Great Book to Read

The kids and I just finished a great book called "Fingal's Quest". The story goes along with the time period we are studying, the Middle Ages. If you have some time, read this novel. The story draws you into life in the Medieval times and a quest that we can all learn from!

Grover Hot Springs

Savanna and I got to take a little adventure on our own. We visited the Art Studio Tour in Markleeville CA. Markleeville is a tiny dot on the map just south of South Lake Tahoe on Hwy 89 close to the Nevada border.

It was really cool to see the local artists in their workshops and many times in their homes. There were painters, sculptors, metal workers, photographers and more.

After our tour, we took a short little walk to find a letterbox. Success! We collected their stamp and left ours.

To end our day, we soaked in the pool that is fed by a natural hot spring. Grover Hot Springs is a State Park in the hills just outside of Markleeville. Ahhhh, warm and relaxing! We had a great day together!

Medieval Learnings

This year we are studying the Medieval Period in history. I always thought that the Medieval Period was about knights and castles. Boy was I wrong! We began the school year around the year 300 AD and will end in the 1600's. There is a lot more to just knights and castles! We've learned about the fall of Rome, Muhammed and the Islamic Empire, Barbarians and the spread of Christianity. Neat stuff! The pictures below was an art project the kids did in a co-op class with their friends. They are called "illuminations". The monks in the monastaries would spend a lifetime copying manuscripts and decorating them with pictures and accents. The kids got to make their own illuminations with gold leaf and markers.

Intrests of a 12 Year Old Boy

Ever wonder what a 12 year old boy likes to do? Check this out!
(You may want to turn the sound off before beginning this video)

Local Get Away Fun

Living so close to the mountains gives us an advantage to outdoor adventure. This little lake is tucked away off Hwy 88 on the way to Hope Valley. It truly is a beautiful place to stop and take in the fresh air and a walk around the lake. We've gotta remember to bring the kayaks next time we head out that way!

In contrast to the beautiful lake above, you can also find oddities like this off the same highway! We actually drove through this grove dodging the stumps like a life size maze.

This little lake was quite the adventure to get to. We definitely got custom branch striping on the way in and out (don't hang your arm out the window on this ride!) This lake is to the left of the "Short Grove" pictured above. The lake is fed by snow melt and since we are in late summer/early fall, it is really, really low. We couldn't walk on the banks because of the super mushy mud, we decided to climb the rocks instead.

While we were off on our adventure taking in nature and appreciating God's amazing creation, Charles was off playing with his friends...

Heading Home From Santa Cruz

On our way home from Santa Cruz, we stopped at Old Mission San Juan Bautista It is one of the missions we missed last spring on our California Mission trip. We spent most of the morning there before the long trek home.


The Family


Mike and myself

The Last Hurrah!

As Summer began to wind down, we were invited to join a great family in Santa Cruz. We spent four beautiful days in the final warm rays of the sun. We played on the beach, cruised the Boardwalk and Pier and visted the The Mystery Spot . It is quite an unusual place. Check out these pictures:

Take a good look at this picture. The people were arranged by height from the shortest to the tallest. (Mike is the one in orange on the right)


Then the guide had the people switch places. She had them line up tallest to shortest, look what happened...






...they no longer look tallest to shortest, but very similar in size! The guy on the left in the white t-shirt next to Mike was 6 feet tall. Zak on the far right in the blue shirt is only 4 foot something. They look the same in height now.








Look at the rest of these goofy pictures:



Charles looks like his legs were short compared to the rest of his body. The picture doesn't show it well, but it looked like he was leaning over the edge of the table.

Here Charles walked up a wall without the use of his hands.

This place is a little bizarre. After you are in this cabin for a while you start to feel a little dizzy and a little out of sorts. It's fun to visit though.