FWIW, I travel a lot. Like, a LOT. I'd recommend staying close to your event even if it costs a little more. Travel always takes longer than you expect and $40/night gets eaten up quickly in time. I don't go crazy, but I do plan accordingly (and having the option to go back or decompress is a great thing).

Booking.com I use it for every hotel and it's fabulous. You can look at the map, pick an area, read reviews, etc. Many have free cancellation. Be careful when choosing rooms and make sure you pick the correct bed set up for your family. I have a $20 off referral code if you want it feel free to PM me.

Sadly, I could not agree more. I lost both my parents last year. A friend's sent me the book "The Orphaned Adult", which was very helpful. It took me over 6 months to pick it up, but I read it overnight and sent it to my siblings. I highly recommend it. It helped me to see I'm "not crazy" and that grief is a long process and I shouldn't expect myself to be "over it" so soon. ((((Hugs))))

Praying

10000% agree. It would be like skipping algebra 1 before 2.

Bomb (ya about the atomic bomb) was AMAZING on audio. Brilliant.

Anything by Richard Peck. We all love him. Especially the one about ww1 (might have been 2... It's been a while). He's just great.

((((hugs)))) - for both of you 💜

I remember someone telling me that kids do what you inspect, not what you expect. So so so true with chores. I'd spend a month making sure they are trained, really understand your expectations, and know they'll be inspected and completed with chores before anything fun happens in the day. Every. Day. I think sometimes chores are a hassle because we expect too much and train too little. I'd demonstrate the chore. Then have them explain to you what needs to happen. Then watch them do it daily for a week with them explaining (really) what to do. Then watch them for a week without talking. Then let them do it and inspect at the end. I used to be an instructor pilot so that's my matrix. No solo until you're really ready because if they crash it's my fault. It can be fun. It can be done. 1. It's so worth it. 2. You'll still be drawing the line in the sand every so often when the standard slips. Mine are teens and this week we had the Giant Chore Reminder/Consequences Lecture. LOL. But, it's really worth it.

If you don't travel a lot of look at YouTube for packing videos. My husband travels constantly and is A PRO at packing. Technique makes a huge difference so 30 minutes of videos will likely free up a ton of space.

Tollhouse back of the bag. Use Crisco instead of butter. Really. And Google The Pinning Mom (or mother - can't remember) Panera chocolate chip copycat. AWESOME. I make a batch, cook 6, freeze the rest in cookie blobs. Kids can make 2-3 at a time as they're huge. They're delicious.

My only Paris warning is that when we went in the fall the customs line look a few hours. I wasn't ready for that bathroom or snack wise after a long flight. We met some nice people, had a few laughs, but it was a long wait. And, even my 15 year old son said, at an ATM, "It feels like people are watching us... You get the money and I'm going to watch your back." Have fun. It's a beautiful city.

That is AWESOME!! WE'RE THERE. And, before I posted this, I signed up for a Muggle Walking Tour. We're huge HP fans! We've done the studio tour before so this will be a great stop. Thank you!!

Shower frequently and make sure they wash their hair and face really well. Clears my kids up in about 3 days.

What are your recommendations? We've been before so I'm looking for more quirky/fun/local ideas. Mom and a teen. Lots of travel experience. Short trip. Y'all have never let me down with great ideas! Thanks in advance!

Another option - start Derek owners Owens' AP calculus self paced online and then she'll be reviewing some in the fall. Good for confidence and prep.

We'll probably do an open house for church friends (no family nearby). And we'll probably go on a trip as a family.

I use the Booking.com app for all my hotel bookings. So easy, great prices, and many with free cancellations. (PM me if you want a referral code for $20 off a booking.) The map features are great, and their hotel reviews are great. I like that it's Hotwire prices but you know what you're getting. Cars, I use Hotwire. Easy, you can see the company, great prices, most with free cancellation. I don't do the random companies, because I've been burned a few times.

This year I started with 7000/day as the goal. I usually hit 5000/day without much effort, so it was a little stretch. Now I add 500 steps/day/month so I'm up to 8000/day goal for March. I usually hit 10000, but not always and I don't stress over it. And I take Sunday off. :-) I joke with my kids, "First it's a goal, then it's a limit!" when I want them to run upstairs or out to the car for me after I hit my goal in a day. LOL!!!

We're doing 2. And a bunch of DE. The 2 APs are only because we need calculus, and Derek Owen's calculus is AP approved, so I might as well call it that on the transcript. And, we're doing edhesive AP computer science A - also AP approved. Neither kid will take tests in comp sci because they want to take it again in college (hoping for deeper and/or wider) and the calculus will be repeated at some engineering college anyway. So we're not really playing the AP game as many do. ETA - I do think strength of schedule does matter in highly selective schools. The admissions people we've listened to even stated that - for example- AP US isn't regarded the same as AP physics (this is for math/engineering). So, not all APs are the same. For these schools it was "are you talking the courses available to you that are the most challenging available?" Sometimes that is AP, sometimes it's DE, sometimes it's honors.... It's about personal challenge. They talked a lot about passion and challenge. I'm hoping we're going the right direction with all of this!!

Both. Today I'll hit 10,000. 1. Walked to the gym (it's very close) and did a 20 minute treadmill workout. (Finish around 4,000) 2. Went to the grocery store. Purposefully walk EVERY aisle. LOL (Finish at around 6,300) 3. Shorter walk with the dogs this afternoon. Easily hit 10,000.

For some reason I can't quote... Thank you wapiti!

What is the GPA requirement for retaining the big merit scholarship?

We toured last week - precisely for the same reasons you mentioned. It's not dd's number 1, but it's definitely on the list. The tour guide mentioned 30% of the students were engineering majors, and 20% science. I think their policy of cherry picking smart kids with great scholarships is super smart and it'll be interesting to see where it lands them in 15 years.

((((â¤ï¸ hugs â¤ï¸))))