SUPS

SUPs, or stand-up paddle boards, are quite the rage these days. The boys have been waiting for weeks to be able to rent them. When they finally got their name on the reserve list I suggested we celebrate by camping out too. 

While packing up the grilling out and breakfast stuff I suddenly remembered this awesome bag someone gave us for our wedding. First time I saw it I thought picnic. Now that I know its phenomenal hauling capacities, it has become my new best buddy. 

The lake was beautiful. 

The boys got the hang of things right away. They said it wasn't even really exercise, more like a relaxing motion. 

In the meantime, yours truly found a campsite and picked out a good place for our tent. Trying to pretend we are in the wilderness here... 

Dinner was delicious. 

 After dinner we took the boards out with passengers. Regretfully I don't have any pictures of my man gliding me across the water like a Perisan queen while the moon was rising over the lake. No pictures on my phone that is. I have them forever stored in my mind... 

Fortunately Josh convinced me that we would want to eat breakfast at camp as well and I was able to try out another of our wedding presents, a super cooker campstove.

Fun may last for an evening/night but work comes in the morning. We packed up our gear and headed home, many memories richer. 

Chicago

With our first two days off together since our honeymoon, we decided to take a quick weekend getaway. That decision was easy, deciding where to go was the hard part. After narrowing it down to a few options (probably should stay within the lower 48) family ties won out. 

I mean, who wouldn't want to go hang out with this cutie? 

Josh still needed to check Chicago off his list and it happens to be close enough to see some other awesome people, so we hopped on the bike and headed for the windy city. 

With only a few hours actually in town we decided to spend them in the Museum of Science and Industry, which turned out to be a phenomenal experience. If you are ever in Chicago with some time to spare, it is worth the admission. 

Among many other things, we got to tour this German U-boat from WWII and learn all about how it was captured and the intelligence it supplied the Allied forces. Fascinating history. 

Being true tourists, we wanted a taste of real Chicago. Between all the people on the street we asked and Yelp, we found it. Wow, I will never be able to eat pizza the same way again. 

 We finished off the trip with a lovely overnight in Milwaukee, a quick jaunt through the Harley-Davidson factory and then made tracks for home.  1200 miles and 52 hours total isn't a bad way to spend your weekend. 

Catching Up

I know my blog has been rather silent lately, which is mostly due to both a lack of internet and the Compass summer program being in full swing. Here are a few pictures to attempt to catch you all up on some of the going's on at Compass. 

A few weeks ago we went to Lincoln for our field trip. A stop at the Sunken Gardens for lunch and to see the fish made everyone pretty happy. 

We got to see some giant mammoth skeletons. 

And some dinosaurs... 

We had a splendid time. 

In the last few weeks it hasn't all been fun and games. 

But there have been quite a few "This is why we do this" moments. 

We made playdough. 

Which was probably the most popular activity of the summer to date. 

We have been learning about mazes. 

And taking coloring breaks. 

Every Thursday we write about our greatest adventure of the week in our Adventure Journals.

We have been learning a lot. Not just in the classroom. 

It dawned on me that this is my third summer at Compass. Three summers ago I first met these ladies and we were like (three fingers crossed). 

Gosh, when did they grow up so fast! 

We went to the Durham. Not the best shot of the museum, but hey, we got the important part... :) 

I was put in charge of teaching gardening again this year, and this time our garden is flourishing. One of my students confessed to me today, "I keep picking gardening class because I like to play in the water and the dirt." I told him that was why I liked it too. 

It is crazy to think next week is our last week. It hasn't always been an easy summer, but it has been so full of great teaching opportunities for both us and the kids. Stay tuned for more pictures hopefully after next week!