Caden's Last Day of 2nd Grade

On June 14th, we celebrated Caden's last day of 2nd grade and the first complete year of homeschooling! He did a great job this year, and when I asked him if he wanted to continue homeschool or go back to public school next year, he quickly chose homeschool. That helps me feel better about our decision. I can't believe how advanced some of the curriculum was this year, but he handled it like a pro. Vance helped me make this banner for Caden. It says, "Congratulations Caden!" The banner ended up being so long that I couldn't fit it in the photo. Tevye and I hung it up where Caden could see it right when he walked into the living room first thing in the morning. He was so excited upon seeing it that his face just beamed with joy!

My mom came over to celebrate with us. I made these cupcakes that looked like apples. Caden liked them a lot.

For his last day, his assignment was to construct a working drawbridge and ramp out of Legos (I wish that I had taken a picture of it) and we read several pages in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. That night, we ate Caden's favorite dinner- spaghetti. Overall, I think that he felt like he was celebrated for the great job he did this year. I hope he remembers this day for a long time.

Vacation Part 3

Tevye took this picture of the Hoover Dam from the new walking bridge across the way.

Our next stop on the family vacation was Hoover Dam. Caden was most excited to see this, because we had studied about it in preparation for the trip. This was our first visit to the dam, except for Tevye, who had been there a long time ago. We took the power plant tour. It was so difficult for me to wrap my head around the concept that we were actually 540 feet under ground! Some of the pieces of pipe they used while building the dam were so large that they had to be built on site, because they were to big to transport from a factory. I highly recommend the tour- it was fascinating. After the tour, we walked on top of the dam. The view was beautiful, and it was fun to cross back and forth between two states (NV and AZ). The boys had a great time.

Walking through the tunnels that were over 5oo feet underground!

The boys infront of the water turbines.

Caden took this picture of us, which is why you can't see the dam down below. Despite his height, Caden is a pretty good photographer. Vance, when given the chance, cuts the person's head out of the picture on purpose.

Caden in Nevada- Vance in Arizona.