The month of June was extremely full…but in a good way! June 1st the girls headed to the family cabin with Grams and Gramps! Dave, Sarge and I stayed back for the week. I took advantage of that week and got my entire house organized. I had four days and each day I had a goal. I accomplished everything I needed to accomplish. That week was revitalizing to my soul. With 3 small children, I don’t have much time to be quiet in my own thoughts because there is ALWAYS someone needing something. With just Sarge to take care of, I had ample time to accomplish my goals and have time to be still and quiet. I thoroughly enjoyed the week and was so thankful for the gift of those days.

The girls enjoyed their week with Grams and Gramps which included swinging on the squeaky swings, going to the Nature Preserve zoo, eating ice cream, counting 124 steps and lots of outdoors nature fun!

June 5th Dave, Sarge and I drove to the family cabin for the week. We had an excellent week all together at the cabin! We mostly enjoyed the great outdoors. Sarge got to see a horse for the first time, we went on nature walks, waded in the stream, went to mountain top look outs and enjoyed many restful moments at the cabin in between our outings.

Grams, Gramps and the girls left one day before us so we enjoyed a date night with our little side kick on the last night we were there. Sarge is such an easy baby (now!). He went with the flow, didn’t make a peep in the car on the drive to the mountains, slept pretty well at the cabin and loved the outings we took him on. There were several he didn’t go on due to naptimes. He enjoyed walks in the stroller and being carried in the Ergo on my back. The girls got to sleep in the bunk beds together for the first time and Little Bug caught her first fish! It was a fabulous vacation!

When we got home we got to visit with Mimi (my mom’s sister who is a grandmother to my kids) who had been in town taking care of my grandmother while we were all away at the cabin. The kids love their Mimi! Mimi speaks Spanish and a while back she gave the girls several Spanish books so they always like for her to read them when she is here.

The third week of June was spent at home getting back on track after 2 weeks of vacation. We continued to enjoy the outdoors and even rescued a turtle from the road! We were on a bike ride one morning and the girls spotted this turtle on the side of the road. We watched him nearly get hit by a car twice! I decided to call my neighbor who has a turtle habitat in her backyard and see if she wanted a new turtle. Turns out, this was their turtle and he had somehow escaped from their backyard habitat!

The girls love to ride their bikes down this hill in our neighborhood! It’s a shady area so it provides a good spot for some entertainment and exercise during the hot summer. The girls have had the opportunity to swim at a friend’s pool a couple times. They especially enjoy swimming with Daddy.

The fourth week of June Rebecca and her boys came to town for the week! These four kids play SO well together. Rebecca and I were amazed. They all love each other so much. We went to an indoor mall one day and spent a lot of time at the Disney Store and then we ate lunch at the food court. Rebecca and I got all the kids to bed one night and then went to see Inside Out at 8pm! We went to a newly renovated movie theater that had recliners as seats! Rebecca was doing some school work with her son and Little Bug got her handwriting book and did a few pages with them. And then, of course, there was a lot of outdoor play! They played with an Amazon box several times. They ended up soaking it with the hose and then tearing it apart into pieces to use as different things. I love seeing kids play creatively like this and these four are extremely creative in their play! We went swimming one day and let them play in the sprinklers another day. It was a wonderful week spent with friends that just may as well be family!

Little Bug was given a Butterfly kit for birthday by her Grandma and Grandpa. We ordered the caterpillars and they arrived in a cup in a box! We’ve been observing them ever since. By the end of this month they were beginning to form their cocoons! Every morning the girls check on them before they want to do anything else.

My uncle is a world traveler as a missionary in Brazil. He had a trip this month to several countries and we mapped out his journey on our World Map with orange yarn!

With all the traveling and visitors, we had gotten away from our Morning Routines that I had taught the girls the last two weeks of May. One morning we spent time talking about our Morning Routines and what I expect of the girls. We drew our Morning Routine on the dry eraser board and then Little Bug drew everything on a piece of paper that we laminated and hung in the kitchen.

My plan had been to continue light homeschooling through June. However, Little Bug was complaining every time I said it was school time, which was unusual. So one day I asked her if she just needed a break. She said she did. We haven’t done a math lesson since, but I know my girls have still learned a lot this month! I told Little Bug we will start our new school year on July 13th. I think she is excited about a new year…and a summer break. I still want to homeschool year round, but it may work best for us to have the month of June off each year. We will see what rhythms we fall in to.

Only 10 days and our new school year begins!! I am ready and excited!!

Next week I will post about our curriculum for the 2015-2016 school year and I will give a tour of our homeschool room.

- Elaine