It's late on the eve of April Fool's, and I'm sitting here in the family room with my feet on the coffee table, wrapped in a blanket, feeling very glad tomorrow brings the return of our regularly scheduled programming.
Spring Break, with all its hustle and bustle, and time away, was wonderful... but our family thrives on routine and scheduling, and this mama is tired.
We started off with Ellie passing her first "regular" level of swim lessons! That was a huge victory for her, and the best part was that I purposefully didn't mention that Ellie had any sort of special needs. For too long, we've gone along with the labels, thinking that was the most helpful thing, but Ellie is so much more capable than people give her credit for!
We spent most of the first week of break recuperating! These kids slept in like nobody's business!
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| The joys of easy mornings |
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Ellie's learning all about seeds, and plant life cycles. She loves her seedlings, and is always excited to check on them in the morning!
I think we may have over-seeded our cucumbers!
We were fortunate to be able to go up the Coast for the second half of the break. We rented an awesome beach-side house, and spent almost a week in total absence of technology! No tv in the house, no phones, nada. IT WAS BLISS!!
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We made a point of hiking every day that we were away.
Can you believe we started at sea level? And that this small girl, who was told she might never be able to walk on her own, made her way to the top completely under her own power?!
We're working on getting Jakey to take time to smell the roses, and not just zoom through life. Ellie takes her time, taking everything in, and hollered at the boys to come back up the hill to check out her neat find of a heart-shaped stump.
We walked the beach several times a day, looking at the sea life, checking out cool rocks, and living the life. Ellie used to struggle with walking on sand, and especially with walking on uneven rocks. Not this time!! She was a super star!
Jakob's favourite activity, other than drawing and reading, was "walk only on the logs". I didn't realize how much of a challenge it would be, or how fun it could be! We played videogame-style, alternating between being Player 1 and Player 2, switching who led as we went. It was awesome, and I already miss it so much!
Our second "major" hike was Soames Hill in Gibsons. It's something like 450 ft in elevation gain, over a short distance, which meant LOTS of stairs. In September, our goal was for Ellie to be able to walk up and down stairs using both legs. She has worked tirelessly at this, and everyone who has been to our house has undoubtedly heard me say "use both legs!", or "go back down and come back using both legs". Her left side has always been weak, but you never would have been able to tell based on how she tackled Soames!! She climbed, and climbed, and could have kept going, except we were as high as you could get. She's really something incredible.
We learned all about sea creatures at the Marine Science Centre in Gibsons Public Market!
Ellie was especially fascinated by the spotted prawn tank, where four prawns were fighting over the remains of a sea anemone, which may or may not have died of natural causes...
That smile. the one when she's learning and loving it, that makes homeschooling 1000% worthwhile
Check our those balancing skills! Seriously, we worked on balance beam abilities for YEARS. This ramp is on a decline, headed out to the wharf. I'm so excited she's made all this progress, maybe this will be the year of the bicycle!!
Ellie picked a book out for the trip on drawing fairies and mermaids. She brought along a little notebook, and happily drew fairy after fairy. Her drawing skills are so cute, they make me giggle! It's amazing how low muscle tone affects everything, right down to the tips of your fingers. That she did these all on her own (ie, not watching me make the shape, and then copying) was super impressive.
We all feel so much more connected, both as a family, and to nature. Have you checked out Healthy By Nature? My friend Jennie has spearheaded an awesome campaign to get people outside, and back in nature. Follow her on Instagram: @healthybynatur for ideas on how to get outside more often!
