School Intro

I walked Reade to his new preschool (1.4 miles up and down big hills - ::ouch::) for his introductory morning.  He had 25 minutes to tour the classroom all by himself and meet his new teachers.  I am really excited about the school and I think it will be a great couple of years for Reade.

Walking by the marina:

Our new double stroller.  Piper will soon join him.  I just picked it up at the consignment shop so I need to clean a bit of "last person sticky" off of it and buy a rain cover for it:

Reade's new Montessori home:

Does this mean anything anymore?

Making A List

My children have started making their Christmas lists.  All because I won't give Blake $15 to buy a Lego toy.  He has $3.50 in his chore cup, but why not go ask the man in red to front the remaining $11.50?

My response to anyone who wants to know what my kids need for Christmas will be, "Bandaids."  Why isn't knee skin more durable?  Bandaids and Scotch tape for art projects are draining the monthly budget.

For her:

For them:

And to add some healing from above for me:

Jesus Bandages

Grandma Is Back

Grandma is back in town.  The kids are delighted.  These pictures were from last week and I am tapping my fingers and waiting for clouds to come back. 

And Still...

There is still Reade to support in his school's principles.  Today, I celebrate Maria Montessori.  She is a badass.  Read for yourself:

Early Life

Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870, in the provincial town of Chiaravalle, Italy, to middle-class, well-educated parents. At the time that Montessori was growing up, Italy held conservative values about women's roles. From a young age, she consistently broke out of those proscribed gender limitations. After the family moved to Rome, when she was 14, Montessori attended classes at a boys' technical institute, where she further developed her aptitude for math and her interest in the sciences—particularly biology.

Facing her father's resistance but armed with her mother's support, Montessori went on to graduate with high honors from the medical school of the University of Rome in 1896. In so doing, Montessori became the first female doctor in Italy.

Push Play

Here begins our adventure with Kapka School...

I happened across Kapka's website after a month of searching for private schools in our area.  I knew it was the school for us the second I set eyes on their website.  I wasn't too excited about the fact it is a cooperative preschool, but I am willing to put in the parent time to make this work for my kids.  Kapka was a K-2nd grade for 20 years and just last year they decided to grow it into a full elementary school.  That means we will be the second wave of pioneers.  The school is small (around 40 kids total!) and here are the reasons I think this school fits with our family:

* Creativity is created, honored, and supported to the max at Kapka.

* The kids have to wear safety goggles a lot at this school.  I loved that kids wield hammers, saws, soldering irons, and other creative tools.

* Music is huge at this school and the kids cut CDs and sing all the time.

* The teachers have time to really get to know the children personally so they can teach a lesson in different ways to cater to different learning styles.

* They have ski days on Fridays during the winter.

* The curriculum changes with the children's desires, but retains the same goals for learning fundamentals.

I have never experienced community like this before.  A weekend camping trip is a fabulous way to get to know one another and the jokes and campfire singing (after the kids went to bed) will always be dear to my heart.  These are a solid bunch of admirable adults.  I look forward to working closely with other parents and treating each of the kids as if they were my own.  Besides investing in this school financially and time wise, I feel we are investing deeply in the future of knowledge and experience for our three kids.  

Kamping

School begins in September, but the school camping trips have begun for Blake.  The school rents a group campsite and we just hang out while the kids run wild.  There are about 50 people in the group and I am just loving this school's culture.

3 Things

3 Things I Did Today:

Had a doctor's appointment downtown so I popped into a cute little shop for a treat afterwards at 

Sugar Bakery & Cafe:

Put some ferns in the garden and got lazy about getting rid of the mushrooms the size of small dinner plates:

Took an embarrassing video of my husband and his new toy (Google Cardboard):

Whistler Summer RV Trip

We just got back from a great, extended weekend vacation to Whistler.  Friends are staying in condos for the week so we booked an RV site for the weekend and explored the Village at Whistler.

Me giving Andrew a break in the driver's seat during our wait through the Canadian border:

My kids being crazy at our halfway dinner break:

Everyone piling out after 9 hours of driving:

Mini golf at the RV resort.  We never did have time to play the cute course:

We did explore some of the paths:

The silt causes the water to have this light green color:

Saturday morning bike rides:

Blake rode his bike around with new camp friends every chance he got.  I was taking a video of Piper's first tricycle riding and then Blake had to show off.  You will all see how that ended.  The guy at the end of the video was trying to pack up his stuff to leave and was a bit cranky:

The kids loving the RV resort playground:

We got to catch the last few days of Crankworx.  Epic mountain bikers congregate for 10 days for a huge, West Coast mountain biking affair to remember.  These people are hard core and I found out how dangerous extreme mountain biking can be through people's stories:

Past Olympics photo ops:

Meeting up with friends:

The RV park had a shuttle that dropped you off and picked you up from the Village.  Our walk back to the shuttle after a long day of watching mountain bikers and chilling with friends:

There is that silty, green water again:

Back in the RV for the ride home:

I made Andrew stop at a Redbox so I could grab some DVDs because I couldn't stand entertaining them past the four hour mark:

I love Canada.

Fixin'

We are fixin' to feed ourselves and friends on an RV trip.  Think we got everything?

Flu Food

What does one do when they have the flu?  They attend a cooking class with tons of other people where they are tasting things and passing communal bowls around for everyone to taste.  Sorry Seattle, but I just spread some localvore germs.

I bought Andrew a cooking class for his birthday.  I wasn't the most fun date, but it was delicious food.  Everyone should check out Hipcooks.

Andrew making some handkerchief pasta.

I was not a fresh tomato person, but now I am.

Oh, the King salmon.  I stopped at the fish market yesterday and bought some for Andrew to grill up for dinner.  The instructor had this 16 lb. salmon flown in directly to her two days ago and she prepares it herself.  I am so spoiled and love how close we are to Alaska.

Dessert peaches off the grill waiting for us to adorn them with a yummy, infused yogurt topping.

Me doing the selfie while Andrew chit chats.  

Swim Lesson Week 1 - Done

A week worth of swim lessons are complete.  I am looking forward to a break from wet swimsuits, busy locker rooms, and "where are my goggles" comments.  We will be at it again next week to try and get Blake swimming independently.

Piper finally stopped wearing her swimsuits to practice (it took her a few days to realize she doesn't get to go swimming like her brothers).  Goggles are enough to keep her happy:

Reade never showcased his shy side.  He happily gabbed with other friends throughout practices:

Blake enjoyed using "those old people's pool floaties":

I feel like I burned calories watching all that swimming so it was time for a Friday treat:

Not a good idea.  That bread pudding was so scrumptious, but a bit too much for 10am:

All the kids wanted in on the picture fun: