"Little Women" Family: Day 1 & 2- Our Trip

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Day 1 & 2- Our Trip

Day 1- June 30th

We left from our house at about 3:30 pm. For once, we had packed up most everything way in advance. So today, we only had a few things to do around the house and I actually got everything done that I wanted to. It was so nice! We did run into some holiday (July 4th weekend) traffic, but even that wasn't terribly bad. We stopped on the way to grab some McDonald's for dinner. The trip seemed to pass quickly, much quicker than usual. Maybe because we knew it was only 5/80 hours of driving. We also stopped to feed the baby and to get a bit of a snack at Burger King-- chicken nuggetts and cherry Icees. We arrived in Spokane at about 10:00 pm. We decided while we were there to just stay the night with Grant's parents, even though Grant was wanting to drive a few more hours. Shari was excited to show us the deals she had found on some fabric for the girls, to make them some dresses. It was very cute fabric! We had a nice night, visiting with them, and then went to bed.

Day 2- July 1st

We woke up and headed to Yellowstone National Park, where we planned to meet some friends. I made trip folders for each girl, with all kinds of coloring pages, games, etc. One thing they had was a map to find license plates with. We found a lot in the first 24 hours of the trip- I colored red for those found on day 1 and orange for day 2. (see above) In addition to the things in their folders, the girls spent their time reading books, playing with dolls and other toys, and watching movies (Grant and I were quite thankful for the DVD player, on this trip, which comes with headphones for each girl.) Grant and I listened to "The Work and the Glory," which was really neat, since we were visiting lots of church history sites. Calyssa did quite well, for being such a young baby. And we had lunchables for lunch.

We arrived in Yellowstone and headed toward our campsite. On the drive, we saw several buffalo, a white wolf, some geese, some deer, and an elk. We arrived at our campsite at about 7:30 pm and set up our tent. We instantly noticed just how cold it was!! We used the last bit of daylight to finish setting everything up, eating our dinner of soup, and visiting with our friends, Jesse, Jennifer, and their 4 daughters.

My Favorite Part of The Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 17:21-24

"21 And when (Jesus) had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

22 And when he had done this he wept again;

23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.

24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them."

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/17

To learn more about The Book of Mormon or to get a free copy: http://www.mormon.org/book-of-mormon/

Our homeschool program!!

My style of homeschooling is "public school at home." We began homeschooling on our own, the 1st year. Then we were enrolled in the Washington Virtual Academy (WAVA) for 3 years. Now we are enrolled in ORLA. Our girls are taking several classes at an Elementary School that is no longer used for a typical Elementary School. Instead 450 homeschooling students (K-12) take classes there with certified teachers (you choose which ones and how many) but you do have to be at the school with them until they are 12 (in another room with toys for the younger kids) or sign them out to a friend. Then you fill in the rest at home. For example, my girls take Music, Art, P.E., and Science at the school 2 days a week and then I teach them Math, Language, and History at home, on the other 3 days. The school also pays for an additional $300 a year of curriculum (like the Math, Lang, Hist.) We do have to keep up with a certain number of hours per week. We also have a "home room teacher" that helps us with everything, like deciding what extra things to do at home and making sure we don't miss anything. We are really enjoying this program-- it truly is the best of both worlds! If you have any questions, email me. :)