DC School Trip

I am able to go on the 8th Grade Washington DC school trip as a chaperone.  While some people think this should be dreaded, I really enjoy it.  Here are the perks: 1) I don’t have to cook for 3 days. 2) I get to travel. 3) I see things I maybe missed before on the trip. 4) I get to know the students a little better. 5) I get to know my co-workers better. 6) I only have to be responsible for packing my stuff. 7) I do not have to plan it, strategize about what to do if things go wrong, or be concerned with the details. Here are some non-perks: 1) I end up with a little less sleep. 2) There are occasional attitudes.

So, we leave around 7:30 on the first day in a fancy tour bus.

We end the day with a tour of Gettysburg – the fields where the fighting happened and a tour in one of the historic homes.

Every night, my major responsibility is to make sure my rooms of girls are in their rooms, and I have their phones.  This year, I collected 16 of them.  My roommate collected 12.  Plus our phones.  We had 30 phones charging in our room.  Yep, that’s a lot of charging going on.

Then, we wake up (kinda early) to leave for DC on the second day.  This day is packed full.  I logged 8.75 miles on my iPhone pedometer!  We see memorials, monuments, buildings, and museums. 

   

We end this night with a dinner cruise with other schools on board.  It looks so serene on the top deck….

…filled with jr. high students.  And I didn’t even get a picture (or maybe audio would be better) of the dance party going on below deck.

This is a late night!  The next day we wake up early again head back to DC to see some more things before leaving by about 1pm for home.  We get in between 9-10pm to the school.  And wake up to teach the next day…

Graduate Student

You may have heard me mention being in school.  I took my first class toward my master’s degree in Spring 2013.  I was motivated to go to school by an AmeriCorp award that I received during my Mennonite Voluntary Service in Colorado in 2007.  I didn’t want thousands of dollars to just be wasted, and it needed to be used within 7 years.  It also coincided with our return back to this area.  I didn’t need to attend Ashland University; in fact, there were a lot of cheaper colleges I could have probably looked into.  But I knew the college; I had some college credit there already; and it just seemed an easy choice.  So, I started.  One class a semester while I wasn’t teaching and a few semesters skipped and a few doubled up.  It took a lot of time on the computer (majority was online), some travel time, and a lot of time in the evenings or during the day when the girls were in school or in bed.  Jeremy, Gloria, and my parents had their fair share of helping to watch the kids at key times so I could attend a class, get a paper done, or just read in silence. 

And now, I am done.  I just completed my final class Spring 2019.  I have official received my Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction: Mild to Moderate Disabilities.  A long title for sure.  I also have another tassel, black robe with extra sleeve wings, and a hood.

 

And my kids saw me graduate.  Which was pretty cool.  (Shout out to my brother, Nate, who recently graduated with his master’s from Walsh University.  He said he wished he would’ve walked so his kids would have seen him.  I learned from him.)

    

Jeremy’s mom came – even without her voice working – to cheer me on. 

My parent’s came.  And dad was able to make it through me walking on stage before resting in the van (and then joining us later).

    

And Jeremy was there.  I told him I appreciated him, especially for today.  I was kinda blowing through this whole thing as something I should “just do.”  He made it actually feel important.  He bought me flowers yesterday, dressed up, ironed my graduation robe, and made sure I was taken care of.  So, thanks, again, Jeremy. 

    

I had to get there by 9am – an hour before the procession started!  I loaded a bag of books, notebooks, and snacks for the girls.  We piled in blankets for the bleacher seats and threw in some gloves for little hands.  The sprinkles started about 9:45am.  We marched in at 9:55am.

       

The mist started about 10am.  The invocation happened, the special music was sung, and the heavy mist continued for at least an hour.  Rick Warren was our keynote speaker, which was pretty cool. 

He spoke about Exodus 4:2-4:  Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”  “A staff,” he replied.  ³ The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”  Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 

He talked about this being one of the most important sections in the Bible.  God was, in essence, asking Moses to give up his 1) identity, 2) influence, and 3) income when he asked him to throw the staff on the ground.  Then, He turned it into a living snake.  Rick Warren went on to say that when we (as graduates) give up our identity, influence, and income to God, He will turn it into something we didn’t dream possible. 

    

Finally, it was time to receive diplomas.  Names were called, hands shook, and pictures taken.  And the rain stopped.

We returned to our seats for presentation of variety of awards before being dismissed.  We headed to Convo to eat a generous and delicious buffet lunch.  It was a great place to be – it was close, food was provided, we could hang out.  And then it was over.

And here’s to the future Yoh graduates…

    

Hocking Hills: Part 2

We decided to get up and get going on Sunday morning.  We wanted to beat the crowds (if there were any) to Old Man’s Cave; we also didn’t want Pepper on the hike with us; and we wanted to hike and be back in time to pack up and get out by the 11am check-out time.  Wouldn’t you know it, everyone slept in a bit til 7:20am!  It felt good, but boy, did we have to get moving.  I had brought mix to make pancakes and sausage links, so I got cooking.  The girls got dressed and packed up suitcases while I did that.  And we were out the door by about 9am. 

It was worth the rush.  There was no one (almost) at Old Man’s Cave.  The trail was ours.  And it was beautiful.  The girls said this was their favorite “journey” while Ash Cave was their favorite “destination.”  This trail just had unique aspects – underground tunnels, different types of bridges, stairs (210 to get out of there!!!), and beautiful, changing scenery.  It is no wonder it is one of the most popular trails. 

                   

The cave itself is nice, but the trail was the best!

We made it back to the cabin with about 20 minutes to pack… and we did it in 30.  I think I call that a win.  The girls were sad to go.  Madison suggested we make this a yearly tradition; I think that is a good suggestion.

We stopped in Columbus to get some lunch at El Vaquero – such good Mexican food!!  Then, we let Pepper stretch his legs at Blendon Woods Metro Park.  This couldn’t have been a better stop for our girls.  There had been many improvements since we left 7 years ago.  There was a cool Natural Playground with a small ropes course, log teeter-totter, zipline, log bridges.  I couldn’t believe that Ellie walked across the one log bridge holding onto nothing!  She is usually not so daring!  I love seeing her grow.  Madison takes on new challenges like a pro.

         

We made it home around dinner time, ordered a pizza, unloaded the car, took some showers, and crawled into bed happy with our weekend.

Hocking Hills: Part 1

We want to take the girls out to Colorado to see family and friends and to hike.  The problem is that is a long way away, and we don’t really know if the girls have the stamina to hike for more than an hour.  Solution: Take a weekend trip to Hocking Hills to experiment with a few bigger hills and longer hikes. 

Jeremy reserved us a really nice cabin through Hocking Hills State Park website.  It was nice, as in log cabin, massive, ridiculous views, etc.  But it was just what we needed for our family.  First, it was pet friendly; so Pepper came along on his first vacation. Second, it had a stove/oven, refrigerator, bathroom, heat/air.  Third, it had TWO bedrooms – a necessity when away with kids who go to bed early.  Fourth, it had a nice screened porch, living room, and front porch.  I should have taken pictures on our first day when it was all neat and tidy, but I didn’t.  So, here it is seconds before we checked out all littered with towels and bedding (all provided).

         

We left around 5pm on Friday afternoon.  As I mentioned Pepper came with us.  I was dreading this, to tell the truth.  But he surprised me and traveled really well on the 3-1/2 hour drive down there.  He also did a great job hiking, hanging out, and staying behind while we went out.  We got in pretty late (around 8:30).  So, we quickly checked out our lodging and settled in for the night.

The next morning, Ellie woke up bright and early (6:15), followed by Pepper, and then by me.  It did get us going, which was probably what we needed.  We ate a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and hash browns and toast.  Then, we headed out for our first adventure – a Flower Walk with a park naturalist to Ash Cave.  It is one of the highlights of the year on their calendar of events.  There was a fairly good sized crowd when we got there.  The naturalist was interesting to listen to, giving little facts about Hocking Hills and flowers.  However, the girls tired of the slow pace – and they couldn’t really hear him since we were toward the back of the crowd.  They whined enough that we broke off from the group and went to Ash Cave at our own pace.  I said, “Girls, let’s take a picture showing how much you really enjoy this!”  This is what I got:

The hike went much better after that.  They skipped along and loved the sand and water at Ash Cave.  It had rained hard Friday, so all the waterfalls and streams were flowing really well for us. It was beautiful. 

             

So, here are some of the flowers that we “missed” hearing about with the naturalist.  The only one I heard about was the violet.  He said all violets have a fifth petal that points toward the ground.  On that petal are stripes; you can see them on the yellow violet picture.  These stripes are indicators for pollinators of where to go to do their thing; he compared it to the lights on a runway.  Cool tidbit.  There were beautiful flowering Dogwoods and Redbud trees to look at everywhere in the park as well.  Spring had sprung.

               

After this hike, we headed to the cabin to eat some lunch.  We decided to take Pepper on the part of the next hike.  Our cabin basically sat at the trailhead to Whispering Cave.  We thought we would hike there and then take the connector trail to Cedar Falls to lengthen the hhike.  Jeremy volunteered to hike with us to Whispering Cave, take Pepper back to the cabin, and drive the car to the Cedear Falls trailhead so we didn’t have to do the return route.  In total, the girls would hike 3.7 miles (I think) in about 2-1/2 hours.  Here is our route to Whispering Cave.  It was pretty rugged, muddy and up and down.  But it was a fun hike.

              

From there we proceeded to Cedar Falls.  This one spent some time down low between trees before meandering up and down on its way to the falls.  The girls played “Nature Ninja Warrior” most of the hike – kinda pretending that it was an obstacle course like American Ninja Warrior.  It was pretty cool to see them “defeat” the course.  They never tired.  It was amazing!

                   

Jeremy met us at Cedar Falls for a picture and the tail end of the hike.

We returned home, happy and hungry.  Jeremy got a fire started in a light sprinkle that started about the same time we got home.  We roasted hot dogs, cooked up mac and cheese, and popped open some canned peaches.  The meal culminated in S’mores!  Delicious.  That night we watched Monsters Inc before tucking into bed.  Jeremy and I stayed up a little later and watched the Blue Jackets.  Jeremy stayed up til the end of a double overtime to watch them win!  He was pretty pumped in the morning!