March 14, 2012  5:51 p.m.

Being away from the internet pretty much means I have not been keeping up on all my friends’ blogs very well.  I apologize, everyone.  I will try to do better.  It’s just that when I check my Google Reader and find that there are 148 new unread blog posts, well, I feel overwhelmed and just skip through many of them.

But I wanted to share a couple of our recent motorhome adventures.  We are trying to stick to the one month plan, meaning that we try to do a weekend camping trip once a month during this pleasant time of the year.  One weekend in January, we went to Seasons in the Sun RV Resort, just for one night, to practice RVing.  We actually got to swim in the outdoor pool in January.  How ‘bout that?

When driving a Bluebird down the highway, it is best to have actual bluebirds looking out the windshield.  Courtesy of Sweet Girl, of course!

Enjoying a swim … in January??

Chips, here, is experimenting with his waterproof video camera from his grandfather.

And lots of bike riding to be done as well.

It did turn out, however, that this trip was way too short.  We barely got there and it seemed it was time to return home.  Seasons in the Sun was a nice enough place, but not nearly so nice as the place we would go next. 

So the next trip we made to The Great Outdoors, also in Titusville, for three nights.  What a place!  This place had everything: a nature museum, nature trails, miles of roads to bike, Olympic size pool, fitness center, tennis courts, restaurants, and plenty of nice friendly people, mostly snowbirds at this time of the year.

Our “next door neighbors” had a little white dog that Chips and Sweet Girl fell in love with.  I guess because they missed our own dog, Beau, who can’t really travel with us in the motorhome due to his mobility and incontinence issues.  

This time, Breezy Point Mom was brave enough to get in the pool, too.

We didn’t bring a tow vehicle, so we biked everywhere, night and day.  That was a lot of fun.

I guess the surprising-est thing about this trip was that we didn’t visit this property unnoticed.  You see, our RV is an old Bluebird Wanderlodge, and every one is unique.  So as soon as our motorhome arrived on the premises, a couple in a golf cart “recognized” us and followed us all the way to our campsite.  They even assisted us with backing into the site and straightening out (still a challenge for Self-Reliant Man and me).  Anyway, they introduced themselves to us, and told us that we had the motorhome that was formerly owned by the same couple who bought their older motorhome from them (did you get that?)  We also met several other couples who also have Bluebirds.  They all belong to an active online network of Wanderlodge owners who help one another out with technical problems, etc.  This is because the Wanderlodge division of Bluebird went out of business a couple years ago (they still make school buses) so on some level we are “on our own”.  It was really neat to have so many friendly folks approach us and get to know us.

As we are getting over the flu right now (I am still only at about 75% of my normal self) I sure hope we are ready for this coming weekend, as we plan to go back to The Great Outdoors for our March visit!

March 13, 2012 3:50 p.m.

My lifestyle has changed.  It has been a far busier year with my 4th and 7th graders, and I have not enjoyed the same amount of access to the internet that I used to.  I was trying to stay off the internet before 9 a.m. and after 8 p.m., but as a result I haven’t had much opportunity to write anything meaningful.  Chips is using the computer much more, and so is Self-Reliant Man, so I find it is harder for me to blog anymore.  It took today, a day of Chips and I having the flu, for me to slow down enough and stay home from outside activities.  After feeling like a dog turd all night and all morning, I am finally coming to myself again.  So I have some rare time to write.  The problem is figuring out what is most important to write about, since so much water has gone under the bridge in the past month. 

I will just thumb through my recent photograph to refresh my memory.  But first, a word about homeschooling.  We have made a revolutionary decision regarding our curriculum.  I am very interested in enrolling Chips in The Potter’s School for much of his high school, maybe even in the Classical Track.  But rather than discover during the Freshman year that it falls short of our expectations, I would like to determine this sooner.  So, Chips will not be using Calvert for Eighth Grade.  We will enroll him in the Potter’s School for eighth grade to see how it goes before diving in for high school.  Chips can’t wait.  After using Calvert his entire life, he is ready for a change.  He also loves the idea of using a USB headset and attending live online classes. 

So here is the plan right now.  We anticipate Chips to finish 7th grade by the end of the calendar year.  Then he will have 8-9 months of an interlude during which we will have him take a few courses.  Maybe Calvert 8th grade math, Florida Virtual School courses in keyboarding and Spanish, and the summer school Study Skills course offered by the Potter’s School.  He can also use that time to concentrate more on his violin practice.  Then, come September 2013, he can begin the 8th grade at the Potter’s School.

Sweet Girl is thriving in Calvert’s Fourth Grade and we will continue on with Calvert for her.  Having said that, I have to add that there has been a big step change in the workload for math, when compared with third grade.  It has been somewhat painful for her and for me, and not every day goes smoothly where math is concerned.  It is not that she can’t do the math, it is just that the assignments call for a level of self-discipline and organization that has been hard for her to muster.  Keeping the writing orderly, the steps in logical order, and just keeping her mind on what she is doing and where she is in the solution process hasn’t always been easy.  I am hoping that she grows into it.  She is doing remarkably well at the “building blocks” of math; for example, she can complete a 100 multiplication fact sheet in 2 minutes and 45 seconds with no errors.  It is just applying her knowledge to completing the assignment that is hard.

Here is a set of random images from the past month or so.

Chips made a sugar cube pyramid for one of his art lessons.

Sweet Girl studied in her PJs this day.  A science experiment for finding the volume of objects by measuring water displacement.

Chips is sporting the tuxedo shirt he received from his grandfather.  Perfect for violin competitions.

Here he drew a picture of the motorhome with Etch A Sketch. 

Sweet Girl does an experiment in magnetism.

And we all bicycled to our little post office to mail an important package.  Can’t get much greener than that.

More to come…