We are entering a new era with our oldest.  The era that he may not be around for family adventures too much, he's going to be having adventures of his own.  At 15 years old and involved in activities he skipped our family hike.  Gasp.  At first I was unhappy.  I mean school tennis on a Saturday and then again on Labor Day Monday.  However I realized that I can't expect him to always be part of our immediate family.  There will come a time that he strikes out on his own and he has to make decisions as to what he wants to devote his time to. Right now it is tennis and that's ok.  So I happily packed the lunches while John took Isaac and a bike to Tennis.  We packed the backpack, a fanny pack for me and my camera.  I left a list of chores needed to be done after tennis and we got out of Dodge.  We took a right onto Glacier Creek road which is right after the "resort" town of Glacier.  That's what the book called it.  I almost snorted coffee through my nose.  "resort" town.  How funny.  We then took an immediate left to Skyline Divide and drove through pot hole after pot hole climbing the mountain in our trusty little red truck.  There was an outhouse at the trail head and we picked up a blue bag just in case for the trail. Pack it in, pack it out. We placed our Northwest Forest Service pass in the window, we made sure to bring the correct year. Then we hit the trail which was a fairly steep hike, climbing about 2000 feet in 2 miles but oh so worth it.  Once we popped out on the ridge, the views were amazing!  We could see all the way into Bellingham when looking west.  It felt like the top of the world.  Note, we did cross into wilderness area and knowing that we left our pooch at home.  However there were many dogs on the trail.  It was a very popular trail and we met groups of people after groups.  I wonder if it would be less crowded after school starts or on a week day.  There are many little side trails but to the ridge it is a 4 mile round trip with the option to make it an over nighter or a very long 11 1/2 mile day hike.  This was on my summer bucket list to do and I am so glad we made it.  However now I want to get up there before the sunrise.  I can just picture it.  Also, we were at the tail end of the wildflower season and just at the start of the wild blueberry season.  Still so very lovely except for the flies, oh the flies were bad.  But that is just part of the beautiful out doors. 

I like making things.  I like them to be beautiful.  I have ideas in my head but trying them out and having them actually look like I envision them are two different things.  My ideas don't always transfer to reality.  It can be frustrating.  Often I don't know how to go from idea to finished product.  My photography is the same thing.  I have ideas in my head that I can't quite pull off.  I often think that I'm missing something.  Grrrrrr.  I feel like I'm hitting my head against a wall and it's not breaking through.  Creating and photographing jam and their labels.  Cookies with milk, scrapbooking projects.  I'm close but not quite there.  I know what I like just can't translate it.  With the jam, I had one idea, tried it , didn't like it.  Tried a different idea, didn't like.  A third, getting closer. I will find or make the label that I like.  I will find how to stylize the finished product and take pretty photos that I would want to frame or make post cards with or even make my own little cookbook for me with pretty photos and beautiful font.  The cookies, the banana bread, even crab wontons.  I see the photos, but again they aren't quite there.  I may have to eat a lot of cookies before I get it right.  It's not the kitchen, it's not the color, it's not the camera, it's me.  This is myself critiquing myself, comparing, and trying to work things out from my head.  Sometimes I say, who am I kidding there is no way, but I know there is.  I have great light, just figuring out how to use it.  Wanting to use real food, not fillers. It can work, just have to figure it out. 

This year the plan is for both boys to attend public school full time.  Job will be starting middle school and we are so excited for him.  I think that it is going to be very challenging.  He has been accepted in the harder classes so we'll have to see how that all shakes out.  Isaac is taking two science classes this year but no AP courses.  I'm a little bummed about that but expect a 4.0 from him.  Lona will still be at home but here is the part that is different.  She is taking two classes online from the K12 school.  This school is a private online school that Washington has contracted with to provide education to homeschoolers.  We don't have to pay any tuition and it's accredited.  We did however have to send a mountain of paperwork, such as immunization records, and custodial papers.  We are not a split family, but whatever.  We received her books by UPS just the other day and it was heavy.  She's taking English and Science from them.  This is just a little test to see if we want to do this full time next year.  The curriculum was packaged in two boxes, one for each subject.  In the English/Literature box we received the teacher manuals and student worksheets along with an audio CD that corresponds with a book on classic stories.  There are even three stories from the Bible in there.  Surprised but pleased.  Two novels: Tom Sawyer and the Secret Garden, a story by Shakespeare and some other little pamphlet type stories.  She also has an English grammar book and a vocabulary book.  I think I might learn something.  For science she received the teacher manuals and student workbooks, some large wall maps, a box of rocks - labeled, a bunch of bags of sand, coarse gravel, one white tile, modeling clay, thermometer, magnifying glass, pipe cleaners, diffraction grating film, centimeter gram cubes, safety glasses, a large plastic test tube, and a magnifying glass.  Job took one look at the science materials and started whining about wanting to be homeschooled.  "I never asked to go to public school."  That is true but he needs to be public schooled for many reasons.  I may be a little overwhelmed right now with her school stuff.  I'm just not sure how it will fit into what we are already doing or how long it will take.  I have to enter attendance, and am hoping Lona can do that while I'm gone.  She has to speak to a teacher each week, when does that happen?  What about the online class participation? How much am I actually going to have to do? They have suggestions and examples but until we start and really get into it I won't be able to get a good feel as to how it will all fall into place.

Lona had asked me while taking a friend home if she could do Mud to Suds run.  She pushed, wanting why she couldn't, what we had going on that would keep her from competing.  I hate being forced to make on the spot decision.  My answer will always be no.  I can't just think of what is going on while driving all the time.  When I don't have information that I can't make an informed decision.  When I feel pushed, I will push back.  So my answer to Lona was NO.  However, she found out more information, watched a friend compete the day before and offered to pay for it herself.  John really didn't see the point of the whole thing.  Really, crawl through many mud pits? Climb over things? Immerse yourself in a muddy ice bath?  Does that really sound like fun?  He wasn't impressed with the whole thing.  He was impressed with how important it was to her.  She paid for it herself.  $25 isn't a small deal, its two lawn days of work.  We arrived, signed her up, and turned in the waiver of responsibility.  Her friends were there and they lined up at the start.  1:15 and they were off and running.  I tried to get her in the first mud pit but never saw her go through.  I did see her at the end though with a huge smile as she ran through the container box of suds.  Out of the box, through the trees criss-crossed with rope and to the finish line to ring the bell.  She loved it and earned a hot dog and root beer float at the end, (it was part of the entry fee).  John at first wanted to usher her home, but she needed some time at the race to just be happy.  Later on John was saying how proud he was for her.  Not that she finished or anything like that, but that she decided on something she wanted, she went after it and made it happen.  There are a lot of things that need someone who can make things happen.  Hopefully she learned a lesson on just that.