Saturday, January 24, 2015

Been a Long Time Since I Wrote this Blog


Time really got away from me as I had not realized how long it has been since I updated this blog.   Upon finishing Camp NaNo I became more obsessed with writing and editing novels than blogging.  Lots of things have happened with the boys and their lives which has also pulled me away.  I will provide a few bullet points from spring through summer.
 
We made a trip to Grand Rapids to check out GVSU and see the uncle.
 
 
Walked over to the fishladder and to the GVSU Graduate buildings.  Fox and I also did a tour of the undergraduate campus.  Later in the day we checked out the Gerald Ford Museum.  Seems there was a little dissention amongst the cabinet! 
 
 
Since Ben and Ethan are not going on the school trip to Washington DC we did a trip on our own hitting the Point before the holiday weekend when it really starts to get busy.  This was Ethan's introduction to roller coasters and he did awesome.  We rode 10 coasters in under five hours!  Even got our girl to come along for a day of fun.
 
 
Did a lot of gardening this spring/summer.  Good therapy.
 
 
You never know who or what you'll come across in the garden.
 
 
Ethan did middle school track.  Fox started high school track but dropped out mid-season.  He just wasn't getting the times he wanted and was over it in general.  He worked at Honeyflow in the spring doing pruning and whatever else was needed.  Ben worked his first season as well.  Next year Ethan can be part of the crew too.  In addition to track Ethan also played rec baseball again.  Ben did rec soccer as well.
 
 
 

Ethan took 4th Place at the Middle School State Forensics tournament at Wayne State University.  He also got to go to Exploration Days for the first time on the Michigan State University Campus.

Fox received his ACT scores - he got a 31 overall which is awesome!  He also attended the Northwood University LAB Free-Enterprise Camp.


Benjamin attended the Engineering Camp at Lake Superior State University this summer.  They are still doing an amazing job there and many of the same people are involved.  Fox came with me to pick Ben up and the counselor recognized him!  Of course you don't meet many people named Fox.

Ben had a good time at camp but still isn't sure about what he wants to pursue as a career yet.  He has toured the Ed-Tech building for our district and is possibly interested in computer hardware or small engines.  However the only other interests he dabbles in outside of school and soccer is video games!! 

No one participated in the 4H Fair this summer.  It was nice to have a break and I tackled a major renovation project in the house.

 
That pretty much takes us up until Fall 2014.  Fox is a Senior this year and we've done many college visits and had discussions about early enrollment.  More updates in the next post.  Benjamin is a high school Freshmen and seems to be adjusting well to the new routine, keeping his grades up, and staying out of trouble.  He played soccer for school this year on the JV team.  Ethan ended up going in for seated classes in the middle school for 8th grade but he did try an online class, German IA.