had his last day of work and was ready for a little summer fun, so we planned a morning to go before high school starts back up.
We got lucky and found the wolves--I think the trick is definitely to head straight there after the zoo opens. This is the second morning visit where we've seen them.
I need to find all the pictures I've taken of Peanut over the last few years in this spot and see how much he's grown--I'm sure it's a lot!
Seeing the wolves was exciting enough, but then the bears were playing in the water, too! We watched them for a long time and they were so fun. One was dragging stick around and then collected a plastic float as well, while the other two kept wrestling and chewing on each other. Best day up in the California Trail we've had!
We'll miss the zoo pass, but our fall is shaping up to be packed so I think we'll be taking a break for a few months until it looks like we can go more often. I'm glad that my boys still love the zoo.
We have not had the beach days this summer that we've done the past couple years. Covid was so nice in that we got lots and lots of beach days with friends, but as life has picked back up, it's just gotten so much harder to make these things happen.
So I was really glad when at least the boys and I were able to meet up with a couple families for a few hours.
Bug has been working so much this summer that he hasn't had much time for fun.
But he spent the whole time digging a pretty awesome moat.
The older boys at work,
while Peanut was lost in imaginative games with his friends.
Beautiful day all around. I just wish we weren't all so busy!
