Thursday, June 26, 2008

Nice article...

Thought I'd pass this along!
http://blog.anamazingmind.com/2008/05/sucky-schools-how-to-repair-our.html

Not something new for the unschoolers, but a well written, solid and long article!


I need to update this all soon! Exciting stuff happening for us right now that is eating time and energy! Lots of outdoor enjoyment too! T finally got on the bike two weeks ago ( his 7th birthday is in two weeks!) It has been a little bit slower for him because of large motor issues. Excitingly though, he took off like he has been doing it forever. We biked out to the lake ( maybe 6 km?) twice this weekend all on trails and he went full out both times. We had to keep ourselves in " turbo" the whole time to keep up! I even went for a swim. I was the only one in as the spring was so chilly and the lake is glacier fed. It was sooooo cold!
Our littlest guy is finally enrolled in the same homelearning program as number 1 .... My baby is starting " kindergarten"!!! When we discussed that , as homelearners, we can learn about anything we wish to, he happily stated that he would "like to learn about BUTTS!... Butts and garbage!!!!" Should be an interesting year!
I also had a chance to help assist a friend who is a photographer for a wedding on the weekend... it was my first time " working" since the boys were born. craziness! I felt a little like a lump, or a little sheep following her around... in a seemingly less than helpful way. It was fun though and really nice to see the intimate process of being a photographer. She asked me if I would help again and I am so happy to have a change in pace!
There is the mini update... There is bigger better stuff happening... but again, I need to wait for the appropriate time to share the gossip! ( and no... I'm not pregnant!!)

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Into the swing of things!

Finally back to riding a lot again! The set up this year is a trail a bike for each of the boys ( one on each adult bike) .... it's really great! A little tricky to get used to and I miss the storage space of towing the trailer. I tow the littler guy who doesn't help out with the pedaling and is a little bit unstable and chatty on the bike. We did a 25 km ride this afternoon down some logging roads to the hydro main. It was so beautiful at the location but it was getting late enough that we needed to head back for dinner. The only complaint is that drivers are not courteous at all on the dirt road. I ride as much to the side as I can but the shoulder is rocky and loose.... with a kid on the back it isn't safe to go into it because it just slips out under me too badly. Anyways... I stay on my side of the road in the furthest packed down tire mark on the road because it is packed down nicely and is much easier to stay straight and strong on. The road is bare on the Sunday other than a dozen cars or so along the whole trip... I figure they can slightly slow down and go around. Well instead it makes people hostile... even though a bike is legally allowed to use the road. Some guy took a run even closer at me in my lane going about 80km an hour... with a preschooler on the back... rocks blasting up at us and a dust cloud to choke through for 2 blocks behind it. Believe me I am trying not to drop the f bomb right now retelling the story. People are so inconsiderate. It is so tricky because we don't have any bike trails where we live. We are in a small village about 10 km from the next center and nearest grocery store. It really sucks that we don't have a safe place for families to ride or for people to commute. No choice but to bust out the car... and I am sure we are all feeling the pain of that one right now. It is a huge thing on my mind right now... a big issue for me for the past few years, but we live in a big box world right? Nobody sees the need up here for proper community planning... grrrr....

Here's a pick from early spring this year... a bike to the local lake! Fun this time of year because the road isn't busy and drunk people aren't driving on it! From here on in we bushwhack it to the lake to avoid the road as much as possible.