The Right Place at the Right Time

 On Saturday, we were headed home from the week at Boy's Camp when Daddy-o got a phone call from work. He tends to get a lot of calls from work, even though he has tried to help his employee understand the difference between an emergency and general business that can wait until Monday, but this time, it was an actual emergency. The chain on the gate at his outdoor lot had broken and a customer was stuck inside with the gate closed.

Daddy-o was able to give him a few instructions and between the employee and the customer, they were able to get the gate open, but the gate was now stuck open which meant we got to make a detour and 3 hours later, we were at the facility for Daddy-o to access the situation and decide what type of fix was needed. He ended up having to replace the whole chain, which took 4.5 hours in 101 degree heat and meant that we didn't get home until almost 10 p.m. 

This was following a long week of physical work and late nights and early mornings for both of us. We were exhausted and even the 4.5-hour drive home before we could take showers and collapse had felt daunting when we started the day. If only we had known how long it would really be. . .

Obviously, it would have been easiest if this hadn't happened at all. He has never had a chain break, and right now, as we're prepping for the busiest summer of our lives with a move, a house getting finished, and too many back-to-back camping trips, it feels like really bad timing. But as we were coming to grips with the serious detour our day was taking, we couldn't help recognizing how lucky we really were. This gate issue could have happened during the past week when Daddy-o would have had to try to figure out someone who could get out there to fix the gate quickly. It could have happened later that night, when we'd already made it home and a sleep-deprived Daddy-o would have tried to make the drive out there by himself, which could have been dangerous with how tired he was. Or it could have happened while we were traveling later this summer which would have been another massive challenge. When Daddy-o was working on the chain, he realized how many links had cracks in them, so it was inevitable that this was going to happen.

And, while Daddy-o was working on the gate, I went to the office. I couldn't do anything to help him, and I was barely staying awake, so I opted for waiting where there was air conditioning. It was about 4:45 and our employee leaves around 5, so I was really hoping for a nap when we could close up. Only, right after I got in there, one of the customers came in because his radiator had just burst. He was parked in front of the office and calling AAA to have it towed and had stepped inside to get out of the heat. We talked for a few minutes and then he noted that we were going to close soon. And as much as I wanted to take a nap, I knew there was no way I could ask him to wait out in the heat. So, I offered to keep the office open until his car was picked up, which ended up taking over an hour, but I got to hear Brian's stories about cruises and drag racing and workmen's comp issues and he got to stay out of the heat, which honestly might have killed him. And I once again felt lucky that if the gate had to break, it did it right then when I could be in the right place at the right time.

Now, we could really use some smooth sailing for a little while. Life is chaotic enough at the moment.

Wrapping Up the School Year

One final hike for the school year. This was my first hike for a private group--it's kind of nice to just show up to a group that someone else arranged and get to hike with some fun kids!

And I'm so glad that I opted to not teach my normal classes this May so this was the only work thing I had on my calendar. With prepping to move and getting our property ready, it has been really nice to take something off my plate.

But it was also fun to get outside for a hike which I haven't had time for this month.

The kids were great and, thanks to a random rainstorm last night, we saw more banana slugs and other wet-loving species than I would have expected at the end of May.

It was also Peanut's last day of his freshman year! Time just flies, but it has been a great year for him and now we're looking forward to a fun, if crazy, summer.

Wrapping Up the Science Year

All my classes have wrapped up the last couple of weeks.

My middle school classes did a group project on soil conservation/preventing erosion and built models to demonstrate the techniques they'd use for the scenario they were given.

I love how they got into this--model building is always a big hit.

My elementary classes finished the semester with several games and activities about conservation in honor of Earth Day and our study of the earth.

My nature study class went to visit the local heron rookery for our last hike. We got lucky and the three babies were active and the parents were coming and going with food and nesting materials. It was a fantastic morning, and we got lucky and ran into a really nice guy who had a good camera to capture pictures of the birds and offered to share a couple of images with us. (Have I mentioned how much I love this part of my job--getting to hike with families and share all of these cool nature experiences in our area is so much fun!)

And finally, I did a nature and art class with my friend, E, who makes beautiful mandalas with the bones from bird pellets that she collects and sterilizes. 

She's learned all about bone identification and has found this amazing way to use art to bring attention to science. 

And now, I just have to plan for fall, but I'm officially done with my 8th year of teaching!

Science Fair 2026

My Science Explorations classes participated in a science fair this spring. It seemed extra challenging this year for people to get their projects done and we only ended up with about 1/2 of the kids coming in the end, but the ones who showed up had a great time.

We had several community members come representing different science agencies and projects in our area which was really fun for everyone.

And the kids had some fun interactive projects for us to see.

Volcanoes were very popular, which went great with our earth science study this year.

I'm so grateful for all of the support from everyone who helped make it an enjoyable evening. The kids worked really hard and deserved to be able to celebrate their learning. I love having an event where the parents can come and interact. I see their kids every week, but I have 5 different classes and they don't usually get to see each other and I often don't see the parents after the first class, so a night like this is nice to finish off the year. Only two weeks of classes left!

In Other Happenings

Warning: These first couple of pictures are disturbing--no blood and gore, but still hard to look at if you don't like that sort of thing. So scroll past if you don't want to see!

This summer/fall has felt like it largely revolved around Bug leaving us, but we have had other things going on. Starting with the biggest thing--

Daddy-o took a nasty fall off a ladder at work and ended up spending a day in the ER. It ended up not being broken, just a severe dislocation which they had to put him under in order to reset.

The doctor told him he was lucky that he didn't die since a lot of ladder incidents end up much worse. He was about 8 feet off the ground when the ladder slipped down the wall it was balanced on so he had about 1 second to try to figure out how to land to inflict the least damage (and have the smallest chance of hitting his head), and he did fall pretty well, just got his left leg tangled up with the ladder.

Orthorpedic surgeon decided he didn't need surgery, just a boot and physical therapy. Swelling was so bad at his first PT appointment that they couldn't really do anything. Over a month later, it's still swollen, but not nearly as bad. His orthopedist is really happy with his progress (he's walking in normal shoes already!) and has hopes that he'll recover full range of motion, but he's got a lot of work to get there. We're just glad it wasn't his right ankle so he's been able to drive the whole time.

Peanut had an awesome swim meet where he got three PRs, which finally broke through a plateau he'd had for a while. He's got a new coach, and is swimming 3-4 times a week now and it seems to be making a difference.

Property news has been frustrating. There should be a house in this picture on the right, but this is still what it looks like (but at least there was a nice sunrise!) We are waiting on the final permits and they have been sending us back with something to change over and over. We've submitted the final change they asked for, so we *should* have our permits any day now, but I'm not holding my breath.

I couldn't get a great picture, but all three animals were snuggling together the other day and it was just so sweet. We kind of can't believe that the guinea pigs are still holding on. They're both about 5.5 years old which is about as old as they get. We've already started talking about what we're going to have to do for Poppy when that day comes--she'll miss her piggy friends.

Pool time ended with some weird days--Bug's last day of lessons was totally raining. I showed up to swim laps during his break, but there was thunder and lightning, which is really weird for us.

Science classes have been going pretty well. Chemistry is a fun topic with some good labs we get to do this year and a lot of the kids are pretty into it. (and shh. . . don't tell anyone, but I have a couple favorite classes for sure--it's just so nice when they can follow directions and really seem interested in what we're doing.)

Nature hikes have also been fun. We've got a smaller core group this year, but the families are a lot of fun.

We're revisiting some of my favorite topics since none of my current families were around when I first started. So we learned about woodpeckers and returned to the redwoods.

The banana slugs there were a hit. And I had to laugh, but also felt really legit when a random hiker stopped to listed to me when I was talking about the redwood root networks with my group.

I went to see the movie release of the new Taylor Swift album. After missing out on the Eras tour and regretting it, I decided I wasn't going to take any chances. I'm loving the new album, and it was fun to see the making of the music video.

And in other music news, Peanut and I went to the symphony at Temple Hill in Oakland for the Star Wars night.

The music was great and we got to watch a friend from church in her inaugural night as the conductor. 

It was fun meeting up with homeschool friends and pretending that we're still living that life. I think that once you're a homeschooler, you're always a homeschooler.

And finally, I got out for a hike after dropping Peanut off for his Ranger Explorers day today. 

It was a gorgeous morning and I did the new trail which has some incredible views. Also got to hike with deer, watch a white-tailed kite hovering and diving for food, and a red-shouldered hawk take off with a gopher in its talons! All in all, it was a really great hike and I still had time to spend the rest of the day with gimpy Daddy-o ;)

 

Science Camp, Take 2!

It looked a little different this year, but Bug and I got to do science camp together again this summer. We ended up only holding it for two days because sign ups were a little light, but in the end, we had a big enough crowd to make it worth it for the two of us and we got to have fun with the kids.

The first day, we played with sound--made a wave demonstration, musical instruments, and learned about how sound travels.

We even had one of the campers demonstrate the sound waves with her harp!

And the second day was all about catapults and trebuchets!

Bug built a trebuchet big enough to toss things 20-30 feet which was pretty fun for the kids.

He's so great with the kids, and with the science. I couldn't do these camps without my college kids!

The kids loved designing and testing their mini-catapults.

And then we spent each afternoon in the pool.

This really is the best set up for a camp--plenty of space for all the activities that we want to do and the kids love swimming and just getting to hang out and have fun together. And it helped Bug get a little closer to his financial goals for the summer. Between two summers of lifeguarding, teaching private swim lessons, and these camps, he's going to be pretty close to what he needs for his mission and his part of school this past year. He's worked hard for it!

January Hikes & Nature Adventures

We jumped right back into our usual activities after the holidays. Peanut went to Jr. Rangers the first Monday back, and while he was there,

I went for a little mushroom hunt.

And then, once Nature Group started back up, we were hitting the trails together.

First hike of the year had a great turnout.

We went to Mt. Wanda, near John Muir's home, and talked about the different ecosystems around the Bay Area.

I really love my job.

Science class this semester is also all about ecosystems and we investigated different spots around our backyard--even the pavement had living things.

Daddy-o and I got went for a little date hike at Del Valle.

And then I got to participate in Mushroom Madness at Sycamore Grove.

It wasn't as wet of a year as some, but there were still a lot of fascinating fungi,

and I love having experts on hand to answer questions about what we find.

Another Nature Group at Martin Canyon Creek.

These kids are a lot of fun.

And we snuck in a little family hike at Pescadero on our way to the airport to pick up our Bean on her way home from Switzerland.

Still some good ones, even on an only okay year.

As fun as all our travels were this past fall, it is so good to get back to exploring all of our local favorites.