Vacation already

We made it! Well, just to the top of Tumalo Butte but it was a gorgeous view. At about 7700 feet, even Iris was a bit winded and amazingly, Alexa made it with A LOT of coaching.

Going with the Flow

With 2 weeks since our student's arrival, it was time for a vacation. We hadn't made it up to our place on the east side of the Cascades for a week-long visit and summer was ending. I have to admit I had some concerns that we were just getting into the routine of our new household, Iris's new community, and off we go to somewhere else with a different dynamic. Even our dismal weather started to improve on the coast to lure us to stay put but we were off.

Fortunately we are still on the upside of the infamous AFS emotion curve for all of us so we all were going with the flow. Plus there were rivers to paddle, mountains to climb,

The climb around Smith Rocks State Park was gorgeous. The rock climbers looked like bugs on the rock walls. Here the girls are holding up the massive boulder.

bikes to ride and hopefully some swimming. We also were accompanied by another teenager and mom for the first weekend which worked out great. Never a dull moment here but that is our normal mode as much as we can arrange it. I never think we are all that busy since we are surrounded by type-A people from work who make us look like the slackers some days. Then I look at our calendar and wonder how to fit everything in, hence our planned week in the mountains was the last week of school vacation.

Keeping busy is working for our new family configuration and maybe it is our daughter's personality but I think when you are in a new environment you want to see as much of your surroundings as possible. Just staying home would get old quick in a small town with weeks before school begins.

Easy paddling down the Deschutes River from La Pine State Park to our neighborhood.

If school had started right away this would be an entirely different situation since school would provide all the excitement as exploring does. Assessing the situation, trying to remember being a high school teenager and then hoping your plans provide a smooth transition seem to be the key to success with AFS. Going with the flow certainly helps as well, so far smooth sailing down river!