The following was posted by Hannah's Dad on facebook yesterday. I really can't comprehend the strength it must have taken to write:

 

 

Rich Lindquist

At 7:27 PM on December 28th, 2010 our little Hannah went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - Yeshua the Messiah.

She was playing with her cousins and friends in Ellensberg, WA when she complained of a headache. Her Aunt Lisa gave her a Children's Tylenol and held her and stroked her hair before tucking her in for a nap. When... Lisa's friend Katie checked on Hannah, she found her unresponsive and not breathing. They called 911 and performed CPR for 36 minutes before the Paramedics made their way up the snowy canyon road.

At the hospital, it was determined that Hannah had suffered a brain hemorrhage. There was no injury or illness, it was just something she was born with that God had held off until now. She was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA where they installed drain in her head to relieve the pressure and put her on a respirator.

Hannah never regained consciousness but her heart held on until her mother, sister and I could hold her and kiss her.

Hannah was such an amazing little girl and everyone who met her knew her smile and love for life. We have absolute faith in God and believe that He will use this to do great and mighty things in the future. We ask all of you to make the decision right now to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and receive the free gift of Eternal Salvation. We do not know what tomorrow will bring and forever is a long time to be separated from the Love of Christ.

We would love to hear what Hannah meant to you and what you remember of her. We can be reached at:
richlindquist@gmail.com

or

Lindquist Family
744 Park Ave. NE
Ocean Shores, WA 98569

Now go and hug someone, make amends with those your estranged from and spend time with your family and friends. Today is the perfect time and tomorrow may never happen.

Thank you for all of your prayers,

Rich

Hannah

 

 

We got the heartbreaking news last night that Hannah, one of the little girls in Rebekah's home school group had passed away. Hannah was nine years old and perfectly healthy.

It's my understanding that she was at her cousin's house, and collapsed suddenly and never woke up. Hannah had suffered a brain aneurysm.  It's a small consolation that she didn't suffer, at least there is that.

Hannah was one of the sweetest little girls you could ever hope to know, and she would walk up to kids and ask them, "do you know my Jesus, let me tell you about him". Rebekah loved spending time with her when we were at church or home school group. It was always my intention to get them together when things were not so chaotic... there is the lesson for me.

This is Rebekah's first human death experience. She instantly broke out in sobs and then sat quiet for a very. long. time. I asked her if she wanted to talk about it and she said no. So I just held her and held her some more. Rebekah is afraid to talk to God. I don't know why and we've been working on it. But very very softly I heard her whisper "God, please take care of Hannah".

I have to admit, I sure do struggle with this broken world. There is no understanding it. I pray for Hannah's parents and those of us left to remember her sweetness. I know God has a plan and a purpose and I trust in that, but the tears don't stop.

Rest in peace sweet Hannah. Your little light is missed beyond measure.

Two days of updates

  
On Christmas day we baked a cake for Baby Jesus. Rebekah thought he would like confetti cake with pink frosting and lots of sprinkles. Uhmmm... anyway. 


Then I had to get a shot of her self fixed hair do, because who can resist all those bows, right?

 

And a shot of Rebekah sleeping under the quilt I made her. It's more of a lap quilt, made for our morning snuggles but she wanted it on her bed that first night. Guess that means I could consider making a bigger one for next year?

 

My dear friend Gail, gave Rebekah and Ashley each a stuffed hedgehog toy and also in Rebekah's was a hot chocolate mix with marshmallows and mini m&m's and it was called snowman soup. This is her concocting her snowman soup...serious work.
 

It seems like it's been ages since I made something for myself. Somewhere in our last move, we lost our Bibles. Both of us. Every move we make we lose something(s) very odd and this time it was our Bibles. Anyway, I ordered this one off of ebay for about $2 but I didn't love the cover and had been wanting to make a cover for a long time. Finally I did! 
 

It's not as great as the old quilt one that my Mom had made for my other Bible :( But it'll do and it's much prettier than the beat up pink cover that was on it! Merry Christmas to me :)
 

The Christmas stuff is mostly packed up and put away and we're working on getting back into the swing of things. Still decluttering* and simplifying as that is part of my new years resolution!

*My spell check does not think decluttering is a word. For a correction it gives me cluttering. Fail.

Merry Christmas 2010

Thank you for the comments on my Christmas Eve post, Rory you made me cry (in a good way).

As I lay in bed last night and prayed, it was placed on my heart to pray for the children that received our shoe boxes, that they would feel loved and know that God cares about them and that somewhere on this earth, other people care about them too. And it was like a big slap on the back of the head: You are worried about enough under the tree when there are people all over the world who have nothing, people who are going to bed hungry in war torn countries, people who don't know Christ let alone celebrate his birth? Do you see how ridiculous your worries are? You have enough! And so do your children! Okay God, I get it. And thank you.

I slept well. I heard Rebekah get up and then go back into her room. It's was 7:00 AM. So I got up and plugged in her little pink Christmas tree, I climbed into bed with her and we snuggled and talked about Christmas, the real meaning. She asked questions about people who don't "believe". We talked about Santa, and what he might have brought for the stockings. Then we got up and made coffee and had toast while waiting for the others to wake up.

Grant woke up at 8:00 and I let Rebekah wake up Ashley.

Santa was good to all of us. I love the fun of the stockings because the gifts can be as functional or as silly as anything and it doesn't matter, it's all good :)

Then we opened our gifts from each other. And it was nice. Not a frantic race to get through them and each one thoroughly appreciated. The last two gifts for the girls were quilts made by Mama. Rebekah got a small quilt for our morning snuggles. Ashley (cried!) got a denim patchwork picnic quilt for her and Kevin to keep in his car, and a package of permanent fabric markers so they can decorate it together as they please.

Ashley got me a new hand mixer which she knew had been on my wish list for a long time, some beautiful chunky jewelery and a Sears gift card. I'm just so proud of the thoughtful gift giver she's become, and touched that she appreciates the handmade stuff her mommy makes :)

I will post pictures of the quilts later.

Now I am baking wild rice hot dish for lunch (my Grandma's recipe), Ashley is celebrating Christmas with Kevin's family, Rebekah is watching a movie and Grant is studying his computer book. But it's cozy and lovely and my heart is content.

Merry Christmas 2010!

The stockings are filled, Santa has been here...

The children are sleeping all tucked in their beds...

It's after 11:00 and it's been a looooong day, so I should patter off to bed myself. But something nags at me.

Is it enough? Every year on Christmas Eve I ask myself the same question, is it enough? I have a sudden urge to run to the nearest store and buy out anything that would even remotely interest my kids and husband, just to have more.

The further I step away from the materialistic world, onto the avenue of simplicity and minimalism, the more I struggle to balance expectation with satisfaction. I look around and am astounded by what "other people" do for the holidays. The people and families that have it all together, the traditions, the gifts, the gifts for friends, neighbors, mailmen, clergy, hairdressers, etc.

I have exactly 5 gifts for each child under the tree. 1 gift for each child is hand made and the others are just small thoughtful items. My gifts are not TV's, Wii's, or expensive things that came from the mall. Will they be disappointed? Is it enough?

I have not managed to finish the gifts I had planned for a handful of friends, so I will work on them and deliver them late. Does that make me a bad friend? Is a late gift enough?

I don't know. I am working on these feelings of inadequacy this Christmas Eve, but trying to remember what this season is really about. It's about celebrating the birth of my Savior (and yours!), Jesus Christ. There is no gift that can compare to that. 

Tomorrow we'll open the gifts, I will hope the love I've placed into those gifts is enough. We'll read the Christmas story from the Bible and make Jesus a birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday. And I'll keep working on this attitude for next year.

Merry Christmas, may you always have "enough".

Merry Christmas Eve

The service at church was beautiful and it was so nice to share it with people who don't normally come to our church but showed up to support Rebekah and enjoy the message. I love the friends that have to come to make up our extended family in this crazy little coastal town at the edge of the world.

Before the service, I had Kevin (Ashley's boyfriend) take a family picture of us because we so rarely

capture that shot anymore!

This is Ashley and Kevin. Such a cute couple.

Sisters!

Ashley, hauling all 65 lbs of fluff to the car so she wouldn't get her new shoes wet. Heaven help us.

Performance time! I was very thankful for all of those who said prayers that her dress wouldn't catch on fire, it didn't! She did very well and loved every bit of it!

A call from Grandma and Grandpa completed the evening and now to wait for Santa's arrival!

Merry Christmas Eve to all of our friends and family. We love you!

Sneak Peek

Tonight was the practice for the Christmas Eve service at church. First time Rebekah had sang into a microphone, not bad! Tomorrow will be the real deal. Wish us luck! I'll be praying her dress doesn't catch on fire!

Astoria

Yesterday and the day before, we were in Astoria, OR to celebrate Grant's birthday. I'm all about experiences vs stuff these days and this was what he wanted. We had SUCH a nice time. Exploring and enjoying the rich beauty of the area.

Astoria is the oldest established town west of the Rocky Mountains. It's where Lewis and Clark found the Pacific Ocean. So many history lessons here!

The bridge, the bridge is 4.1 miles long, it's stunning!

The sea lions were funny and cute, in an obnoxious loud barking sort of a way. :)

The first day we went to Costco and got food for the stay. Turkey and cheese pinwheels, pickled herring (Grant's birthday...remember), chips and hummus, and cilantro lime shrimp (again, Grant's birthday). I had also packed apples and snacks for Rebekah and a large salad for me.

Our hotel room overlooked the Columbia River and the bridge, Grant took lots of pictures.

Rebekah was more interested in the TV than the view. Shocker.

Inside of our favorite (so far) coffee shop on 14th St.

What do you think Mom, road trip?

The second day we visited Ft Clatsop which was just so educational. In the parking lot the moss beards on the trees looked like garland or tinsel, it was so thick!

Rebekah inside of the museum, working on her Jr Ranger Badge. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. A few people showed up later but she made herself right at home.

Outside on the trail with her Jr Ranger workbook looking for certain plants. We got so lucky on the weather. Chilly but no rain that afternoon.

I'm bummed I missed the shot of her getting her badges. They made her raise her right hand and take an oath. Gave her the badges and announced her name over the loudspeaker and all the workers came out and gave her an applause. It was really neat, and something that she was really able to take pride in. I can't wait to do this at the other parks.

Well Grandma?

Will it do? I really was pushing for the black and silver beauty or the elegant red or green. But she saw the pink ribbon and it was all over. Oh well, the child knows her own mind.

Size EIGHT by the way. And it fits perfect, not an inch too big.

Gymnastics sneek a peek week

I can hardly believe my camera battery died RIGHT before the floor routine started so I didn't get that video. Thankfully Grant had the other camera for some stills, and I managed to get the battery changed before the beam and bars. Only falling off the beam twice was an accomplishment for my darling little "grace". :)

The girls got red star awards at the end of the program, I thought it was hilarious that Ms Daniela encouraged other girls to get up at 6:45 and practice their gymnastics like Rebekah does...LOL

 I should also mention the girl in the pretty red outfit. That's Miss Kristy who is the gymnastics helper. She is one awesome girl! Rebekah simply adores her which works out well when she tackles her at church every Sunday :)

Rebekah loves the gymnastics class, she looks forward to it every week and practices cartwheels in the living room on a daily basis. I'm so glad Power and Grace is here in Ocean Shores!

Growing

Yes, after this picture was taken I asked her to relinquish the too small jammies.
So I take the picture and she asks to see it. I show it to her and she says "don't put that on facebook!" 

What? I negotiated to be able to put it on the blog...yes, it's come to that. I thought I had a few years but no, the blog now has an editor :)

Grant's birthday cake

It's become pretty standard for Grant to ask for brownies instead of actual cake for his birthday. This year we're dieting though, so that piece you see above is all he got :) I saved one more piece for him to have the next day and the rest of it got packaged up and sent to Ashley's boyfriends house. This is the new mode of operation around here, good thing Santa's bringing him more chocolate for his stash.

So tired

I am oh so tired, but the good news is after much anticipation and set back, the new Library Director is in town and her U-Haul is unpacked. A crew of about 10 locals (including every member of the Library Board, YAY!) spent about 4 hours unloading the U-Haul, assembling furniture, putting perishables away in the fridge and freezer, etc. It's disorganized, but she's in. Poor thing doesn't know how they even got to the house (it was dark...not the plan) and she rented the place site unseen. Brave girl.

Anyway! Yesterday was Grant's birthday. So we used his gift certificate to have lunch at the Shilo.

Grant had house salad and clam chowder, which he said was better than average!
Rebekah had grilled cheese and french fries...so healthy.

I had the cobb salad with no cheese and lots of black coffee! Our waitress was great, the cup never ran dry! Rebekah took this picture of me while we waited for our food. Lovely.

 

Then Rebekah managed to convince the waitress she was a little angel and so the waitress offered her this monstrosity on the house! She thought about  it long and hard...not!

After we got done eating we went home and got warm clothes on to go to the beach. We stopped by Ashley's work to let her know where we'd be...isn't she cute?

On to the beach for kite flying and beach combing...brrrrr

And this picture is for Grandma. Rebekah insisted, even though we had just eaten, she insisted she pack her new lunch box with a snack for the beach because Grandma said that's what it's for! And she used it too!

Happy Birthday Honey

Today I get to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the day my wonderful husband was put on this earth.

I am one seriously blessed woman to have this man as my husband and love of my life. 

Happy Birthday sweetheart, 

I love you!

Amazing quote...

Have compassion for everyone you meet, even when they
don't want it. What seems conceit, bad manners, or
cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have
heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what
wars are going on down there where the spirit
meets the bone.
-
Miller Williams

Food is everywhere.

I would love to have a normal relationship with food. Just to walk past it and say "naw" if I wasn't hungry. But I don't. I LOVE FOOD. Seriously. Maybe it's emotional eating but you know I can eat when I'm happy, sad, frustrated, scared, elated...it really doesn't matter.

But now that I'm back on the diet wagon, I notice that food is everywhere. In magazines, on the blogs I read, billboards, computer ads, everywhere.

I have resolve. Other than eating one fresh baked ooey gooey chocolate chip cookie today, I did not break my diet. AND I worked out. Yeah!

Breakfast:
2 eggs scrambled
green pepper
onion
cilantro
jalepeno
tomato
1 slice dry whole wheat toast

Lunch:
Huge salad with:
Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Green pepper
Radish
onion
Avocado
Boiled Eggs
Chicken breast
1 Tbls ranch dressing w/rice vinegar.

Snack: 1 Tbls peanut butter on celery sticks

Supper:
Salad w/most of the same veggies from lunch
Mahi Mahi (4oz)
Stir fried garlic and green beans in EVOO

Treat: Cookie

Snack:
1/2 cup granola
1/2 cup soy milk
2 Tbls unsweetened coconut shreds

Diet

See those cookies at the top of the page? Yeah, that needs to stop. Along with chocolate Ashley brought home from work (c'mon it was SEE'S), brownies the size of tires at the church luncheon today, and "special coffee". All of the fun needs to stop now.

Because I stepped on the scale at Curves today and did a serious W.T.H. (it might have been an f, actually).

Sigh. The battle.

Bought salad supplies for supper, did not have dessert. DID have a bowl of homemade granola now because I don't sleep well when I'm hungry and that salad was 4 hours ago and well...veggies process fast. But no extra sugar or fattening milk, just my home made soy milk.

I lost 30 lbs in 2010, it's my goal to lose another 30 in 2011, unfortunately I have 6 lbs to go before breaking even. But I did it once, I can do it again!

Today was my second day in a row back at Curves and I do plan to go again tomorrow. No less than 4 days a week.

Coffee Lake Farm (my parents place) now has a blog. I've added it to the blog roll on the right.

 

Here is a picture that I don't think made it on to facebook or the blog. A beautiful sunset the evening I took Mom down to see the clam digging chaos.

Most cried over gift so far...

Ashley received a box full of recipes that my Mom collected from friends and family back in Minnesota. She didn't know what an impact it would have on Ashley but I think the picture speaks for itself. 


Each time she pulled out another recipe she'd start crying all over again. As she told me later "it represents all of the people I care about that I'm not with right now".


Good call Grandma, good call.

The one and only picture of my Mom and me together during her visit. 

Our Christmas dinner...of which I am enjoying the leftovers right now! Chicken breast, olive bread, fettuccine alfredo,  roasted vegetables, and pumpkin pie. 

So. Very. Tasty.

Woooowie! I am tired!

Left the house at 6:00 AM and drove my Mom to the Portland airport for her return flight to Minnesota. The goodbyes just suck. I miss her already.

I had about 3 hours of sleep last night with my little darth vader breathing thru her snotty nose in bed with me. It's okay, I'm glad I was there to cuddle her.

But with the low sleep I was getting tired driving back so I stopped in Centralia to get gas and coffee. Stopped at their Goodwill and didn't buy anything (anyone else notice how much better Salvation Army is compared to Goodwill lately?). Then found a super cute shop called Folk Art Gatherings Too and it made me really miss my Mom because it's our kind of fun shop! But next time. There is also a little lunch counter in there I think it's called "The Good Lunch" but I can't exactly remember. Yep, definitely going there with my Mom.

Got to Aberdeen and needed another stop so I got a triple shot peppermint mocha at Starbucks and stopped at a new thrift shop there. Scored two shirts for myself for a grand total of $4.07 (my coffee was more than that!).

Came home, kissed my little sickie-pooh, sat down on the couch and cried. It was such a good visit and I love my Mom so very much and I am so thankful she was able to visit and that we stay close no matter how far apart we live. Miss you already Mom, see you in the spring!

Mom saying goodbye to the ocean, until next time.

Misc.

My Mom has been here visiting for the past week, I'm taking her to the airport and boy am I going to miss her!

But things are going to stay busy around here because I've vowed to make my Christmas gifts this year and I haven't even started on anything for the youngest child or my husband!

Also, over the next few months I'm going to be transferring the tutorials from my website to this blog. I just don't like feeling so torn between the two!

The other thing I'm going to work on is whittling down my facebook account and activity. I do love facebook but I want to have the pictures I'm posting over there be on my blog. And I have way too many friends on facebook that I never talk to and too many companies and "likes" that need to go away.

Theme for 2011? SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY!

Thanksgiving always brings out the Thanksgiving "list". So I wanted to do one of my own and challenge myself, I always say I'm thankful for so many things I can't list them all. Well I can't, but I CAN list 100 things so here I go.

100 things I am thankful for this year:

1. Rekindled relationship with God which gives everything more purpose.

2. Home. We are safe, warm, and dry and it's paid for.

3. Husband who loves me and treats me with kindness and respect (and he's cute!)

4. Ashley, a teenager who is growing into a lovely young woman. Smart and beautiful.

5. Rebekah, a 5 yr old who is as feisty as she is adorable.

6. My Mom. I have a lot of friends who don't have their Mom's anymore and I don't even want to imagine a life without mine. I love my Mom so much.

7. My Step-Dad, tireless Scrabble player, Grandpa to my kids, and writer of the best Christmas letters ever.

8. Community, sometimes it feels like we've lived here a very long time because we have such a great sense of community.

9. Friends. I love my friends near and far.

10. Internet (Facebook, Blog, e-mail) for keeping me connected to those I love.

11. Church, I look forward to every Sunday which I have never done before.

12. Food. We are so blessed to have enough.

13. Transportation, our vehicles run well for the most part, which is easy to take for granted until they don't!

14. My husbands job, which allows us to live in this place even though the job market here stinks.

15. Home school. I'm so thankful we have the opportunity.

16. Fenced in yard. So that eventually I shall have a lovely garden :)

17. Creativity. So I can make sweet things for my home, family, and friends if I really put my mind to it, and therefor can avoid black Friday.

18. Thrift Store. And the lovely person who has big feet like me and apparently is a good shopper and donates barely used shoes to our thrift store for me to buy for $1.

19. Photos. I treasure them.

20. Art, I have a lot of art made by a certain 5 yr old.

21. Washer and dryer. Thank you God that I don't have to sit at the laundry mat!

22. 2 bathrooms. That's been handy.

23. Coffee. I wish I wasn't thankful for it, but I am...hooked.

24. Mail. The mailbox sure can be fun when we get good mail!

25. Library. So glad I don't have to own all of those books and movies.

26. Curves. I love Gail and all of the friends I've met there. I hope I can continue the weight loss as soon as I get my act back together.

27. Propane. Even when the electricity goes out, we can bake bread and make cowboy coffee and be good to go :)

28. Candles. I light a candle every night, the light is just pretty.

29. Grocery outlet, which saves my grocery budget every single month.

30. My sewing machine, can't imagine doing it all by hand.

31. Dark chocolate

32. Hot showers.

33. The beach

34. The mountains

35 The rain forest and beauty we live by.

36. Ashley's boyfriend Kevin, she smiles more now.

37. Music

38. Viet Hoa (really yummy local restaurant)

39.That I have all 5 of my senses.

40. Geocaching

41. Scrabble

42. Operation Christmas Child

43. Sleep!

44.Common sense

45. Quilts

46. Sunshine

47. rain

48. Reusable water bottles

49. Travel mugs

50. Bon fires

51. S'mores

52. Road trips!

53. Lack of TV

54. Cameras, which I just realized is not the same as pictures :)

55. pretty fabric

56. Farm eggs

57. My very cozy bed

58. Spare change, which goes into a jar for next years Operation Christmas Child

59. Soy milk, that we can make ourselves and saves money on the grocery bill.

60. That despite my quirks, I have people who love me.

61. Art supplies

62. Health ~ relatively speaking.

63. Random acts of kindness...just knowing they are out there makes me happy!

64. Farmers markets

65. etsy.com

66. Freedom

67. Color ~ I seem to like more colorful things since living on the west coast

68. Light houses. They're just cool.

69. Laughter ~ learning to let myself be amused more often.

70. Astoria, my new Duluth

71. Babies. They make me smile.

72. Hugs. I give and get a lot more these days!

73. knowledge, I can always use more but I'm thankful for what I have.

74. Organic food. Wish I could go 100% organic but happy we have access to as much as we do!

75. Old things. Love the character

76. Beach combing

77. Ability to make do with what I have.

78. headphones (!) not for me though :)

79. Tide pools

80. the Bible

81. Electricity, without which many of the previous things would be impossible.

82. tea (really liking my decaf chai at night!)

83. Quiet, a rare but treasured gift.

84. extended family, I feel quite lucky to have many aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grandparents.

85. Compassion.

86. Celebrations

87.Clothes, it's not pretty without them

88. Airplanes, which deliver my Mommy to see me!

89. Homemade granola, a staple in our house!

90. The last minute. If not for that, nothing would get done.

91. The fact that I only set my alarm clock 3 times all year (Rebekah usually wakes me anyway)

92. Ashley's boyfriend has a car (thanks Kevin!)

93. Rebekah's gymnastics class (and one hour dates for hubby and me!)

94. Sunsets and sunrises, they are so beautiful here.

95. Cell phones

96. Alone time

97. Sense of humor

98. Yesterday

99. Today

100. Tomorrow!

Another chapter ends

She got her GED,
but somehow it wasn't official until we had the party...now that is done too.

Hard to believe in a couple of months she'll be a full fledged adult according to the law. Sigh. Putting together her baby pictures for the party was a flood of memories and emotions. She was so little once. And it seems like another life time ago, yet at the same time it seems like yesterday...I don't understand how that works.

I'm so proud of her. She was such a beautiful hostess at her party (Mom, you would have been proud), she mingled politely with everyone, introduced people who didn't know each other, stayed to help clean up without being asked, and wrote thank you notes the very next day. It's a beautiful thing for a Mom to watch.

She doesn't want to continue her education right now, it's okay. I understand. Although everyone wants her to, and I agree it's good to go get a continuing education, the most important thing to me is that she has goals and works towards them. Right now her goal is to move out in February or March, and she's saving up to make that happen, I admire that. I hope once that goal is reached, she sets another and another and another. I wish her a life filled with purpose, dreams, goals, and success because I know when she sets her mind to something she can make it happen.

Yes, one chapter is ending, but it's just the beginning of the story. I love you baby girl.

Another you'll never be this cool...


Sometimes the fame is hard to live with. Maybe that's why she's so crabby all of the time. At least she has her admiring public fooled.

Today we headed over to Westport, which is really close to Ocean Shores as the crow flies. Unfortunately we're not crows and we have to drive AROUND the bay, so it's almost an hour drive.

We went with our homeschool group the Westport Lighthouse and then over to the maritime museum. Good deal because normally the admission to each place is $5 per person, but we got to go for $1 per person. Score!


I don't remember how many steps to the top but once we got to the first landing (that would be the bottom of the gray part in the above picture) we could only go up in groups of 6. We were in the last group. So to pass the time, Rebekah constantly looked over the edge of the stair railing to set my nerves on edge. Really, a little shot of adrenaline went through my body every time she peeped over the edge. I'm a freak. It WAS a long way down! I mean really, can you even SEE the bottom?




After the light house we went over to the maritime museum to see another big lens. Here is a picture of that one. So beautiful.



I am not sure how long it would have taken us to visit these places if not for the homeschool group. So glad we are a part of it! Next month, indoor rock climbing!