Projects

 7th Grade science bridge building project.  Avery made a truss bridge that withstood all of the weight in the classroom tests.  

 He used around 700 toothpicks and 1 bottle of glue.  It was a really strong bridge.

 One of Avery's electives is called Imagine, Design and Create.  So far this year he's made a chair which he is sitting on, a scorpion, a mini golf hole and worked with clay.

 5th Grade robotics course.  Alia and her partner programed their robot to go on rollercoaster.

Hiking Mt Ellinor

We took advantage of another amazing fall day in the PNW and headed to the Olympics.  The last time we hiked Ellinor was 4 years earlier and it has remained a favorite hike.

Same spot four years earlier.  She's a powerhouse hiker!

4 years earlier- Alia age 6 and Avery age 8

Halloween 2019

Mt Rainier Birthday Trip

We enjoyed a beautiful fall weekend hiking Mt Rainier and the area for my birthday.

 We rented an R-Pod for the weekend.  

 The table was handy for a quick lunch stop on the way.

 

 We stayed at Mounthaven Resort and RV park just outside of the park.

 

 There was a resident rabbit that visited every day.

 It was nice staying in the RV and staying dry and warm at night.  We had fun playing a block game Avery brought home from math.

We hiked outside the park the next day so Maia could go on an adventure too.  There's a 4 mile round trip trail in the state forest called Glacier Peak.  The trail was across from Mt Rainier and had an amazing view of the mountain.

 

 We made it!

First Day of School 2019-2020

 7th Grade, McMurray Middle School age 13

5th Grade, Chautauqua Elementary School age 10

New Floors

 Alia and Chloe had a lot of fun decorating the sub floor before the hardwood floors went in.

 Sloths!

 Potatoes?!

 They had quite the elaborate story line.

New floors, not as fun as the art.

Mt St Helens

Labor Day weekend we decided to go explore Mt St Helens.  It was a beautiful weekend with perfect hiking weather.  We stayed at Eco Park Resort in a rustic cabin.  It was a great place to stay, close to Johnston Ridge Observatory.  This observatory has a movie of the eruption as well as personal stories from the day the mountain erupted.  It was a great place to visit to learn about Mt St Helen's.  From the observatory there are quite a few  hikes to chose from.  We decided to take Harry's Ridge trail.  It's an 8 mile hike but we only did 4 since Maia had to wait in the car.  It's a great ridge hike with views of Mt St Helens. 

 Eco Lodge had hikes from the property.  We were able to hike a creek that shows what the mudflats looked like after the eruption.  There are still many trees there that are dead because the creek keeps flooding the area.  

 Heart rock!  She loves finding rocks.

 

 A fierce game of Boggle.

 Mt St Helens from the observatory.

 

 Harry's ridge with a view of Spirit Lake.  The lake moved and rose around 100 feet after the eruption.  All of the debris formed a dam and a tunnel was made to reroute the water.  That tunnel continually fails.

 A timber company owns the land around St. Helens and they planted trees right after the eruption.  They spent 9 million dollars seeding.  They will harvest the trees in 2023.  The trees looked glitchy because they are perfectly planted in rows and all of the same height.  

 

 No knife, no problem just dump the peanut butter in your mouth.

Eco Lodge made amazing homemade meals and pies!  We had to have a piece of blackberry pie and Strawberry rhubarb each night.