3rd time's a charm

Last Christmas Santa gave the family a snazzy new 2-room tent. It has remained expertly packaged in its box since that time. When we moved to Ohio we promised we could take the kids camping as often as Rick’s schedule would allow because it’s a pretty inexpensive way to see the area and we can bring our dog along.

Two weeks ago we scheduled a trip, but the rain disrupted our plans. Last weekend we packed up the car and drove to a recommended site close to town. Instead of wilderness, we found a soccer field and some outhouses. We opted to go Olive Garden instead. On Thursday we finally made good on our promise to the kids. We drove to Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio (near Indiana) to camp, knock out some Cub Scout requirements with Jake, and enjoy a social studies field trip. It was awesome!


The weather cooperated beautifully. The campsite provided some great amenities, including clean bathrooms with showers, an indoor pool and hot tub, ponds for fishing,



and trails for walking and biking.



Besides a few seniors with motor homes, we were the only family there. We cheated and ate dinner at the on-site restaurant called “The Barn”.





It was there that the kids discovered apple butter. Yum!



And, Jake lost another tooth.

Then we went to the pool and hot tub at the Inn. Campers are allowed to use the Hotel amenities.





Later, Jake (and Rick) built a fire for cooking S’mores while Emma and I read our book. We slept fairly well in our new tent that night. The only drawback was the noise from a nearby train.





The next morning, Rick made a scrumptious pancake breakfast. Since we forgot our spatula, Rick used his hatchet to flip the flapjacks.



After the feast we broke camp and made our way to Historic Sauder Village.





We played with 19th century toys,








went to school,




canned apple butter,





picked apples,




pressed cider,




hung out in a wigwam,





Jacob got to hold a real musket,






And the kids got to "milk" a cow.








It was so fun that we closed the place down.






The kids said it was the best social studies lesson ever!

Harrison Rally Days

This past weekend we went to the Harrison Rally Days festival. I have no idea what the festival celebrates, but we do enjoy a good parade. It was your typical parade. They had floats, candy, and firetrucks. We did get to go into a semi truck trailer that houses a traveling exhibit by The Museum of Funeral Customs that chronicles the history of funerals. It was pretty interesting unless you were 8 or 10 years old. http://www.cnbc.com/id/26889654/

We rode our bikes downtown and just parked them. We didn't even lock them up. The weather was fantastic.



Interesting bike.



In case you can't read the sign, it says, "Kids for Jesus" by St Rose Catholic School.



The kids loved the little cars.



There was a float with little kids all dressed up like superheroes. The guy driving the tractor was dressed as The Joker. Notice all of the red, balck and silver. This is Ohio afterall and it was gameday. Even Emma (unintentionally) got in on the team spirit.



Jacob and Emma putted to win a stuffed animal. Jacob sunk his putt.

Saunders Style Fear Factor

If you know our son Jacob, you've experienced his extreme food finicky-ness. We've tried all kinds of tricks to expand his horizons with no luck. Tonight Rick capitalized on Jake's desperate need to earn some cash for new Legos. Enjoy what unfolded next:

The Great Experiment

Due to increasing discouragement over the kids' school experience, we've made the difficult but exciting decision to home school. We've discussed and prayed about this at length and feel it's the right decision for our family. The kids have been on board from the moment we first pitched the idea (a very telling attitude in our opinion). We've converted the spare bedroom into our classroom and will begin in a couple of weeks. You can read about our experiment at http://thesaundersfamilyschool.blogspot.com. We will also publish work and pictures in order to prove we're not just hanging out in our pajamas watching TV.

How does this affect my job at the YMCA? Well, I will finish out this session (6 more weeks) and work our school schedule around it. Beyond that, I'm not sure what will happen. I'd like to keep a class or two so that we can retain our membership. The kids really enjoy their swimming and karate classes at the Y. I also love working out there. However, I suspect my boss will be less than thrilled about the holes I'll create for her to fill.

We want a cat.

We were up too late tonight and stumbled across these videos. We nearly hurt ourselves laughing.

Happy Grandparents Day!

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~ Alex Haley

There's no vocabulary
For love within a family, love that's lived in
But not looked at, love within the light of which
All else is seen, the love within which
All other love finds speech.
This love is silent.

- T S Eliot

Grandparents, like heroes, are as necessary to a child's growth as vitamins. ~Joyce Allston

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while... but our hearts forever.

Grandparents are there to help the child get into mischief they haven't thought of yet. - Gene Perret

A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend. - Author Unknown

Oh! How we miss our grandparents! We took for granted how often we got to see them when we lived in Arizona. We love you today and always!

Safety Monitor

Jake is very proud to be a member of the Safety Patrol at school. This responsibility requires him to help younger students on and off the buses, escort kindergartners to their classes, raise the flag, hold signs, and assist the bus driver as needed. The coolest part of his job is wearing the sash.

My First Day

After a long fitful night of sleep, I started my new job at the Y. My Tuesday morning class is called “Little Folks Fun Club” and I only had 5 little kiddos – what a dream! I’ve developed an 8-week nursery rhyme unit for this group, so we started with Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling. We sang, read stories, played games, made crafts, etc. The time went by sooooo fast! I think I’m really going to like these cuties.

Later, I made a quick change so that I could teach step aerobics. I was surprised by the number of people who showed up. I felt a little rusty after my 3-month long hiatus from teaching, but the queuing came back to me. I got some positive feedback from my boss which boosted my confidence. I hope she’ll give me some more classes next session.

Tomorrow I have just one little class called “Explorers”. This is for toddlers and their parents. I’m untested with munchkins this young, so I hope I’ve planned the right kind of activities. It’s quite a change from 2nd grade!