Memorial Day Weekend in Homer, AK

We took a quick trip to Homer, AK over Memorial Day Weekend. It was wet, dreary, and chilly for the majority of our time there, but we still managed to squeeze in some fun!

Homer is on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. It's about a 4ish drive from our house with the most amazing views along the way! And miraculously, there was a small town {Soldotna} about half-way there {very unheard of for Alaskan road trips!} where we could stop for lunch & a bathroom break. And of course there was no signal for most of the drive, but we were prepared with audio books!

The first pic below is of us walking on the spit. Maybe you're like and have never heard of a spit before?! Here's the definition of a spit according to dear old Google: "narrow coastal land formation that is tied to the coast at one end." It's basically a long {4.5 miles!}, skinny strip of land that juts out into the Kachemak Bay. There are lots of little gift shops, restaurants, and ice cream shops {along with the Homer Boat Harbor} along the spit that we enjoyed checking out.

{the best part of trips is the undivided time together}

{Two Sisters Bakery in Homer gets a big thumbs up from us!}

{enjoying ice cream on the spit}

{Shelby is sporting her new Homer hat in this photo as well as her "blind date" with two books! I love book stores that do these, but this one was especially fun! The book store receives advanced reader copies that they can't sell, so they include them in the "blind dates" and customers can "purchase" them by donating to a local charity..win, win!}

{We love an Airbnb with a puzzle!}

{Mount Iliamna in Homer, AK..we finally saw beautiful blue skies on our drive home!}

Last Day of School 2024

On May 22nd, we had our last day of school {and obligatory last day of school photos!}. After dropping Shelby off at school that morning, I attended her end of the year awards ceremony where she was recognized as the Outstanding Scholar of the Katmai 7th grade team at her school.

And because I love a good comparison shot, here is a side-by-side of the first day & last day!

{this photo of all three of them was actually taken at the end of the day because Hadley & Brady were both still in bed when I left to take Shelby to school/attend the awards ceremony..perks of homeschool!}

This was a big school year for our family--our fist middle school experience, the first time homeschooling two kids, and the last year of elementary school for Hadley. It was a great year of growth in 2nd, 5th, and 7th grades! Shelby was in advanced orchestra along with continuing in private piano lessons & was on the school team for cross country as well as basketball. Hadley & Brady both took ice skating classes; Hadley took guitar lessons as well as gymnastics; and Brady played basketball, indoor soccer, and is looking forward to his first season of outdoor soccer later this summer!

{we had to pick up Shelby from school on her last day to get to a piano lesson, but first we swung by the library for our first official library run of the summer!}

Summer, we are ready for you!!!

Book Post #4 of 2024!

This is such a fun round-up of books! I genuinely really, really enjoyed each of these!

Read-Alouds with the Kids
We immediately re-read Paddington together as a family read-aloud after our trip to London, and it did not disappoint! We even watched the movie during one of our Friday movie nights, too. I think Brady was too young to remember when we read this book aloud for the first time, so that made it all the more fun to re-visit it! 

Big Foot and Little Foot was a part of our homeschool curriculum with BraveWriter, and we really enjoyed it! It's the first in a series. 

Glitch was a recommendation from Read-Aloud Revival, and it was different from anything else we've ever read! It sparked lots of conversations {and a couple of deep-dives!} about important historical events. Highly recommend!

My Reads
I felt like I hit the jackpot getting my hands on a library copy on Funny Story and Just for the Summer so soon after their release dates! Both of these were fun, summery reads. If you like historical fiction, I would definitely recommend Frozen River. I really enjoyed it, and I don't think I've ever read a book set in that time period before.

The Good Part and Expiration Dates both had a little bit of magical realism in them, which sometimes annoys me as a reader..but I still really enjoyed these two books! 

When I put Savannah Guthrie's book on hold at the library, I thought it was a memoir. It definitely wasn't a memoir, but moreso a collection of faith-based essays. Savannah boldly & bravely shared her faith, and it was so fun to get to know the heart of someone I've seen on television for years. It was an easy read, but also thought-provoking at the same time. 


Looking forward to lots of fun, summery reads in the months ahead!

April 2024

April has come & gone, and May is now in full swing! Before we know we'll be celebrating the last day of school & kicking off our summer! But first, here's a quick peek back at our April. Highlights of the month were celebrating the end of Brady's first indoor soccer season with Derek coaching, Derek's internal medicine conference in Boston, Shelby's first piano guild {performing in front of a judge where she received the highest marks possible!}, Shelby's all-city orchestra concert {she received the honor of being seated as the first chair}, the culmination of Hadley & Brady's spring ice skating session, and the arrival of warmer weather & longer days! We were delighted to see the temperatures hit 50 degrees. All of the snow in our yard finally melted & we were able to lay fresh mulch, which really made it feel like spring had arrived! Today's current sunrise time was 5:29am, and the sun won't set until 10:22pm. This warmth & light came not a moment too soon!

The first three pictures below are from the All-City Orchestra concert. Shelby worked really hard to prepare for the concert, and it was so fun to see it all come together! 

{The Red Raptors' team picture at their end-of-season party!}

{watching the girls knit & crochet together never gets old}

We hiked down to the Eagle River via the trail in our neighborhood one weekend afternoon & made a spontaneous fire, and the kids loved every second of it!

{helping Derek prep dinner}

{this was the first day it felt "warm" enough to break out the sidewalk chalk, and we were all very excited about it!}

{shenanigans during Shelby's weekly piano lesson}

{we got a new atlas with the kids' homeschool allotment, and it was a big hit with Brady!}

{There was a random Friday with no school while Derek was out of town at a medical conference, so we were thrilled that the Arts & Crafts Center on base was hosting a fun & free event! We got to paint ceramic pots & plant a succulent in them to bring home}

{never too old for new play-doh!}

{Hadley on Saturday morning pancake duty while Derek was out of town}

{Reading at the library together while Hadley was meeting with the Eagle River Spinners}

{nothing better than puzzling & a good read-aloud}

{evening walk views...it never gets old}

{lots of ice still on Mirror Lake}

{hat day at school during Spirit Week}

{baking snickerdoodles!}

Lots of fun ahead in May!