Ida

If we lived along the eastern coast of the US, our lives would be impacted more by hurricanes than they are in central Pennsylvania. However, this year our plans have changed two weeks in a row because of a hurricane. Last week we delayed our trip to Long Island because of Henri, and last night I cancelled our reservations for a homeschool day at Ricketts Glen State Park because we could receive up to 7 inches of rain today from Ida. Thankfully so far our basement hasn't flooded! The family bonfire that was supposed to take place at our church this past Saturday night was moved to tonight because of rain last week, and then they ended up cancelling all midweek meetings tonight due to swollen creeks and such. Considering I just drove to Long Island and back a few days ago and we leave for our 25 day road trip one week from today, I don't mind skipping the 1 hour 40 minute (round trip) drive to the state park today. Last year (prior to realizing how COVID would change our lives) I had planned to take the kids to Kipona in Harrisburg over the Labor Day weekend. Naturally it was cancelled last year. They are having the event this weekend, and I had planned to go. I asked our niece, Jenna, if she'd like to join us as it's taking place not that far from where she's living right now, but she said she needs to do homework on Saturday. Because Paul works on Saturdays and because I'd like a little break from drives that are longer than 25 minutes one way, I cancelled our plans for Saturday. I'm planning to take the kids to Kaos tomorrow afternoon, but from Friday through Monday the only time I plan to leave the house is to go to church on Sunday morning.

The past few years Nadia has been the first one to get up and the only one to do some schoolwork prior to eating breakfast. The first three days of school for this year, Ian has been the one getting up and starting his work before the other two are out of bed. Usually Ian is the last one to finish his schoolwork each day, but he has been the first one done each day so far this week. He's really enjoying doing math on the computer for the first time, especially as he's earned two 100% and one 95% on his first three lessons without any help from me. Because we didn't go on our field trip today, I had the kids earn a Junior Ranger Badge for the Hopewell Furnace and also watch a series of videos they posted as a virtual tour. Because I'm assuming the kids will earn quite a few badges this month on our vacation, I have purchased an additional canvas for each of them as the ones they have been using to display their badges are getting close to being full! 

 

It's been 15 years since I went on a trip that was longer than 2 weeks. I am trying to do everything I can to be prepared. Today I gave Oliver a haircut and signed up for the 4th grade pass so we can all get into National Parks for free this year. I plan to mow the lawn, pack our suitcases, and give Milo a bath and trim some of his fur over the next few days. At this point next week, we should be in Michigan! An answer to prayer would be that there are two guys who will be starting to work at the plant on Tuesday, and they are planning to work for Paul for a couple of months. He has been short staffed, and he really wanted to have someone in place before he left for 25 days. A prayer request would be that the pathology report from Margie's recent mastectomy wasn't what we were hoping to hear. We are praying for wisdom for the doctors, Margie, and my Dad as they made decisions regarding her medical care.