Just a Kiss

Slowly life on board is returning to normal.Everything is finding its place on board and we are all falling back into a routine.

Homeschooling started in full force on Monday. Amelia and I have had a tough few days trudging through Algebraic equations. Yuck. She learns best when we move through the lesson together and do the examples together and then she does the final test questions on her own. It isn't a walk in the park though. The material is hard and we both get frustrated and tired and grumpy with ourselves and each other. The end result is always good but it is one heck of a mountain to climb.

Today once she was finished her test questions, she switched gears and started her grade 9 art course. I couldn't help but laugh as she exclaimed from my room, "OMG Mom this whole course is about drawing and making things! I love this course." I laughed to myself and thought, "Yes you do not have to be a mathematician there is a whole other world out there!"

So now she is still happily singing and drawing and designing in my room and I am happily sitting at the kitchen table doing my own thing. Oh how I love Art. LOL

We took Salty Ginger off the dock yesterday. Always a bit nerve racking moving on and off the dock for us. We got away, stopped and got gas and motored off through the channel with no problems though with Graham at the helm. What a feeling. Felt like a christening. This was the first time that Salty Ginger felt the ocean move beneath her hull.

All along the channel on the wall there were old French fishermen in their blue fishing pants with their grey sweaters and their bicycles next to them with their tackle boxes, fishing. I definitely need to get a picture. It is exactly how you are picturing in your mind. For some reason it made me feel good to see them. I so wish I could speak French and get to know some of these people....ok back to the sail. It was a beautiful day with blue sky and gorgeous french town with a picturesque wrap around beach as the back drop. Wind was perfect for a trial but unfortunately once we had finished calibrating all the new instruments on Salty Ginger, which basically involved driving around in very large circles with no sails up for a couple hours, it was getting late. We only had a few moments to pull out the main and basically bring her back in, so for now the sail will have to wait for tomorrow!
The drive back up the channel went fine and then we get back to our slip (dock spot). We thought we would try backing in, since the boat seemed so easy to maneuver....ummm not as easy as it seemed though.....abort, abort, abort. Ok, time to go bow first in but unfortunately Graham brought her straight in and we were to far away from either dock on either side to jump, so Salty Ginger kissed the dock up front....her "official christening"! Finally Alex decided to just leap for it and then I finally leaped (ok yes I took to long to get off) and we all worked for way to long to get her tied up. Needless to say each day is an experience and we learn. All in all it went pretty well though and I am so grateful that I get to have these crazy, fun, high energy moments with 3 people who I love so much! We will get better at this and we get to do it together.
....ps Afterthoughts...we are all just sitting here having happy hour trying to decide whose fault it was..lol...thought you might enjoy this...

Graham, "First of all it is just a kiss and can be fixed with a bit of polish. Secondly, if Mom had just let Alex leap off the boat he could of stopped Salty from kissing the dock"

Amelia, "I should have told Dad that we were going to touch"(she was at the bow)

Alex, "If Mom had let me jump I probably could of stopped the boat"

Mom, "Ok, even if I had let Alex jump he was only thinking of grabbing a line and we found that there wasn't a cleat for him to wrap the line. He wasn't thinking of running to the front and stopping the boat."

Kids, "Picture mom dangling her feet over the side of the boat trying to touch the dock and Alex leaping over her."...they say as they laugh uncontrollably