Halldorson Homeschool 14/15 Yearbook

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Summer Fly By

Fastest. Summer. Ever.

What the heck happened?!
Our fabulous summer started with our trip to Wisconsin that included a visit with my family. We enjoyed a few days in the Northwoods hanging out with Mom and Dad and my Grandma and Grandpa. Then we drove down to pick up our beloved first born from school, celebrated our nieces graduation and enjoyed a few days with Wayne's side of the family. I RELISHED my little family back together again and couldn't stop pinching myself and that I - I mean - Will had made it through his first year of Prep. Praise God!

Cleaning out the dorm room

We celebrated Will's 15th birthday a bit belated. He was willing to hold out for the old Dairy Queen ice cream cake. He was able to choose his favourite meal for dinner and lunch was celebrated at our usual pick for special days - the local Chinese buffet.

There's no doubt we had one heck of a spring. It was very stressful and included some time apart while Wayne spent some extra time in Calgary with his Mom and worked to iron some business out in regards to his Father's passing away.  Local friends of ours intuitively saw our need and graciously offered their beautiful lake home to us to use once Will was home. We enjoyed a few days of quiet and serene lake living, board game playing, long walks and a change of scenery. It was just what we needed!

And then, of course, there was our WONDERFUL trip to Virginia, Maryland and D.C. It was so worth doing and exceeded my expectations! God blessed us with many precious memories and sweet fellowship we didn't even know we were missing.

Mount Vernon

Of course, no summer is complete without VBS! So we had a week of being busy in that area as we each participated in our roles.

Zanna spent an afternoon with the Girl Pioneer group on their weekend camping retreat. Our schedule didn't allow her to do the overnight part, but she still had a great time spending a day swimming in the lake, playing with friends and going for a nature walk.

Will took a swimming course that was meant to work on his strokes and rebuild some endurance he'd lost over the last year. There was to be about 15 participants in the program but it ended up he was the only one registered. He ended up having private lessons that were tailor made to his needs and prepared him for applying for lifeguard training. It was a great experience!

Wayne took the kids to Calypso Water Park for a day and they had a blast getting wet and risking their lives in only their swimsuits. I stayed at home and got dinner ready:)

I turned 40. The morning of my birthday, Wayne announced to the kids that we were going to IKEA and they were to follow me around without complaining. I love that man!

We also celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. We went to Le Cordon Bleu's restaurant and had a scrumptious meal together!

And since our anniversary falls on the 4th of July, we had a party with some of our favourite Americans!

My festive mantle

The kids put this together!

Thanks for the sign, Zanna!

Wayne also turned 40. We had a lot of fun that evening enjoying Shakespeare in the Park as they retold their version of A Comedy of Errors. 

You can never have too many DQ cakes! 

I was inspired from our D.C. trip to look again at our own capital for some entertainment. We decided to Time Travel  and explore our city's past! OK, it was a little cheesy as our guide wore her time travel googles and we pretended we were being transported back to 18something - but it was fun too. We all got a kick out of interacting with the guide and even learning a little something along the way.

The kids got to dual with Nerf guns and eye googles with Parliament as a backdrop. Fun!

What's on my summer coffee table - The Story of Canada, The Landmark History of the American People, an American and Canadian flag, a TV remote, the phone, a LEGO book, and MacGyver Season 2 DVD

Every good summer brings the desire for kids to earn their own money whether in the way of a lemonade stand, face painting or nail polishing. Since Zanna tried all those things last summer, she went the route of Dog Walking and Watering Plants. Will helped her make up flyers and she distributed them around the neighbourhood and taped them to mailboxes. She impatiently waited to "clients" to call. Alas, they never did. It wasn't for lack of trying!

Sadly, our last trip of summer was taken separately. We all left the driveway the same morning and we all ended up in Michigan later that day. Wayne went to Saginaw for Synod Convention and the kids and I made our way to Wisconsin stopping for the night in the U.P. of Michigan.  Zanna helped feed the area deer in my Mom and Dad's driveway. We hit the flea markets, ate fish fry, rode in the boat, ate dinner around the campfire and enjoyed the beauty of  Northern Wisconsin. Zanna wanted SO BAD to catch a fish - she could just taste it! After a few attempts that yielded no results, she finally caught the big one! Actually, it wasn't that big but it was HUGE to her! And she ate it for lunch the next day along with the smaller one Opa caught. She was thrilled!

MANY games of Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, and Hand and Foot were played during this trip. Lots of episodes of Murdoch Mysteries were watched snuggled up on the couch. A fair amount of 14 Hands was consumed.

Will and I also spent time practicing violin for the duets we did with my Mom at her church that Sunday we were there. It was a treat to play together,  a challenge at keeping up our skill and an honour to use it to praise the Lord!

Mom and I also did an Annie Sloan Chalk Painting class. We spent an afternoon learning and practicing different painting techniques with the paint and had a fun time. Now I dream about what my first real project to paint will be but I have to be bold enough to actually do it. Anyone want to cheer me on?

The time quickly came for the main reason for our trip. I drove Will down to school and settled him into the dorms in time for the 3 week football camp. I enjoyed my car ride with him and the extra special time I had with him before I had to say goodbye. We had driven 21 hours together to get here, bunked at Jeff and Steph's the night before, ate Mexican food for lunch and shopped for back to school at Target. We unpacked his stuff kept in storage and it seemed like only yesterday I had spent all day at the laundromat washing it all up and putting it in the giant Rubbermaid. Where did the time go? He was excited to see his friends again and set up a new room with his new roommate. But he didn't disappear before giving me a big hug and as I drove away, he stood in the window of his room and waved to me. And I bawled (while some sad song played on the radio).
Lord, help me do this ...

Back to my Mom and Dad's to enjoy the rest of the week before heading back home! One afternoon, Zanna and I went bowling. She REALLY wanted to go! We played three games. The first was OK, the second one we peaked and the third I started to be sore in places I didn't know could get sore and it quickly went downhill. But not before I took a picture of my awesome 2nd game. Hey, 153 is pretty awesome for me. If you can do better, please keep it to yourself:)

Mom and Dad drove back with us but in their own car. They spent a few days at our place before flying out to the UK to see my sister. We'll get to spend a few more days with them at the tail end of their trip before they head back home.

Zanna just finished up an Art Camp with the same sweet gal that taught Will art for many years. She had such a great time and came away with something to frame and proudly display!

I'm busy going over all my curriculum for the upcoming school year and planning for Grade 4! Perfect timing that we'll be starting year 1 of American History on the heels of our D.C. trip.  I've taught it all to Will before, but I'm looking forward to reviewing it for myself again and learning alongside my daughter. I'm updating the schoolroom, planning extra curricular activities for the year and also trying to expand my hair business. Church work offers many opportunities to serve and calls for wisdom in knowing where best to be. We are truly blessed to have our family, a place to call home, work to do, the ability to do it, and a church to serve. It really is all good! 

Found it!