Who would have guessed that Ohio had so many Islands?! We spent an afternoon in Put-In Bay
(Population: 135 people), a township on South Bass Island. We rented a golf-cart to cruise around
and visit some insanely cool places like the Chocolate Cafe and the International Peace Memorial.

Saturday feels like Saturday again! Life is good. The back-to-school milestone made for the MOST
challenging week so far, but we are grateful for the routine! How on EARTH do teachers do it? I love having
the one-on-one time with Zoe (Hannah has been self-sufficient, so far), but if I had 25 kids in a class I
would be a hot MESS! On a lighter note – one MAJOR perk of an on-line school is shoes are not required!
I can live with that!

For those of you asking: The girls are part of the Utah Virtual Academy. They both have a virtual classroom
that they are required to attend each day. They must engage and interact with their amazing
teachers and other students every day. A school day consists of 5.5 hours of academic learning. I work
as their learning coach and I am attached to Zoe’s hip 85% time. It has gone better than
I thought it would. Brian and I have them on a strict schedule/routine to ensure success. They wake up,
eat breakfast and get ready every morning as they would if they were attending a “brick and mortar” school.

A HUGE benefit to this type of program is: It’s flexible AND many of the activities we are doing as we explore
our country (touring museums, seeing monuments, exploring new cities, etc.) count towards their learning hours.
For example, we went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this week, this counted towards their hours. While we
were there we decided to tour the USS Cod, an actual World War 2 submarine. SO cool. They get credit for both.

Highlights included:

Celebrating the eclipse (or lack thereof) and final day of summer vacation at Cedar Point amusement. That place
is as cool as all the rumors say it is. Massive roller coasters and swings that are exactly 331 feet off the ground.
Hannah struggled more with the fact that it wasn’t a round number than she did at the fact she was dangling 331 feet
in the air. (She gets that from Brian)

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was another Bucket List item for me!! We spent a few hours there, but I felt like
I needed a couple days. It was so fun being surrounded by the details of so many music greats!

Brian’s Big Adventure this week included a day by himself at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was in heaven
and so were we (because we were at the pool!).

We also learned a hard but valuable lesson of exactly how much we are capable of each day. There was a day last
week, the girls had school, Brian had work, I had school, it was a go-day, and for some stupid reason we scheduled
an oil-change/service on the motor-home. Even though our driving distance wasn’t far that day, it was still a bit
of a shit-show (yes, that is the theme of this trip…haha). However, the looks we got from confused Clevelanders
as Brian was logged in to work and the girls actively engaged in their classes as we all sat in the corner of a
Panera Bread made it worth it! Oh well, three months in and we are still learning. Pretty sure we will have
everything mastered by the time we get back to Utah! Or not..

I am feeling humbled and extremely entertained by my own life!

Tina
Boondocks & Bliss