On the Eve of Winter

 On the eve of winter, the world feels askew. 

Surely Mary felt: 

the wrong birth, the wrong time, the wrong place, the wrong world.

In her dark times, she was embraced by few.

 In our dark times, we walk Advent together.

We laugh.

 We dance.

 We embrace.

We walk. 

Seeking bravery,

and boldness.

We trust for a guiding light in these dark days.

Summer into Fall

The things we do to motivate play.

Shells, not other stuff....

Alsea River

Always, lots of soccer. 

Portland Fall Classic

July 2017

 July began in Astoria for a work project for the Mister.

We rented beach bikes in Cannon Beach.

 Warrenton's 4th of July parade was small town fun.

 They always love this chess set at the Fort Stevens KOA.

  Then it was back to Cal-Poly for EPIC.

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A family member paid for one student and the college offered an out of state scholarship for another student. We stayed in tiny and quiet Santa Margarita which was perfect for us and reasonably priced.

He had a blast! She had a good time, and took the time to learn about college. We came away very impressed by Cal-Poly's "Learn by Doing" motto. This focus is lived out all over campus as students have access to labs and projects 24/7. Every college student we met and interacted with was enthusiastic about the education they are receiving; we were specifically asking about the engineering school. That said, the food options are not as great as in Corvallis (if you have dietary needs), and SLO the town, is not quite as laid back as Corvallis, but still a very nice area!!!

 In late July, she turned 14! Wow!

 Then we headed to Boston for work training. 

Here they are on the water taxi to downtown from the airport.

 We raced through the Freedom Trail Walk in 3 hours.

It was interesting, but not as special to us as Philly.

The rushing part probably didn't help.

Boston overall is clean, but very EXPENSIVE. 

Thank goodness for hotel reward nights!

Our favorite food in Boston was found in Little Italy:  

Ernesto's: where each slice of NY style pizza can feed two people, and

Maria's Pastry (though we also tried Mike's which was good!)

 Then while I studied, they adventured all week at:

The Groton Submarine Museum

Mystic Seaport

Yale Peabody Museum

Dinosaur State Park, CT

The Connecticut Science Center

W1AW, Newington, CT

 They took more pictures on my camera of rocks than I care to process.

He fell in love with the Mystic library. Like over the top in love. He's decided he will be an electrical or nuclear engineer, move to Mystic, and volunteer at the library. I think it's quite possible. He cried when we had to leave; it was moving.

On our final weekend, we transitioned to Onset, MA. Onset is a darling town very near the Cape without the mind-blowing prices. A lovely little village on the water, our Onset lodging was 1 block to the beach. The highlight of the weekend was the Shining Sea Bike Trail. We biked from Falmouth to Woods Hole, parked our bikes, and explored the village. It was very reasonable to rent bikes for the day, and they came with locks, storage, and helmets. Super fun!

We finally headed back to Boston to fly home (to 105 degrees). Before doing so, we visited Harvard, with everyone else in the world. It was my turn to take hundreds of photos at the Peabody Museum. We then scooted over to the MIT Museum, which disappointed us a bit, but was still interesting. July was busy!

June: Graduations and Grade Reports

We wrapped up May (full of birthdays) by enjoying spring flowers and rhubarb pie, but with weather that kept some swathed.

With June's arrival, we now have a high schooler in the house, and a middle school mover and shaker.

When school let out, we headed south for Monterey, CA.

 The DMP and the pedal boats were on the desired list.

 We drove the 17 mile Pebble Beach Drive with intermittent stops.

While the Monterey Peninsula can be quite expensive, it doesn't have to be for the budget minded. We skipped the aquarium and counted 21 seals in the bay as well as many otters, explored the sandy spaces, little cove caves, and hung around in Carmel.

We stayed at the Monterey Hostel in a brand new private room with private bath (which sleeps 5 in a queen, twin, and bunk bed) and enjoyed the lovely common rooms and access to a kitchen. The hostel was only two blocks from Cannery Row.

In Carmel, we splurged for lunch at Forge in the Forest and it was good, even if quite warm in the garden. If we ever go back, I think I'd try the Tuck Box.

Then we wandered Point Lobos State Park for a few hours before heading south to Cambria, CA and CalPoly (in San Louis Obispo) for a much anticipated graduation.

We are so proud of him and excited to watch what he's up to at a space propulsion company in CA.

 It was great to experience this campus, and hang out with family in Cambria.

It was a fast five days, but we hung with super cool people!

We also had our first In-N-Out Burger experience. Love how cheaply one can feed a family and the food was tasty!

As June heats up, we are still learning and trying to stay cool. She's participating in a Learn to Row weekend with her father. She's slowly, this spring, been moving from the coxswain's seat to a rower's seat. I spend my time praying about the river, and reminding myself not to let fear dictate decisions and experiences.

Brother and I spent yesterday helping the LBCC Space Exploration Club launch one of their solar eclipse payload balloons, and then we all took in a Timbers U23 game in Salem. The ticket prices are super!

They both have camps this week. He on circuit boards and she on smart cars and robotics. I'm enrolled in an educators drone training class. Here's to keeping up with summer!

Blessings,
Kim