Bon Voyage

We are leaving tomorrow for 5 weeks of travel.  Paris, France, then Sandviken and Stockholm, Sweden,  then High Falls, NY,  then Penns Valley, PA, and last Ocean Isle, NC.  I feel a little crazy, trying to pack, finishing up the school year a little early(I think we will not do that next year), test the kiddos early for TKD tonight, celebrate Keegan's birthday at school this morning, get the house ready to leave, and Quinn has an ear infection that needs attention today.  AHHHHH!

But it will all be ok tomorrow.  We will board the first plane for NY, and officially begin our adventure.  We are all very excited.  Hopefully I can figure out how to post pictures from my iphone...we will see. 

Fun stuff..

The Springs Preserve for Mother's Day.  We wondered around the gardens.  It was a beautiful day.


We took a fieldtrip on Friday to see a homeschool production of The Taming Of The Shrew.  Tricia was the Shrew.  It was an inspiring production.  And the kiddos had fun with their Life Learner friends.  Afterward, they all came over for lunch and play.  It was a great day, just like old homeschooling times....  
Quinn with Tricia, the shrew.  All the costumes were made by the parents.

What to do when you are grounded at our house...

We were all feeling a little off... rushed, irritable...so we took a week to get grounded.  That means, we slow way down, take care of ourselves, do not schedule any extras, no playdates, and we take a techno break, so no screentime.  

That week, our praying manthis hatched.  We had about 75 babies to feed.  I think they waited for us to be grounded, because if we were rushing around as usual, we may have had a hard time catching enough insects to feed them...

The kiddos rediscover "together time".  They dug out the art supplies, and enjoyed creating together. 

Of course there was time to get naked and go swimming.

The Brio trains have not been out of their chest in years...but the kids had a fun time making a layout together.

The Lincoln Logs can't compete with video games, but when the video games are away....

The week had us reading every night, playing games together, talking, getting to bed on time, eating healthy, talking at meals, doing things together, and being peaceful together.  The kids had a chance to reconnect.  We felt great by the end...we love getting grounded...