This Wednesday we will have been at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay for 8 weeks. It hasn't been a particularly easy transition, but I do still have the sense that God has placed our family here for a purpose. We are well and right where we need to be. That said, I miss my friends and the community we left, I miss that the weather cooled off at night in San Diego, and I miss the abundance of fresh produce available year round in southern California. In GTMO, I am most enjoying the relaxed pace of life, time together as a family and having time for Bill and I to get to know each other again.
We are finally settling into more of a regular weekly rhythm thanks to school starting August 24th. Katie and Emily are enjoying the social aspects of school, though Katie's not finding the work as challenging or engaging as her previous school. I am homeschooling Patrick this year for a variety of reasons, which I will likely discuss in more detail in a future post. One thing about I really appreciate about DODEA (military school district) is that they allow homeschooled students to participate in specials at the school. So, Patrick is joining the 5th grade class every morning to participate in PE, music, art and Spanish. The elementary school utilizes block scheduling so he has 2 classes each morning - A days/B days.
The most ironic thing about school: busing. I was excited to find out my kids could ride the bus to school. After 5+ years of driving to school, many days to a separate preschool and elementary school, visions of walking my kids to one bus stop and picking them up at the end of the day without needing to get into the car was pretty exciting. Reality: my girls are on separate buses, with pick up and drop off times 10 minutes apart. The kindergarten and Sure Start (K4) students ride a separate bus from the rest of the elementary students. Patrick, because he's registered as a homeschooler is not allowed to ride the bus, so I'm still driving to school daily to drop him off and pick him up, even though his specials are the first 2 blocks of the school day (they begin about 15 minutes after the start of the school day). This isn't really a big deal, our mornings have been fine, the school is 5 minutes down the road (...the only main road). I just find it amusing.
I'd love to hear the funny or ironic things going on with your family as the new school year gets underway!
