We are officially done with grade school at the Parks Academe.  I suppose I should change the blog name.  Academe is French for grammar school.  Since all my kids are technically done with grammar school we should change the name but I won't.  June 18 was Job's last day at school and the end of his math at home.  School had a graduation ceremony but it really was an awards ceremony with the same kids getting most of the awards.  I really thought they would call each child's name and give them a certificate of completion since it was a graduation ceremony but they didn't.  Some parents weren't able to make it and the kids were alone after the ceremony. Sadness.  We are now entering middle school.  Job will attend the local middle school full time and Lona will remain at home. 

For Father's Day we went for a hike.  Originally we planned on Gold Run Pass but the ranger said we wouldn't be able to make it to the trail head due to snow.  That was scrapped and upon recommendation from said ranger we headed out for Hannegan Pass.  We hit snow right at the trail head but it was pockets of  it along the way.  Since we were on the south facing side there was less snow then the north facing side of the valley.  Thankfully again Isaac was our Sherpa.  He carries most of the food, about half of the water/Gatorade and our gloves and the 10 essentials.  John carries the rest of the stuff.  I carry my camera. Towards the top though, Isaac really wanted to reach the pass so John and Isaac went ahead, leaving me with a pack and Job and Lona.  John and Isaac can hike so much faster than I can but they didn't make it.  They lost the trail.  We met up with them on a snow field and spent a little time sledding.  We did that at Sauk Mountain a couple of years ago so we packed black garbage bags, which are one of the 10 essentials truly, so we could sled but we didn't need them this time.  The black bags are really for an impromptu shelter as an emergency.  Luckily we haven't needed them for that, just for sledding in sticky snow.  Skagit loved it unfortunately it is just too far for him.  It's hot, he's a black dog and just soaks up the heat, and his pads get sore.  Then on the way home he was rained on hard.  We took the truck because he hates the van.  Poor dog.   Job spent a good portion of the way up and the way down trying to convince me that he at age 12 should be able to get and play M rated games.  I know how sensitive he is to things and how angry he gets.  It's just not a good idea for him yet to have and play M rated games at our house.  It's fine occasionally at his friends' houses but not on a regular basis at our house.  Besides there are plenty of other games that he can play like Madden football and Fifa soccer.

How can this view not take your breath way?

We had a few obstacles to overcome.

At the end and very much done.

We do it to ourselves.  We just can't say no sometimes and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.  John and I went running in the morning.  I really want to run a 5k and work up to an 8K or 10K.  Mabe a 1/2 marathon sometime, maybe.  Then we gathered kids from all directions and went over to our friends house for a game of ultimate football.  What a blast that is.  All the kids and parents running around the field throwing a football, getting competative.  My poor team, I just can't catch a football, there were so many turnovers due to me.  Occasionally I'll block a pass but to catch it, it's just not my thing.  Then Lona had a piano recital.  She did amazingly well.  It so nice to hear her practice.  She's such a scheduled little girl.  She comes down in the morning after breakfast and brushing her teeth and she automatically sits down at the piano and starts to play.  It don't have to nag or argue, we've just built it into our schedule.  There are other things I do have to nag about, this just isn't one of them.  I am so thankful for Lona's piano teacher, Sue Gault.  She really does challenge Lona and push her to work hard.  After the recital, John and I went out to dinner with our friends, Eric and Marie.  The day was full and busy and wonderful.  It's days like this that show me how blessed I am.  It's not full of stuff, but activities with people who I love and care about.

with his broken arm, it was fun to watch him throw too.

It always kills me when my kids say they hate reading.  I love to read and did a lot of reading through out my child hood. It gave me worlds to explore. So the other day I found Lona, who professes to hate reading, on the couch reading and reading and reading.  My heart melted. There is a whole other world to discover, book and book after book.  Twice now I've come into the house after a run and she hasn't even noticed because she's been engrossed in a book.

Wow, the stars aligned again and all the kids were gone but at different places so John and I had the night to ourselves.  I can see this happening more and more as they get older.  It's almost surreal because we are looking forward to it but in the same way we aren't.  It's just weird to think of having more and more weekends like this.  We quickly ran through all the things we could do and a date at Boulevard Park followed up with a movie at home and a run the next morning won out.  How could we not go to Boulevard Park on a beautiful June evening.  A walk, the sun, and a coffee is just so perfect.  Talking about kids, life, us, future dreams makes me reminisce the times before kids or when we just had one little baby and we would have the same kind of dates.  I guess we've come full circle.

I'm ready for summer play.  However the weather isn't ready at all.  It was supposed to be in the high 60s.  Instead this is what we got.  It rained hard for a good hour.  Lona was worried about having to playing soccer in the rain. I have no idea what Job was thinking.  He ran out in bare feet and then he stood under the grain gutters that were so full of water that they just overflowed.  He started crying about a brain freeze.  It must have been frozen because I had to tell him get out of the water and grab a towel.  Lona put on her rain boots and rain coat. Yes there are shorts under that rain coat, just very short shorts.  Then there was Isaac.  He had no interest in going out there.  He took a quick look through the window and was satisfied to hang out in the house.