Welcome to a candid conversation about why we have a biblical conviction to homeschool our kids. In this episode we share our heart for homeschooling and encourage you to reflect on how you can best disciple your children.Â
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Welcome to our conversation about developing family culture! This is another conviction that is at the root of everything we do as a family but also is a topic that you could probably spend an entire season talking about, so we hope todays podcast will spark a conversation in your family.
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Welcome to the RaisingRices podcast Episode #2 where we are covering parenting and thriving inside of transition. Did you know that there are things you can do as a parents to prepare for transitions that you know are coming and ones that come up surprisingly. Listen in as we cover that and more, about the little and big transitions that come up in our incredible story called: Life.
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Thanks for joining us for Episode #3 of the Raising Rices Podcast, we are so excited to talk about our Family Bible Time, and encourage you with our convictions, character and challenges that we have grown in. Our 20-minute podcast are designed to welcome you into our conversation about biblical parenting and we pray it is an encouragement to you!
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Welcome to the Raising Rices Podcast where we are excited to talk about raising households that serve the Lord. On today’s podcast we are going over Who We Are, and how this podcast will be covering our convictions, character, and challenge all within a 20-minute format.
We feel it is important to be able to give you wisdom to encourage you in your parenting journey, and yet at the same time knowing that it is impossible to give you ALL the information required to decide for your own family what fits best. This is for many reasons:
Our biggest prayer is that through these podcasts you will be strengthen in your spiritual relationship, your marriage relationship, and your parenting journey (yes, it is a journey! So, let’s not travel alone.)
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We just got from a wonderful weeklong camping adventure to Eastern Oregon. We stayed at the Thousand Trails Bend/ La Pine campground. Since Darren (hubby) is working full time while we travel this year, we have created a system where he wakes up super early to start work, then we hang out at camp for half then day, followed by our daily ADVENTURE. We like to plan on excursion each day for our family when we are in a new area. There are always so many things to see, BUT we have found can be hard to find things that fit what we are looking for. We enjoy adventures that are off the beaten path and something that allows us to enjoy God’s creation.
Since we know that it can be hard to find things that meet our criteria, we wanted to share what we have found, and the pros and cons of each adventure below. There will be a write up and a vlog for you to see our adventure to see if it is something that would be fitting for your family. We LOVE exploring and adventuring with our family, it is such a blessing to us and we pray this is a blessing to you as well.
First Up: We want to show you the Thousand Trails Campground Bend/La Pine
This is actually the VERY FIRST Thousand Trails campground we ever visited. In fact, we stayed here prior to ever having a membership. We have now had our membership for a year and have stayed here MANY times. It is one of our favorites, because of the beautiful location and large camping site. They do have a pool that has been “under construction” now for over 2 years and looks like NO progress has been made BUT they did switch management and we can visibly see other improvements being made like the Wi-Fi, and fire rings. Overall we would HIGHLY recommend this campground and the locational access to MANY fun things to do in the Bend/ La Pine area. (Which you will be able to see throughout the blog.)
DAY ONE ADVENTURE: Cowboy Dinner Tree
The first day was our driving day, we left right after church in Troutdale, Oregon and headed to the Thousand Trails to drop off our trailer before heading out on an adventure our family was REALLY looking forward to. The drive over the mountain and to La Pine with towing our trailer always takes longer then we think, this time it took us 3 and a half hours. We dropped the trailer (didn’t even set up anything) and headed off to the Cowboy Dinner Tree. Let me tell you this dinner is more than a restaurant it is an experience, (which you can totally see in the video below). Here is their website site: HERE! They have been featured many times for their unique take on dinner. The sheer amount of food you get is crazy, and kids 6 and younger eat for free which really worked in our favor being a BIG family. When we went the adult meals were $45.00 and kids 7-11 are $11.00, which may sound like a lot if you are like me and work hard to be on a budget BUT we have been known to spend MORE money eating out a Chinese then here simply due to their prices for the younger kids. So encouragement to do the math and factor in the experience of it all. We called a week in advance to make our reservation and the time we wanted was booked so we got a bit later time. (which actually worked out GREAT) So you will want to make sure to get your reservation in early! They have limited times, days and numbers they serve so PLAN AHEAD. Also arrive early and enjoy the shop, playing horse shoe and walking around.
DAY TWO ADVENTURE: Hiking Falls River Trail
On our first full day of camping, we took the morning to set up camp while Darren worked and then after lunch we headed out to check out our first hike. While researching hikes and things to do that are family friendly in the area I found this trail that people we saying was flat, peaceful and a walk along side a river. They were right! This was a wonderful hike where there were old growth forest to see, a beautiful river in frequent view, and for the most part pretty flat. They trails doesn’t really have a destination. You arrive a the Ranger Station, if you walk the full 2 miles in and 2 miles back. For our family 4 miles will our littles is pretty much the top of our walking range at the moment. So doing this the first day worked out but the kids were TIRED after. Something to note is there are many starting locations for the trail if you wanted to do it a bit shorter, you will still see the beauty and enjoy the trail.
DAY THREE ADVENTURE: Lava Lands and Benham Falls
We have actually visited these two locations before on our trips out here before, however Lava Lands is so unique and something fun to see we decided to adventure there again. If you go in off season as we did, it is low traffic which is nice BUT the information center is closed which is a bummer (bathrooms and education information are inside.) However we always enjoy walking around to see the lava flow and reading the educational signs along the way. There is a path from the Lava Lands down to Benham falls which we rode bikes on last year. Well, we sort of rode bikes, we coasted downhill the whole way and realized our kids would never be able to make it back so Darren rode his bike back uphill to grab the van (but again that was last year, so this year we drove from one to the other.) Only a few miles down the road is Benham falls. which is also a BEAUTIFUL flat walk along side the Deschutes River. You can also see the Lava Lands rock flow from the hike so that is fun to make that connection. It is a short and lovely hike to the first viewpoint, and many animals to see along the way.
DAY FOUR ADVENTURE: La Pine State Park
This was our first time checking out La Pine State Park. There was two main things we wanted to see while in the Park. First they have the largest and oldest Ponderosa Tree. When you enter the park it will have signs to the BIG TREE. This is a paved path, a really short distance away from the parking lot to see the Tree, then a small distance away there is a beautiful river, simple and beautiful. Then we got in our van to drive over to see the falls. This walk was so peaceful and a small grass field at the waterfall destination that we were able to sit and enjoy the beauty around us. The only people we saw was a couple at the tree other than that it was just us which was lovely.
DAY FIVE ADVENTURE: High Desert MuesumÂ
Just south of Bend is a wonderful High Desert Muesum, which we were surprised on the size of it. As with museums to keep running there is a charge to get in, and with this one it was going to personally cost our family $100 dollars for the day, and this was not including Darren’s parents whom were traveling with us. So I went online to their membership website site HERE we learned that you could get a family membership for $105 dollars which is a year long membership and would get you 2 additional adult tickets for free. So we were able to get Darren’s parents in for free and we can visit again when we return to the area for deer hunting. Overall we REALLY enjoyed the museum, there was one exhibit that was not our favorite it was very new age, and had some blasphemes statements but we used it as an opportunity to teach apologetics to our kids through our biblical worldview. Overall we would return again, and next visit I would like to see some of their presentations as well as in the summer months they have many camps and activities for the kids.
DAY SIX ADVENTURE: Fort Rock
This was a adventure that was furthest from the campground, it took us about an hour to drive to Fort Rock. It literally looks like a huge fort made of rock in the middle of nowhere, sounds funny but pretty cool (check out the video to see). We went in late April and the weather was fabulous, I could totally see if you were there in the heat of the summer it could be a scorcher. There are bathrooms and great parking. Also in the little town you drive through there is an museum for old time living but it was closed for the season when we went. We did the hike inside the Fort Rock and there is tons of trails all over for you to walk the inside of the loop. Some of the trails are harder then others but you can see where you are headed to know and plan accordingly. Super fun excursion we are really glad we did it.
DAY SEVEN ADVENTURE: Cow Meadow
This a difference adventure then others, it requires a quick back story: last fall my husband went hunting for elk out in Eastern Oregon, and one of his spots he tried was Cow Meadow. It is a beautiful location with a meadow and a view of the lake (reservoir). So Darren wanted to show us and that is what we did for a hike that day. It was the only rainy day of the week which meant it rained on our hike but it was still beautiful and fun to see. Also when Darren went hunting last year he saw ZERO elk, but when we were hiking we saw 15 of them! (ironic). Later that day, we took another hike that Darren hunted on in search of Sugar pine Trees and specifically sugar pine cones. We did find some! It was great fun but that hike was straight up hill where the Cow Meadow was flat.
DAY 7 we had no adventure it was Sunday and our day to pack up and head out, we needed to leave early and get back home because my side of the family was taking family pictures and showering was a must before those. Overall it was a wonderful week of family time and adventuring! We are excited to do our next camping adventure coming up in the end of May. That trip will be 2 weeks longs and we are excited to show you all that we get to do and see. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and Follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss anything. (We do share different content on each of the medias so can’t wait to see you there!
Until Next time!
Last week on our RaisingRices Instagram page I talked about ways to avoid homeschool burn out. This is such a needed conversation because BURN OUT happens! Especially starting in February, so if you have felt burn out, trust me you are not alone. So, what can we do? Well continue reading for some valuable ways to combat or avoid homeschool burn out. Also make sure you are following our INSTAGRAM page where I work hard to show practical ways to utilize the gift of homeschooling, how to roadschool, and finding the joy in the homeschooling moments.
How to avoid or prevent homeschool burn out. Some of these tips and tricks will be no brainers while others we must remind ourselves of the importance of these simple steps to support our homeschooling journey. YUP, I said it: journey! Homeschool is an amazing blessing and gift but it NOT a straight sprint to the end, yet rather a long distance run with hills that go up and down. There will be highs and lows, bumps and bruises but also life long treasured moments.
Remember Your WHY! Don’t forget WHY you chose to homeschool in the first place! If you have never done this simple exercise I would encourage you to write down the reasons WHY you chose to homeschool and put it where you can read it and be reminded. During our hard and frustrating moments if we lose focus on WHY we are doing the thing we are doing then the activity looses is priority, purpose and protentional. You start to make excuses or find alternatives to the choses we have made. Don’t forget your WHY!
SCALE BACK. Remember one of the joys of homeschooling is to be able to switch it up and scale back. Some of us get so bogged down with the to-do list that we can lose the joy. Other times we just need a spark to keep us going, so remember as a homeschooling family you can go on a walk, change pace with a until study, do a reading challenge for the week, go on a field trip, etc. Never lose the joy of learning, it should be like lighting a fire not filling a bucket. We can fall trap to saying schooling has to look like the public or private schools but truly homeschooling and learning can happen anywhere, anytime and anyhow. Be encouraged to scale back and switch it up.
STAY IN COMMUNITY! Don’t run this race along, join arms with others who will encourage you during moments of burn out. The blessing of encouragement from your homeschool community can be so reassuring during a season of burn out. Truly they KNOW what you are going through and have the right mindset on ways to rally and combat burn out. These community members will not only have amazing encouragement but also could have inspiration and ideas for ways to find the joy of homeschooling again. Lean into their wisdom and friendship.
EVALUATE DISTRACTIONS. Sometimes the distractions of life is what can lead to burnout. Are you falling into the comparison trap on social media, or are you focused on the wrong things? Make sure you take the time to evaluate those distractions and your heart. I know I can speak from experience that I will look on with longing at others people lives or what they are doing on social media and think to myself: I am failing, or I want what they have. During those times I need a wake up call to remind myself that social media is not reality, it doesn’t show the whole picture. Then I need to evaluate am I being encouraged by spending my time on social media or am I becoming discouraged and burnt out. If I am not being encouraged then I need to set up some time limits and remove what is distracting me.
FEED YOUR SOUL! This is truly the number one way to avoid burn out, I am putting it at the end so it will be first on your mind as we wrap up. Focus on Christ, find things that encourage and feed your soul. This is the most affected way to avoid burnout. When we turn to Christ, focus on the eternal, we get all the motivation we need. It gives us tunnel vision, inspiration and motivation. How can you feed your soul better? Is it spending more time in the word, playing worship music throughout the day, putting up God’s word throughout the house so you can meditate on truth, there are so many other ways too but what is most important is: TURN TO CHRIST.
I hope this was encouraging to you. Remember you are not alone! Turn to Christ.
We have officially entered the first camping trip of our 2022 season!
A quick background to give you an idea of how we are making this camping season work for us: my (Marissa’s) grandparents have been campers for a long time, in fact I have many memories of camping with them growing up. My grandpa in his wisdom got a Thousand Trails camping membership and was grandfathered (fittingly named) into some of the features at Thousand Trails. When they decided they were of the age to move away from camping they graciously transferred the membership to us. It was such the Lord’s timing and favor that they would honor us with that for only a few short months later we would find ourselves selling our home and living in our trailer. Due to their generosity, we are able to stay at Thousand Trails campsite for a significant discount. We pay a yearly membership which allows us to stay 50 days for “free” under that yearly fee and then after that you can pay per stay at a discounted rate. So far in our 2022 camping season March – Sept we have reserved 57 nights at Thousand Trails Campgrounds. (We will also be staying at other campgrounds like KOA’s and Private campgrounds which will cant wait to share with you all as well.)
SEASIDE THOUSAND TRAILS
We are excited to share our adventure both in video and here on our blog:
You might be surprised that we would camp over spring break at a highly sought-after location, especially since we are not fans of crowds. In fact, Darren was super surprised when I suggested it, BUT my grandparents had talked highly of this campground so we wanted to give it a try and USUALLY the Oregon Coast can surprise you with good weather during winter and spring.
Darren got a new remote job recently so he was able to work remotely this week while we were away, which is such a blessing and something we prayed for a pursued.
Day One:
We arrived at Thousand Trails Seaside, for those of you that do not know most of Thousand Trails are a first come first serve when it comes to picking spots; because of this you sort of are at the mercy of the spots left. We came on a Sunday so we hoping that some new spots would be available since maybe some would have only camped for the weekend. BUT also we went camping on Oregon states spring break (so I was a bit nervous there would be no spots.)
When you come to Thousand Trails Seaside there is two campgrounds (North side and South side). The pool is on the northside so we drove to that section to look for a place to park.) There were 3 sites available on this side, and two of them were hard for our 32 ft camping trailer to fit in so the one that left one to pick. We snagged the spot and it is within walking distance of the bathroom and pool so that is perfect for us. (There are full hook ups at this Campground which is awesome but we try out best to still use the showers and bathroom in the provided facilities.
It was POURING rain (cats and dogs!) so when we arrived we had time to set up camp, make dinner, play some indoor games and then head to bed.
DAY Two:
Our first full day of camping here at Seaside, and guess what: it was raining again! ALL DAY! But they have a pool at the park (which opens 10 – 11 for adults lap swim and then open swim from 11:00 to 6:00), so after playing games and having a low key morning we headed to the pool from 11 – 12. We came back and had lunch together, which brought us to the time that Darren gets off work, so we cleaned up and loaded up to head to Fort Clatsop. This awesome historical site is filled with things to see and do for all ages. We were able to walk through the modest museum, watch a commentary documentary video in their theater, and see the replica of the original Fort that Lewis and Clark stayed in. There is many hiking trails around the Fort as well. Then we headed home for dinner and game night indoor due to the rain.
DAY Three:
Day three and our second full day here in Seaside. Darren worked today instead of his normal 5:00 am to 1:30 pm, he split it into two 4 hour sections, so that we could go see Hug Point. Hug Point is safest to see when you go at low tide. Low Tide was at 10:30 am (just to be clear it changes each day so you need to check before you go). We left the campsite at 9:30 am to have plenty of time but when we arrives at Hug Point pull off there was NO parking, it was completely full and a line of cars waiting. So we decided to head to Arcadia beach which is the next one to the north. The parking lot was empty there, hooray! So we pulled right in and then looked up on our All Trails app that this beach is about 1 mile away from hug point. So we decided to walk it over there. This was a huge success, it was a beautiful walk and we arrived at Hug Point, and got to see the caves and waterfall. Hug Point was busy (which was to be assumed from the parking lot) but it was so pleasant to be away from the crowds on our walk there and back. (You may have figured this out about us but we don’t like crowded things so we love to find things that are beautiful and off the beaten path.) We stayed there for 2 hours, saw an eagle, a dead whale, tons of shells, caves, waves and the beautiful hug point and hug point waterfall. Then we came home from lunch and bike riding while Darren finished his work day. When Darren got off we made dinner then headed to watch the sunset (this would be the only sunset without clouds this week). We went to Gearhart beach, we accessed the parking lot by the Golf course. (A cool feature that we did not do but LOTS of others did, is you can access the beach with your car and pull out right on the beach). We decided to walk the bluff to see the sunset from there, but before the set actually set we walked for a while on the beach finding sand dollars.
DAY Four:Â
Super low key day and stayed at the campsite all day which was a nice change up from being away all the day before. The rain was projected to come after lunch so the morning we rode bikes and walked around everywhere. After lunch we had some down time inside the trailer while it was raining, we played games and read books. Then our “big plans” for the day was to spend time swimming together with daddy. After swimming we came back, made dinner and enjoyed sitting around the campfire.
DAY Five:
I am happy to report the weatherman was mistaken and what was supposed to be a cloudy day turned into a BEAUITFUL partly sunny day! It was wonderful! We spent the morning riding bikes and play at the park, then after lunch and when Darren got off work, we head to explore Fort Stevens. We have been to Fort Stevens many times as it has been a tradition for us every September to stay at Fort Stevens State Park but it is always a joy to visit. This time the museum was open and we got to read about the historical things we were seeing. After spending several hours there we returned home for dinner and then headed out again to the Seaside Promenade where we walked to see the historic site of the Salt Works, then walked back on the beach (which was beautiful!) And lastly, we ended the day giving the kids a ride of the carousal.
DAY Six:
Our goal was to go to Ecola State Park to see Tillamook Lighthouse but it was CLOSED, the whole park! So that was a bummer. So instead we walked Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock. It is a treasure and BEAUITFUL but not really a great place to see the tide pools because it also is closed off from the public. After walking the beach we walked into the town and got ice cream, yum! Then returned to the campground and swam together at the pool. Then enjoyed a fire and popcorn over the fire.
Day Seven:
The last day camping and time to pack up camp. We had a yummy breakfast and slowly packed up to head home. We had one more adventure in store for the way home, about a hour towards Portland from the beach is a place called Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area. This is a wonderful stop with a bathroom, great parking and ELK! We saw so many Elk and other animals. It was a fun surprise since we were sure what we would see when we stopped. They feed the elk earlier in the morning (for future knowledge.)
Activities We Did:
Food We Ate:
Sunday
Dinner: Tempura Shrimp, Simple Slaw, and Brown Rice (helpful hint: bring a rice cooker, you can use it indoor or out)
MondayÂ
Breakfast: Blueberry muffins (made at home prior to coming) and Greek Yogurt
Lunch: Polish Sausges (we made our own, vlog here), orange slices and kettle chips.
Dinner: Korean BBQ Chicken, Slaw and Brown Rice (our original plan was to do in the Instant Pot but Darren decided to grill them up in our cast iron)
Tuesday
Breakfast: Yogurt and Banana Bread (made at home before coming)
Lunch: PB&J’s with chips and apple slices
Dinner: Stuffed French Toast (cream cheese and strawberries), lemon curd and sausage
Wednesday
Breakfast: Pancakes, eggs and sausage
Lunch: Hummus, crackers, cheese and fruit
Dinner: Italian sausages, no. odles and salad
Thursday
Breakfast: Oatmeal (we bring our electric water heater when making individual packets)
Lunch: bagels and cream cheese with fruit
Dinner: Indian Chicken, Peppers and onions with Brown Rice
FridayÂ
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Hot Dogs and fruit
Dinner: Polish Sausages, Slaw, Potato Fried
Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs
SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT TIME
There is so much to see and do and honestly some things are not quite yet our children’s age and ability level.
But for the future we would LOVE to do the disc golf course at Fort Stevens, we might start with half the course and then progress to the whole one.
The other big goal we would love to do one day is to hike Saddle Mountain. The Saddle Mountain Trail is an absolutely gorgeous path that climbs to the peak of Saddle Mountain, one of Oregon’s most well-known hiking and trekking spots. The summit is a good 3,290 feet above sea level, and many parts of the path can be steep and slippery, so you’ll want to be in good physical condition before you go.
Another thing I saw recommended but didn’t do the research ahead of time to get the details is to attend a reenactment of the Salt Works with locals that act out the parts. Sounds like a great time to visualize the historical event.
Since we wanted to and weren’t able to see Ecola State Park and the Tillamook Lighthouse (which is in the ocean not accessible by walking) this would be on our list for next time. 🙂
Next Camping Adventure is La Pine, Oregon (right outside of Bend). Make sure to follow along to see our Adventures and leave in the comments if you have any suggestions for MUST see things to do.Â
Madeline and I had the opportunity to do a quilting day with Nana. We went to Nana's house Friday evening started sewing then Madeline got to stay the night and the next day (Saturday) we worked until noon. It was a short, sweet, and successful time together. Each of us had a project we were working on: Madeline was working on a quilt for her bed that she had started on our hunting trip in the fall but we realized that she need more pink squares, Marissa (me) was working on a table runner to match the cloth napkins she had made with Darren's (hubby) grandma, and Nana (Marissa's mom) was working on a baby quilts for Foster families, she helps organizes Boxes of Love at her church (a local organization for supporting Foster families in the area. Watch today to see and hear how the time together went. Enjoy!
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