Live and Learn - Wow!

Ok, so I haven't managed to write every day or even every other. But that's ok. I am relieving myself of that duty.

So we got back a few days ago from the Live and Learn Conference near Asheville, NC. It was fantastic for so many reasons. First of all, Son connected with a friend on the first day and we rarely saw him for the rest of the conference. He played, partied, and had a great time. He sometimes had a hard time getting food he wanted at the cafeteria, but he neglected to mention that until the last day. He also stayed in said friend's room one night. That was his first night away from us - a milestone. His new friend Pavi thought Son was great as did Pavi's parents (I had never met a stay at home unschooling dad before - how cool!).

Second of all, Husband attended talks and watched the people around him and has come home Changed (in my observation). He is much more committed to unschooling. Maybe it was seeing how happy and terrific Son can be when he truly getting his needs AND wants met. Maybe it was Beth's sparkly talk on Peaceful Partnerships. Maybe it was seeing all those grown and almost grown unschoolers in real life and seeing how confident, well-spoken, and darned interesting they are. Whatever it was about the conference, I am thankful:-)

Daughter, Son, and Husband challenged themselves with the climbing tower and the giant swing. Wow, they were impressive - especially Daughter since she is only 5. The swing was so high!

We stayed with 2 families on our way to the conference - found via couchsurfing.com - my new favorite way to stay. You get to meet cool people, hang out with them in their home environment, stay overnight, then return the favor by hosting someone in your home at another time.

On our trip to NC, we rented a small sailboat and the kids sailed for the first time. That was pretty cool. We hiked around in Stone Mountain park (the most memorable - I mean infamous - vacation destination from my youth). Oh, we had a great time. I instilled a desire to travel more. We are planning already!