tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81227365620491767822024-03-13T14:23:00.274-07:00The Root ChildrenThe adventures of our funky little crewJuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.comBlogger332125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-81136412476816197852018-06-19T06:21:00.002-07:002018-06-19T06:21:25.106-07:00Summer is my Favorite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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During the Winter, I thought we'd spend Summer camping out and fixing up the house. Of course the universe laughed at my plans. It's ended up as a rough Spring time with some unhappy and hard changes, but ones that were ultimately the most healthy for these sweet kids and myself. We've moved in with a dear friend and her teenage sons until we can find our own place. I am so grateful for supportive friends in this time of transition. And I'm so happy that Summer is back in action! The sunshine and flowers are powerful medicine for the soul.</div>
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I've added an additional job to my schedule and started the Summer semester back at school. So this summer isn't exactly going as I had planned with nights spent camping in the woods and lazy days in the garden. However, we are squeezing in Summer fun when we can!</div>
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Our housemates and I discovered a new river spot at the place Clay works. He works for a tube & boat rental business. At the place they put tubers in the river, there is a fun spot with bar, grills and games. <br />
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We had it all to ourselves on a Monday night!<br />
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My list of jobs now consists of: cleaning vacation rentals a couple times a week, working in a church nursery, on a food truck at breweries on the weekends and most recently as a CNA at the rehab hospital during the week. That plus two classes at the college makes me glad for any breaks and time spent with the kids!<br />
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Blossom was thrilled to get to the water. She had some good mud therapy! Hopefully we'll find much more time to get outside this Summer. I promise I'll keep trying to find the time to update the blog. Sending love out there and grateful for all the love we get back <3 br=""></3><br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-66041437219439584632018-04-02T13:49:00.001-07:002018-04-02T13:49:23.351-07:007 Year Old Birthday InterviewWe've got a 7 year old in the house! Blossom had a Halloween themed birthday party this year. We wore costumes, played Halloween Charades, made slime, ate cheesecake and enjoyed the day with lots of friends. Here's Blossom's 7 Year Old Birthday Interview...<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dfoNWs7l99Y?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-21085051037259562462018-02-11T13:48:00.001-08:002018-02-15T16:26:39.556-08:00Winter 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Winter has been long and cold and gray this year, but we're doing a pretty good job keeping our spirits up! I've kept busy with going back to college and B has been busy working on two houses. We kept our old house as an AirBnB rental and moved into a fixer-upper house down the road. We had used the 4th bedroom there as storage during our trip last Summer. We cleaned it out and scrubbed it down. B painted it and furnished it with a king-size bed. Hopefully this will help the AirBnB be even more desirable in the future!<br />
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He's also been busy fixing up our current house. He built Clay his own bedroom that basically combined 3 closets and it gave his room and our living room a neat rounded wall. He also spruced up the kitchen and bedrooms, and has done massive amounts of (seemingly never-ending) yard work.<br />
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Blossom always has projects to do. She's been spending the past few days crafting unique valentine's cards for kids from the homeschool co-op. We'll go to a card exchange party on Valentine's Day.<br />
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She's now making plans for her Halloween themed birthday party next month!<br />
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Love to all ~ hope you're staying warm!<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-26716580413553502082017-11-01T13:55:00.001-07:002017-11-01T13:55:29.761-07:00Halloween Greeting 2017The kids worked hard on their costumes this year! Blossom made a peacock costume and Reed was Agent Pleakley as part of a Lilo & Stitch group costume.<br />
Here's my creative kids:<br />
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Here's Reed's whole crew before they headed out:<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-47851458190821272172017-11-01T13:52:00.001-07:002017-11-01T13:52:33.593-07:00A Colorado Ending to the Big TripLooks like I never finished up posting about our big trip! There were some hiccups in our plan, but we made it back all in one piece and can't wait for another adventure.<br />
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On our way home from Oregon, we decided to spend a few days in Colorado. Immediately when we crossed the Colorado state line, the darn transmission in the van broke ... again! Yes, the new one :( We had the van towed to Durango. We didn't know this at first, but in the end it took 3.5 weeks to fix because of the warranty. We made the best of our time and rented a car and camped around the state.<br />
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First, we visited my beautiful old stomping grounds of Durango. We met up with friends and took a great day trip up to Silverton.<br />
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The hike was long and steep and little Blossom was a trooper and went right along with it! We were even rewarded with a double rainbow on our way out!</div>
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After Durango, we camped in Pagosa Springs for a couple days, enjoying the hikes and hot springs.<br />
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Next, we headed up to Bobby's old stomping grounds of Nederland, just over the mountain from Boulder. It was fun meeting all his old friends and exploring the sweet little town.<br />
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We were so excited (and a little freaked out) that a mama and baby moose decided to join us while we kayaked one morning<br />
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After a couple days in Nederland, we crossed the Rockies and went into the Western Slope of Colorado to a tiny town called Crawford. An old friend of mine lived there and it was fantastic catching up with him and exploring this little gem of a town. It was adjacent to an amazing National Park called Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Very cool corner of the earth!<br />
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From Crawford, we headed South back to Durango. Our van was not quite ready yet (that's really the story of those 3.5 weeks!), so we went back to Pagosa for a little more camping. We spent some time tubing on the river and Blossom made her own creature comforts in the campground.<br />
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We finally got the van back and headed straight home! Only days away from started classes for nursing, I was pretty anxious to get home. It was a good way to get some real closure on our trip. Though in hindsight, if I had known the repair would have taken so long, I would have honestly just rented a uhaul and towed the van back to Asheville for repairs. I did love our Colorado leg of the trip though!<br /><br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-43311344199207985902017-07-17T23:48:00.000-07:002017-07-17T23:48:00.967-07:00Portland and the Home of Giant BerriesHeading north from Silver Falls quickly brought us back into Portland. It was the first place we stopped in Oregon, and we were ready to get more time with some good friends here. This time in Portland, we were not feeling like we needed to do "big city stuff", because we'd already done it two months ago.<br />
We got to explore a little more like locals. Friends took us berry picking on Sauvie Island. <br />
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I thought I'd seen some berries before, but I was so wrong! The variety of berries that Oregon produces is just amazing! Holding these gigantic boysen berries made me feel like a scene out of James and the Giant Peach.<br />
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After our baskets and bellies were full, we headed further up the island for some beach time on the Columbia River.<br />
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Seems like Blossom is a true beach girl at heart. She at least did her best to thoroughly soak in her last days in Oregon.<br />
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The next morning, we all woke up to the smell of berry pies coming out of the oven! I am not ashamed to say that I ate pistachios and warm berry pie for dinner tonight. No regrets.<br />
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We are sad to be leaving these friends and amazing Portland hosts. We are also sad that it is our last night in Oregon. Time to head home. Not straight home, mind you... but a nearly 3,000 miles of driving awaits us, so we're reluctantly going to get started.<br />
Loved Oregon so much. It's definitely secured a place in our hearts.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-43426054267873567192017-07-17T23:28:00.002-07:002017-07-17T23:28:31.447-07:00We need a break!All this vacationing has worn us out! After Rainbow Gathering, OCF and a little meltdown from a 6 year old, we
decided some down time was needed. Back to the woods we headed...<br />
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We grabbed a camp spot on the river, at the trailhead to Bagby Hot Springs. Not quite as magical as Cougar, but a perfect way to relax and clean up a bit, too! <br />
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The hike in to the hot springs was 1.5 miles and so beautiful!<br />
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Blossom quickly made a campsite friend, and as they played all day, Bobby slept and I finished my Tom Robbins book (such a fun book, but a very slow read - it took me about 6 weeks to get through!). It was the break we all needed to unwind.<br />
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After a couple nights at Bagby, we trekked about an hour West to Silver Falls State Park. We camped here for 2 more nights and explored the beautiful waterfalls that are all such short hikes from one another.<br />
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Blossom and I were both enamored with all the wildflowers here.<br />
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She even took to drawing imaginary pictures of them as we walked the trails.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Blossom sure was a trooper, even though she didn't feel like one every day. So much to see at this park left her sometimes feeling like she was all done with hiking! But she kept finding new fun discoveries around each corner that helped her continue on.<br />
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This was such a lovely park! It was also very crowded with other Summer travelers, and a good transition back to the road.<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-25500878230237593942017-07-17T23:14:00.001-07:002017-07-17T23:14:28.150-07:00OCF<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After we left the Rainbow Gathering, we drove the 4 hours back to Bend, picked up the van, returned the rental car, did a load of laundry, restocked the cooler and drove another 4 hours to Eugene. We were headed to spend the weekend at the Oregon Country Fair. By the time our tent was set up in the Fair campground and we finally collapsed on our sleeping mats, it was midnight.<br />
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The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) did not disappoint!<br />
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So much art, music, food. We tried to walk and see everything on the first day and found that to be pretty impossible! The next two days were spent at a slower pace exploring more nooks and crannies of the property and meeting up with friends to see music.<br />
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Blossom loved all of it! She was pulled around in the wagon since the crowds could get pretty intense at times, and I wanted to keep her close. This saved all her energy for climbing tree houses, dancing and finding special treats like a live action video game!<br />
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We really loved this festival and can't wait to come back another year!<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-48256575497662800592017-07-17T23:00:00.001-07:002017-07-17T23:04:15.754-07:00Stuck<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This picture is of Blossom as happy as a clam... in the backseat of a tow truck. The rest of us were not grinning so big. We left Eugene excited to camp at Crater Lake. We drove through beautiful mountains and almost made it to the lake when our van decided to quit. We had it towed an hour to Bend, Oregon to find out it needed a new transmission.<br />
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We ended up spending the week walking around Bend.<br />
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We visited the farmers market, played in the river, explored parks and a Makers Studio, drank lots of Humm Kombucha (seriously... so good!), and even saw a movie at a brewery. We probably spent a nearly equal amount of time snacking on serviceberries from seemingly untouched trees outside the brewery.<br />
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It seemed like a great town, but we were ready to go by the end of the week. Unfortunately, our van was not ready for us yet. With a holiday weekend approaching, we were looking at spending another 4 or 5 days a motel. One of the big reasons we came to the Oregon was to attend the Rainbow Gathering and it started that Saturday. We decided to rent a car and hit the road. 4 hours later and we were pulling a wagon of camping supplies in to the Malheur National Forest in Eastern Oregon.<br />
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Was so nice to unplug for the week and just join community. We stayed until Thursday and came back to Bend to a fixed up van, ready to hit the road!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-45059536261582555762017-06-25T23:40:00.000-07:002017-06-25T23:44:46.740-07:00Loving It!I could think of no better post title - we really love it out here!<br />
We hardly crossed the border into Oregon before we set up camp at Valley of the Rogue State Park outside of Medford/Ashland area. Not our favorite state park, but still had a nice little Rogue River trail to wander down (and take breaks in the shade - it was so hot here!)<br />
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All of our days were spent in or around Ashland. Lithia Park runs right through town and has so many sweet places to explore!<br />
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We decided to come up to Eugene for the weekend to check out the famous Eugene Farmer's Market and Saturday Market. Those were definitely fun! We also really enjoyed exploring the city parks. One had giant games and toys set out every weekday with live music and food trucks. Blossom built herself an RV with these huge blocks.<br />
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Other parks had interesting statues. Here's ZB with Rosa Parks at the Eugene Bus Station:<br />
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And we couldn't leave without visiting Voodoo Donuts, especially since we didn't do the one in Portland. Hard to decide with this mesmerizing rotating donut case!<br />
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It was still very hot here (about 100 degrees during the day), so water time was a must. The downtown parks are right on the Willamette river, so perfect for a little cooling off.<br />
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We definitely had the most enjoyable days actually getting out of town, though! Our favorite spot was about an hour away at Cougar Hot Springs and Cougar Reservoir. A short and beautiful 1/2 mile hike through Sequoia trees led to 3 rocks pools that cascaded into each other. The hottest was at the top (about 110 degrees), cooling by a few degrees in each lower pool. We mostly stayed in the lowest pool. We met great people, relaxed in the magical forest and would love to come back here again!<br />
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Blossom is making friends everywhere she goes!<br />
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We had hoped to swim in the reservoir, but when we finished at the hot springs, it started lightening over the water, so we decided to head back into town. But it was so beautiful, with such clear water and towering mountains, it was hard to not dive in!<br />
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Tomorrow morning, we are headed out of the city and back into the woods. We will go explore Crater Lake before heading to Central Oregon to the Bend area. Much love!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-84238373644292653802017-06-18T11:56:00.002-07:002017-06-18T11:56:36.616-07:00The Gang Goes SouthChecking in from a sweet airbnb rental with the Eel River in our backyard in Rio Dell (Humoldt County), CA! 3 weeks into this trip and we've found our rhythm, with only a couple kid meltdowns along the way. The last week was spent along the coast, headed south to California to meet up with Reed's dad and send Reed off for the rest of his Summer.<br />
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From Portland, we headed West to a fun little coast town called Seaside. The kids were practically rolling in the sand before we even got near the water. The sand is so fine and soft down the PNW coast, not like our Southern Atlantic beaches at all! And even when the chilly wind is making you wear a jacket, the sand is so warm under your bare feet.<br />
Seaside was had a cute little strip right off the beach with arcades, a carousel, a cool aquarium and oh so many salt water taffy shops! An embarrassing amount of taffy continued with us down the road (I think there's still some in the van). This particular store had an impressive 170 flavors of taffy to choose from, the crew discovered some interesting ones! <br />
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We had planned to tent camp at the Sand Dunes, but there was a storm coming through, so we skipped that and just meandered down the coast for a few days, staying at random Hwy 101 beach motels. It was nice having the extra time to explore lots of cool little pockets of the coast.<br />
The first obligatory stop South of Seaside is Cannon Beach (Goonies Forever!). Cold and windy and rainy weather made for a quick stop.<br />
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We went a little further South and checked really beautiful beaches and also things like the country's smallest lighthouse and the Octopus Tree (just the photo op my finger tentacle was waiting for)!<br />
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We got to go on a whale watching trip in Depoe Bay where a pod of gray whales lives off shore, so cool! Blossom was not a huge fan of being out on the deck, but loved getting to see some whales, of course.<br />
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Exploring so many little state park beaches was great fun! There are so many amazing places! Rocky beaches, ones piled high with driftwood, ones straight off a cliff...<br />
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That little white thing out on the rocks is Reed, who is exploring well past the fenced off area Hahaha!<br />
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We explored a little ourselves here. This was Cape Arago, which is a great place to see sea lions all on the rocks. Blossom and I loved exploring our first tide pools and finding anemones and sea stars<br />
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We finally made it down to our next campground on the southern border of Oregon at Harris Beach State Park. SO SO SO beautiful!! Even the hike down to the beach was a fun little adventure with so many side hikes. And so many tide pools! It was hard to avoid stepping on anemones, they were everywhere! We loved petting the sea stars and playing with hermit crabs. The beaches here were just basically nature's playground!<br />
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Soccer on the beach takes on a new challenge here where the ball constantly is drawn to the waves.<br />
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We all loved this campground and hope to come back again one day! After a few days there, we packed up and headed South into California. We spent a whole day driving and exploring around a road right near our Airbnb called Avenue of the Giants, just full of amazing Redwoods!<br />
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This one is the biggest one in that forest, at 53.2' feet around and 362' tall!!!<br />
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Reed's dad met us here and took Reed back to St. Helena, CA for the next month. We'll see him again when we return to Asheville. For now, we are headed back North into Oregon, exploring to Medford/Ashland, Crater Lake, some hot springs, and maybe Eugene before heading a little East to Bend. Love to you all!!!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-85712723578036012642017-06-07T09:51:00.000-07:002017-06-18T10:47:13.124-07:00The Gang Goes to Portland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My first Oregon post will pretty pretty short, as I want to get this posted before we are out of wi-fi range. We went straight to Portland to stay in an Airbnb for a few days. We are about to head down the coast and camp in state parks. </div>
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We've done all kinds of fun things like explore downtown, sample many delicious Portland donuts and kombuchas (yum!!), and check out cool parks.<br />
This park was right in downtown and the rope and steel play structures resemble the many bridges going over the river right behind the park.<br />
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This park is Rocky Butte, which was right near our Airbnb rental. It had a fantastic view of downtown Portland, Mt. Hood and Mt Saint Helens. ZB was especially excited for the latter!<br />
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The big city was pretty overwhelming for Bobby and I, honestly. I'm excited to get back to camping. But we did have fun while we were here. ZB's favorite part was the Rose Garden in Washington Park. 600 varieties of roses in over 10,000 plantings! She took a bunch of photos, which I'll post a sampling of here, including a nice one of the rest of our crew!<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-34328505392104688272017-06-07T09:33:00.001-07:002017-06-18T10:47:34.459-07:00Headed WestHowdy! We worked our butts off getting our house ready for Airbnb, and it's booked for nearly the whole time we'll be gone! Clay decided to stay in Asheville while the rest of us road trip. He just turned 17 and got a Summer job. He'll be staying with friends, and skateboarding a lot - sounds like a great Summer!<br />
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We started off our road trip on Memorial Day weekend. Bobby drove overnight and we reached Omaha in no time! We loved visiting with Grandma, Bob and Uncle David and their sweet dogs.<br />
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We met up with one of my sweet friends from High School, who now has a daughter that's ZB's age! They loved each other and we all went to the Joslyn Art Museum, they had a great kids area.<br />
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We walked a pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River (Iowa/Nebraska state line) in the gorgeous midwest sunset and got to wander around parks with fields just right for ZB to go wildflower hunting.<br />
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We ended our trip to Omaha by visiting the famous Henry Doorley Zoo. We loved so many parts of it! Blossom was especially tickled to be able to walk right up to one of the many wandering peacocks and snap a photo. And then, cool off in the Artic-themed splashpark.<br />
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We then packed up and headed West again!<br />
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First stop was Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming for some camping next to these amazing rock formations! We all had a fun time hiking around and doing some bouldering. When we first arrived, there was a light rain and out came a double rainbow to greet us - so beautiful!<br />
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The following day, we headed to Idaho for 4 days of camping and enjoying various hot springs in the state. Did you know that Idaho has the most hot springs in one state? Pretty amazing! We went to 3 of them, and camped right next to one. What a great way to wake up in the morning!<br />
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And P.S. - Thanks Mom & Bob for the new tires!! This was the road in Boise National Forest that led to our campsite. I'm not sure it really even captures how big those ruts were...The tires work well!<br />
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Before heading out of Idaho, we randomly met up with some good Asheville friends who were actually vacationing in Boise - what are the chances?!?<br />
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Loved this part of trip!<br />
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-73535413689589598162017-05-03T08:54:00.000-07:002017-05-03T08:54:05.108-07:00This 6 Year Old!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This little lady is the sweetest thing! Here we are the park, ZB in her slip (or as she calls it "the fanciest dress ever!")<br />
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We were at this park so that she could practice her new skill ... riding her bike without training wheels!!<br />
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Of course with Bobby there to help if needed...<br />
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A friend just gave her a bunch of post-it notes and she had the brilliant idea to make her own photo album. She even asked all of the family to draw their own "photo" hahah! Not all participated, but I love that she included not only the chickens, but also our cat and the feral cat that comes by and visits every so often (she's named him Ryan).<br />
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She included some vacation pages, too. One was a trip to the beach.<br />
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We just finished up the Spring semester of Homeschool Co-op. Our preschool class celebrated by making art with shaving cream. Which of course turned into body painting with shaving cream!<br />
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Love this silly, creative kid!<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-51991631382490052162017-05-03T08:41:00.001-07:002017-05-03T08:41:23.644-07:00Airbnb Test RunWe got the house entirely ready for Airbnb!! Lots of hard work and planning went into this project that's been consuming our lives in the last months. This included Bobby building a new room in our house as well as doing lots (and lots) of smaller fixer-upper projects. We're hoping it will pay off this Summer when we take a 2 month trip to the West coast and rent our house out on Airbnb. Here's the listing if you want to check it out:<br />
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17718592<br />
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To sort of "test the waters" with Airbnb, we did a little practice run. We rented the house out and took a trip to the beach for the weekend!<br />
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First, my brother and his sweet wife offered to have Reed and ZB for the weekend. Bobby and I haven't gone on a trip sans kids since before ZB was born!<br />
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While the kids had fun cousin time, Bobby and I had a relaxing time camping near the South Carolina beach. <br />
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Perfect timing, as the bugs weren't out yet and the water & air temps were perfect! We visited touristy Folly Beach, but more enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palm.<br />
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We loved getting a break from the house work. The beach even sent us home with this great souvenir!</div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-68070962731454872872017-03-30T10:52:00.001-07:002017-03-30T10:52:21.558-07:006 Year Old Birthday Girl!Look who turned 6 years old!<br />
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ZB graciously shared her birthday seat with a little friend who scooted in when the cake was brought out!<br />
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For her 6th birthday party, she chose a Princess theme. We made princess crafts and played a princess version of the Statues game. <br />
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She has never been a fan of cake, so I made this ice cream cake with raspberries on top!<br />
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Love this little girl!<br /><br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-894009325800523152017-03-11T07:58:00.000-08:002017-03-11T07:58:29.096-08:00ZB's First Lost Tooth!ZB had a big (and much anticipated) moment at a friend's birthday party last weekend. She lost her first tooth! ZB ran to find me with a bloody smile proclaiming the achievement. We cleaned up the blood and she showed off her new gap to all her buddies.<br />
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Unfortunately, on the ride home, the tooth was dropped and we couldn't find it again. ZB dictated this note to leave for the Tooth Fairy:<br />
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Fortunately, the Tooth Fairy was understanding and left these little treasures!<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-18740089064289839822016-12-18T18:16:00.002-08:002016-12-18T18:16:34.643-08:00Blossom's Little Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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The boys flew off to California this week to spend Christmas break with their Dad. It is very weird not having them home - so quiet, so little food being eaten, you get the picture! We really do miss them a lot, and I know they're having a fabulous vacation!<br />
At the airport at 6:00 am:<br />
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Here at home, Blossom is pretty much non-stop with the silly cuteness! She made this concoction and placed it on the kitchen counter with a straw in it, where it's sat for a couple days now.<br />
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But beware! It's actually a trap for robbers!! If you do get confused and think about drinking it, Blossom has made a precautionary sign to place next to it:<br />
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Today, Bobby hard-boiled a bunch of eggs, and asked her to make a little mark on each of them so we we know they are hard-boiled. This is what she returned to him:<br />
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Love it!<br />
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The holidays are keeping me busy with childcare in the home, and Blossom is thrilled to have friends over so often! I just hit a deer with my van, so the car-repair costs keep coming at me, and I'm grateful for this extra holiday work right now with so much childcare.<br />
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This week has found us doing a lot of simple crafts for the season, like salt dough ornaments (and play cookies, as they ended up becoming)...<br />
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Love to all, hope you have a fun holiday!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-16754467491440850252016-11-02T13:54:00.001-07:002016-11-02T13:54:16.715-07:00Halloween 2016Happy Fall!<br />
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As always Fall time finds Blossom constantly changing her mind about Halloween costume choice. After she described the dress she wanted me to make for her (fur-lined, no less), and I looked at my busy October calendar, we decided to google "easy homemade costumes" and she quickly found an idea she loved.<br />
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And she could help make it herself! I bought a dress and leggings from primary.com (so that they can be reused for regular clothes after the holiday). Blossom was excited to sew the leaf sleeves by herself. We hot-glued a headband together and voila! Presenting the "Hot Pink Azalea Blossom":<br />
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Here she is with her trick-or-treat crew ready to hit the streets:<br />
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This was the first year she was really into Halloween. She ran up to each house, remembering very well all of her trick-or-treating manners :)<br />
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We had our annual homeschool Halloween party, and unfortunately, Blossom got sick about 10 minutes before it was time to leave, so stayed home with Dad. Reed did go and had a blast, though!<br />
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Reed also had a much more complicated costume in mind, but he was out of town this month and couldn't find enough time to make it happen, so he created this Shy Guy costume (a character from Mario video game) from a nightgown and hoodie from Goodwill, and a paper plate and fabric scraps. Turned out pretty great for a last-minute costume!<br />
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And here's Reed with his whole crew before they hit the streets! This may be his last Halloween of Trick-or-treating, I'm glad he's still doing it ... I love these kids!<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-24873192695957795872016-09-11T13:37:00.000-07:002016-09-11T13:37:00.112-07:00Nantahala GorgeBefore Summer is officially over, we stole away to the mountains for a weekend. I have called Bryson City, NC home before, and it was great to go back for a visit! <br />
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We got a great cabin in the woods, right on a creek outside of Bryson City. I could have easily hung out just at the cabin the entire weekend!</div>
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The cabin area had lots of little fun things to poke around and explore.<br />
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We did go have some adventures, though! <br />
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We went hiking at Deep Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.<br />
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It was the perfect weekend to go as Labor Day had past, but "leaf" season hasn't started yet. The weather was still perfectly summer-like, but we weren't surrounded by other visitors!<br />
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The boys and I rented inflatable kayaks and boated down the Nantahala River in the Nantahala Gorge. No photos of that, as the camera surely would have been soaked over that 3 hour ride!<br />
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On the last day, we had planned to go back to Deep Creek and go tubing, but the kids were worn out! Instead, we drove back down into the Gorge and just relaxed in the river, watching boaters and rafters float by, while we enjoyed locally-made ice cream sandwiches - yum!<br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-90133510086409729912016-07-08T06:58:00.001-07:002016-07-08T06:58:24.171-07:00Delicious Summer!I'm so glad Summer is here - it's my favorite season. I'll take the heat, bugs and humidity when it also means swimming, gardens, minimal clothing, ice cream, berry picking, sleeping with the windows open ... I love it!<br />
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The boys are both back from California now. Reed turned 13 right when he came home! <br />
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Bobby bought his a pool pass for his birthday, so now he has started riding the 2 miles on his bike to the pool nearly every day! It's exhausting for him now, but I'm sure by the end of the Summer he'll be a pro at the ride.<br />
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I'm doing childcare nearly every day of the week, and we have so many sweet kids that come over to play. On a recent walk we took, I led the kids into an empty lot to see if any blackberries were ripe - oh they were!<br />
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The girls filled their skirts with the ripe berries that were weighing down the branches.<br />
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They picked and explored for quite a while before they decided they were tired of getting scratches from the brambles!<br />
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Stained hands and bellies full of berries made for another wonderful Summer day!<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-68874853941981167322016-06-16T19:44:00.000-07:002016-06-16T19:44:03.372-07:00Post-IowaWe are finally settling back into regular life after the Iowa trip!<br />
Right when we came home, it was Clay's 16th birthday! He hung out with friends all day and went to the skate park. He and his friends did stop by the house for a minute to open presents and have some cake.<br />
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The very next day, both boys left for California. Clay is spending 2 weeks there with his Dad, Reed is spending a whole month!! That is definitely the longest that Reed has been away from home. He's very excited! He'll come home just in time for his 13th birthday.<br />
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Blossom did a ballet camp the following week which she loved. She can't wait to start real lessons next month. In the mean time, she's doing weekly swim lessons at a local gym.<br />
Here she is at the little "recital" for parents on the last day:<br />
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We met up with some homeschool co-op friends to do a fun hike to the lake!<br />
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And now that things have settled down, I started having kids over to the house again for childcare... messy art projects and all!<br />
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Finally getting settled into Summer!<br /><br />
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-26783638434018162672016-06-05T19:36:00.001-07:002016-06-05T19:36:21.810-07:00IowaWe had a fun trip to Iowa. The kids took 4th place at World Finals!! So impressive!<br />
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(waiting to go on)<br />
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They were all feeling under the weather on the morning of the performance, but pushed through and did great! Here is their vehicle they designed, using a swing as the propulsion system:<br />
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Grandma, her new husband Bob and my brother David all came from Omaha to watch the kids perform.<br />
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On our way to Iowa, we stayed a night in Chicago. We spent most of our time in Millenium Park, admiring all the art installations, playing the in water features and the boys checking out the skate park.<br />
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We meandered along the lakefront.<br />
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We wandered to Buckingham Fountain and saw Pat Sajack and Vanna White filming for Wheel of Fortune (I was so excited that I actually *knew* who celebrities where - it's rare!)<br />
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Blossom made new friends as always:<br />
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We even got a great group photo before leaving to find Chicago deep dish pizza (mission was successful!)<br />
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Iowa was of course filled with all sorts of cute moments. Reed loved having the mix of teen activity and family time and of course new travel adventures! Blossom soaked up all the attention from being the only little one there!<br />
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The return trip took us through St. Louis where we explored City Museum, which is basically a super fun big kid/adult playground. Giant slides and ferris wheel on the roof, even!<br />
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Blossom was not a big fan of all the walkways and climbing paths that were made of welded metal - she didn't want to be able to see through them!<br />
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But she did dig the castle! Everything behind her in the photo is part of the museum, so many tunnels and things to explore - and this was just the outdoor part!<br />
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While in St. Louis, we walked to the arch, of course!<br />
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<br />It's so fun taking a trip with a kid who is so easy-going and finds the beauty even in the empty field next to the hotel!<br />
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I'm so proud of the teens for going out in style. This was their last year doing OM, and they won first place at States plus a Renatra Fusca award for extreme creativity. Then went on to rock out the World Competition and come in 4th! A good way to kick off the Summer as well :)<br />
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-11535641244560910142016-05-21T06:41:00.000-07:002016-05-21T06:41:02.752-07:00Productivity!First off, Clay Odyssey of the Mind team successfully raised $8400 to get to Iowa!!<br />
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The kids and parents helped equally. We had many great donations and business sponsors. We held a massive yard sale, did some restaurant fundraisers, and the kids took on lots of yard work jobs. Just in time, we leave for Iowa on Monday!<br />
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All that fundraising over the last two months kept us quite busy! In addition, I started doing in-home childcare again.<br />
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We pulled Blossom out of her sweet preschool a couple months ago. It was just too many kids for her to be comfortable. She does much better in small groups. Several of her little friends' families were happy to join us for childcare, and we've made a few new friends as well!<br />
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And it really is wonderful to see Blossom having such great days, and having all the fun energy in the house again!<br />
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So, this last month has been filled up with not only fundraising and homeschooling, we've had preschoolers over nearly every day! Building forts, making sandbox creations, doing arts and crafts and generally just enjoying the freedom of being kids!<br />
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Blossom has loved having friends come over each day and getting to spend so much time at home. She seems to really be a home-body - taking after Bobby, not me, that's for sure! But these sweet moments are ones I'm sure to cherish :)<br />
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Love to all! I'll probably write next from Iowa!<br /><br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8122736562049176782.post-81975730150175867782016-04-22T10:46:00.003-07:002016-04-22T10:46:51.684-07:00World Finals is Happening!!Clay's Odyssey of the Mind team has advanced to the World Finals for the 3rd and final year. Not only did they place first at the Regional and State competitions, they also won the Renatra Fusca award at States. <br />
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Renatra Fusca is the highest honor a team can earn by extreme creative problem solving! Way to go out with a bang on their final year!!<br />
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The vehicle they designed is powered by a swing! So cool!<br />
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Clay and his team mates have worked so darn hard on the project, and
now are working tirelessly to earn the money to get to the World
Finals. They have raised $2000 so far, and still have $6000 to raise by
the end of May. They are doing boatloads of yard work around town, putting on a yard sale, having multiple fundraising dinners, etc. But every year, our biggest fundraiser is just getting donations from family and friends.... like YOU!<br />
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I do so appreciate anything you can give to help out these awesome kids. I am so proud of them!! To donate, just use the donate button on this website:<br />
http://ahcom.weebly.com/<br />
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Thank you!!!!!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12101763284648035735noreply@blogger.com0