potter county.

so wednesday of last week our little family headed to the hills of potter county.

the king cabin is one of our favorite places to go...

we have never been in the summer, so it was a whole new experience.

we decided to take a detour this time and stopped to see matt's cousin, 

phil, and his wife heidi...due with their first baby on sept. 1st.

they live in berkshire, new york, a half hour from ithica.

they live in a yurt.

and have for 6 years.

6 years people.

they have my utmost respect to the max at this point in time.

seriously.

it's one thing to "know" they live in a yurt, but completely another to visit, and look around.

wow.

this is home sweet home. it really is a glorified tent. with a stove to keep warm in the winter.

on the right is their new bath house...when i say new, i mean in the last 1 1/2 years.

and when i say bath house, i mean, they still don't flush a toilet...  :)

this is the front door. well. the only door. :)

their bed is straight ahead. their stove is to the left of the door, and tiny sink, and then their desk.

to the right are 2 rockers, some tv tables, and ONE teeny dresser. ONE.

and the reason for our visit, is that they are upgrading to this adorable little house...

you can see in the background here on the right.

and this is matt and i with phil and heidi...

(thanks for taking the picture kaden. :)  )

this is like the most adorable house eva'.

tiny. tiny. tiny.

but seems huge in comparison to the yurt...

but will have a bathtub, sink, kitchen, and a  pretty nice bedroom upstairs.

eeeekkkk.

anyway, it was a great experience for us to visit.

it would have been a REAL experience for us to stay the weekend. :)

i told matt as we were pulling out,

that we had more stuff packed for an extended few days at the mountains,

then they own between the two of them.

i was kind of kidding, but kind of not. :)

we can't wait to welcome their baby into this world...

and for the rest of our lazy days away...

the girls have been all about practicing on the balance beam since the olympics...



we went hiking at the sinnemahoning? state park...

beautfiul weather.



 the notorious rope swing at the cabin.

hiking was too much for some. :)

the grandness of it all.

the fire ring in the yard.

we also went to a bat count at the park one evening.

we learned soooo much about bats. it was fascinating.

we also got to use a counter to count them coming out of their box.

173 bats swooping down at me.

eeeekkkk. :)

i think i can count that for some of campbell's homeschooling. :)
how about that?
slowly, but surely, we are figuring out her education.
picking her up at 12:15 p.m. and then will supplement as i see fit? :)

matt met with the superintendent today,
 (i get so intimidated, so i sent him with all my info. highlighted). ha!!
and we feel totally 100% support from his end.
yay.yay.yay. so thankful for that.

(i am having to do some documentation...not required by law,
but because the superintendent is our friend, and we would like to keep it that way.
there is a very real fear from them, that this could cause a "following" and that is not my desire,
nor there's of course...:)  )

and her teacher is the sweetest thing ever.
she has sent me the most encouraging e-mails about my girl.
which helps me think i have her support as well...
but we have yet to sit down and go over the route we have chosen for campbell.

thank you Jesus...you are piecing this together bit by bit.
this has been a really hard step for me to take.
i hate bucking the system. and boy are we bucking it to some people. :)

we all love our kids.
we all just do it differently. and that's okay.
now to get some objectives for her written down to turn in.
hmmmm.
any ideas for music you homeschoolers?

:)