Whew........is about all I can say. It has been a CRAZY month, but one full of very exciting news!
First on our list of Madness was Eris's Youth Fitness Fair. Fast on the heels of her selling more cookies than she ever has. Selling up to four times a week for six weeks. It was time to focus on her Girl Scout Silver Award. The second highest award they can earn. The girls are asked to find a need in the community and come up with solution.
Eris initially wanted to tackle healthier school lunches but we quickly decided that was more than we could handle. So she decided to host a community Fitness Fair for youth.
She approached a local fitness studio and asked if they would help and they jumped right on board. Eris's first task was to design a flyer. Made easier from her Computer Graphics class.
She then contacted 58 vendors of which 13 committed to the event. Then she contacted 4 sponsors who all said yes. A big task was after the flyers were printed they had to be sorted and delivered to all the local schools. 6000 flyers to be exact. She also had to aquire door prizes for the raffle and design an obstacle course. She met weekly with the owner of the studio to discuss fitness demonstrations and enlisted the help of her troop. When the local newspaper caught wind of it they asked for an interview. She was pretty thrilled about that.
Then it was the day of the event and the real work began!
Setting up nets, vendor tables, free water for everyone, hammering steaks, laying out ropes and cones.
Finally people started to arrive!
Here are some of the vendors.
Kids loved the obstacle course and tug of war!
One of the fitness demonstrations was hula hooping for exercise. I think it was the most popular!
This is Eris and the owners of the studio. The event was a huge success!! Eris learned so much in this process and she earned her award, way to go babe!!
We received some very exciting news days after her Fitness Fair. Eris has been accepted into the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics for her highschool years.
The students are selected after a rigorous application, interview and workshop. It is a Washington School of Distinction and hundreds of students apply every year for a few coveted spots. She applied during her 6th grade year and was not accepted. We can not even express in words how proud and excited we are.
It is going to a great four years!!
We celebrated our good news on St. Patrick's Day with my brother and his family.
I made this delicious Chocolate Chip Mint cake that tasted just like the ice cream. It was a big hit!
And my brother gave me this for my Birthday.
I LOVE it!!
Beren was able to visit the State Troopers with his Cub Scout Den.
Much different than the police station. I had no idea how many cameras they have watching traffic at all times.
Easter came upon us rather quickly!
One of our favorite ways to decorate eggs is using crayons to color them while they are still warm from boiling. They turn out so fabulous and vibrant. They kids have so much more control over their designs too. They love it.
Our spring has been so wonderful, the kids were able to hunt eggs outside. Then later we just had to get out some more so we broke out the bikes for our first ride of the season.
The next day the weather was still so incredible we went to one of our favorite places. The Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. It is a huge refuge that you drive through and depending on the time of year and time of day you go you can see some great indiginous and migrating species up close.
This is a Nutria. It looks a lot like a beaver but it has a skinny rat like tail.
Love this pic of the kids watching out their windows to spy critters.
Turtles sunning on a log.
Fresh air and sunshine does wonders!!
The final piece of news we have is that Beren was also accepted into a program for next year. He tested for and was accepted into the Battle Ground Gifted program. It is a lot to process but in the best possible way.
My kids are moving on and in a direction that they both will thrive in. I'm not trying to brag I am just very grateful that they will be in an environment that supports and encourages their strengths. I am grateful that they are being given an opportunity that will enhance their future. I will always be grateful for the years I have had with them on the Homeschool journey, I don't for one minute regret it. But it is time for a new chapter and their future is laid before them bright and beautiful!!
