End of Summer Update

I'm sure most of you hear tidbits about what's going on with us through the grapevine, but here's a quick update about some of the little things going on around here.

Eddie started a new position at Zappos last Monday. He's finally out of the call center and not going in to work at 5am. He is in a position in Retail Operations where he is working with getting contracts for new accounts all set up for the companies that want to sell product with Zappos. Right now he's working 9 am to 5:30, but hopefully once he's done training he can choose to go in a little earlier and get home earlier. This position could lead to a lot of other things in the future whereas in the call center there were limited options and guaranteed crazy hours. So we are adjusting to the change in schedule again, but it's a good change.

School starts here on Monday so I'll be back to subbing one day a week and tutoring the boys I've had since last September 2 days a week. I am teaching a Nevada History class for one of the homeschool groups through the end of January. It should be fun and challenging. I am dancing on Thursday afternoons and helping out with the lower level classes after mine. I have also been taking an adult Irish dance class on Saturdays with my cousin, Amy. It's fun to do a class with people my age. It only last 6 weeks though. I'll continue to dance as much as my body will tolerate, but I plan to continue helping with the other classes even if I can't dance. 

We are more officially starting to homeschool this year (although I feel like we've been learning at home all along of course). I am not going to stay we are homeschooling Kindergarten or even preschool. We are homeschooling Nate and whatever level he needs at the time. We are doing some classes this year on Tuesdays. We'll continue with art classes with my cousin, Amy, and then Nate will take a science class for 4-6 year olds and my Nevada History class with a local group. A few of his friends are taking the same classes. He is very excited.

The rest of the time we will continue learning as we have been. I am not doing any sort of curriculum this year. He's too young for that right now. We are still doing a very interest led type of homeschooling, which usually means reading lots of books, listening to audio books, playing games, counting, building with Legos, playing pretend and dressing up and whatever else strike's Nate's fancy. And of course we are trying to expose him to a lot of different things through books, conversations, field trips and just real life. Lots of free play time is a requirement since that is what kids need the most at his age.

I do have plans to try and read certain chapter books this year, and in the spring I want to raise butterflies. We are doing a nature study group twice a month where we will explore different local places depending on the weather. Who knows where this year will lead us. It is exciting!


I am 13 weeks pregnant today. So I suppose, depending on who you ask, the first trimester is behind me. It's hard to believe. Sometimes it still feels so unreal, but it's hard to deny it when I've got a baby bump already. My next doctor's appointment is on Thursday so I'll be able to hear the heartbeat again, and I'll finally get referred to the perinatologist. I went sooner when I was pregnant with Nate, but every doctor is different. The perinatologist means ultrasounds every month so I should have one with a decent picture sometime in September. We might even be in the window to find out the sex of the baby a little early. The time will fly. I just hope I can muster enough energy to do all the things I have planned.

11 weeks 5 days

The Cabin and National Parks

Our long awaited trip to Idaho was finally here. Nate had been talking about it for weeks. For a little bit we weren't sure if our trip would happen as planned with everything going on with Phantom. We were gone a total of 8 days, the longest trip we've ever taken.  We drove partway the first day stopping in Logan, Utah for the night. We then took a more scenic route through Idaho, stopping in Soda Springs (where Grandpa grew up) and driving through some beautiful farmland and forests. We stopped in Ashton for groceries as usual and made it to the cabin around 6:30 pm. I have to say Nate is an excellent traveler. He didn't cry and throw a fit once. We kept him well fed and entertained with audio books on the iPod.

Once at the cabin it rained almost the entire week. We didn't end up doing as much hiking around the cabin as we had planned, but we still had a great time being away from busy city life. We cooked on the campfire outside when we could and had a nice lunch with Pert, JC, Terry and Margie later in the week. Our last day at the cabin we had some sun so Nate got to do his boat races and float down the creek in a little canoe. We saw a few deer at our cabin including a doe a twin fawns that were running back and forth a number of times playing around. No moose this year.

We had planned a day of scenic driving through Driggs, Jackson, WY, then up through Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. What an amazing day even though it rained almost the entire time. The rain and low hanging clouds created such a beautiful scene that I don't wish for a minute that it had been clear skies. We made some stops here and there including lunch near Jenny Lake and Old Faithful. It was a long day, but we all enjoyed it. So much that we decided to add a day onto our trip and spend another day driving through Yellowstone before heading towards home. On the way home we stayed in Ogden and finished our drive the following day. Nate liked it so much he cried when we left saying he wanted to live there. Hopefully we can make a trip up there again soon. We'll have to see about next summer. I'm not too sure about making that drive with a baby next year. We will see.

I'll let the pictures fill in the blanks.

Old fire trucks in Soda Springs

By the geyser in Soda Springs

A walk in the rain our first day

Cooking a hot dog on the stick he made

The way Nate spent most of our driving time

String lakes near Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park

Nerdy outfits, but keeping dry

The peaks in cloud cover in Grand Teton National Park

 

 

 

 

Yellowstone, Day 1

Old Faithful

Old Faithful in action

Elk (I think) on the side of the road

Nate floating down the creek by our cabin

The "kids" cabin as we call it

A sign on the gate at the entrance to the property

Yellowstone Day 2 - Elk near the falls

The only yellow rocks we saw in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

We saw lots of bison in Hayden Valley. This guy was close to the parking area and kept coming closer.

Wolf at the Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone

Grizzlies at feeding time

The pictures don't truly show how amazing this trip was for our family. National parks are high on our list for vacation spots right now. Hopefully we can do more in the off season since we won't be tied to a school schedule. Great Basin National Park in Northern Nevada may be our next stop.