Back to "Normal"

We are now in our second week of school, and pretty much back to normal! Just about all of our 'normal' activities are beginning within the next couple of weeks.

Lyceum starts next Friday! We're all excited about it. Mom's leading her two usual choirs, but she didn't anticipate how popular the younger choir would be this year. Lyceum Singers (Jr. High-High School) has 31 kids, but Lyceum Choir (Preschool-6th) has... *dramatic pause* 50 kids. Yes, 50. 50 crazy homeschoolers between the ages of 4 and 12... is my mother ambitious or what?

Drama parts will be announced the first day of Lyceum; auditions were a couple weeks. I'm the only Peterson doing Drama this semester! Knut opted for helping with a glorpe-making class instead, and Cecily is taking choir. Everyone else is too young.

Cecily and Thor are joining First Lego League this year! They're forming a new team- VX3- with younger siblings of Knut's team members. You'll have to ask them what their team's name stands for. ;) In the meantime, Knut's team- Robo Raiders- is working extremely hard and getting better all the time!

Robo Raiders and VX3 having completed a team-building activity: they had to line up, in age order, on this... wooden thing... on the playground. All of them had to be on the wood. 

Bright Lights will be starting in a week and a day. Papa and Grandpa are also talking about starting Light Shop, which is a boys' version of Bright Lights. It would meet at the same time as Bright Lights, but would probably be over at Shady Oaks while Bright Lights met here.

This Friday, I get to head to Canada with Grandpa and Grandma Davis! (They certainly like "kidnapping" random children from our family...) We'll be there for a family reunion over Labor Day Weekend. I shall post pictures upon my return! In the meantime,

Family Insanity

Everyone is home except for Cecily and Thor. We left them in Montana. On purpose. 

(They're staying with Grandpa and Grandma Peterson for a few more weeks until Grandpa and Grandma Davis pass through there and bring them back home.) 

I always hear people complain about how rotten long car trips are, but ours always turn out to be quite interesting! With so many comedians in the family, car rides are never boring. A small sampling of what was going on in the ~38 hours of driving:

Knut: (talking about a picture on an advertisement) It was either a flame thrower, a bazooka, or a big thing of mosquito repellent.

Grandpa (over the walkie-talkie): I saw a sign that says one mile!
Papa: your reading skills are improving!

Grandpa: *says something unintelligible over the walkie-talkie*
Knut: What was that? We did not hear you because we were carrying on a ginormously stimulating conversation. What did you say?
Grandpa: I keep seeing arrows; there must be Indians around!
Knut: *lets out war whoop*

Knut: We didn’t hear you because we were carrying on a ginormously stimulating, morale-raising and character-building conversation.

Knut: Sylvia and I were having a staring contest and I said, “Look into my eyes and you will meet oblivion! Then I will drag you to my hole and have a little feast… of CHOCOLATE!!! … am I squishing something?

Knut: SQUIRREL!!!!!!
Sylvia: That’s Rosemary!!!!
Knut: I'm not looking at Rosemary! I'm staring way out there at that squirrel that is hopping up and down on a tree branch chewing on a nut.

Knut: It’s mostly just three things: comedy and insanity.

Knut: Hey Pop, wouldn’t it be neat to go sledding off a cliff in a canoe??

Papa: …feed the little chipmunk-squirrel-thingies... Squunks…

Rosemary: Goodbye; don’t call back!

Gloria (singing): Oh, you can’t get to heaven on a roll of duct tape! ‘Cause there’s no such thing as flying duct tape! Oh, you can’t get to heaven on a roll of duct tape, ‘cause there’s no such thing as flying duct tape!

Rosemary *imitating Gloria*: Oh, you can’t get to heaven, ha ha ha!

Other bits of insanity not from the car trip:

Grandma: So it’s 1 to 1 now! We’ve won one game, and Sylvia’s won one game.
Mom: And I've lost all three!

Knut: Pop, where are the land mines? I couldn’t find any.
Papa: Oh, they’re in the shop on the third shelf next to the grenades and the bazookas.

Thor: Oh, they won’t damage anything; just make his car fly…


(While feeding chipmunks...)

Papa: Here, Bjorn, you can feed me!
Cecily: But you’re not tiny and cute!

Camping

I thought I had already posted this, but then found it in the drafts folder. :P Better late than never, right?

We went on a two-night camping trip in the Beartooth Mountains this week! It was amazing... except for a few parts. ;)

Because of a fire ban, we were unable to light a campfire... that, combined with below-freezing temperatures and lots of rain, made for one coolllld morning! It was made worse by the fact that the large tent leaked and the small tent collapsed in the rain. 

It was an adventure! 

As always, we went geocaching... 

Isn't he so cute?? :D

Cecily and Gloria

Another geocache 

Papa by yet another geocache...

Snow in July!

 

Chipmunk tame enough to eat out of Bjorn's hand!

Thor feeding a chipmunk

More snow...

I got Papa quite nicely with this one. ^_^

Later that day, we hiked up to a most beautiful waterfall! Since we forgot to bring a baby backpack, I tied Rosemary to my back with a couple extra sweatshirts. It worked quite well! :)

The same waterfall, as seen from the road. 

Back in the tent that evening, as the rain poured down...

The next morning, making a vain attempt at staying warm...

Grandma making breakfast

Gloria and Rosemary eating breakfast

Gloria and Bjorn trying to get warm 

Off for another hike past the lake

My extraordinarily beautiful mother

Don't ask me what this car was doing 'way out in the woods, nor why everyone wanted a picture in it, but there you go! 

Grandpa and Grandma 

Taking a rest  

Scenery:

*Photos by Grandma, Papa, Grandpa, and Sylvia. Most taken with Papa's iPhone.