Libby

Libby turned 15 all the way back in August. Even though it has taken me many moons to post about it, I still love her! Life has just been a little overwhelming lately.

She wanted a tall beach cake. To keep with the theme we filled alternating layers with raspberry and pineapple sauce. It turned out...okay. The pineapple was a little weird and the cake oozed raspberry sauce so that it looked like it should be in a beach-themed horror movie. The decorations were also a little sad, but we tried.

Libby used the extra cake bits to make cake pops. They turned out better than the cake.

Libby got mostly makeup for her birthday this year, just as she likes. She was pretty pumped about her temperature changing lipstick.  I guess it comes around once every generation or so. I loved it when I was a kid, even though it basically turned my lips orange. Hers came in a variety of colors, so she probably has a more ghastly palette to select from.

No blog post about Libby would be complete without a photo of her eye roll. She discovered it when she was two and has spent the last 13 years mastering it!

I can't believe this sassy girl is now a sophomore in high school. She finds her joy in choir and baking. Even with choir online this year, it is still her favorite class. I'm so thankful for this plucky addition to our family.

Spring Break is Finally Over

School let out the week before Spring Break back in March, due to health concerns. Students did not end up going back for the rest of the school year. There was some effort put in to finishing the semester, but it was lackluster and piece-meal.  

Now six months later, it is again time to learn!

Online.

From the comfort of home.

While eating and drinking. Ethan's ginger beer is completely non-alcoholic, but I am considering taking up day drinking. It's been a strange first week full of a lot of hiccups. Not the least of which is finding space for everyone to work without annoying other scholars. There is no current consensus, and so the battle rages on.

The three older kids are attending school online. In a last bid to save what's left of my sanity, I decided it would be simpler to homeschool this one. He's on board, as long as he gets to go back in January if the other kids do.  

I definitely have all my kids schooling from home until the first part of September. In my heart though, I suspect this will be our new normal this school year. 

*Okay, I'm actually I'm not going to start drinking. All donations of dark chocolate will be accepted, though, with joy. I need some coping mechanisms.

Huckleberries

We decided to go on a family bike ride. Michael decided on the path. I was imagining a nice paved loop. He took us up and down rocky mountain bike trails. My bike was not created for such use and I was doing a lot of muttering and complaining while he was dashing on ahead. 

He finally waited for a minute and I had a lot to say. He apologized.  We got on our bikes, and tried to make our way back to the main trail.

Right on the path, we discovered huckleberries. Lots of huckleberries. I had brought a couple small containers, just in case, so we all started picking. I forgave Michael (mostly).  Fifteen minutes later, everyone was picked out, so we hopped back on our bikes, and reached the truly bad part of the trail. Michael and Ethan are the only ones who didn't walk their bikes.

I had cute little huckleberries, though, so I was now okay.

Our entire haul, about 1.5 pints.

We made pancakes for dinner with fresh huckleberry syrup. It was deemed good.  No syrup remained at the end of the meal.

We threw the extra into some muffins, which were deemed barely adequate. Being on vacation we had to do a fair amount of ingredient substitutions, creating interesting muffins.

None of us had ever picked or eaten fresh huckleberries. We learned we enjoy them, but not enough to pick anymore on our trip. The novelty had worn off. Maybe we will do it again, but not this year.

McCall -- Oh How We Love Thee

Every summer. We visit every summer. 400 square foot cabin, no internet, no computer, no TV. Everyone loves it. This year we managed to carve out almost an entire week and wished we could have stayed longer.

The first stop when we got into town was the bear statues. We have to start with our annual photo. From there we are flexible as long as food and water are involved.

We spent an entire day at North Beach this year. Michael's co-worker generously lent us two kayaks, which we made good use of (after almost dying carrying them from the parking lot to the beach). We planned on renting a paddle board from a stand just down the beach from our location. Michael and I hiked that direction only to find a river in the way.  We hiked back to the disappointed children.

Ethan decided to take one for the team. He took my wallet, hopped in a kayak, and paddled over to the stand. He rented a board, borrowed some rope, and towed back the board. Of the four hours we rented it for, in was probably in the water for 3.5 hours. It was well used. 

Ethan showing us how it's done.

Both girls riding out into the lake.

Ethan told Grace he'd buy her something at Stacey's Cakes if she could build a sand castle as tall as herself. This is about as far as she got.

We had a great time at the beach, even though I got more than a little sun kissed. 

Later in the week we biked up to the "big rocks". They get smaller every time we go. Weird how things would just shrink like that.

A rare photo the parents. Photographic evidence they do in fact exist, and can be captured on film. Such a rare occurrence happens only once or twice per solar year. 

Another rare occurrence: taking all of the kids out to eat at a restaurant. Between COVID-19 and the huge expense of taking six people out to eat, this is truly a rare find. The children were properly grateful.

A quick picture of the family waiting for the bus. The novelty of riding the free bus around town is still strong.

A very non-rare sighting of a deer. We saw deer everywhere. This gal walked through the driveway, not ten feet from us. She didn't seem bothered we were there at all. When Harley came out of the cabin, I swear the deer sighed heavily, and then bounded away. I think this deer is closer to tame than wild.

The morning before we came home, we ordered a few to-go cinnamon rolls from the Pancake House. From experience, we knew better than to order one per person. Here is Sam with his allotted half. No he didn't finish it. Ethan, Michael, and I were each able to finish our half portion. I regretted it for the rest of the day.

Like all good things, vacation had to end. We cleaned the cabin, left a few love notes for the next family to use it, and came home.

Every year I consider just moving McCall full-time, this year was no different. Alas, work and school are in Boise, so home we came.  Ethan drove the Ford Ranger home carrying the bikes. It made it, very slowly on the hills, but safely and adequately. We are happy to be home, but anxious to go back.

Robie Creek

Sometimes a family just needs a little break. We loaded the car with towels, grabbed a raft, borrowed a paddle board, picked up mom, and headed up the highway.

Forty-five minutes later we were splashing in the water and feeling relaxed. Too relaxed to even take more than a single picture.

It was a nice evening, an evening that should be repeated. Looks like we are in the market to buy a paddle board now. I was even brave enough to stand up and paddle, and then Ethan tipped me off. I will have my revenge (probably after we buy one of our own).