A great first week

We did alot of driving in the 6 days it took us to get to PA. It was mostly delightful. K and Q are great travelers, and had no camplaints abvout the amount of time spent in the car, in fact they seemed to enjoy every mile. We saw plenty of interesting landscapes, and managed a few stops on the way. We loved the KOA cabins that we stayed in, and we all had fun staying with my mom's friend from elementary school in Kansas City. She lives in a 1915 farm house and still hauls her own water. We ate from her garden, and Keegan was facinated with her accumulation of stuff from many years past. Her mother came for a visit, who is now 85, and was my mother's girl scout leader. We really had a great time on the way!

Day 2

That's Quinn at the top of the rock wall-she felt very accomplished! Another day full of beautiful scenery and fun adventures. We stopped at a farm stand and bought organic peaches, yum! We drove through some of CO today ooing and awing the whole way. The river, mountains, wildlife and small towns were breathtaking. We were headed for Glenwood Springs, CO. We arrived and enjoyed our day at Glenwood Caverns. We rode some fun rides, and toured a cave.
While we were in the cave, I heard a family talking behind me. The parents were telling their daughter who was very interested in the cave that someday she might be able to study geology. You could learn geology when you get to college, her mother told her. Well, I think it is possible that you could learn geology in high school, her dad added optimistically. Mom and Dad argued the point for a few minutes about whether she would be able to learn this subject in highschool or college. Their conversation caught my attention. I am glad we will never have to wait for a system to schedule us to learn about things that interest us. I'm glad we have chosen a path that will allow our children to persue their interests when they are interests.

And we're off!

We drove in 4 states today-Nevada, Arizona, Utah and into Colorado. Utah was so beautiful, we all enjoyed the land formations and animals we saw along the way. We stopped in Green River for watermelons, and stopped for a breif visit to a dinosaur museum(we forgot about the time change!), and finally made it to the KOA after 11 hours on the road. We are having a great time.

Keegan Leads The Way

On our way home from North Carolina, we were reflecting on our vacation at the beach. Keegan let us know that the only thing he disliked was the plane ride. He hoped we would not be doing that again soon. Well, we did have plans to fly to PA in about one month's time. I told him, and he right away let us know how unpleasant that would be, and wondered why we couldn't just drive. I told him why we hadn't planned to drive-it would take us a week, cost so much money, so much energy, ect. He was not at all put off by the obstacles, and seemed to think it would be an adventure.
For quite awhile now, I have been trying to figure out how we could plan an extended road trip, but it never actualized-too many obstacles that I couldn't rationalize pushing through. But Keegan seemed determined, and the more I listened to him, the more possible it seemed. One thing led to another, and soon after we returned from NC, we had a 5 week trip planned around the US and Canada. My mother offered to join us, we made some reservations, and the trip is going to happen.
My mother flew in yesterday, we leave tomorrow. We are all so excited for this adventure. Jim is happy that my mother is going with us, and he has a very intense month of work planned. Everything fell into place.
I love the freedom of unschooling. We are able to take an idea, or just really a comment like Keegan's-I really don't want to fly-and turn it into an amazing journey. I have no idea what we are going to experience and learn on this trip, but I am open to whatever it is. We have alot of plans, and we don't have alot of plans, we have the comfort of knowing we have a place to sleep most nights(not all!), but we have also allowed some flexibility and time to explore when we are inspired.
My next blog will be from the road. I can't wait to get started!

A Great Day WIth Our Friends

We had a great day with our wonderful LVLL friends, oh, yes, and we saw the Bodies and Titanic exhibits.

Sunday

Before we went to church on Sunday, the kids did what they wanted to do. Quinn baked apple-pecan muffins to take to the potluck, and Keegan kept busy swinging from the rope while waiting to try the finished baked goods.

Keegan's words of wisdom

Last night, Keegan asked us if all people eventually become grandparents. Before I could even answer, he realized that a person must have children who has children for that to happen. I asked if he thought Jim and I would be grandparents. He assured me we would be many times over. He and his wife were going to have many children, many more than 2. I then asked him if he was planning to homeschool those children. He replied that he didn't know. I asked him why. He told me, homeschool, unschool, public or private school, he would wait until his children were here to find out what they wanted to do. He only wants to be unschooled right now, but he seems to have the wisdom to know he is unique, as is everyone, and he would have to meet a person and inquire with them before he would begin to make choices for them.

Our Day in Nature

Quinn's Pokemon Club

As the day of "being" in Nature came to an end, Quinn had an idea for a Pokemon Club that should get started right away. I was feeling very fulfilled by the day, and also tired, thinking about the sparring class I needed to get to in 1 1/2 hours. She was focused on arranging the first meeting tomorrow at our house as we walked with all of our stuff to the car. I was thinking-AHHHH-I can't think about this right now! But I quietly told her I needed to think about what we were doing tomorrow, and talk about this on the way home. In the parking lot, she collected all of her friend's phone numbers. On the way home we decided Friday would be better, noon would be the time(in consideration for the nocturnal member of our family), but Thursday would do if some couldn't come on Friday. As soon as we got home, she started making her calls. One boy's phone wasn't working, so I helped her e-mail him. She arranged the first meeting for Thursday at noon, and told me she thought they were all coming. She planned how she would decorate, and where they would meet. She was so relaxed about the planning.
The next morning, she woke early for her big day. She called one mom to confirm that they were still coming, got dressed, did her hair, tidied her room, re-organized her Pokemon cards, offered to help me clean up and feed the animals, and got busy on her signs and decorations. And at 6 years old, she was soooo relaxed about it.
I thought about the times I have planned group meetings at our house, about how paniked I am to make everything perfect, clean the house, get the food, have enough to do, make plan B's incase something doesn't work out-which is probably why we don't have many groups meet at our house.
I almost got into my pre-visitor panik, then stopped myself, and let her have this her relaxed way.
What a great day. They came at noon, and the last club member left at 6pm, what a wonderful time. The moms talked, and the kids had their club. It was perfect. There were some diversions from Pokemon, like swimming in the pool, looking at Quinn's garden, the fish tank, legos, DS's, even a hurt feeling or two along the way(which resolved itself), but the children were open to the loose structure of their club, and they all seemed to go with each other's flow. It was a great day.

"Being" in Nature

On Wednesday, I packed the food, water and camera, and the kids packed their Pokemon binders, stuffed pokemon and DS's. Then we headed out to "be" in Nature. Not exactly the picture I had in mind, but as I am trying to go with their flow, I skipped the lecture on how you could not truly appreciate nature when you bring along such unnatural distractions as Pokemon and the DS. I am so glad I skipped it! We enjoyed over 5 wonderful hours being in Nature.
I talked to my friends in the most beautiful surroundings, ocassionally noticing a woodpecker, squirrel or an interesting plant. I took a few walks and enjoyed the quiet. It was a perfect day for me.
The kids traded Pokemon cards with their friends, ocassionally noticing animals, plants, or interesting places in this beautiful setting. They took a few walks, climbed a mountain, emptied a fire-pit, enjoyed nature. It was a perfect day for them.
I'm glad I let go of my ideas of how the day should happen, and just let it be. It was perfect.