Fishing

This year's fishing trip to Frazee was extra-special, because Tracy was back in the US.  It was her first time getting to stay at Rose Ridge with us.  The weather was perfect during the week--a little warmer at the beginning of the week, so the girls were able to swim a few times, but otherwise pretty nice for fishing other than a little windy one day.  We took Tracy to our favorite toy/game/puzzle/candy/popcorn/ice cream store, Goose Gang, and made sure to visit the thrift shop in Frazee and get some ice cream in town another day.  When we visited Mary and George, Mary told us about a little zoo near our cabin, so Abby and I checked that out on our last afternoon.  Abby loved the opportunity to hold a baby wolf and we had the place to ourselves--lots of interesting animals!  We'll definitely have to add this to our list of things to do when we aren't fishing.  It was a fun week!

We even got Sadie on the boat for a ride on our last morning

Sadie made sure we didn't leave her behind

Abby was excited to hold a baby wolf

I had never seen a zedonk in person before!

Making breakfast with Tracy and Grandma

Sadie loved being able to swim each morning!

Fishing wears you out!  This is before breakfast...

Norah was in charge of pancakes and French toast prep

It wasn't super warm for swimming at Rose Ridge, but the girls had fun making "Starbucks" for Tracy at the beach

Norah's tiniest fish she caught

Norah was very into fishing this year!

The girls were able to swim at Fischer Lake two days--the second day, Dave, Tracy, and I joined in because it was hot!

Learning how to clean fish with Grandpa

Saying goodbye

Even though this school year felt long at times and wasn't always the easiest, the end of the year was very emotional as I had to say goodbye to my Red Oak family and my second "home" for the past 19+ years.  I student taught Feb.-March 2003 in 1st grade at Red Oak, and was fortunate to land my first teaching job that fall in 2nd grade, right next door to my cooperating teacher.  Through the years, I only moved classrooms one time--when we looped 2nd/3rd grade and I moved upstairs with the 3rd grade team.  I stayed put when we looped 3rd/4th grade a few times and eventually just stayed in 3rd grade.  My team has gone from a team of 8 teachers (!) to a team of 3, and they are fortunately going to be able to have a team of 4 and smaller class sizes next year.  I packed up and moved things to our garage/basement little by little over the last two weeks of school--I think it ended up being 11 total carloads.  😬 It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone, and the finality of turning in my computer/keys and shutting my classroom door for the last time was very emotional.  Even though it was hard, I think it's time for a new adventure, and I am excited to be in the same building as Norah next year (as well as just a block away from Abby at the high school).  I think it's what I'm supposed to be doing, even though it's scary thinking about the unknown.  The people and experiences I've had at Red Oak will always stay with me.  ❤️

The final car load

Jen and Sara had a going away open house for me on one of our last mornings--we didn't even plan to dress alike!

Dave was already up north fishing on my last day of school, so my sister was taking care of the girls.  She made us a reservation at the pizza farm for dinner to celebrate the end of the school year.  We also enjoyed ice cream at The Blast!

Fresh haircuts

The girls NEVER want to get their hair cut, so when they both agreed to have it cut by our worship leader/youth pastor's wife, Erin, I booked an appointment for them right away.  They were most excited to have her style/curl their hair.  The cuts turned out so cute!