Geo-Walks

Sunday was a beautifully gorgeous fall day.  The sun was out, the temperatures were in the low 70's and AH was unable to spend a relaxing afternoon at home on such a perfect day.  Out he dragged us all to hunt for geocaches on a nearby trail.  We found 4 caches along the way, two of which were in amazingly beautiful spots that we never would have found on our own. 

One cache took us to a spot that had many old junk cars that were abandoned quite some time ago!

Mr. B has become obsessed with geocaching and now I use it as part of our reward system for getting school work done in a timely and happy manner.  He's always plotting out the next cache he wants to find.

Homeschool: September

The official start of the new homeschool year began in September.  Mr. B's lit class (that he's not taking but I am making him learn about anyway.... long story) is studying medieval literature.  I thought it would be fun to tie in some other areas of learning around this time period so I have been looking for some additional medieval curriculum.  As it turns out there is an actual medieval village just down the road from my house!  So off we went for a day at Camlann.

We were greeted upon arrival by a guard who explained the community and encouraged us to interact with the villagers.

 

The blacksmith was busy at work. 

All villagers maintained their characters to the fullest and were eager to answer questions about historically correct day to day life.

Mr. B had the opportunity to learn how to shoot a traditional long bow.

He hit the target several times!

We decided to experience an authentic medieval meal at the local inn.  The food was all delicious but the room was very smoky since everything was cooked over a fire in the kitchen and there was no breeze to help air out the smoke.

We were given spiced drinks and a plate of super delicious cheeses and pear slices.  (The cheeses were really really good.)

We were lucky that the village inn provided metal flatware for us to use, since they are a costly extravagance for a simple inn of the time.  The stew was comprised of a broth with root vegetables and herbs.  We were each given a large piece of bread and told to use our fingers to create a well in the center of the bread and then to use the bread as the bowl for our stew.  Yum!  (I may have to try this at home... less dishes to wash if we eat our bowls) 

After lunch we headed back to the blacksmith's hut to explore some more and Mr. B did another round of archery.  

 

Though I wasn't allowed to take interior photos of the shops and houses we visited, there was quite a bit more to the village that what I've documented: a traditional home with servant who answered all our questions, a scribe shop who also sold some books and allowed us to try our hand at writing with a real quill (she was very impressed that we knew our letters!), candle maker (we could have made candles but it was taking too long for her wax to melt), and a clothier who showed how wool was transformed into fabric.  The village also has festival weekends where visitors can watch medieval games take place.

 

Overall it was a great experience.  Mr. B learned quite a bit about medieval life and really appreciates our modern day conveniences and food variety!  

Crew

The new school year is in full swing.  It's been a rough transition back into the world of structured work and long daily schedules.  We are all suffering through it (some better than others). 

 

Mr. B is still homeschooled but does attend two classes a day at the local middle school, so he has to be up extra early to attend those morning classes.  The rest of the day is for he and I to work on curriculum at home.  He's participating in some cool classes this year: social skills (every kid glued to his/her cell phone should take this class to learn how to communicate in person using actual verbal skills and eye contact), musical theater (through our homeschool group - he's liking it so far, though it's a 2.5 hour class.... a bit long for him), and for P.E. he has joined a local crew team. 

 

For weeks I had to really talk up crew because Mr. B did not want to do it, but as a loving, devoted parent I made him do it anyway.  After dropping him off for his first class I worried the entire time and prayed that he would like it.  Thankfully he is such a fun kid, open to new adventures, that when I picked him up at the end of class he exclaimed, "That was awesome!  We got to take one of boats out and row it." and now he is hooked.  I am so glad.

 

Here he is on the training boat coming in after a beautiful evening on the water.

Beeb and I were waiting around for him last week and she spent the entire time talking my ear off.  She is definitely my daughter in that regard.  I just used the wait to snap some photos of her.

 

New School Year

Summer flew by, I think nearly literally because I blinked and it was over.

 

It's September once again and my munchkins continue to keep aging and growing, and progressing to yet a higher grade.  Can't say I like it too much.

Mr. B is still officially "homeschooled" but is taking a class at the local middle school each day.  Do you remember that first day when your oldest child started kindergarten and some of us even cried a bit?  It's even weirder when that child starts middle school.  I must admit that I cried again after dropping him off at school.  He is one of the bravest kids I know.

  Mr. B is really liking it so far (it's only day 2, no real work yet) and was eager to complete his first assignment as soon as he got home today.  He and I also set up his desk workspace today.  Last school year we mostly worked at our kitchen table, but I am tired of having stacks of his curriculum around the kitchen, so this year he is sharing my office space.  He's pretty excited since I let him have the phone on his desk instead of mine.

 

Beeb was quite reluctant to the idea of being a 5th grader.  Last year there were some 5th grade bullies that made her life uncomfortable.  She ended the year thinking all 5th graders were required to be mean, which she didn't want any part of.  She also had a pretty unfriendly 4th grade teacher so she was equally worried that she'd have another grumpy teacher this year.  When the class lists were posted we didn't know what to expect because her 5th grade teacher is new to our school.  However, after meeting her new teacher at the ice cream social, and now having spent two days with her I am delighted to report that her new teacher is super friendly and Beeb is very happy.

Ragnar Northwest Passage 2014: Wonder Women!

Another year, another Ragnar!

 

Going into this year's race I was extremely nervous.  After last year's fiasco with my leg I was super stressed about incurring another injury.  Thankfully the stretching I do now seems to be working and I was able to redeem myself and run a really good race. 

 

This year I was runner #1, which means I got to start us out in Blaine, Wa.  Our start time was a half hour later than last years time, which means that we had a fast group.  I really noticed the increased speed when everyone shot out of the gate and didn't let up too much during the entire 6.3 miles.  I did manage to get some "kills" (term used when passing another runner) but I also ran about 45 seconds faster, per mile, than I normally do.  Knowing my pace was too quick I decided to just keep going and see what would happen if I maintained it.  Surprisingly I didn't slow down at all and was able to finish strong, though tired.  The weather was about 67 degrees when I started, but it was full sun and felt much warmer.  I felt bad for my teammates because the temperature just kept going up as the day wore on. 

 

Van #1 representing at the starting line.

 

Every year there are some really amazing team costumes and a few that are always a favorite.  This year it wasn't so much the costume as it was the guys in them.  We started out with this team of fire fighters and pretty much hung with them throughout the entire race.  It was a friendly competition as we kept leapfrogging who would be in the lead between our vans.  They put on a nice stretching exercise for all of us at the starting line.

 

 

And we're off!

 

 

Jacki is awaiting my arrival.  Heck, I am awaiting my arrival.... I wanted to be done!

 

Lindsey posing at beautiful Birch Bay!  The PNW is a beautiful place to run.

 

Water support.

 

Jacki passing off to Lindsey.

Lindsey had the worst leg of the morning; 8 miles with no van support!  There was only one water station along they way, but thankfully she brought her belt to carry her own water.

 

Hanging out at the exchange.

Lisa flew into her exchange!  She rocked her first leg of the race.

Shannon showing why we are Wonder Women - happy, smiling, and running hard even in the heat!

Stefanie got to be the stoplight queen of the day.  Her leg took her through Bellingham and all the frustrating crosswalk lights.  As you can see when she wasn't being forced to stop she worked her tail off and finished our first leg super strong!

 

 

At some point in the race you think to yourself "Why on Earth am I doing this?" but then you see these signs and you are instantly motivated to keep going.

 

We met up with our sister van at the end of our first leg.  They were rocking some sweet blue eye shadow and red lipstick!  We so rarely see each other during the race that we cherish the moments when our paths cross.  We definitely appreciate how hard each of us work.

 

Van 2, runner #1 (really runner 7) Jill! 

She is so amazing.  I love that she smiles through it all.

 

This is how we bring our runner home!  Great job Stefanie.

 

 

Most of van 1 & 2 together briefly at the first major exchange.

 

Our team captain, Sommer, injured her ankle before she even started her first leg.  Their van was running a tad behind to make the exchange, so she jumped out of the van to get to the starting line and then pivoted to turn and somehow rolled her ankle in that pivot.  She still ran her leg but was taped up and sore the rest of the race.  Not letting an injury prevent her from running she still finished each leg strong, but her ankle is swollen today.  Bummer!

 

Kay Ann was van 2's last runner before they exchanged back to van 1.  See that fire fighter behind her?  This was our race with them most of the 27 hours we ran.  Kay Ann wasn't about to let him pass her and gained us a pretty good lead before she handed the baton off to me.

Another fun team was a group of ultra runners (6 runners instead of 12) called "The Postfontaines".  I loved their shirts!  This amazing group of runners started a hour after we did and finished the race an hour ahead of us.  I cannot imagine running roughly 30 miles each as fast as they did.  Amazing.

 

Stefanie waiting for her last leg to start.  She's got star power!

 

Shannon handing off to Stefanie.  Shannon ended her last leg with a killer hill.  Bleh!

 

Stefanie handing off to Jill and van 2 is now on their last leg of the race.  Van 1 went out and had a yummy breakfast while we waited.

 

Looky who we found near the finish line. 

This means Kay Ann is getting close and the race is nearly done.

We finished!  We all ran in together with Kay Ann and celebrated.

 

The 2014 Ragnar Northwest Passage Wonder Women! 

(minus Lindsey who had to leave early to head out on her vacation)

This was a great race overall.  I felt really good throughout and ran much faster than I ever expected.  Overall we finished in 2nd place in the women's division out of 32 other teams.  Oh, and we beat the fire fighters! 

Leg 1:  6.38 miles in 56 minutes (8:46 pace) - estimated pace was to have been 9:15
Leg 2:  4.5 miles in 38 minutes (8:25 pace) - estimated pace was to have been 9:00
Leg 2:  1.96 miles in 17 minutes (8:41 pace) - filled in the last two miles for a teammate who's IT band became too painful. 
Leg 3:  3.1 miles in 27 minutes (8:36 pace) - estimated pace was to have been 9:00

I felt great at the end and managed not to hobble around, though today I am a bit tighter than yesterday.  Overall this is the best I've felt after a Ragnar event.  Of course this year was my least hilly course so that may play into how good I feel too!

Looking forward to next year.... maybe.... ask me in a few months when I've forgotten the harder moments and I get caught up on my sleep. :-)