T - two weeks

Well, summer vacation is winding up for us. I was a little bored and thinking we should "do something" today, but since we will be out of town for the 4th most of next week, it would be silly to start anything now. We're still making progress on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, so every time I start feeling schoolish I'll start reading them another chapter. We've just finished chapter 10, 179 pages, which I think is a record for us. The only other chapter book we've ever actually finished was Akimbo and the Elephants and that was only 68 pages. The kids will still almost always say "no" when I ask if they want me to read some of it, but Cameron is almost always enthralled when I start reading anyway.

The main reason I am pushing so hard to finish this book though is that I, personally, want to reread them all before the next one comes out - ok, before I read the next one; there is no way I'll read them all before July 21st, lol. I'm not going to force them to sit through 5,000 pages in the next couple months but I really want to reread the series anyway. And I'm not one of those who can simultaneously read two books, especially two that are in the same series, so we must finish the first Harry Potter and we must finish it in a timely manner. There are only 17 chapters total though so we should be finished with it in a week.

But there *is* life beyond Harry Potter, though just barely, so in other news...

My mom's wedding was very nice. She was so happy. :) My brother and his wife flew out from Phoenix to be here and that made it even more special. My sister wasn't able to get a reasonably priced flight from the East Coast on such short notice and I don't know what the stories on his children are, but none of them were able to be here. Anyway, Cassia was the most adorable flower girl ever and Cameron was the cutest ring bearer ever. (I will share pictures as soon as I get them!) I was the Matron of Honor, my mom's next door neighbor (who has been a great friend to her and to her fiance in the time that he's been here) was the Best Man, and my brother gave the Bride away. My DH was video taping the affair for those who could not be here, his brother was taking still photographs and, get this, my SIL (DH's brother's wife) was officiating. She got an internet ministry ordainment (is that a word?) several years ago so that she could officiate at some friends' vow renewal but has never done a "real" ceremony. She did a beautiful job. She and I spent the rest of the night drinking quite a bit of wine though since it was pretty surreal for us both, lol. It was actually a great night. The wedding party came over here after the ceremony for dinner and then after the happy couple left for their hotel room (*shudder*) we played Guitar Hero with my brother, his wife, DH's brother, and his wife until the wee hours of the night. The kids didn't even go to bed until almost 10:00!

The Newlyweds are now on their way to Michigan to start their new life. I am really going to miss having my mom over every week for Sunday night dinner, but I am extraordinarily thankful that my children got this past year and a half to get to know her. Before that, when she was living in Los Angeles, we would only see her for an hour or two once or twice a year. She was a stranger to the kids. Now, she is someone special to them and hopefully they will hold that in their hearts even when she is far away and we are back to only seeing her once or twice a year.

Monday we went to a new park day at a local swimming lagoon. At first, I didn't see the homeschool group so we were just hanging out by ourselves but eventually I saw someone that I recognized and we moved over with them. The beach was so nice. They had the swimming area roped off at the 4-ft level so it was just perfect for my little non-swimmers. We spent all day there and no one drowned, so that was good. ;) Sadly, we are starting Monday gymnastics classes in two weeks so we won't be able to go after next week, but I am glad that we will have been able to go twice. I got to know several people, that I have only met once or twice, a little better.

Tuesday we didn't do much of anything. We watched and read some Harry Potter. We said goodbye to Grammie and Grandpa C. We waited around for our new dryer to be delivered - the old one gave up the ghost on Saturday. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I was getting a little bored after last week's activity-o-rama but we need to appreciate these last two weeks of downtime before I crack the whip for school the second week of July. No unschooling for this family. Not yet. It just doesn't feel right to me. I will re-evaluate my choices next year, maybe, but I think I feel good in my convictions at this point... now I just need my children to agree, lol.