Hooray!

Inspection objection deadline: past!

8/30 progress report

28 minutes until our twice-extended inspection objection deadline passes.  At this point it's basically insignificant since we've already executed resolution to the objections, but I'll still feel better when it's passed.

What to do with ourselves now?  The moment is not really right to move to the coast.  That will probably be in spring.  We'd love to get ourselves a gracefully aging (read cheap) RV to bridge the gap until we find our boat.  But what about winter in Colorado?  Where can we park ourselves, and how do we not freeze?

We'll continue trying to figure it all out...

April and the girls kicked butt for our first full school week.  We decided to go ahead and throw Rosetta Stone Spanish into the mix, because math, biology, history, handwriting, spelling, grammar, composition, and ancient literature just isn't a sufficient course-load for a kindergartener. 

8/30 schoolwork

Audrey
Both

8/29 progress report

We and our buyers executed the Inspection Objection Resolution today, so it looks like we're really on track to do this thing.  Crazy!

I did a bit of research on renewing our passports and getting the girls their first ones.

travel.state.gov/passport/renew/renew_833.html
travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html

8/29 homeschooling

Audrey
Lorelei

8/28 progress

We read a little for our remote first aid class.

I did a bit of research on classes for USCG Captains' licensing, which could lead to an income steam from deliveries and charters. 

We've also been researching Rosetta Stone language courses for the girls and ourselves.  It's a really cool program, and of course Audrey's at her prime age for learning languages.  I'm thinking we might just have to do it.

8/28 schoolwork

Audrey
Lorelei

8/27 progress report

I got our remote first aid book today, so we'll get started on reading that tonight.  The course is just a couple weeks off now.  It'll be in Denver for 4 hours on a Tuesday and Thursday evening and on the following Saturday from 8 to 5.

There's lots more ready to be done now:  We have a house full of stuff to sell, give away, and/or store as we begin to downsize in earnest.  We need to get the ball rolling on passports, and begin to research travel and work visas and quarantine issues. Work visas will require lots of concrete documentation of work history.  We need to start to get more specific about cruising finances and sustainability.  I need to learn lots more about system maintenance and repair -- fiberglass, sails, through-hulls, diesel, rigging electronics, etc., etc..

8/27 schoolwork

Audrey

  • Math: Singapore KB, 12.4 (pp. 25-26)
  • History: Family history project -- interviewing GranMiri, Papa, Mom, Dad
  • Reading aloud: 
    • Mummies in the Morning, Chapters 6, 7 (hieroglyphs)
    • D'aulaires' Greek myths on Orpheus and Euridice, pp 102-108
Lorelei
  • Reading aloud: 
    • Little House on Rocky Ridge  "Coming Home"
    • Noni the Pony
both
  • Science: 
    • added sea monkey eggs to habitat
    • observed earthworms from last night's downpour
  • Yoga class at Shoshoni

Summer Retrospective (by April)

Is the summer over already?! It has just whizzed by us, and there is still so much I wanted to pack in that I didn't. Not that we haven't already made the most of summer, as evidenced by my total neglect of my share of the blogging.

We spent lots of time at the pool, both in swimming lessons (both girls are now swimming short distances independently) and at the local outdoor pools just splashing around. Oh- and the pièce de résistance, Water World. We also spent several days in Grand Lake, Breckenridge, and Winter Park.


Broomfield Bay with Gramps


going over Trail Ridge Road



making friends in Grand Lake




pool party at Beaver Run


downtown Breckenridge with Gramps

Audrey did 3 week-long camps. She danced to live harp music and played in the woods building fairy houses for a week at Fairy Camp. Then she and Lorelei both went to Sunflower Farm for a week. It was Lorelei's first camp experience and she loved it. Last, Audrey spent a week at Avid4Adventure Camp. She said that was her favorite, although she loved them all. With Avid though, she begged for another week, and cried when I told her they were done for the summer. The first day they went rock climbing, the second day they kayaked, the third they mountain biked, the forth they canoed and the last they hiked. They also did some story-time yoga, art and music along with learn tons of new fun group games.



frolicking at Fairy Camp


 
walking through Fairy Camp with her friend Tatum


Sisters at Sunflower Farm


riding ponies at Sunflower Farm

ready to rock climb

kayaking with Edie

As far as moving closer to our goal of hitting the open sea, and far off ports, our house is under contract! Yea! Keeping the house clean enough for a showing all summer was exhausting. We still have not made it through the inspection process, so I will feel much more at ease once that is completed. The main new worry at the moment though is what to do with all of our stuff.

We have also finished our first aid and CPR class and signed up for the next step, wilderness survival.

Cheers to summer! You will be missed....sort of.

Here are a few more pictures of our fun-filled summer!


visiting with GranMiri and Papa

playing at the beach with Michael

partners yoga with Zander

visiting with Gramps and Holly

up close and personal with the cast of Wizard of Oz

Renaissance Festival

Elitch's with Michael


 S'mores at our Nederland family camping trip

 
The skirt Audrey made herself at her Fabricate sewing day-camp

8/26

April did an awesome job for the first day of Audrey's first school year!  They did all this:

Audrey
  • Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K, p.84
  • Math: Singapore KB, 12.2-12.3 (pp. 21-24)
  • Spelling: MCP Spelling Workout A, finished Lesson 20 on long vowel a (p. 84)
  • History: The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times, Introduction (pp. 1-6).  Began family history project, interviewing Gramps, Nani, Aunt Dani.
  • Science: sea monkey habitat prep
  • Reading aloud: Mummies in the Morning, Chapters 1- 5
Lorelei
Library trip:
  • 2 fun reading books for each girl
  • a book on sea life (specifically for the shrimp)
  • a book on mammals (specifically for the kangaroos) 
  • a magic tree house book on mummies for history unit on archeology
  • a non fiction book about an archeologist

School's in for winter

Audrey starts her school year tomorrow.  Here's the master plan:

Monday:
6:45a Math
7:15a Spelling
10:30a Swimming
1:30-3:20a Nap (fun reading, notebook page)

2:45 - 4:30p 
Comp/Handwriting (20min)
Grammar (20min)
History (1hr)

7p Structured Reading


Tuesday:
6:45a Math
7:15a Spelling
8a leave for school
9-3p KinderHeart

7p Structured Reading


Wednesday:
6:45a Math
7:15a Spelling
8a-9:45a
Science
Comp/Handwriting
Grammar

Library
Lunch
1:30-3p Nap (fun reading, notebook page)
3:15 leave for Aud's dance 

7p Structured Reading


Thursday:
6:45a Math
7:15a Spelling

8a leave for school
9-3p KinderHeart
3:30 - 5:30 Fabricate?
4:30 leave for Lo's dance

7p Structured Reading


Friday:
6:45a Math
7:15a Spelling

homeschool hangout?

1:30-2:45p Nap (fun reading, notebook page)
2:45-3:30 20 min comp/writing 20 min grammar

7p Structured Reading

Saturday:
8:00 - 11:00
  20 min comp/writing
  20 min grammar
  60 min history
  60 min science
  20 min art

1:30-3:30 Nap (fun reading, notebook page)

7p Structured Reading

Sunday:
Art in the morning?
7p Structured Reading

8/24

  • Math: Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics (Singapore Math) B textbook, 12.1 (pp. 19, 20)
  • Spelling: Modern Curriculum Press Spelling Workout Level A, started Lesson 20 on long a (pp. 81-83)

Do not adjust your set.

That's right.  It's a new look for the second year of our plan.  Enjoy!

Thanks to NaomiT for the generous licensing on her awesome shot of their landfall at Suwarrow.

Votes on the design for our transom (when we find it, and the boat in front of it)?






8/22/2013

We all went to the opening session for KinderHeart, Audrey's twice-a-week homeschool-supplemental Waldorf program, today.   It was really nice, and I think it'll be a great community of kids for her and parents for us.

  • Math: Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics (Singapore Math) B textbook, pp. 14-18 (second half of 11.7 - Unit 11 Review).  Finished Unit 11.
  • Spelling: Modern Curriculum Press Spelling Workout Level A, pp. 77, 78 (second half of Lesson 19). She's now more than halfway through this book.
  • Reading aloud:
    • Jacob: Daulaire's Greek Myth pp. ?? on the Muses, Mnemosyne, and Orpheus



8/21/2013

Audrey
  • Math: Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics (Singapore Math) B textbook, pp. 5-13 (11.3 - first half of 11.7)
  • Spelling: Modern Curriculum Press Spelling Workout Level A, pp. 77, 78 (first half of Lesson 19)
  • Reading aloud:
    • Jacob: Daulaire's Greek Myth pp. ?? on centaurs, Syrinx, Daphne, Esclepius, Hygeia
    • April: several pages of The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
    • Audrey: Fancy Nancy and the Late, Late, LATE Night
  • Swim class at Ocean First
    • swimming the pool width and streamlining
    • working on 
      • windmill arms
      • floating

Lorelei
  • Jacob read aloud Little House on Rocky Ridge "Going Home" chapter 
  • Swim class at Ocean First
    • swimming independently without arms
    • working on flutter kick with arms

Blog reorg

I've made some tweaks to the blog.  There are 2 new tabs: Homeschooling and Progress.  All due to popular demand, you understand.  The main Posts tab, served at the base URL, will henceforth be reserved for posts containing relatively "interesting" content actually intended for consumption by casual readers.  My daily reports on homeschooling and on steps toward our goal will show up on the new tabs. 

Thanks for reading!

8/21/2013

Finished lesson 11 in MCP Spelling A.

Started Singapore Math Kindergrten B textbook.  Did lessons 11.1, 11.2.

 Reviewed poems at dinner. 

Read and took dictation on Narcissus the nymph Echo.

Project Fun Way

Audrey's been really getting into sewing and made this skirt at camp yesterday.  I'm pleased with this development for a couple of reasons.  

It's an asset to homeschooling as any passion is, in its own right.  Beyond that it's got to be great for developing spatial reasoning.  

One of the big expense categories for a number of cruisers who've kept records has been clothes, yet fabric is one thing that is widely and cheaply available in a lot of places.  So several of the kid boats we follow do lots of their own sewing for their growing crew.



The Burj Dubai of character

You build an awful lot of character rolling around in a sea of fiberglass in a 110-degree unventilated attic for 7 hours.  So now we're ready for our inspections and I have an extraordinarily tall pile of, um, character.

Audrey finished up her Kindergarten A math books, so I guess we'd better hurry up and get the Bs.

Inspections

We have 3 inspections on Monday and Tuesday so I've been working feverishly to get everything in order.  

Audrey's about to start the last unit in the  Kindergarten A math book.

I found this card on which she'd written out the numbers from 1 to 53.  Several are reversed, but still pretty cool.


Lorelei is starting lesson 3 of TYCTRI100EL.

We're going to make some changes around here pretty soon.  We'll be separating out the homeschool journal, the progress reports, and the actual interesting posts.  I know you'll all be thrilled.


More ARC classes

So we're all signed up for Remote First Aid in September.  We're insatiable!


Certified, or certifiable?

We're certified in CPR and first aid!

Next up: wilderness and remote first aid.  Bring on the avulsions!






Finished with first aid.

We finished our online study for first aid, and Tuesday evening we'll do the hands-on part.

We memorized "Some One" by Walter de la Mare this week.  We'll need to pick out a new one for this week. 

Audrey's doing the last of her summer camps this week, so we'll be planning for our regular schedule to start probably next week. 

There's a reasonably priced Nautor 40 that looks really cool, and much more do-able for April and I handle on our own than that big old Olympic 47 we love.  This one is really a beauty, though she'd be pretty cozy.

Inspection, first aid, school

I did lots of fix-up work around the grounds today in anticipation of our inspection, with plenty left to do.

We did 3 hours of school today.  I don't know how that happened.  I think as long as I'm working full time during the week, weekends will continue to be prime homeschool time, at least for me.

We completed unit 6 on our first aid thing, on frost bit and hypothermia. 

Sudden illness...

...is the unit we reviewed for our first aid thing tonight.  Here are the Cliff's Notes:  if someone is unconscious, or talking funny, or has a really bad tummy ache, then call 911.

I'm having trouble getting my head around the notion that we are under contract to sell our house.  We have a slow closing so that has something to do with it, but we are actually, truly, selling this house.  Craziness.

Memorizing poems is awesome

Over the weekend, we were eating dinner on the patio of a restaurant where there was a big lawn with lots of kids.  I was watching how Audrey was handling herself with a boy who kept harassing her playmate, and who eventually ended up hitting Audrey hard on the butt.  

Now, it goes without saying that he brings shame on his parents, but that's not the point of my anecdote.

It's this: Rather than hitting him back, which I frankly wanted to do myself, she called after him, as he courageously ran away after hitting her, that he was "hideous."  

It also goes without saying that she could have handled that a bit better, and we did have a talk afterward about how insulting people is not a good way to resolve differences, but really, I was mostly just bursting with pride that she pulled out "hideous" in the heat of battle. Thank you, Ogden Nash.

April got this wonderful book of poetry and Audrey's going to be in charge of making selections for us all to learn each week:

O Lorelei

Audrey up and wrote a couple poems today. 


This one is inspired by her sister's name, and by the Lorelei rock.

O Lorelei by Audrey Champnes

O Lorelei O Lorelei you Liv upon the 
rocs you bouns FRum roc to roc
O Lorelei I WISh I cIT do wut you
do o wut you do sounds so fun I do Wish
I CIT do wuT You do AND THos rocs 
r NAMd Afdr You.  The end


8/3

Behan posted a really great essay on sorting out wants and needs.  She warns of the distinct possibility that failure to recognize the difference may mean that one never even gets off the dock.  It's a great reminder.

I'd go a step further and say that some who know it full well nevertheless embrace failure to recognize that difference as a strategy in an unacknowledged campaign of sabotage against their own stated desires to accomplish any number of goals, including becoming long-term cruisers.  They may say that they wish to cut the dock lines and sail for the horizon, but they are secretly terrified to do it, and so they unthinkingly throw up barriers in the form of insurmountably long lists of nice-to-haves deliberately misidentified as critical equipment or crucial to-dos.

Anyway...

April, Paul and I took the girls rafting on the Colorado River today.  We did some light Class III rapids, according to our guide.  The girls loved it.

I jumped off a 30-foot rock into the river which was a cool thing for me.  It was one of those great moments when all you want to do is back out of something, but you step over the edge, literally in this case, and come out victorious over that inner voice of fear.

Finally, we learned about some of the causes of sudden illness in first aid tonight.

8/2

We learned about modified CPR for unconscious choking this evening.  Our practical class is a week from Tuesday.  Then we'll get to register for remote first aid.

8/1

It'll be a year this month since we hatched this crazy plan of ours.  We've published 310 blog posts, I've lost fifty pounds, we've started homeschooling, and we're under contract for the sale of our house. 

I'd say we have 2 or 3 years' more work to do until we cast off.  Hopefully we'll be living aboard and preparing a vessel within 18 months or so. 

We fell in love with this one a long time ago and have never been able to get her out of our minds.  I know it's probably too much boat for us, so most likely it won't ever happen, but we think about her still.  It would really be best if someone else would just buy it and make it easy for us.




7/30

Nothing like multiple offers on the same day to make it all worthwhile...

We officially have all of O Captain! My Captain! memorized and Audrey and I are cranking away on Spelling while she and April are cranking on math.

7/29

And another showing for tomorrow.  And a part 2 for Behan's boat-schooling post today.


7/28

Began posted about being interviewed for a Btitish radio program on homeschooling, so we're looking forward to having a listen to that. (http://sv-totem.blogspot.com/2013/07/boatschooling-interviewed-by-sociable.html?m=1)

Meanwhile, we did our weekly planning for school today:

We have showing in the morning, and may have some good news this week, but well just have to wait and see...

7/27

More first aid today.  Conscious choking, FTW!

7/25

Audrey wrapped up Unit 6 in the Singapore Math activity book yesterday and she's been on a kick to try to get her name in all her books.  She gets her name in them when she can read them aloud without help.  April and Audrey did another handwriting lesson today too.

I worked through a little of the choking section in the first aid course.


7/24

We had our third showing in 5 days.  This one came with 45 minutes' notice and me at work so the girls made it happen.  And oh, by the way, we dropped the price another $13K, to $357K.  I honestly can't imagine someone not buying this house at this point.

Audrey did Unit 6 in the Singapore Math textbook from beginning to end this morning.  Tomorrow we'll do the activity book for the unit.  She also read aloud all 64 pages of of Amelia Bedelia to me this evening.

April and I went through lesson 2 on CPR in the first aid class together this evening.  I'm really looking forward to the remote first aid class.


7/23

Tonight: first aid.  Tomorrow: math.

7/22

I finished unit 3 in the first aid class.  I doubt we'll have AED aboard, but it was interesting nonetheless.  I was interested to learn that it is in fact safe to use on pregnant women, on kids and babies, in snow or rain, and with a patient lying on a conductive surface.  Those are all things that would certainly have given me pause if I didn't know better.

7/21

More first aid today.

7/20

Audrey finished up unit 4 in math and I finished unit in first aid.

7/16

Audrey's continuing to kick butt in spelling, writing, reading, math, and poetry memorization. 

We're working through the course materials for first aid a little each evening.  Class time now... 

7/14


We did our school plan for next week today.  I think we'll be able to easily knock off unit 5 of our math curriculum.  We'll also forge ahead in writing, spelling, Greek myth, and memorization, with the second verse of Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain."



April took this awesome panorama today.  How could you not buy this place?  Well, speaking of, we had a showing today and so far no news. Which is to say, "so far, so good."


7/12

We finished up Unit 4 in Singapore Math Kindergarten A, so we're on page 110 in that textbook and page 33 in the workbook.  We've been working on the addition wrap-ups too and Audrey's got the 1s and 2s down pretty well now.  That's a lot of math for a girl who hasn't started her first school year yet!

We're on page 73 of Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K, so we're more than half done with that.  We were just trying to decide whether to get the next book or maybe just do some practice and consolidate what we learned in the first book for awhile.

We're on Lesson 11 in the MCP Spelling Workout A, on page 45.  That puts us about a third of the way through that one.

We're all set on the first verse of "O Captain, My Captain," so we'll do a notebook page on that tomorrow.  I'll write it down as Audrey dictates, then she'll trace the letters and decorate the page and that will go into her memorization work notebook.

April and the girls also planted some carrots in a clear-sided container this week, so we'll observe as those guys grow and make science notebook pages on that.  They did Audrey's very first notebook page earlier this week, on the importance of sleep, after reading our Sleep Is for Everyone.




We have a showing on Sunday.  Here's hoping.  Again.

7/11

April picked up a copy of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, and it's a big hit.  I've learned at least as much from it as Audrey.  I never knew that Zeus was the grandson of Gaea and Uranus, nor what the relationships were between Zeus and the other gods of Olympus.  And those are only two of the 10 or 15 new things I learned about Greek myth in the first 2 chapters.  I'm really looking forward to the rest of the book.  And it's going to be great to get all that background prior to jumping into the Iliad and Odyssey.  It will provide plenty of fodder for memorization and composition too.

After all that is said and done, I can't wait to read D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths.



7/10

So we're on www.svlark.com now.  We'll have to update some stuff around here.

We're also all registered for the Red Cross adults and infants first aid and CPR class.  We'll be certified on 8/13, which will allow us to take the remote first aid class. 

7/9

Alright we're finally going to get around to these first aid classes.  We're going to try to sign up tomorrow.

Long Weekend

shopping at the Depot
What a nice long weekend! It was awesome having Jacob home for 4 days in a row! We got a lot done. We spent most of Thursday and Friday working on our 'curb appeal', whatever that means when there isn't a curb for 20 miles. We had a landscape architect come and give us a quote on a few projects, but then realized that we just didn't want to put that much money into the house, so we did it ourselves. We had so much fun picking out the flowers, and we took some left over stone from the previous owner that was behind the house and lined our walkway. We are also considering putting in an outdoor stairway using some of our railroad ties, so Jacob did one to see how it looks. It is cute, but I'm not sure we can spare as much time as it will take. 

We are pretty in love with the result of all our sprucing up outside, and we have to walk out to visit our flowers several times a day! Hopefully it will make a good impression to perspective buyers. The stager told us to grab them in the first 30 seconds. 





We also went to see fireworks in Blackhawk on the 4th, and went for a fun little hike this morning at Left Hand Reservoir. I wish Jacob didn't have to work tomorrow, but I guess we need to build our cruising kitty, so back to the salt mines for him.







Jacob and Audrey doing the 'Audrey' pose

7/7

Our memorization project for this week is the first verse of Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!"  So far, we've gotten down, "Work," "The Caterpillar," "The Adventures of Isabel," "The Sun's Travel," the Song of Bogey.

Homeschooling's going great.  We actually planned for the upcoming week in some detail: 


7/5

Working on "curb appeal."