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Thursday, August 21, 2008

vacation all summer long

This summer is flying by so fast! I am so grateful we are homeschooling and not going back to school next week!! We've been schooling on a very low key level all summer and will get back into full swing the 2nd week in September. Before I plow into the fall, full speed ahead, I shall reflect on the amazing august we have had!




On the very first day of August we had the privilege of going to Lake Compounce courtesy of Jason's wonderful boss. He treated his employees to a tour bus ride to the park, admission, lunch and spending money! It was such a great day for us. It was actually our first trip to an amusement park as a family. I hadn't been to one myself in 7 years! I don't think I had been on rides in almost 10 years (does that make me old?!) We all had a blast. We had no idea that Bella is a little adrenaline junkie. She loved the roller coasters and went on some doozies! I also went on some rides that I wasn't sure an old 30 year old could handle, but I made it and had a blast screaming at the top of my lungs. The boys enjoyed all of the kiddie rides and games too.



After our amazing day at Lake Compounce we awaited our vacation. We had a busy week in between with picnics, cousins sleeping over, and trips to my sisters to take care of my beautiful niece, so the time flew by and I was really grateful to relax for a few days!


Our vacation in is such a huge blessing every year. My parents rent a cottage at the ocean for a few weeks and we get to join them for a week. It is definitely one of my favorite parts of the whole year. We have been going to this cottage since Bella was 1 so the children all look forward to it so much. I have to say, this year was actually the first real vacation I have had in about 7 years. It was the first time I didn't have a baby or toddler to run after. I didn't have to plan everything around naps or carry a diaper bag everywhere I went. I could actually sit on the beach and enjoy myself. I even got to do a little fishing!

Most of our vacation was filled with days on the boat fishing and days on the beach relaxing.
We went to a baseball game to see the one of the Red Sox minor league teams, the Portland Sea Dogs, play the Norwich Defenders. We also took a trip to the USS Nautilus Museum where we got to go in a real submarine. It was really cool. Jason and I even got to have a date, thanks to my mom and dad who watched the kids, and it was such a treat. Every year we learn something new when we are on vacation. This year we found a new spot to go crabbing, a new beach to hang on etc. We also learned that Isabella is a total beach bum and can't get enough sand, sun and saltwater and Isaac and Ian are completely crazy about fishing. They literally couldn't get enough. The minute they were off the water they were asking when they would go out fishing again on the C lasher (that's the name of his boat). They are so blessed to have a Papa with a Parker (that's the brand of his boat) so they can go fishing on the ocean so young. They already know so much. If they are this good at fishing when they are only 4 and 3, I can only imagine how good they'll be when they are allowed to bait their own hooks! I know my dad can't wait until they can clean their own fish too!










On our last day of vacation, Isabella said "I wish we didn't have to leave today, I wish we could leave tomorrow." I realized that when you are on a vacation you enjoy you always want to leave tomorrow. In the end we managed to drive away our over packed van without tears (thanks to the portable DVD players I think lol) and full of new memories to cherish and fish stories to tell...until next year.
Now we are enjoying the last few weeks of summer but the signs of fall are already creeping in. Raising our monarch butterfly caterpillars has become an end of summer tradition for us that we all love, but they are a constant reminder that our summer long vacation is coming to an end. The nights are getting chilly here in the mountains, I have even seen a few trees beginning to change. The billboards for the Big E and back to school shopping tell me that fall is coming fast.


It is always bittersweet to me. I love all the that fall has to offer with its beautiful foliage, apples, pumpkins, great weather etc, but it's the precursor to winter...and most of you know how I feel about winter... I dislike it so much I am already dreading it's arrival and it's still August, how silly! I will continue to enjoy every blessed day of sunshine and warmth with thankfulness to my God who created all seasons.

I'll have lots of great things coming up to post for school, we are going to be studying China for the beginning of the year and lots of other interesting topics of course. I have been trying to think of names for our little school at home. Corbett Family Homeschool seems a little ordinary...I was thinking we could be an academy of some kind...like Corbett academy, but not so boring. So many other homeschoolers have such creative names, I feel the need to follow the cool crowd and make one up too. Any ideas are welcome.

3 comments:

Mama Teaching 3 said...

Visiting from Alison's blog. :) Your summer sounds delicious! Enjoy your fall!

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a beautiful summer!
We took the boys to a Portland Sea Dogs game as well - much more reasonable than trying to get Red Sox tickets. Luckily we will get a few more days at the beach in Maine the week of labor day. This is that last September we won't have school to start.
Got to spend some time with Angela Friday night which was really nice. Miss you too though!
Good luck with your new school year and keep blogging - love to read up on you all!

Anonymous said...

Hey sister!! I love reading your blog. It makes me so happy to hear about all the fun stuff you do as a family, when I'm not around to enjoy it with you. I wanted to say that I really like the background you chose and that all of your photographs are beautiful. I would love a copy of the one of dad and I and the kids on the boat. Can't wait to see you today. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!
-kimmie