Journal: Week of June 17, 2024

While away, I had a few more items purchased on my Etsy shop.  When we returned, the items shipped to Maine, New Jersey, and North Carolina. :) Items sold this past week included lanyard pen holders, classroom window curtains, and a dog bandana.

Ashlyn and her friend, Andy, went swimming on Tuesday afternoon for about an hour.  Our HOA in the neighborhood was sponsoring, Pops at the Pool, so we had a popsicle along with enjoying the pool for a bit.

Tuesday evening, Ashlyn completed her BSA Astronomy merit badge.  They were able to complete everything but one requirement while camping at the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Her last thing to complete was to draw a sketch of the Big Dipper's orientation in the early evening sky.  Then a few hours later, sketch it again including the North Star in both sketches and the position.  I could sure tell the difference between the views from our campsite, Glacier Basin, in comparison from our house with all the light pollution.  It was much harder to see, but it was there.  Saturday evening, Ashlyn submitted her last requirements for her BSA Camping merit badge.  

Summer Camp 2024: Rocky Mountain National Park

What an incredible week at Rocky Mountain National Park last week with Ashlyn's BSA Troop 219 from Denton, TX.  This was the troop's summer camp this year.  We started our journey on Saturday, June 8th and arrived at Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico.  Prior to arriving at the state park, we took a detour and visited the Capulin Volcano National Monument.  This was Ashlyn's first time to visit the volcano.

We had a windy evening while at Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico.  The girls tented in one big tent, which collapsed on them.  The stories were funny between the seven of them since one slept through the tent collapsing and another was content and chill through the whole thing.  They were laughing and telling stories the next morning.  They ended up packing it up and just slept in a few vehicles instead of dealing with the hassle.  Prior to bedtime, we had one of the most beautiful sunsets.

After arriving to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday June 9th, we stayed at Glacier Basin Campground which had incredible views from our hikes.  Our focus for our hikes were within the Bear Lake Corridor Trails.  We would either walk over or take a vehicle to the park & ride to catch a bus.  This bus would then take us to three specific trailheads: Bierstadt Lake Trailhead, Glacier Gorge Trailhead, and Bear Lake Trailhead.

On Monday, June 10th, we hiked up to Emerald Lake.  It was about a four mile hike overall with a variety of terrain changes including snow!  This hike was the most challenging out of all the hikes we completed and I am thankful we completed it first.  However, the end result was worth it and we had lunch prior to hiking back down.

 

The following day, Tuesday, June 11th, we hiked about two miles and saw the Alberta Falls.  Originally, we had a tubing excursion planned but were unable to complete due to the water speed.  Six of the seven scouts went to a water park and had an enjoyable day while the rest of us stayed at the campsite area.

Wednesday, June 12th, we all traveled to Colorado Adventure Center and scouts and adults completed a ropes and zip line course.  It was pretty impressive to watch them maneuver through the obstacles.

On Thursday, June 13th, four of us hiked another four miles.  We purposely started near the Bear Lake Trailhead which resulted in only a bit of incline and the remaining was primarily downhill.  In about three hours, we casually hiked four miles.  Our goal was not so fast paced as our previous two hikes had been from Monday and Tuesday!  Here is the picture of Bierstadt Lake from the hike.  Near the end of the hike, the four of us hiking could see our campsite from the hill.

Also on Thursday, June 13th, scouts and some adults completed rock climbing!  I suspect many were tired from the previous day's ropes and zip line course.  Those attending rock climbing stated the hike to get where they had to go was pretty brutal.  However, from all the pictures it appears they had a great time and experience.  Ashlyn mentioned rappelling was a bit challenging and required the most trust from the other person.

As scout led, they did a fantastic job planning out the meals for an entire week.  The girls decided to work on a variety of merit badges including astronomy, climbing, camping, cooking, citizenship in the nation, and first aid.  A few of the girls also worked on trail to first class.  Ashlyn completed climbing, cooking, and the astronomy merit badge.  She is almost completed with her camping merit badge too!

Between the scouts and adults, we hiked the trails at RMNP, went to a water park (due to the tubing plans getting cancelled), completed a ropes/zip line course, rock climbing and rappelling, shopped, and a few a scouts visited a Colorado University!  It was such an amazing experience and thankful I had the opportunity to attend.

Journal: Week of April 29, 2024

This past week went well.  My Algebra and 8th grade math students took their end of the year STAAR test.  Hopefully, they did well.  We will not know the results until much later in the school year most likely.  Last year we did not know their results until the beginning of our current school year.  We have three more weeks of the 2023-2024 school year.  

We completed our annual swim test for BSA on Wednesday.  In order to pass the BSA swim test, you must jump feet first into water over the head in depth, level off, and begin swimming. Swim 75 yards in a strong manner using one or more of the following strokes: sidestroke, breaststroke, trudgen, or crawl; then swim 25 yards using an easy resting backstroke. The 100 yards must be swum continuously and include at least one sharp turn. After completing the swim, rest by floating. I recently purchased a Samsung Watch 6 and was impressed the watch knew which stroke I was doing while completing my test.  

Ashlyn went on an orchestra field trip with her school this past Thursday.  They did well and scored superior rating in all the categories.  After their performance, they went to Andretti Indoor Karting & Games.  

Friday evening, Ashlyn helped Jakob move the rest of his things from his dorm to the house.  He bribed her by buying her Whataburger for dinner and then ice cream afterwards!  He has a few more finals remaining next week, but otherwise has completed his first year at the University of North Texas!