A Weekend Away (Finally)

We went on a trip. Finally. A long weekend stay at Waldport Beach with friends, and our first real vacation in over five years.

It’s funny that we’ve moved house twice in that time, but haven’t left home for more than 24 hours since my youngest was a baby. That was before we started collecting animals for our little McFarm in 2020. It’s just hard to leave when you’ve got creatures that depend on you. But now that Matt’s folks live a short hop away, planning a weekend away is a little more doable. We timed it for the off-season. Not to avoid crowds, necessarily, but because our summer is full: goats to milk, gardens to tend, food to preserve. Spring can be quieter, if you plan it right.

Unfortunately, we all got sick. And honestly, I don’t think we’ve gone for more than two weeks since winter began without someone in the house recovering from something. We don’t even sync it up. We just take turns. Very polite of us.

Now that we’re back and on the mend, it’s time to dive into the final stretch of our homeschool year. There are only six weeks to go before summer break begins, but the weather is already turning, making it harder to focus. I find balancing being a parent and teacher is even trickier this time of year because nobody wants to switch modes more than me, but I have to pull it together and push us all through this. There’s garden seeds and goat babies and summer projects to greet us on the other side, but for now?

School. Spring performances. Testing season. School and more school.

On the making front, I finished knitting a second Hoodola (a hooded cowl pattern by Laura Nelkin) and gave both to my girls for their spring birthdays, which are just shy of two weeks apart. Since it’s getting warmer, they won’t need them for a while, but they’ll be ready to keep them warm and cozy for next winter.

I also went out earlier this month and collected some spring samples to press. I snipped flowering quince, grape hyacinth, tiny ferns, wood sorrel, forsythia, and hellebore, though I’m planning to go out every couple weeks to find more samples of whatever new thing happens to be blooming. I’m thinking we’ll use them to make Birthday cards. Maybe we’ll make more recycled paper with flowers and seeds, like we did for Valentine’s Day, but better now that I have some idea of what I’m doing.

Anyway, here’s a little snippet of our time at the beach: